Diquafosol sodium combined with intense pulsed light in the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM:To investigate the effect of 3% diquafosol sodium eye drops combined with intense pulsed light on the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction and the change of meibomian glands.METHODS: Prospective study. A total of 141 patients(282 eyes)who were diagnosed with meibomian gland dysfunction from January 2021 to May 2022 in our hospital were selected and they were randomly divided into the control group(73 cases, 146 eyes)and the observation group(68 cases, 136 eyes)according to random number table. The control group was given 0.3% sodium hyaluronate eye drops combined with intense pulsed light, and the observation group was treated with 3% diquafosol sodium eye drops combined with intense pulsed light. The subjective symptom score, physical sign score, non-invasive tear break-up time, tear meniscus height, lipid layer thickness, and meibomian gland density before and after the treatment were compared between the two groups at 2wk after the end of treatment.RESULTS: There were no differences in the subjective symptom score, physical sign score, non-invasive tear break-up time, tear meniscus height, lipid layer thickness, and meibomian gland density between the two groups of patients before treatment(P>0.05). After 2wk of treatment, the symptom scores and physical sign scores of patients in the two groups continued to decrease, non-invasive tear break-up time and lipid layer thickness continued to increase, and the meibomian gland density also increased. The tear meniscus height in the observation group increased, while the control group showed no significant changes. The observation group had better clinical indicators than the control group(P<0.05). No obvious complications were observed in all patients.CONCLUSION: The combination of diquafosol sodium eye drops and intense pulsed light is synergistic in the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction, with significant therapeutic effects and improvement of meibomian gland repair, which is significantly superior to simple intense pulsed light therapy.

Internal circadian clock and liver metabolism / 生理学报

Circadian clock is an internal autonomous time-keeping system, including central clocks located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and peripheral clocks. The molecular circadian clock consists of a set of interlocking transcriptional-translational feedback loops that take the clock-controlled genes 24 h to oscillate. The core mechanism of molecular circadian clock is that CLOCK/BMAL1 dimer activates the transcription of cryptochromes (CRYs) and Periods (PERs), which act as transcriptional repressors of further CLOCK/BMAL1-mediated transcription. In addition to this basic clock, there is an additional sub-loop of REV-ERBα and RORα regulating the transcription of BMAL1. Approximately 80% protein-coding genes demonstrate significant rhythmicity. The earth rotation is responsible for the generation of the daily circadian rhythms. To coordinate metabolic balance and energy availability, almost all organisms adapt to the rhythm. Studies have shown that circadian clock integrating with metabolic homeostasis increases the efficiency of energy usage and coordinates with different organs in order to adapt to internal physiology and external environment soon. As the central organ of metabolism, the liver performs various physiological activities nearly all controlled by the circadian clock. There are multiple interactive regulation mechanisms between the circadian clock and the regulation of liver metabolism. The misalignment of metabolism with tissue circadian is identified as a high-risk factor of metabolic diseases. This article reviews the recent studies on circadian physiological regulation of liver glucose, lipid and protein metabolism and emphasizes oscillation of mitochondrial function. We also take an outlook for new methods and application of circadian clock research in the future.

Protective Effect of Schisandra Extract on Embryotoxicity and Reproductive Toxicity in Early Pregnant Rats Exposed to Benzo a pyrene / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe protective effects of Schisandra extract (SE) on embryotoxicity and reproductive toxicity of early pregnant rats exposed to Benzo[a]pyrene (Bap).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Pregnant rat model was prepared using periodic screening cage method. Totally 50 female pregnant SD rats were divided into five groups by randomized block design according to the weight, i.e., the BaP model group, the low dose SE group, the middle dose SE group, the high dose SE group, the normal control group, 10 rats in each group. Rats in the BaP model group were administered with BaP at a daily dose of 2 mg/kg by gastrogavage. Rats in low, middle, and high dose SE groups were administered by gastrogavage with BaP (at a daily dose of 2 mg/kg) plus SE at a daily dose of 40, 200, and 1 000 mg/kg, respectively. Equal volume of olive oil was administered to rats in the normal control group by gastrogavage. All medication was performed for 8 successive days. Changes of rat body weight in each period were observed. The uterus embryonic total quality and ovary quality were measured, and organ index calculated. The number of corpus luteum, the number of embryo implantation, and the number of absorbed embryo were statistically calculated respectively. The implantation rate and the absorbed embryos rate were calculated. Serum levels of human chorionic gonadotrophin β (β-HCG) and progesterone (PROG) were detected by ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the normal control group, the weight of 9-day pregnant rats, the number of embryo implantation, the uterus embryonic total index, ovary index, serum levels of β-HCG and PROG all decreased in the Bap model group with significant difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with the Bap model group, body weight, the uterus embryonic total index, and the PROG level increased in 3 dose SE groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Ovary index and serum β-HCG increased in middle and high dose SE groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The number of implantation obviously increased in the high dose SE groups (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SE could reduce the embryotoxicity and reproductive toxicity of early pregnant rats exposed to Benzo[a]pyrene.</p>

Cellular plasticity and tumor therapy resistance: Research advances / 国际药学研究杂志

Drug resistance,tumor relapse and metastasis remain the main obstacles to the success of cancer treatments. Chemotherapies,targeted therapies and immunotherapies can successfully achieve remissions in cancer patients, but durable responses are rare. Although the mechanisms of diverse therapies vary,plasticity alteration of tumor and immune cells in response to therapy-induced tumor tissue injury and inflammation contributes to the development of drug resistance. This review summarizes research progress in the adaptive phenotypic plasticity of tumor cells and immune cells during tumor progression as well as the successful combination of targeted therapy and immunotherapy in cancer treatment to tackle resistance.

Cloning and sequence analysis of MYB transcriptional regulator SmP gene of Saussurea medusa Maxim / 生物工程学报

A full-length cDNA encoding a MYB-related regulatory gene was isolated from a cDNA library prepared from mRNAs of the red line callus of S. medusa by TD-PCR. The cDNA, designated SmP, is 969 nucleotides long and has an open reading frame of 771 bp with a deduced amino acid sequence of 256 residues. The putative protein of SmP has two typical conversed R2R3-Myb DNA-binding domains in N-terminal and displays a rather high degree of similarity to OsMYB from rice and LBMI from tobacco, showing 73% and 70% identity within the DNA-binding domains. However, the C-terminal domain of the SmP protein does not show obvious similarity to any other known protein sequence. It is rich in hydrophilic amino acids, especially in serine residues (18.38%), partly organized in homopolymeric stretches, a feature often found in activation domain of transcription factors.