Knowledge Domain and Emerging Trends of Chinese Medicine in Management of Pediatric Asthma: A Scientometric Study / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze the intellectual landscape and emerging research trends of Chinese medicine (CM) in the management of pediatric asthma through a scientometric study.@*METHODS@#Publications related to CM in the management of pediatric asthma were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using relevant keywords. A scientometric study was performed using CiteSpace and VOSviewer.@*RESULTS@#A total of 1,673 original articles and reviews from 1991 to 2019 were included in the analysis. The amount of annual publications had a gradual increase with time. USA was the major contributor both in country and institution analyses. Based on the co-citation, the published journals were grouped into 4 clusters. Keyword analysis indicated that the main hotspots were: (1) comprehensive management; (2) risk factors, mechanism, and prevalence; (3) prevention and treatment; (4) inflammation; and (5) environmental research. Lastly, we predicted that three emerging trends were quality of life promotion, immune response, and combination therapy.@*CONCLUSIONS@#CM research in the management of pediatric asthma will maintain the current trend of steady growth. This scientometric analysis may help scientists to identify the areas of interests and future directions in the field.

Structural Study on K-Segment of Rice Dehydrin in Mimetic Membrane / 分析化学

Dehydrins are well associated with the abiotic stress tolerance of the plants, such as dehydration, salt stress and cold stress. They include a highly conserved lysine-rich motif called K-segment, which is believed to play a significant role in dehydrin function. The K-segment shows in vitro antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria like its full-length dehydrin protein. In this study, the structures of the K-segment from rice dehydrin have been investigated by CD spectroscopy, NMR and molecular dynamic simulation. The results reveal that the K-segment is disordered in aqueous solution, but adopts helical structure in mimetic membrane environment, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles. The central region of K-segment forms an a-helix and exhibits amphipathic arrangement,where hydrophobic residues locate on one side and hydrophilic residues are on the other side. The amphipathic feature allows the helix region of the K-segment to insert into the SDS micelles, resulting in stable association with mimetic membrane. To realize the energy minimization,the hydrophobic side of the helix faces to the hydrophobic core of SDS micelles,and the hydrophilic side of the helix faces to the surface of micelles. The precise 3D structure and orientation information of the K-segment obtained in this work might provide new insights in understanding the structure-function relationship of dehydrins.

Study on the mechanism of tripterygium wilfordii ployglycosidium in preventing type 1 nonobese diabetic mice / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the immunity preventive action of Tripterygium wilfordii ployglycosidium (TWP) on type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in non-obese diabetic (NOD)mice and explore its possible mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Changes of blood glucose, the incidence rate of T1DM and pancreatitis were observed and the expressions of IFN-gamma,TNF-alpha, IL-10mRNA in pancreas of mice detected by RT-PCR after NOD mice were given TWP by adopting cyclophosphamide accelerated induction of T1DM.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean blood glucose level in TWP group (10.73 mmol/L) was lower than that in the control group (20. 53 mmol/L) at the end of the experiment(P < 0.01 ). The incidence rate of T1DM in TWP group (43. 33% ) was lower than that in the control group (71.43% , P <0. 01). The mean grade of inflammation of pancreatic islet in TWP group (1.45 +/- 1. 11) was lower than that in the control group (2. 27 +/- 1.22, P <0. 05 ). In TWP group the number of insulin-positive cells was 242. 80 +/-168.93 ,which was more than that of control group with significant difference (95.60 +/- 39.55,P <0.05). The expressions of TNF-alpha mRNA and IFN--gamma mRNA were lower (P <0.01). No obvious change was found in IL-10 mRNA expression.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>TWP could prevent the occurrence of T1DM in NOD mice, whose mechanism might be correlated to the down-regulating of the expression of Thl cytokines in pancreatic tissues.</p>

Effect of Tripterygium wilfordii polyglycosidium on caspase expression of islet?-cell in NOD mice / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

NOD mice were treated intraperitoneally with tripterygium wilfordii ployglycosidium (TWP) for 4 weeks to observe the incidence of cyclophosphamide accelerated diabetes.The apoptosis of?-cells was detected by TUNEL,the expression of caspase-3 in islets of the NOD mice was detected by immunohistochemistry and the expression of caspase-8 mRNA in pancreas by RT-PCR.The results revealed that the incidence of diabetes in TWP group was lower than that in control group.The apoptosis index of?-cells was decreased in TWP group. The expression of caspase-3 in islets and the expression of caspase-8 mRNA in pancreas in TWP group were lower than those in control group.