Endogenous protective effects of arachidonic acid epoxygenase metabolites, epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, in cardiovascular system / 生理学报

The morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases are increasing annually, which is one of the primary causes of human death. Recent studies have shown that epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), endogenous metabolites of arachidonic acid (AA) via CYP450 epoxygenase, possess a spectrum of protective properties in cardiovascular system. EETs not only alleviate cardiac remodeling and injury in different pathological models, but also improve subsequent hemodynamic disturbances and cardiac dysfunction. Meanwhile, various studies have demonstrated that EETs, as endothelial-derived hyperpolarizing factors, regulate vascular tone by activating various ion channels on endothelium and smooth muscle, which in turn can lower blood pressure, improve coronary blood flow and regulate pulmonary artery pressure. In addition, EETs are protective in endothelium, including inhibiting inflammation and adhesion of endothelial cells, attenuating platelet aggregation, promoting fibrinolysis and revascularization. EETs can also prevent aortic remodeling, including attenuating atherosclerosis, adventitial remodeling, and aortic calcification. Therefore, it is clinically important to study the physiological and pathophysiological effects of EETs in the cardiovascular system to further elucidate the mechanisms, as well as provide new strategy for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. This review summarizes the endogenous cardioprotective effects and mechanisms of EETs in order to provide a new insight for research in this field.

Analysis of projects without nanotechnology funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China in the field of pharmaceutics from 2001 to 2020 / 药学学报

Nanotechnology has been widely used in the field of pharmaceutics. In recent years, research projects related to nanotechnology account for a high proportion (nearly 90%) in the application and funded projects of pharmaceutics (application code is H3408) of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). In addition, there are many other research directions in the field of pharmaceutics. This paper makes statistics and analysis on the research projects of pharmaceutics without nanotechnology funded by NSFC from 2001 to 2020, so as to provide reference for the pharmaceutical researchers to reasonably choose research direction.

Research progress on periodontal regeneration of replanted teeth after complete avulsion / 口腔疾病防治

@#Complete avulsion of teeth are one of the most serious traumatic dental injuries. The preferred treatment is tooth replantation. When teeth usually cannot be treated in time, the periodontal membrane on the root surface becomes necrotic , and the success rate of replantation is greatly reduced. How to use seed cells, growth factors and scaffold materials to promote periodontal tissue regeneration, improve periodontal membrane healing of replanted teeth, and achieve successful replantation of completely dislocated teeth is an urgent problem. Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) express stem cell markers, have the potential to undergo multicellular differentiation and have important application value in periodontal tissue regeneration and repair. Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), lysobisphosphatidic acids (LPA) and other related regulatory factors promote periodontal tissue regeneration. Seed cells combined with scaffold materials can promote periodontal tissue regeneration and repair periodontal tissue defects. At present, studies have shown that PDLSCs and other seed cells have the potential for periodontal tissue regeneration and have been widely studied in experimental animal models of periodontitis and bone defects. However, there are few reports on the application of replanted teeth after complete avulsion, and its mechanism is not clear. In this paper, the research progress of periodontal tissue regeneration after total dislocation replantation is reviewed. We expect to apply periodontal tissue regeneration research to the replantation of fully dislocated teeth to achieve periodontal membrane healing of fully dislocated replanted teeth to provide a theoretical basis for future clinical work.

Mechanism of Total Flavonoids of Ampelopsis Grossedentata in Inhibiting Liver Cancer by PI3K/Akt/p53 Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To study inhibitory effect of total flavonoids from Ampelopsis grossedentata (TF) on transplanted tumors of human hepatocellular carcinoma in nude mice, and predict that its mechanism may be related to relevant factors regulating phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinases B(Akt)/p53 pathway in apoptosis. Method: The nude mice transplanted BEL-7404 hepatoma model was established and divided into model group, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) group (1.0 g·L-1) and TF (30, 15, 7.5 g·L-1) groups. Nude mice were put to death after two weeks of administration. The tumor tissues were excised, and tumor inhibition rate (IR) and relative tumor proliferation rate (T/C) were calculated. Reverse transcription PCR(RT-PCR) was used to detect PI3K, Akt1, p53 gene(p53), Caspase-3, B cell lymphoma/lewkmia-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax) mRNA expressions, immunohistochemical method was used to detect expressions of relevant proteins PI3K, Akt1, p53, Caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax. Result: The establishment of xenograft tumor in mice showed that TF was administered orally once per day for two consecutive weeks. IRs were 53.26%, 35.94%, and 26.74%, respectively. T/Cs were 59.74%, 69.66%, and 84.82%, respectively. RT-PCR experiments showed that compared with model group, when TF concentration was 30 g ·L-1, mRNA expressions of PI3K, Akt1, and Bcl-2 were significantly down-regulated, and mRNA expressions of tumor suppressor genes p53, Capsase-3, and Bax were significantly up-regulated. Immunohistochemical method results showed that compared with model group, at TF concentrations of 30, 15 g·L-1, all PI3K, Akt1, Bcl-2 protein expressions were significantly down-regulated, while p53, Capsase-3, Bax protein expressions were significantly increased. Conclusion: TF has an obvious anti-liver cancer activity in vivo. Its mechanism may be correlated with up-regulation of expressions of p53, Caspase-3, and activation of apoptosis PI3K/Akt/p53 pathway, thereby inhibiting Bcl-2, increasing expression of Bax, and promoting hepatocellular apoptosis.

Protective effect of lycopene on human spermatozoa during cryopreservation and its mechanism / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the protective effect of lycopene against cryopreservation injury of post-thawing human sperm and its mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Semen samples were collected from 25 volunteers, each sample equally divided into four parts to be cryopreserved with cryoprotectant only (Ly0 control) or cryoprotectant + lycopene at the concentrations of 2 (Ly2), 5 (Ly5), and 10 µmol/L (Ly10), respectively. Before and after thawing, the semen samples were subjected to computer-assisted semen analysis ( CASA) for sperm kinematics, flow cytometry for sperm apoptosis, thiobarbituric acid assay for malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, and JC-1 fluorescent staining for the sperm mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After cryopreservation, sperm motility was markedly decreased in all the groups (P < 0.01). The rate of sperm apoptosis was significantly lower in the Ly5 group than in the Ly0 control ([25.68 ± 4.36]% vs [33.26 ± 4.78]%, P < 0.05), while sperm MMP remarkably higher in the former than in the latter ([66.18 ± 14.23]% vs [55.24 ± 12.31]%, P < 0.05). The Ly2, Ly5 and Ly10 groups showed no statistically significance differences in the MDA level from the Ly0 control (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Addition of lycopene at a proper concentration to cryoprotectant may reduce oxidative damage to sperm mitochondria in the freezing-thawing process, attenuate oxidative stress injury induced by reactive oxygen species to sperm plasma membrane, and improve the anti-apoptosis ability of sperm.</p>

Experimental study on two-way application of drugs with neutral property for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis on cold and heat blood stasis syndromes II / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To further study the characteristics of drugs with neutral property in two-way application and conditioned dominance by observing the action characteristic of 10 traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property in hemorheological indicators of heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome and cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rats.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The model of heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rats was established by injecting carrageenan and dry yeast, while the model of cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rats was established by body freezing. Subsequently, 10 traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property, 5 traditional Chinese medicines with heat property and 5 traditional Chinese medicines with cold property were selected for intervention to observe the changes in such indicators as whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity and hematocrit and analyze the action characteristics of drugs with neutral property.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>ANOVA showed that among six of the 10 traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property, including Typhae Pollen, Sarcandrae Herba and Sappan lignum, could obviously increase the hemorheological indicators of both heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome and cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rats; five traditional Chinese medicines with cold property, such as Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Leonuri Herba, Rhei Radix et Rhizoma, could significantly ameliorate the hemorheological indicators of heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rats (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05), and Salvia Miltiorrhiza Radix et Rhizoma alone could ameliorate the hemorheological indicators of cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rats (P < 0.05); all of the five traditional Chinese medicines with heat property could significantly ameliorate the hemorheological indicators of cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rats (P < 0.01), among which Carthami Flos and Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma could significantly ameliorate the hemorheological indicators of cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rats. According to the average high-shear blood viscosity analysis, drugs with neutral property showed similar action characteristics to those with cold property in ameliorating hemorheology indicators of heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rat and better effect than those with heat property in reducing whole blood viscosity; and traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property have the similar action characteristics to those with heat property in improving the hemorheology indicators of cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome rat and better effect than those with heat property in reducing whole blood viscosity.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Under the condition of heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property show the similar action characteristics to those with cold property; but under the condition of cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property show the similar action characteristics to those with heat property. This indicates that traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property show both heat and cold properties under he conditions of heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome and cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome.</p>

Experimental study on two-way application of traditional Chinese medicines capable of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis with neutral property in cold and hot blood stasis syndrome I / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the action characteristics of "two-way application and conditioned dominance" of traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property by observing the action characteristic of 10 traditional Chinese medicines capable of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis with neutral property in the microcirculation in rats with heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The rat model with heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome was established by injecting carrageenan and dry yeast, and the rat model with cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome was built by the body freezing method. Ten traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property, including 5 with hot property and 5 with cold property, were selected for intervention to observe blood flow rate and flow state indicators in rat auricles and make a comparative analysis on action characteristics of traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>ANOVA showed that among the 10 traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property, 6 such as Typhae Pollen, Sappan Lignum and Vaccariae Semen can obviously increase the blood flow rate (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the above two models; all of the 5 traditional Chinese medicines with cold property can increase the blood flow rate (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the rat model with heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, but only Salvia miltiorrhiza can increase the blood flow rate (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the rat models with cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, while other medicines showed no notable effect; among the 5 traditional Chinese medicines with hot property, Carthamus tinctorius and Ligusticum chuanxiong can increase the blood flow rate (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) in the rat models with cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, but had no obvious effect to the blood flow rate in the rat models with heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome. According to the analysis on average blood flow rate, traditional Chinese medicines with natural and cold properties showed similar effect on heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome and better effect in increasing blood flow rate than those with hot property; those with natural and hot properties showed similar effect and better effect in increasing blood flow rate than those with cold property.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Under the condition of heat stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property have the similar action characteristics with those with cold property; wile under the condition of cold stagnation and blood stasis syndrome, traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property have the similar action characteristics with the Chinese medicinal herbs with hot property. This indicates the action characteristics of "two-way application and conditioned dominance" of traditional Chinese medicines with neutral property to some extent.</p>

Inhibitory effects of saikosaponin a on rat hippocampal astrocyte activation in vitro / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of saikosaponin a (SSa) on Glu-activated hippocampal astrocytes of rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Neonatal rat (1-3 days) hippocampal astrocytes were obtained and divided into control group, L-Glu activation group and SSa groups with SSa treatment at 5, 2.5, and 1.25 mg/L. The cell proliferation, cell cycle changes, and expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) after the treatments were assessed with MTT assay, flow cytometry and Western blotting, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In comparison with Glu-activation group, SSa treatment resulted in significant inhibition of the cell proliferation, cell division and GFAP expression in the Glu-activated astrocytes (P < 0.05). SSa at 2.5 mg/L showed the strongest inhibitory effects against astrocyte activation and maintained nearly normal level of astrocyte activation in comparison with the control group (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Glu-induced activation of rat hippocampal astrocytes can be inhibited by SSa, whose antiepileptic effects is probably mediated by inhibition of hippocampal astrocyte activation.</p>

An analysis of general programs in preventive medicine submitted and funded in NFSC from 2004 to 2006 / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the projects of the general program in preventive medicine submitted to and funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) from 2004 to 2006, and to discuss the disadvantages of these projects and foundation trends.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>4124 projects submitted and 656 projects supported in 16 fields of preventive medicine between 2004 to 2006 were analyzed statistically.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>1082, 1378 and 1664 projects were submitted to NSFC and 199, 210 and 247 projects were financially supported in last three years, respectively, with selecting rate 18.4%, 15.2% and 14.8%, respectively. The number and the selection rate of projects supported in the different study fields from 2004 to 2006 were 15 (7.5%), 24 (11.4%) and 18 (7.3%) in environmental health, 8 (4.0%), 12 (5.7%) and 15 (6.1%) in occupational health, 30 (15.1%), 24 (11.4%) and 31 (12.6%) in nutrition and food hygiene, 3 (1.5%), 4 (1.9%) and 4 (1.6%) in child and adolescent health, 14 (7.0%), 20 (9.5%) and 20 (8.1%) in toxicology, 7 (3.5%), 7 (3.3%) and 2 (0.8%) in social medicine, 17 (8.5%), 22 (10.5%) and 31 (12.6%) in epidemiology, 7 (3.5%), 7 (3.3%) and 10 (4.0%) in endemiology, 2 (1.0%), 5 (2.4%) and 5 (2.0%) in biostatistics, 0 (0%), 2 (1.0%) and 1 (0.4%) in health laboratory technology, 7 (3.5%), 2 (1.0%) and 7 (2.8%) in vector biology, 15 (7.5%), 9 (4.3%) and 16 (6.5%) in parasitology, 0 (0%), 2 (1.0%) and 0 (0%) in disinfection, 58 (29.1%), 51 (24.3%) and 58 (23.5%) in infectious disease, 3 (1.5%), 1 (0.5%) and 5 (2.0%) in sexually transmitted disease, 13 (6.5%), 18 (8.6%) and 24 (9.7%) in dermatology, respectively. The contents of these research subjects reflected that more importance has been attached to the fields of preventive medicine. However, it is necessary that original and innovatory research should be further strengthened, and the field and prospective study should be emphasized in the future.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Rapid advancement have been made in the fields of toxicology, epidemiology, environmental health, nutrition and food hygiene, and infectious disease, while other areas such as social medicine, health laboratory technology, disinfection and sexually transmitted disease need a rapid advancement. In general, the levels of the projects received and funded have been elevating yearly.</p>