Effect of Jiuwei Zhuhuang Powder on Cough Resolution in Children with Upper Respiratory Tract Infections: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To assess the effectiveness of Jiuwei Zhuhuang Powder (JWZH), a Tibetan patent medicine in treating upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) associated cough in children.@*METHODS@#The study was a multicenter, randomized, open-label, controlled trial. A total of 142 children aged 2 to 14 years old, with URTI-associated cough within 48 h of onset, were randomly assigned to two groups at a 1:1 ratio by computer-generated randomization sequence. Children were treated with JWZH (1 to 1.5 g, twice to thrice daily) in the treatment group or conventional treatment (Pediatric Paracetamol, Artificial Cow-bezoar and Chlorphenamine Maleate Granules, 0.25 to 1 g, thrice daily) in the control group for 5 days. The primary endpoints were the time to cough resolution and 4-day cough resolution rate. The secondary endpoints were the daily improvement in symptom scores and cough resolution rate during the study period.@*RESULTS@#A total of 138 children were included in the intention-to-treat analysis, with 71 cases in the treatment group and 67 cases in the control group. Compared with the conventional treatment, the children receiving JWZH had a shorter time to cough resolution [hazard ratio, 2.10; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.29-3.40; P=0.003]. The median time to cough resolution for children receiving JWZH was shorter than that of the conventional treatment (2 days vs. 3 days; P<0.001). The 4-day cough resolution rate in the JWZH group was higher than that of the control group (94.4% vs. 74.6%; risk difference: 19.8%, 95% CI: 8.1%-31.5%; relative risk: 1.265, 95% CI: 1.088-1.470; P=0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in the improvement of other symptoms caused by URTI (P>0.05). Adverse events was reported in 5.6% (4/71) and 4.5% (3/67) in participants of JWZH and PPACCM groups (P>0.05), respectively, which were all mild and resolved without treatment.@*CONCLUSION@#JWZH seemed to be a safe and effective therapy for URTI-associated cough in children. (Trial registration No. ChiCTR2000039421).

Progress in research on the susceptibility of tuberculosis / 中国比较医学杂志

Tuberculosis(TB),a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB), is the outcome of the interaction between polygenes and environmental factors,which has been shown in lots of genetic studies. In recent years,the research of TB susceptibility genes and their single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)loci has become a hot topic,but genes and SNPs exactly associated with TB susceptibility are rarely reported. What's more,some susceptibility genes are different among races, populations and geographical distributions, resulting in inconsistency, or even contrary conclusions drawn from local studies of different populations or areas. In order to obtain susceptibility genes that are widely applicable and exactly associated with TB,it is necessary to screen the genes preliminarily in the laboratory animals with gene diversity, and thereafter, verify those genes in animals or humans. The Collabrative Cross(CC)mice have the advantages of diverse and clear genetic background,which can provide a new tool for the research of TB susceptibility. This review summarizes the advances in the studies of TB susceptibility genes and their SNPs, and looking forward to the application of CC mice in these studies and its significance.

Association study of brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met polymorphism and clinical characteristics of first episode schizophrenia / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the association between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene Val66Met polymorphism and clinical characteristics of first episode schizophrenia in a Chinese Han population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Genotyping of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was carried out for 135 schizophrenic patients and 483 healthy controls with TaqMan probe technology. The patients' psychotic symptoms were assessed using the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A significant difference was found in genotype distribution and allelic frequency of the Val66Met polymorphism between the two groups (P< 0.01). In patients, Met homozygotes had a significantly higher score in anxiety/depression factor, cognitive factor and total score of PANSS than Val carriers.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BDNF gene Val66Met polymorphism is associated with the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The Met/Met genotype of BDNF Val66Met variant may be a risk factor for symptoms in first episode schizophrenia patients.</p>

Antioxidant response element activator protects motor neurons from selected death / 中华神经科杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of antioxidant response element (ARE) activator- 5,6-dihydrocyclopenta[ C ]-1,2-dithiole-3-thione (CPDT) on organotypic spinal cord cultures and to study whether this activation can protect motor neurons from oxidative stress.Methods Organotypic spinal cord cultures were prepared using lumbar spinal cord slices from 8-day-old rat.Threo-hydroxyaspartate (THA) was continuously added into the culture medium for 3 weeks,which caused selective motor neuron death. Thus,the in vitro model of amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS) was established.15,30 ?mol/L of CPDT were added into the culture medium respectively.Ventral motor neurons survival was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal antibody SMI-32,a nonphosphorylated neurofilament marker. Ultrastructure was observed with electronic microscope.Results The pretreatment of organotypic spinal cord cultures with different concentrations of CPDT significantly increase the total number of ventral motor neurons (15?mol/L:(15.81?6.97) perexplant;30?mol/L:(16.25?6.74) perexplant respectively) compared with THA group ((5.31?5.76) perexplant) and the former had plentiful neurite extensions (n= 15,P