ABSTRACT
Background Plateau environment may pose a serious impact on the physiological and psychological stress of people stationed on a plateau, especially for those engaged in military training and occupational activities. There is an urgent need to find drugs to prevent and treat injuries caused by high-altitude environment. Objective To analyze the current status, hotspots, and future trends of domestic and international research in the field of prevention and treatment of high-altitude disease (HAD) by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and provide references for scientific research. Methods Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for literature on TCM and HAD published from inception to 2022. Excel, CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and RStudio softwares were used to conduct visual analysis on the number of publications, types of publications, journals, authors, research institutions, and keywords. Results A total of 501 publications were evaluated in the present study, including 443 Chinese publications and 58 English publications. The annual number of publications showed a rising trend. MA Huiping was the leading author in number of publications in Chinese (37 publications), and ZHANG Yi and MENG Xianli were the leading authors in the number of publications in English (both 8 publications), respectively. The institutions with the most publications in Chinese were The 940th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese People's Liberation Army and Lanzhou General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Region (both 32 publications), and the institution with the most publications in English was Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (8 publications), respectively. The Chinese and English journals with the largest number of publications were the Journal of High Altitude Medicine (39 publications) and the Journal of Ethnopharmacology (10 publications), respectively. The most highly cited Chinese and English literature included Effects of rhodiola on the free radical metabolism and serum creatine kinase after exercise at plateau (61 citations) and Anti-hypoxic activity at simulated high altitude was isolated in petroleum ether extract of Saussurea involucrate (68 citations) , respectively. The most frequent keywords in the Chinese and English literature were high altitude polycythemia and oxidative stress, respectively. The keyword time zone and emergence maps showed that the research hotspots in this field shifted from prevention and treatment of HAD to animal experiments, and then to mechanisms of action, in which oxidative stress, hypoxic injury, inflammation, and apoptosis were the main focuses. Conclusion The research of TCM against HAD is identified from early clinical observation to associations between clinical outcome variation and pharmacological mechanisms, and further to applying multi-omics techniques to explore the physical basis of TCM efficacy and mechanisms of action with focuses like TCM formula and single herb active ingredients, so as to elaborate potential scientific connotation of TCM against HAD.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: It is generally known that PI3K/Akt/mTOR, MAPK, Jak/Stat, NF-κB and Notch signaling pathways play important roles in cell proliferation and differentiation, gene transcription, and immune inflammation. Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) plays a crucial role in mediating the hypoxia signaling pathway and acts as a core factor in the hypoxic reaction process. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the relationship between HIF-1α and hypoxia signaling pathways, providing new ideas for the research and treatment of altitude diseases. METHODS: English literatures published during 2000-2019 were retrieved from PubMed and Medline. Chinese literatures published during 2011-2019 were retrieved from CNKI and WanFang databases. Search terms were “hypoxia inducible factor 1α, signal pathway” in English and Chinese, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: During the occurrence of hypoxic-related diseases (inflammation, tumor, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases) and altitude disease, the expression levels of HIF-1 and the key factors of these signaling pathways can change to varying degrees. HIF-1 is closely related to these signaling pathway under the hypoxic conditions, regulates molecular expression in these signaling pathways, or are regulated by these signaling pathways to increase or decrease, in response to the changes in the body under hypoxia conditions.
ABSTRACT
Objective To design and manufacture a hypobaric cabin simulator for experimental animals.Methods The simulator was composed of a fully transparent working chamber,an electrical chamber,a pressure control component and a program control component,which had its body made of polymethyl methacrylate plastics,the hatch made of metal plate and support by reinforced metal bar.The air inside chamber was exhausted by the diaphragm vacuum pump,the air inflow was controlled by proportional valve,and the inner pressure and the speed of rise and decline were exactly controlled by the balance of inflow and exhaust.Results The new type of hypobaric cabin simulator had the characteristics of accurate pressure control,low fluctuation range and controllable up and down time,low noise as well as adaptable air exchange rate.Conclusion The new type of hypobaric cabin simulator matches the national standard for experimental animals,and can be used in making the animal model of high altitude diseases.