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In recent years, treatment of myopia with low-intensity 600-670 nm red light irradiation has attracted extensive attention.A one-year multi-center clinical study in China showed that red light therapy can inhibit axial elongation and the progression of myopia in myopic children.Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism and long-term safety are still to be determined.The longitudinal chromatic aberration theory could explain its effect on retarding myopia in chicks and guinea pigs.However, studies on different species had inconsistent conclusions and even contrary results in primates.The possible mechanisms of its efficacy on myopia control include the temporary increasing choroidal blood flow to mitigate scleral hypoxia, affecting the metabolic signal pathway of cones, stimulating the retina to secrete dopamine through intensive irradiation, affecting circadian rhythm, and stimulating cytochrome C oxidase to reduce oxidative stress to promote cell repair and inhibit apoptosis.In terms of safety, studies revealed the biphasic dose response in red light therapy, that is to say, no adverse event has been reported for low-intensity, low-dose and short-time red light irradiation, but it is necessary to stay alert for photoreceptor cell and retinal pigment epithelium cell damage caused by excessive irradiation.This article reviewed the research progress on the clinical effectiveness, therapeutic mechanism and safety of red light irradiation in the treatment of myopia to provide a theoretical basis for its use in clinical treatment.
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Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is characterized by a high suicide rate and a high recurrence rate. The effect of the medicine on TRD is not ideal with obvious side effects. Psychotherapy is an important method recommended in many guidelines for the treatment of depression. However, previous studies and clinical applications have paid little attention to the application of psychotherapy in TRD. Therefore, based on recent studies, this paper reviews the effects of psychotherapy on the depressive symptoms, suicide risk, and recurrence risk in TRD. Further, the possible therapeutic mechanisms are discussed, including the improvement of interpersonal function by dealing with early trauma in TRD, therefore alleviating symptoms; intervening in the dysfunctional cognitive pattern of TRD to help them cope with negative life events, therefore reducing stress and depression. Combined with the limitations of existing studies, the following directions can be considered in the future: improving the research quality, measuring behavioral and physiological indicators to further clarify the therapeutic mechanism, identifying ways in which psychotherapy can be combined with other treatments, exploring the group and online therapy to increase accessibility of psychotherapy for TRD.
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OBJECTIVE@#To investigate how the National Health Commission of China (NHCC)-recommended Chinese medicines (CMs) modulate the major maladjustments of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly the clinically observed complications and comorbidities.@*METHODS@#By focusing on the potent targets in common with the conventional medicines, we investigated the mechanisms of 11 NHCC-recommended CMs in the modulation of the major COVID-19 pathophysiology (hyperinflammations, viral replication), complications (pain, headache) and comorbidities (hypertension, obesity, diabetes). The constituent herbs of these CMs and their chemical ingredients were from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Information Database. The experimentally-determined targets and the activity values of the chemical ingredients of these CMs were from the Natural Product Activity and Species Source Database. The approved and clinical trial drugs against these targets were searched from the Therapeutic Target Database and DrugBank Database. Pathways of the targets was obtained from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and additional literature search.@*RESULTS@#Overall, 9 CMs modulated 6 targets discovered by the COVID-19 target discovery studies, 8 and 11 CMs modulated 8 and 6 targets of the approved or clinical trial drugs for the treatment of the major COVID-19 complications and comorbidities, respectively.@*CONCLUSION@#The coordinated actions of each NHCC-recommended CM against a few targets of the major COVID-19 pathophysiology, complications and comorbidities, partly have common mechanisms with the conventional medicines.
Subject(s)
Humans , COVID-19/physiopathology , Comorbidity , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use , Medicine , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Depression is a mental illness characterized by persistent negative feelings， which has seriously threatened people's health. In recent years， neuronal autophagy， an important stress response， has also been regarded as a hypothesis for the pathogenesis of depression. Relevant studies have shown that either insufficient or excessive autophagy triggers neuronal damage， and activated or inhibited neuronal autophagy can be observed in animal models of depression. Therefore， neuronal autophagy may be a double-edged sword involved in the pathogenesis of depression. It is believed in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） that the occurrence of this disease is closely related to liver depression and spleen deficiency. Chinese medicine regulates the neuronal autophagy via multiple ways. The TCM monomers that regulate neuron autophagy are capable of protecting nerves or penetrating the blood-brain barrier. TCM compounds designed for soothing liver or invigorating spleen have been proved effective against this disease， demonstrating that the core pathogenesis of depression lies in liver depression and spleen deficiency. The regulatory effects of TCM on neuronal autophagy in depression models might result from its action on multiple targets， multiple pathways， and multiple systems. This paper discussed the limitations in current research based on the involvement of neuronal autophagy in depression and its treatments， in order to provide ideas for later similar research and that concerning TCM treatment of depression.
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Objective@#To explore the potential mechanism of the main active component Tripterygium wilfordii in the treatment of oral lichen planus based on network pharmacology.@*Methods@#The components of Tripterygium wilfordii and targets were searched through the Traditional Chinese Medicine system pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP) and the Traditional Chinese Medicine integrated database (TCMID) databases. The related targets of oral lichen planus (OLP) were obtained through databases such as Gene Cards. The OLP targets were mapped by Venn analysis to the targets of Tripterygium wilfordii to screen out the common targets as the treatment of OLP targets of Tripterygium wilfordii. The Cytoscape software and STRING were used to construct a chemical component-target network and protein-protein interaction network, a network analyzer was used to compute the network topology properties, a cluster profiler software was used to analyze the GO classification enrichment analysis and KEGG signal path analysis, and a Tripterygium wilfordii chemical components-targets-pathway network diagram was constructed. @*Results@#Twenty-three components and 44 OLP treatmenttargets of Tripterygium wilfordii were obtained. The key active ingredients of Tripterygium wilfordii in the treatment of OLP are triptolide, kaempferol, and tangerine peel. The key targets include TNF and AKT1. The GO classification enrichment analysis obtained 63 GO terms, which are mainly involved in the leukocyte differentiation and reaction to lipopolysaccharides. The KEGG analysis identified 111 signaling pathways, which are mainly related to the TNF signaling pathway and IL17 signaling pathway. @*Conclusion@#Tripterygium wilfordii in the treatment of OLP. This study can provide a theoretical basis for further research to explore drugs with high activity and low toxicity to treat OLP from Tripterygium wilfordii.
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To observe the clinical efficacy of Huazhuo Jiedu formula in treating chronic erosive gastritis (CEG) patients with syndrome of accumulation of turbidity and toxicity, explore its mechanism by observing the changes in expression levels of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in serum and gastric mucosa tissues after treatment, and provide theoretical basis for the clinical application of Huazhuo Jiedu formula in treating chronic erosive gastritis. All 70 patient of CEG were randomly divided into control group and treatment group, 35 cases in each group. The patients in control group received Alatan Wuwei Wan, bid, 1 bag/time; while the patients in treatment group were given with Huazhuo Jiedu formula, 1 dose/day. The course of the treatment was 6 months in both groups. The changes in clinical symptoms, gastroscopic signs, pathology and the expression levels of HIF-1α, VEGF, and phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) in serum and gastric mucosa tissues were observed in both groups. The results showed that treatment group was better than control group in clinical efficacy, gastroscopic efficacy and pathological effect after treatment (<0.05); the levels of HIF-1α and VEGF in serum of treatment group were lower than those in the control group after treatment (<0.05), while the level of PTEN in serum of treatment group was higher than that in the control group after treatment (<0.05); the levels of HIF-1α and VEGF in gastric mucosa tissues in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group after treatment, while the level of PTEN in gastric mucosa tissues in treatment group was higher than that in the control group after treatment (<0.05), with statistically significant differences between these two groups (<0.05). Huazhuo Jiedu formula can improve the clinical symptoms, gastroscopic signs and pathological conditions in CEG patients with syndrome of accumulation of turbidity and toxicity, and the mechanism may be associated with decreasing the expression level of HIF-1α, VEGF and increasing the expression level of PTEN.
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Cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) with high morbidity, disability, mortality, and recurrence rate have become the focus in the medical research. Modern researches have indicated that Guizhi Fuling Prescription (GFP) possesses anti-inflammatory, immune-modulation and anti-oxidative effects and so on. Investigations showed that GFP had been used in the researches of ischemic and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular diseases, mainly used in the clinical research of ischemic cerebrovascular, in which the research of treating acute cerebral infarction gets the best clinical effect of all. In order to provide theoretical reference for intensive research of GFP in treatment of CVD, this article reviewed the research progress in clinical application and mechanisms of GFP in treatment of CVD.
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Ulcerative colitis is a chronic, nonspecific and complex intestinal disease. The current clinical treatment guideline of this disease recommends a variety of options with oral western medicines, such as aminosalicylic acids, glucocorticosteroids, and immunosuppressors. However, due to their unstable therapeutic effects, high toxicities, and strong drug dependence, they are not suitable for long-term administration. Baizhu Shaoyao powder, a traditional Chinese medicinal prescription, is clinically and commonly used for tonifying spleen and softening liver as well as eliminating dampness and relieving diarrhea. Recent researches suggest that Baizhu Shaoyao powder has significant effect in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. This article reviewed the research progress on the curative effect and action mechanism of Baizhu Shaoyao powder in treating ulcerative colitis, and provided the ideas and directions for its further research in future.
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Salvia miltiorrhiza bunge (Dan shen in Chinese)is extracted from dried roots and rhizomes of Labiatae Salvia.Tan-shinones are the main lipid-soluble components in Salvia,each has specific pharmacological activity.This review focuses on the research progress of Tanshinones on cardiovascular diseases,an-ti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, anti-tumor effect,hepatocyte protection and neuroprotective effects.Thera-peutic effects and mechanisms of Tanshinones on diverse disea-ses are summarized,pharmacokinetics and pharmaceutic evalua-tion were concluded.This review provides a global understand-ing about Tanshinones as a class of effective and promising can-didates for further studies,and lays a foundation for developing new Tanshinone-based agents according to the characteristics of Tanshinones.
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The article introduced the structure and therapeutic mechanism of the iontherapy vacuum cup with Chinese herbs on acupoints by impulse direct current. The apparatus is an organic mixture by combining iontherapy of physiotherapy in modern medicine with cupping therapy, Chinese herbs, and acu-therapy in traditional Chinese medicine. It has the advantages of lower cost, simple operation and reliable effects, and is a new approach of physiotherapy.
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Objective To investigate the effect of Pericarpium Zanthoxyli (HJ) on guinea pigs trachea in vitro and its therapeutic mechanism. Methods The actions of HJ on the contraction of normal trachea and on the spasm of spasmodic tracheas caused by acetylcholine (Ach) and histamine phosphate (HIS), as well as the actions on intracellular Ca2+ - dependent contraction and extracellular Ca2+ - dependent contraction induced by HIS were observed. Results HJ could inhibit the guinea pigs trachea contraction , antagonize the contraction of trachea spasm induced by Ach and HIS , restrain the extracellular Ca2+ - dependent contraction induced by HIS in a dose- dependent manner. Conclusion HJ has an antiasthma effect.