Protective mechanism of rhubarb decoction against inflammatory damage of brain tissue in rats with mild hepatic encephalopathy： A study based on the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway / 临床肝胆病杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the role and possible mechanism of action of rhubarb decoction （RD） retention enema in improving inflammatory damage of brain tissue in a rat model of mild hepatic encephalopathy （MHE）. MethodsA total of 60 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into blank group （CON group with 6 rats） and chronic liver cirrhosis modeling group with 54 rats using the complete randomization method. After 12 weeks， 40 rats with successful modeling which were confirmed to meet the requirements for MHE model by the Morris water maze test were randomly divided into model group （MOD group）， lactulose group （LT group）， low-dose RD group （RD1 group）， middle-dose RD group （RD2 group）， and high-dose RD group （RD3 group）， with 8 rats in each group. The rats in the CON group and the MOD group were given retention enema with 2 mL of normal saline once a day； the rats in the LT group were given retention enema with 2 mL of lactulose at a dose of 22.5% once a day； the rats in the RD1， RD2， and RD3 groups were given retention enema with 2 mL RD at a dose of 2.5， 5.0， and 7.5 g/kg， respectively， once a day. After 10 days of treatment， the Morris water maze test was performed to analyze the spatial learning and memory abilities of rats. The rats were analyzed from the following aspects： behavioral status； the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase （ALT）， aspartate aminotransferase （AST）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-6 （IL-6）， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） and the level of blood ammonia； pathological changes of liver tissue and brain tissue； the mRNA and protein expression levels of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）， protein kinase B （AKT）， and mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR） in brain tissue. A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups， and the least significant difference t-test was used for further comparison between two groups. ResultsCompared with the MOD group， the RD1， RD2， and RD3 groups had a significantly shorter escape latency （all P<0.01）， significant reductions in the levels of ALT， AST， IL-1β， IL-6， TNF-α， and blood ammonia （all P<0.05）， significant alleviation of the degeneration， necrosis， and inflammation of hepatocytes and brain cells， and significant reductions in the mRNA and protein expression levels of PI3K， AKT， and mTOR in brain tissue （all P<0.05）， and the RD3 group had a better treatment outcome than the RD1 and RD2 groups. ConclusionRetention enema with RD can improve cognitive function and inflammatory damage of brain tissue in MHE rats， possibly by regulating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

Quercetin plays a neuroprotective role in inhibiting mitochondrial apoptosis by mediating JNK signaling pathway / 中国药理学通报

Aim To study the mechanism of quereetin (Que) inhibiting mitochondrial damage induced by Aβ

Association Between Ferroptosis and Central Nervous System Diseases and A Review of Traditional Chinese Medicine Intervention / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Central nervous system （CNS） is a sophisticated system subject to complex regulation， which dominates the high-level neural activities of the human body. Due to its complex physiological structure and refined regulatory mechanism covering a variety of diseases， CNS is the place where many chronic， refractory and rare diseases occur. Nerve cell is the basic unit of CNS， and its dysfunction and death is the root cause of CNS diseases. Ferroptosis is a new form of programmed cell death proposed in recent years， and has been proved to be closely related to the production and development of multiple CNS diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， including Chinese herbs， acupuncture and moxibustion， and massage， has shown unique advantages in the treatment of CNS diseases for a long time. A large number of studies have demonstrated that TCM participates in the regulation of CNS diseases via regulating ferroptosis and shows a good research prospect. This paper summarized the characteristics of ferroptosis and discussed the association between ferroptosis and CNS diseases in pathological mechanism. We also reviewed the regulation of various CNS diseases by different TCM interventions through ferroptosis， providing references for TCM to participate in the treatment of CNS diseases properly in the future.

Therapeutic Effect of Spleen Low Molecular Weight Extracts on Leukopenia Caused by Epirubicin in Mice and Its Mechanism / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the therapeutic effect of spleen low molecular weight extracts on epileptics hydrochloride-induced leukopenia in mice and explore its mechanism.@*METHODS@#The model of leukopenia in mice was established by the injection of epirubicin hydrochloride (10 mg/kg). After the injection of chemotherapeutic drugs, leukocytopenia mice were treated with different doses of spleen low molecular weight extract, Ganoderma oral solution and recombinant granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF). The general survival status indicators such as body weight, coat color and athletic ability of mice in each group were recorded; the tail vein blood of mice in each group was collected and the white blood cell count in them was calculated; bone marrow of mice was taken and bone marrow smears were observed.@*RESULTS@#In the model group, the weight of the mice gradually decreased in the later period, their coat became dark and rough, and the ability to exercise decreased, while the mice in the treatment groups showed different degrees of improvement in their survival status except for the mice treated by rhG-CSF. There was no significant fluctuation in the white blood cell count of the blank control mice. After injection of epirubicin, the white blood cell count of peripheral blood in the model mice and treated mice were decreased. The white blood cell count was lower in the mice treated with high-dose low molecular weight extract and rhG-CSF than that in other experimental groups. Bone marrow smear showed that the proportion of bone marrow nucleated cells in the mice treated with the low molecular weight extract of the spleen was significantly higher than that of model mice (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#The low molecular weight spleen extracts can significantly improve the hematopoietic state of mouse bone marrow, promote the proliferation of inhibited bone marrow cells, and thus has the effect of treating leukopenia in mice.

Relationship between Small-world Network and Cognitive Impairment for Patients with White Matter Lesions Based On Diffusion Tensor Imaging / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To explore the relationship between small-worldness of brain network and cognitive impairment in patients with white matter lesions (WMLs) based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Methods:From January, 2016 to December, 2017, 46 WMLs patients and 36 controls matched genders, ages and education levels from Beijing Tiantan Hospital were screened with DTI. The patients were divided into vascular cognitive impairment non-dementia (VCIND) and vascular dementia (VaD) groups according to the results of cognitive assessments. The brain structure network was created based on DTI data, and the topological properties of the whole-brain small-world network were calculated, and the correlation between the small-worldness and the severity of cognitive impairment was analyzed. Results:The global efficiency, local efficiency, shortest path length and clustering coefficient were different between the patients and the controls (F > 3.252, P < 0.05), as well as the properties of the small-world network, λ, γ and σ (F > 7.378, P < 0.01). The λ, γ and σ were correlated with the total score of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (|r| > 0.402, P < 0.05). Conclusion:The brain structure network is small-world network for patients with WMLs, and the decrease of small-world properties may relate to the cognitive impairment.

Diagnostic Value of Serum GP73 Combined with Dickkopf-1 and AFP in Hepatocellular Carcinoma / 现代生物医学进展

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of serum GP73 combined with Dickkopf-1 and AFP in hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods:117 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma in our hospital were collected as hepatocellular carcinoma group,80 patients with hepatitis B virus as the hepatitis group,and randomly selected 80 healthy subjects as the control group from September 2014 to September 2016.The serums GP73,Dickkopf-1,AFP level of every group were detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),and the relationship between the GP73,Dickkopf-1,AFP between clinicopathological features were analyzed,the diagnostic value of GP73,Dickkopf-1 and AFP in hepatocellular carcinoma were analyzed.Results:The serums GP73,Dickkopf-1,AFP level of hepatocellular carcinoma group were higher than those of hepatitis group,control group,and the serum AFP level of hepatitis group was higher than that of control group,the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The GP73,Dickkopf-1,AFP in patients with classification B～C were higher than those in classification A among the Child Pugh classification,the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).No statistical significance on difference of GP73,Dickkopf-1,AFP between different differentiation,tumor size,number of tumors was found (P＞0.05).The sensitivity,specificity,positice predictive value,negative predictive value,and accuracy of GP73+Dickkopf-1+AFP in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma were higher than those of GP73,Dickkopf-1,AFP respectively,the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).Conclusion:Serums GP73,Dickkopf-1,AFP in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma have high expression levels,combined with the three indicators can obviously improve the diagnostic value of hepatocellular carcinoma,which has clinically important reference value.

5'-Monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) improves autophagic activity in diabetes and diabetic complications

Diabetes mellitus (DM), an endocrine disorder, will be one of the leading causes of death world-wide in about two decades. Cellular injuries and disorders of energy metabolism are two key factors in the pathogenesis of diabetes, which also become the important causes for the process of diabetic complications. AMPK is a key enzyme in maintaining metabolic homeostasis and has been implicated in the activation of autophagy in distinct tissues. An increasing number of researchers have confirmed that autophagy is a potential factor to affect or induce diabetes and its complications nowadays, which could remove cytotoxic proteins and dysfunctional organelles. This review will summarize the regulation of autophagy and AMPK in diabetes and its complications, and explore how AMPK stimulates autophagy in different diabetic syndromes. A deeper understanding of the regulation and activity of AMPK in autophagy would enhance its development as a promising therapeutic target for diabetes treatment.

Resting-state Network of Brain in Leukoaraiosis Patients: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To explore the diversity of resting-state network of brain between the patients with leukoaraiosis and the healthy people. Methods 31 patients with leukoaraiosis (patients) and 27 healthy persons (controls) were checked with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and analyzed with the independent component analysis (ICA) to explore the resting-state functional brain network. Results The resting-state brain network was found in both the patients and the controls, which was coincident with the previous studies. The active areas were the same in both groups, and the activation was weaken in the patients than in the controls, especially in quadrate gyri, posterior cingulate cortex, superior temporal gyrus, superior parietal gyrus, anterior central gyrus, post central gyrus, insula and prefrontal cortex. Conclusion There is a significant diversity of resting-state network of brain between the patients with leukoaraiosis and healthy people in the activation of active areas.

Study on index components and fingerprints of crude and processed Siegesbeckia Herbs / 中国中药杂志

The change of kirenol, darutigenol and darutoside in Siegesbeckia and its first to ninth processed products were studied, and the ten fingerprints were compared, which provided the experimental basis for the study of Siegesbeckia processing tech- nology. The samples were analysed by HPLC on a SunFire-C18 column (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 μm) with gradient elution of acetonitrile (0.1% formic acid)-water (0.1% formic acid) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL x min(-1). Column temperaturewas 30 °C and the detected wavelength was 215, 320 nm. The calibration curves of kirenol, darutigenol and darutoside were linear in the range of 2.180-26.16, 2.900-34.80, and 1.012-6.072 mg x L(-1), respectively, and the average recoveries were 96.4%, 97.2% and 96.3% wit RSD 2.2%, 1.7% and 2.4%. This method was simple, the result was stable and had good repeatability, recovery and precision. The re- sult was the basis of the chemical contents variation in the processing of Siegesbeckia Herbs and further clarifying the effect of the changing.

Quality survey of different species of clematidis radix et rhizoma / 中国中药杂志

Quality survey of different species of Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma was made by determining the content of hederagenin and oleanolic acid from Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma. The result showed that only a few samples of Clematis chinensis met the quality standard for Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma in Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2010 Edition.

Application of cell co-culture techniques in medical studies / 中国中药杂志

As the cell co-culture techniques can better imitate an in vivo environment, it is helpful in observing the interactions among cells and between cells and the culture environment, exploring the effect mechanisms of drugs and their possible targets and filling the gaps between the mono-layer cell culture and the whole animal experiments. In recently years, they has attracted much more attention from the medical sector, and thus becoming one of research hotspots in drug research and development and bio-pharmaceutical fields. The cell co-culture techniques, including direct and indirect methods, are mainly used for studying pathological basis, new-type treatment methods and drug activity screening. Existing cell co-culture techniques are used for more pharmacological studies on single drug and less studies on interaction of combined drugs, such as collaborative compatibility and attenuation and synergistic effect among traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). In line with the action characteristics of multi-component and multi-target, the cell co-culture techniques provide certain reference value for future studies on the effect and mechanism of combined TCMs on organisms as well as new methods for studies on TCMs and their compounds. This essay summarizes cell co-culture methods and their application and look into the future of their application in studies on TCMs and compounds.

Experimental study of two histological quantitative methods of hepatic fibrosis / 生物医学工程学杂志

To evaluate the value of two histological quantitative methods of hepatic fibrosis: semiquantative scoring system (SSS) and image analysis by computer. The prophylactic and therapeutic effect of Ganzhifu on hepatic fibrosis induced by CCl4 were studied on a total 73 of specimens from liver tissue of rats. All specimen were analyzed quantatively by two methods of SSS marks and image analysis respectively. Difference between groups was compared and hydroxyproline (Hyp) content of each liver tissue was examined. Correlation analysis was done between SSS marks, image analysis and Hyp content. Both prophylactic and therapeutic study showed the same information. Results of SSS marks, image analysis and Hyp content were coincidence. It suggest that both SSS marks and image analysis were interrelated well with Hyp content (P < 0.01). The result suggests that both SSS marks of hepatic fibrosis and image analysis by computer can be taken as reliable histological quantitative method of hepatic fibrosis.