Natural ingredients from Chinese materia medica for pulmonary hypertension / 中国天然药物

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe pathophysiological condition characterized by pulmonary artery remodeling and continuous increases in pulmonary artery pressure, which may eventually develop to right heart failure and death. Although newly discovered and incredible treatment strategies in recent years have improved the prognosis of PH, limited types of effective and economical drugs for PH still makes it as a life-threatening disease. Some drugs from Chinese materia medica (CMM) have been traditionally applied in the treatment of lung diseases. Accumulating evidence suggests active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) derived from those medicines brings promising future for the prevention and treatment of PH. In this review, we summarized the pharmacological effects of APIs derived from CMM which are potent in treating PH, so as to provide new thoughts for initial drug discovery and identification of potential therapeutic strategies in alternative medicine for PH.

Circulating Neutrophil Counts Decrease in Response to Mitigated Air Quality in Stable COPD Patients / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

This three-year study, based on the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease (GRID), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Biobank, was conducted in 36 COPD patients to estimate whether changes in levels of leukocytes, erythrocytes, hemoglobin, and platelets were related to changes in air pollutant concentration. Daily NO2 levels exhibited significant differences between baseline years and the 2010 Asian Game period. We observed significant reductions in leukocyte and neutrophils counts levels, by 15.51% and 23.01%, from pre-Asian Games to during-Asian Games, respectively. In the post-Asian Game period, most pollutants approximated pre-Asian Game period levels, and similar effects were demonstrated in leukocyte and neutrophil counts. For both items, we identified significant increases resulting from elevated NO2 at lag days 0-2/5-6. We concluded that reductions in pollutants during the intervention period were associated with inactivation of hematological events in COPD.