Research progress in gut-skin axis and its association with traditional Chinese medicine theory / 中国中药杂志

Currently, the gut-organ axis has become a hot research topic. As increasing attention has been paid to the role of gut microbiota in the health of organs, the complex and integrated dialogue mechanism between the gastrointestinal tract and the associated microbiota has been demonstrated in more and more studies. Skin as the largest organ in the human body serves as the primary barrier protecting the human body from damage. The proposal of the gut-skin axis has established a bidirectional link between the gut and the skin. The disturbance of gut microbiota can lead to the occurrence of skin diseases, the mechanism of which is complex and may involve multiple pathways in immunity, metabolism, and internal secretion. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), the connection between the intestine and the skin can be established through the lung, and the interior disorders will definitely cause symptoms on the exterior. This paper reviews the research progress in the gut-skin axis and its correlation with TCM theory and provides ideas and a basis for cli-nical treatment and drug development of skin and intestinal diseases.

Interleukin-17A facilitates optic nerve regeneration in a mouse model of optic nerve crush / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Interleukin-17A has been shown to play an important role in nerve regeneration following corneal injury. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of interleukin-17A on mouse nerve regeneration after optic nerve injury.METHODS: The interleukin-17A-overexpressed adenovirus vector (AV-IL-17A-GFP) was constructed and purified. Adenoviruses with green fluorescent protein (AV-GFP) served as control group. PC12 cell lines were transfected with adenoviruses and the expression efficiency of IL-17A were detected by ELISA. The adenovirus was intravitreally injected into the mouse vitreous body, and the expression level of IL-17A in the optic nerve was determined by immunofluorescence. Afterwards, a mouse model of optic nerve injury was established to observe the nerve regeneration. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: ELISA results showed that IL-17A was highly expressed in the PC12 cell lines transfected with AV-IL-17A-GFP compared with the control group.Immunofluorescence results revealed that IL-17A was expressed in vivo successfully.There was a significant increase in the number of regenerated axons in the AV-IL-17A-GFP group compared with the control group (P < 0.05). To conclude,AV-IL-17A-GFP can be expressed in the mature neurons in vivo and promote the axon regeneration after optic nerve crush injury in mice.