Effect of moxibustion at "Mingmen" (GV 4) and "Guanyuan" (CV 4) on immune function in healthy rats based on intestinal flora / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effects of moxibustion at "Mingmen" (GV 4) and "Guanyuan" (CV 4) on immune function and intestinal flora in healthy rats, thereby investigating the underlying mechanism of moxibustion on immune function.@*METHODS@#Twenty 8-week-old SD rats were randomly divided into a young blank group and a young moxibustion group, with 10 rats in each group. Similarly, twenty 8-month-old SD rats were randomly divided into a middle-aged blank group and a middle-aged moxibustion group, with 10 rats in each group. The rats in the two moxibustion groups received moxibustion at "Mingmen" (GV 4) and "Guanyuan" (CV 4), 15 min per session, once daily, five times a week, for a total of four months. The rats in the two blank groups were fed under normal conditions. After the intervention, thymus and spleen indexes were calculated; the morphology of thymus and spleen tissues was observed using HE staining; the flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of CD and CD T lymphocytes and the CD/CD ratio was calculated; ELISA was used to measure the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interleukin-17 (IL-17); 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the intestinal flora. Additionally, the correlation between the relative abundance of intestinal flora and serum levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-17 was analyzed.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the young blank group, the young moxibustion group exhibited an increase in the cortical area of thymus tissue with tighter lymphocyte arrangement; compared with the middle-aged blank group, the middle-aged moxibustion group showed an increase in thymus index (P<0.05) and an increase in the cortical area of thymus tissue. There were no significant differences in spleen index between the 2 moxibustion groups and the 2 blank groups (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in the expression of CD, CD, and CD/CD ratio between the 2 moxibustion groups and the corresponding blank groups (P>0.05). Compared with the young blank group, the young moxibustion group had elevated IL-6 level (P<0.05); compared with the middle-aged blank group, the middle-aged moxibustion group had decreased IL-10 and IL-17 levels (P<0.05). Compared with the young blank group, the young moxibustion group exhibited increased Sobs index, Ace index, and Chao index (P<0.01, P<0.05), as well as increased relative abundance of Spirochaetota, Treponema, Turicibacter, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group (P<0.05), and decreased relative abundance of Dubosiella (P<0.05). Compared with the middle-aged blank group, the middle-aged moxibustion group had increased relative abundance of Spirochaetota, Treponema, norank_f_Peptococcaceae (P<0.05), and decreased relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Allobaculum, and Faecalibaculum (P<0.05). Correlation analysis revealed that relative abundance of Eubacterium_xylanophilum_group and unclassified _f_Lachnospiraceae was negatively correlated with serum TNF-α level (r=-0.39, P=0.03; r=-0.24, P=0.04), while relative abundance of norank_f_norank_o_Clostridia_UCG-014 and Lactobacillus was positively correlated with serum TNF-α level (r=0.37, P=0.04; r=0.43, P=0.02). The relative abundance of Roseburia and Monoglobus was negatively correlated with serum IFN-γ level (r=-0.40, P=0.02; r=-0.44, P=0.01), while relative abundance of Lactobacillus was positively correlated with serum IL-10 level (r=0.43, P=0.02).@*CONCLUSION@#Moxibustion could improve immune function in healthy rats, and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of relative abundance of intestinal flora.

Relationship Between Aquaporins and "Kidney Governing Water" Theory / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） theory holds that "kidney governing water" plays a leading role in maintaining the metabolism of water and fluid in the body. The opening and closing of kidney qi determines the distribution， retention， and excretion of water and fluid. The treatment of some diseases caused by the imbalance of water and fluid metabolism is often carried out based on the kidney. Aquaporins are channel proteins that specifically transport water. They act as a regulator of intracellular and intercellular water flow and maintain the dynamic balance of water and fluid. Because of the differences in their location and expression， they have different physiological functions. Numerous studies have shown that aquaporins are widely distributed in the kidney， and their altered expression is of important significance to reveal the imbalance of water and fluid metabolism caused by different diseases. Doctors of all dynasties have accumulated rich experience in the continuous exploration of TCM regulating water and fluid metabolism disorders. TCM has the unique advantages of holistic view involving multiple pathways， components， and targets， and has achieved satisfactory regulatory effect， but the specific mechanism of action is not fully revealed. Therefore， this study explored the internal correlation of "kidney governing water"， the expression of aquaporins， and water and fluid metabolism disorders， summarized the regulatory effect and mechanism of Chinese medicinal extract， single Chinese medicine， and Chinese medicinal compound on water and fluid metabolism disorder， and interpreted the scientific connotation of "kidney governing water"， in order to provide new ideas and new directions for the TCM treatment of diseases due to water and fluid metabolism disorders.

Relationship Between Aquaporins and "Kidney Governing Water" Theory / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） theory holds that "kidney governing water" plays a leading role in maintaining the metabolism of water and fluid in the body. The opening and closing of kidney qi determines the distribution， retention， and excretion of water and fluid. The treatment of some diseases caused by the imbalance of water and fluid metabolism is often carried out based on the kidney. Aquaporins are channel proteins that specifically transport water. They act as a regulator of intracellular and intercellular water flow and maintain the dynamic balance of water and fluid. Because of the differences in their location and expression， they have different physiological functions. Numerous studies have shown that aquaporins are widely distributed in the kidney， and their altered expression is of important significance to reveal the imbalance of water and fluid metabolism caused by different diseases. Doctors of all dynasties have accumulated rich experience in the continuous exploration of TCM regulating water and fluid metabolism disorders. TCM has the unique advantages of holistic view involving multiple pathways， components， and targets， and has achieved satisfactory regulatory effect， but the specific mechanism of action is not fully revealed. Therefore， this study explored the internal correlation of "kidney governing water"， the expression of aquaporins， and water and fluid metabolism disorders， summarized the regulatory effect and mechanism of Chinese medicinal extract， single Chinese medicine， and Chinese medicinal compound on water and fluid metabolism disorder， and interpreted the scientific connotation of "kidney governing water"， in order to provide new ideas and new directions for the TCM treatment of diseases due to water and fluid metabolism disorders.

Effect of Mitochondrial Function on Cell Senescence and Anti-ging Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Moxibustion： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Since ancient times， delaying aging， health， and longevity have been the universal wish of people. Nowadays， China gives top strategic priority to the development of people's health. How to maintain a healthy life and slow down the aging of the human body is a problem worthy of our attention. Human aging can be shown as cell senescence from the microscopic level. Cell senescence is a process in which cell proliferation and differentiation and physiological function gradually decline. It is a normal physiological function responsible for the removal of damaged cells and is the regeneration and recovery of tissues after injury or acute stress. Aging is an irresistible natural law. Although it is inevitable， it is possible to delay aging. Energy metabolism is an important basis of cell function， in which cells use nutrients such as sugar and fat to produce adenosine triphosphate （ATP）. Mitochondria serve as the cell's power stations， where sugars， fats， and amino acids are eventually oxidized to release energy. Mitochondrial function decreases with age. Changes in mitochondrial dynamics， reactive oxygen species content， autophagy， and metabolites can cause dysfunction of electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation， and induce mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the internal causes of many aging-related diseases， such as neurodegenerative diseases， Alzheimer′s disease， and atherosclerosis. Chinese medicine with few side effects and rich ingredients and health care moxibustion with safety and efficacy have been widely applied to the field of anti-aging. This study reviewed the effect of mitochondrial function on cell senescence， and retrieved， analyzed， and summarized research papers on the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） and moxibustion in delaying aging by affecting mitochondrial function， which is expected to provide new insights for further research in this field.

Molecular mechanism analysis of Erzhi Wan in treatment of aging based on network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

This present study aimed to explore the molecular mechanism of Erzhi Wan(a prescription of nourishing Yin and toni-fying liver and kidney) in treatment of aging by network pharmacology. The active constituents and target proteins of Erzhi Wan were searched from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database(TCMSP) and PubChem databases respectively. Aging-related genes were searched from Gene and HAGR databases. Based on the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis(IPA), we analyzed the common molecular network, biological pathway and interaction sites between these two parts, and verified some of them by Western blot. Twelve active constituents of Erzhi Wan were screened by TCMSP databases, 69 protein targets were predicted through PubChem, and 148 aging-related genes were found in Gene and HAGR databases. IPA comparison showed that the molecular networks of these two were complex, with diversity of biological functions. The common pathways involved 292 pathways, mainly related to tumors. They acted on hypoxia inducible factor-1α gene(HIF1α), nuclear factor-E2 related factor(Nrf2/NFE2 L2), tumor necrosis factor(TNF) and other sites. Western blot results suggested that Erzhi Wan could down-regulate the expression of HIF1α, with statistical difference(P<0.05). It was concluded that, Erzhi Wan could intervene aging through improving pseudo-hypoxic microenvironment and inflammation. The molecular mechanism of Erzhi Wan in delaying aging was preliminarily revealed, which laid a foundation for further stu-dying the anti-aging mechanism of Erzhi Wan, and also provided a reference for the compatibility mechanism and extended application of Chinese medicine compounds.

Nitrogen metabolism and secondary metabolism regulation of Atropa belladonna by exogenous NO under NaCl stress / 中国中药杂志

Atropa belladonna seedlings were used as experimental materials and cultivated by soil culture method. Different concentrations(0,0.05,0.1,0.2,0.5 mmol·L~(-1))of NO donor sodium nitroprusside(SNP) were sprayed on the leaves. The effects of different concentrations of SNP and different treatment time(4,8,12,16 d) on nitrogen metabolism, secondary metabolite content, precursor content of tropane alkaloid synthesis pathway and expression of key enzyme genes under 100 mmol·L~(-1) NaCl stress were studied. The results showed that with the prolongation of salt stress, the nitrogen metabolism and the accumulation of secondary metabolites of A. belladonna were inhibited to some extent. After treatment with different concentrations of exogenous SNP, the ammonium nitrogen content decreased dramatically, and the contents of nitrate nitrogen, free amino acid, soluble protein and the activities of key enzymes of nitrogen metabolism(NR, GS, GDH) were all greatly improved; the contents of precursor amino acids(ornithine, arginine) and polyamines(Put, Spd, Spm) in the secondary metabolic pathway have increased to varying degrees. The qRT-PCR analysis showed that exogenous SNP treatment can effectively promote the high expression of key enzyme genes PMT, TRⅠ and H6H in the secondary metabolic pathway of A. belladonna, and the production of hyoscyamine and scopolamine were increased notably. In summary, the application of appropriate concentration of SNP can effectively alleviate the inhibition of salt stress on the nitrogen metabolism and secondary metabolism of Atropa belladonna, and enhance its salt tolerance. Overall, 0.1 mmol·L~(-1) and 0.2 mmol·L~(-1) SNP treatment achieved the most remarkable effect.

Anticancer Effects of Constituents of Herbs Targeting Osteosarcoma / 中国结合医学杂志

Osteosarcoma is a rare primary malignancy of bone that is prone to early metastasis. Resection surgery and chemotherapeutic regimens are current standard treatments for osteosarcoma. However, the long-term survival rate of patients with osteosarcoma is low due to a high risk of metastasis. Hence, a new approach is urgently needed to improve the treatment of osteosarcoma. Compared with chemotherapy, natural active constituents isolated from herbs exhibit less adverse effects and better anti-tumor effects. This study aimed to summarize the anticancer effects of constituents of herbs on the progression and metastasis of osteosarcoma cells. It showed that many constituents of herbs inhibited osteosarcoma by targeting proliferation, matrix metalloproteinases, integrin and cadherin, and angiogenesis. The findings might be beneficial for the development of new drugs and treatment strategies.

Cloning and expression analysis of calmodulin gene from Pinellia ternate / 中国中药杂志

According to the data of Pinellia ternate transcriptome,two calmodulin genes were cloned and named as Pt Ca M1 and PtCa M2 respectively. The results of bioinformatics analysis showed that Pt Ca Ms genes contained a 450 bp open reading frame,encoding149 amino acids.The identity of the coding sequences was 80%,and the identity of amino acids sequence was 91%. Pt Ca Ms genes contained EF-hand structure domain,belonging to the Ca M families. The Real-time PCR analysed the expression patterns of Pt Ca Ms in different tissues and different treatments. RESULTS:: showed that Pt Ca M1 and Pt Ca M2 gene were the highest expression level in tuber. Under Ca Cl2 treatment,the expressions of Pt Ca Ms were significantly higher than the control. Under EGTA,La Cl3 and TFP treatments,the expression level of Pt Ca Ms decreased gradually. In this study,the Pt Ca Ms gene were successfully cloned from P. ternate,which laid a foundation for the functional characteristic of Pt Ca Ms gene and the synthesis of alkaloids from P. ternata for further study.

Modern Research Progress on Yin Deficiency / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Yin deficiency is one of the main pathogenesis of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and it is also the basicpathogenesis of many clinical syndromes. Discrimination of pathogenesis is the key to effective treatment based onsyndrome differentiation. This paper will discuss the basic research and clinical research on the establishment of theanimal model of yin deficiency, the detection of physiological and biochemical indexes, yin deficiency constitution andTCM in the prevention and treatment of yin deficiency to provide data to clarify the material basis of yin deficiency andlay the foundation for the standardization and unification of the syndrome differentiation and treatment formulation of clinical TCM.

Analysis of Transcriptomes and Differentially Expressed Genes in Leaves and Roots of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Diels et Gilg / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To obtain the transcriptome database and differentially expressed genes of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Diels et Gilg. by Illumina HiSeq 4000; To provide important molecular information for its molecular biology research. Methods Leaves and roots of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Diels et Gilg. were chosen as experimental materials to conduct transcriptome sequencing. Then bioinformatics analysis of gene function annotations, metabolic pathways, and microsatellites was performed on the test data. Results 24.13 Gb Clean Data were assembled. Afer assembly steps, 84 433 of T. hemsleyanum Unigene were obtained, and then they were compared in the 7 gene database, and 47 766 annotated information of Unigene was obtained. There were 27 790 annotations in the GO database. The number of differentially expressed genes in the roots, stems and leaves was 4989, of which 3511 were up-regulated and 1478 were down-regulated. The COG database obtained 16 152 homologous sequences of Unigene, which were divided into 25 categories. In the KEGG database, there were 14 511 Unigene obtained the corresponding Ko number, which could be divided into 130 branches of signal metabolism, among which the number of Unigene in the ribosome synthesis pathway was the most, with 1042, and there was only 1 Unigene in the biosynthetic pathway of isoflavones. Conclusion A large number of transcripts of the transcriptome were obtained through splicing, assembling and functional annotation of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Diels et Gilg., which can provide genomic database resources for molecular biology research of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum Diels et Gilg.

Preliminary Study on Traditional Chinese Medicine Thinking / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

The essence of thinking was the procedure for processing information by knowledge in the frame of world view,which depending on the world view and the existing knowledge and information.The characteristic of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) thinking was reflected by its unique world view.The world view of TCM thinking was natural view,holism concept and dialectic view,compared with modern scientific thinking mostly in reduction analysis.To develop TCM,the modern TCM thinking system was established through the reforming and innovating of TCM thinking characteristic based on preservation and promotion of them.

Prediction of the secondary structure and B-cell epitopes of Mycoplasma suis ORF5 protein / 中国人兽共患病学报

The objective of the study is to predict the spatial structure and B‐cell epitopes of Mycoplasma suis ORF5 pro‐tein .The secondary structure ,hydrophilicity ,flexible region ,antigenic index and surface probability were analyzed and predic‐ted by the Protean module in DNAStar software and B Cell Epitope Prediction Tools of IDEB ,then B‐cell epitopes were predic‐ted by aggregate analysis .Results showed that the secondary structure of Mycoplasma suis ORF5 protein was relatively regu‐lar ,in which the potential B cell antigenic epitopes were located at GGVDGGRD ,GMRLPEDSR ,and EGHPDLESAR .The methods of prediction of the secondary structure and B‐cell epitopes of Mycoplasma suis ORF5 protein may provide a new method for the study of M .suis immunogenicity ,and provides a new idea for the study on immunogenicity of pathogenic micro‐organisms .

Association between gene polymorphism of neuropeptide Y promoter and cerebral stroke subtypes according to TOAST criteria / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective To explore the relationship between gene polymorphism of neuropeptide Y (NPY) promoter and cerebral stroke subtypes according to TOAST (Trail of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment) criteria in Chinese Han population. Methods The gene polymorphisms at position of-399T/C, -883Tgins/del and -602G/T in NPY promoter were detected by PCR method and gene sequencing in 190 cases of large-artery atherosclerosis stroke (LAA), 260 cases of small-artery occlusion (SAO), 60 cases of cardioembolism stroke (CE), 29 cases of stroke of other demonstrated etiology (ODE),10 cases of stroke of other undemonstrated etiology (UE) and 423 healthy control subjects. The PCR products were directly sequenced. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to analyze the relationship between gene polymorphism of NPY promoter and cerebral stroke subtypes according to TOAST by removing the confounding variables. Results Significant differences in the frequency of genotype CC and allele C at position of-399T/C were noted between the patients with SAO and controls (P=0.046, P=0.010). Compared with the control group, patients with LAA and SAO were more likely having high level of uric acid, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and heard disease (P＜0.05). No statistic differences in the frequency of genotype DD and allele D at position of-883Tgins/del were noted between patients with SAO and controls (P=0.0605, P=0.155). Gene polymorphisms of-399T/C,-883Tgins/del and -602G/T did not associate with an increased risk of having LAA, CE, ODE and UE.Conclusions The gene polymorphisms of promoter in position of-399T/C gene maybe associate with the happening of SAO; allele C at the position of-399T/C may raise the risk of the disease. There is no relationship between the gene polymorphisms of promoter at position of-399T/C, -883Tgins/del, -602G/T and the patients with LAA, CE, ODE and UE. High level of uric acid, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and heard disease history are the risk factors of LAA and SAO.