Mechanism of stress-induced microglial activation in depression and traditional Chinese medicine regulation / 中国中药杂志

Depression exists with high prevalence and heavy disease burden. Stress events play a key role in the occurrence of depression, but the pathological mechanism has not been fully clarified by reason of the complexity and heterogeneity. In recent years, neuroinflammation as a pathological mechanism of depression has received extensive attention. The activated microglia is regarded as the marker of neuroinflammation, which is an important link of stress-induced depression. Stress might induce microglia activation through pattern recognition receptors(PRR), intestinal flora, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis, and other pathways. Cross-talk between impaired microglia function and neurobiological factors such as inflammatory cytokines, serotonin metabolism, and neuroplasticity may lead to depression. At present, a large number of studies have proved that traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) plays an anti-depressive role by inhibiting microglia activation, which may be potential treatment strategies for depressive disorder. This paper reviewed the research progress of stress-induced microglia activation in depression and summarized the mechanism of TCM against depression with regard to microglia, hoping to provide experimental evidence and consideration for TCM against depression through microglia.

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Inflammatory Factors in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease Complicated with Anxiety and Depression / 中国实验方剂学杂志

To systematically evaluate the effect of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） on the expression of inflammatory factors in peripheral blood of patients with coronary heart disease complicated with anxiety and depression，and explore its efficacy and safety in treatment of anxiety and depression. In this study，CNKI，VIP database，WanFang database，PubMed and Cochrane Library were searched to collect randomized controlled trials（RCTs） of TCM in the treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with anxiety and depression，and 2 researchers independently screened the literatures and extracted the data. The quality of the included literatures was evaluated with Cochrance bias risk evaluation tool and Meta analysis was conducted by Cochrane Revman 5.3 software. A total of 21 research articles were included，with a total sample size of 2 342 cases，1 175 cases in the treatment group and 1 167 cases in the control group. Meta analysis results showed that the treatment group reduced the hypersensitive C-reactive protein（hs-CRP）［standard mean difference（SMD）=-1.61，95% confidence interval（CI）（-2.14，-1.09），P<0.01］，interleukin（IL）-8［mean difference（MD）=-5.03，95% CI（-8.37，-1.70），P=0.003］，IL-17［MD=-33.27，95% CI（-40.15，-26.39），P<0.01］，tumor necrosis factor（TNF）-α［SMD=-1.18，95% CI（-1.98，-0.38），P<0.01］，and homocysteine（Hcy）［MD=-3.45，95% CI（-4.85，-2.04），P<0.01］. The treatment group was better than the control group in terms of relieving anxiety and depression，i.e. scores of Hamilton anxiety scale（HAMA） ［SMD=-1.97，95% CI（-2.48，-1.46），P<0.01］，Hamilton depression scale（HAMD） ［SMD=-1.94，95% CI（-2.50，-1.38），P<0.01］，and self-rating depression scale（SDS）［SMD=-0.72，95% CI（-0.90，-0.54），P<0.01］，so in terms of ，with statistically significant difference. 4 articles mentioned that no obvious adverse reactions occurred，4 articles mentioned that the treatment group had drowsiness，dry mouth and bitter mouth，gastrointestinal reactions，but the incidence rates were significantly lower than those of the control group. The other 13 articles did not mention the occurrence of adverse reactions.

Comparison of the Developmental Potential and Clinical Results of In Vivo Matured Oocytes Cryopreserved with Different Vitrification Media / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Oocyte vitrification is widely used throughout the world, but its clinical efficacy is inconsistent and depends on the vitrification media. This study compared the developmental potential and clinical results of in vivo matured oocytes cryopreserved with different vitrification media.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This retrospective study involved vitrified-warmed oocytes at one in vitro fertilization laboratory. Vitrification media kits comprised the MC kit (ethylene glycol [EG] plus 1,2-propanediol [PROH]), the KT kit (EG plus dimethyl sulphoxide [DMSO]), and the Modified kit (EG plus DMSO and PROH kit). Rates of oocyte survival and subsequent developmental potential were recorded and analyzed. The t-test and the Chi-square test were used to evaluate each method's efficacy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Oocyte survival rate was significantly higher for the Modified kit (92.0%) than for the MC kit (88.2%) (P < 0.05) and the KT kit (77.3%) (P < 0.001). The rate of high-quality embryo development in the Modified kit group (35.8%) was significantly higher than in the MC kit group (29.0%) and the KT kit group (28.3%) (P < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in the clinical pregnancy and implantation rates among the MC, KT, and Modified kit groups (37.2% vs. 30.2% vs. 39.6%; 21.9% vs. 18.8% vs. 27.4%, respectively) (P > 0.05). The high-quality embryo rate per warmed oocyte was significantly higher (23.4%) in the Modified kit group than in the other groups (P < 0.001). The embryo utilization and live birth rates per warmed oocyte were the highest in the Modified kit group, but not significantly (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Modified vitrification media are efficient for oocyte vitrification and, with further verification, may be able to replace commercially available media in future clinical applications.</p>

Isolation of gastric cancer stem cells based on colony morphology and detection of their sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the sensitivity of gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs) to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and to explore the cytological mechanism of drug-resistance of gastric cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemical staining was employed to examine expression of stem cell marker CD44 and drug-resistance protein thymidylate synthase (TS) in 71 cases with gastric cancer. Based on morphology of cell colonies derived from AGS gastric cell line, colonies consisting of GCSCs were isolated, and expression of CD44 and TS, as well as self-renewal capacity of GCSCs were detected. Sensitivity of GCSCs to 5-FU was examined through CCK-8 assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rates of CD44 and TS were 59.2% (42/71) and 56.3% (40/71) in gastric cancer, and expression of CD44 was associated with that of TS (χ(2)=12.76, P<0.01; Kappa=0.41). Serial sections indicated that CD44+ cancer cells simultaneously expressed TS. AGS developed morphologically diverse colonies, and the GCSCs colonies exhibited a tight and regular shape, which were called holoclone. Holoclones expressed CD44 and TS strongly, possessing capacity of robust self-renewal and forming a lot of second passage clones after incubation. Subclones expressed CD44 and TS weakly, forming less second passage clones. Paraclones almost did not express CD44 and TS, forming no second passage clone after incubation. Affected by 5-Fu, three holoclones showed less growth inhibition compared with another colony type and wild-type AGS cells. Furthermore, IC50 of 5-FU for three holoclones was (113.43±5.81), (272.68±25.75) and (118.14±17.75) μmol/L respectively, which were significantly higher than that of one subcolony type [(16.97±1.01) μmol/L] and AGS cells [(27.52±0.59) μmol/L] (all P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>GCSCs possess lower sensitivity to 5-FU, and may play a critical role in drug-resistance of gastric cancer.</p>

Elective single blastocyst transfer is more suitable for normal responders than for high responders / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Embryo quality and receptivity of the endometrium are two factors that determine the results of in vitro fertilization/intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET). There is no consensus of the optimal transfer strategy for normal responders or high responders. The current study aimed to find the optimal transfer strategy for different subgroups of patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From April 2010 to December 2010, patients who meet the following criteria were included in this study; primary infertility, female age ≤ 35 years, FSH level on female cycle day 2 - 3 ≤ 12 mIU/ml, at least six good quality embryos available on day three. The clinical outcomes using different transfer strategies between normal responders and high responders were reviewed and compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>For the normal responders, the clinical pregnancy rate of day three double-embryo transfer (DET) was comparable to that of day five elective single blastocyst transfer (eSBT), 64.04% vs. 60.33% (P > 0.05). For the high responders, the clinical pregnancy rate of day five eSBT was significantly lower than that of day three DET, 43.35% vs. 57.21% (P < 0.05). For the high responders, the rates of clinical pregnancy and implantation in frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles were notably higher than in eSBT cycles (64.56% vs. 43.35% and 62.11% vs. 43.35% respectively) (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>For normal responders, eSBT might be an applicable strategy to reduce multiple pregnancy rates while maintaining acceptable overall pregnancy rates. And in order to reduce multiple pregnancies and increase the chance of pregnancy of high responders, FET may be a preferable strategy.</p>

Clinical study on effect of yufeng capsule on premonitory symptoms of apoplexy / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the clinical effect of Yufeng Capsule (YFC), a Chinese herbal preparation with function of clearing Heat-toxin in treating premonitory symptoms of apoplexy in middle and old aged patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and fourteen patients with premonitory symptoms of apoplexy were treated with YFC and compared with 57 patients treated with Venoruton for control. The changes of clinical symptoms, anti-oxidation capability, blood lipid, blood sugar and hemorrheological parameters were observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The therapeutic effect in the YFC group was cured in 42 cases (36.84%), markedly effective in 38 (33.33%), effective in 28 (24.58%) and the total effective rate was 94.74%, while in the control group, the corresponding numbers were 9 (15.79%), 8(14.04%), 20(35.09%) and 64.91% respectively, the difference between the two groups in cure rate, markedly effective rate and total effective rate was significant (P < 0.05); (2) The whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, hemagglutination index and red blood cell deformity index in the YFC group were significantly improved after treatment (P < 0.01) and the improvement was better than those in the control group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); (3) Levels of serum malonyldialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), blood lipids and glucose were markedly improved in the YFC group (P < 0.05) after treatment, and showed a significant difference to those in the control group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>YFC has obvious effect in treating premonitory symptoms of apoplexy patients, it could markedly improve the hemorrheologic parameters, regulate blood lipids and blood glucose metabolism, and strengthen the anti-oxidation capability of patients.</p>