Inhibitory Effect of Jinkui Shenqi Pills on Glucocorticoid-Enhanced Axial Length Elongation in Experimentally Myopic Guinea Pigs / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the underlying mechanism of inhibition by Jinkui Shenqi Pills (JKSQP) on glucocorticoid-enhanced axial length elongation in experimental lens-induced myopia (LIM) guinea pigs.@*METHODS@#Sixty 2-week old male guinea pigs were randomly divided into 4 groups with 15 guinea pigs in each group, according to the random numbers generated by SPSS software: control, LIM, saline and JKSQP groups. The control group includes animals with no treatment, while the guinea pigs in the other 3 groups received lens-induced myopization on the right eyes throughout the experiment (for 8 weeks). The saline and JKSQP groups were given daily intraperitoneal injections of 10 mg/kg hydrocortisone for 2 consecutive weeks at the same time, and then orally administered either saline or JKSQP [13.5 g/(kg•d) for 6 consecutive weeks. Body weight, anal temperature and animal appearance were observed and recorded to evaluate the GC-associated symptoms. The ocular parameters, including refraction and axial length, were measured by streak retinoscopy and A-scan ultrasonography, respectively. The levels of plasma hormones associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA), including free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, estradiol and testosterone, were measured by radioimmunoassay, and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In addition, the mRNA and protein expressions of retinal amphiregulin (AREG) was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively.@*RESULTS@#JKSQP effectively increased body weight and anal temperature, improved animal appearance and suppressed axial length elongation in glucocorticoid-enhanced myopic guinea pigs with normalization of 4 HPAA-associated plasma hormones (all P<0.05). The plasma level of cAMP was significantly increased, whereas the plasma level of cGMP and the mRNA and protein expressions of retinal AREG were decreased after treatment with JKSQP (all P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#JKSQP exhibited a significant inhibitory effect on axial length elongation with decreased expression of AREG in the retina, and normalized 4 HPAA-associated plasma hormones and the expression of cAMP and cGMP in GC-enhanced myopic guinea pigs.

Historical Evolution and Modern Research Progress of Processed Products of Aurantii Fructus / 中国实验方剂学杂志

The processing of Aurantii Fructus has a long history and many methods. In addition to the current mainstream varieties of raw products and stir-fried products with bran of Aurantii Fructus, other 17 processing methods, such as stir-fried with rice, processed with salt, honey and medicinal juice, are recorded in the literature of past dynasties. Through a comprehensive review and sorting out of ancient and modern literature, this paper clarifies the historical evolution of the processing of Aurantii Fructus, through clarifying the historical evolution of processing and analyzing the present situation of modern research on Aurantii Fructus, summarizes the modern research progress on processing in production place, processing technology, chemical compositions and pharmacological effects before and after being processed, and puts forward some ideas for the follow-up research on processing of Aurantii Fructus, in order to provide reference for screening the dominant varieties, standardizing the processing technology, explaining the scientific connotation of processing, and improving the utilization ratio of medicinal resources of Aurantii Fructus.