Effect of Dunhuang Pingweiwan and Its Decomposed Recipes on Tumor Inhibition and PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway in SCG-7901 Gastric Cancer Mice / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the antitumor effect and the mechanism of Dunhuang Pingweiwan and its decomposed recipes based on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）/mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR） signaling pathway in SCG-7901 gastric cancer-mice. Method:The subcutaneous tumor bearing model of SCG-7901 gastric cancer in mice was established， and the the mice were randomized into model group， Dunhuang Pingweiwan group （14.04 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， Huoxue Jiedu group （6.50 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， Wenzhong Sanhan group （3.64 g·kg^-1·d^-1） and cisplatin group （2 mg·kg^-1·d^-1）， with 8 mice in each group. From the 8^th day of inoculation， the mice were administered for 10 consecutive days. The mice were weighed and the general conditions were observed every other day. On the next day of the last administration， the mice were sacrificed， and the tumor was removed and weighed to calculate the anti-tumor rate. The histopathological changes were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining， and the mRNA and protein expressions of PI3K， Akt， and mTOR in tumor tissues were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR） and immunohistochemistry （IHC）， respectively. Result:From the 10^th day of inoculation， the mice in cisplatin group were generally in poor condition and their body mass decreased. The mice in model group， Dunhuang Pingweiwan group， Huoxue Jiedu group and Wenzhong Sanhan group were generally fair， and their body mass increased without significant difference among groups. The tumor inhibition rates of Dunhuang Pingweiwan， Huoxue Jiedu， Wenzhong Sanhan and cisplatin groups were 30.74%， 24.80%， 4.19% and 63.84%， respectively. Except for Wenzhong Sanhan group， tumor weight of the other treatment groups was significantly lower than that of the model group （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， and there was no significant difference between the Dunhuang Pingweiwan and Huoxue Jiedu group. Dunhuang Pingweiwan and Huoxue Jiedu group could significantly reduce tumor cell density and cause tumor cell necrosis. Compared with the model group， the expressions of PI3K， Akt， and mTOR mRNA and protein in the Dunhuang Pingweiwan， Huoxue Jiedu and cisplatin groups significantly decreased （<italic>P</italic><0.05， <italic>P</italic><0.01）， and there was no significant difference between the Dunhuang Pingweiwan group and Huoxue Jiedu group. Conclusion:Dunhuang Pingweiwan and its decomposed recipes （Huoxue Jiedu） have a certain anti-tumor effect on the SCG-7901 gastric cancer-mice， and the mechanism may be related to the down-regulation of key molecules in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Effect of M1/M2 Alveolar Macrophage Subsets in COVID-19 and Regulatory Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine / 中国实验方剂学杂志

The pathological anatomical results of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients showed that excessive inflammatory reaction in the lungs is one of the important causes for such complications as acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Therefore, regulation of immune response may be an effective measure for COVID-19. Alveolar macrophages have a high heterogeneity and plasticity. The dynamic changes of subsets balance and function of M1/M2 alveolar macrophages have a significant effect on pulmonary inflammatory response during the early and late stages of infection. This paper reviews the classification and function of macrophages and explores the mechanism of alveolar macrophage in the pathological process of COVID-19 at different stages and the pharmacodynamic mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine. Besides, it provides ideas for the treatment of COVID-19 with traditional Chinese medicine and other drugs' research and development based on the regulation of macrophage polarization.