Progress in research methods or strategies of compatibility mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions / 中国药房

Compound formulas of traditional Chinese medicines （TCM）， also known as prescription in clinic， refers to a form of medication in which several TCMs are selectively combined according to the certain compatibility principles and the needs of patient’s condition， based on syndrome differentiation and treatment. At present， the methods and strategies for investigating the compatibility mechanisms of TCM prescriptions mainly focus on the following two aspects: analysis of pharmacological substances （including chemical composition analysis of TCM， ingredients of TCM analysis in blood， and pharmacokinetic analysis） and pharmacological signaling pathways analysis （involving network pharmacology analysis， signal pathway indicator detection， and metabolomics analysis）. In future research， the compatibility relationships of TCM prescriptions should be explored according to the principles of “Qiqing Hehe”，“ Shengjiang Fuchen”，“ Junchen Zuoshi”， and “Siqi Wuwei”. The regularity of TCM prescriptions compatibility should be shown in the change regularity of chemical components， pharmacokinetics， pharmacological pathways， and chemical compositions of various ratios of TCMs. Based on the insurance of holistic efficacy of TCM prescriptions， the underlying mechanisms of compatibility should be uncovered， which will provide references for the optimization of clinical applications of prescriptions and new directions for the creation of innovative TCM prescriptions.

Effects of lamivudine on growth of intestinal characteristic bacteria by microcalorimetry in vitro / 药学学报

The study is aimed to investigate the effect of lamivudine on growth and metabolism of three intestinal characteristic bacteria (namely, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Escherichia coli and Shigella dysenteriae). The growth condition of the three bacteria was quantitatively evaluated by microcalorimetry with four characteristic parameters of the thermal power-time curves, including the growth rate constant (k), thermal power (p), time to peak (t) and calorific value (Q). The results showed that the IC50 value of lamivudine on B. adolescentis was 200 microg x mL(-1), and the IC50 values of lamivudine on S. dysenteriae and E. coli were higher than 3 000 microg x mL(-1) and 6 000 microg x mL(1), respectively. Therefore, lamivudine made different inhibitory effects on the three bacteria, in which the B. adolescentis was most susceptible to lamivudine. This work showed that taking lamivudine chronically is likely to affect the balance of good flora in the intestinal tract, and might increase endotoxin release, leading to inflammation and disease progression in hepatopathy.

Risk factors related to acute post-stroke pneumonia / 中华临床感染病杂志

Objective To explore the independent risk factors related to acute post-stroke pneumonia.Methods A total of 545 inpatients with acute stroke in Shanghai First People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University and East Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University during July 1,2009 to June 30,2011 were enrolled.Single-factor analysis was performed to identify the risk factors of acute post-stroke pneumonia. According to the results of single-factor analysis and relevant professional knowledge,fitting multi-factor non-conditional Logistic regression model,adjusting the relevant confounded factors,the independent risk factors were analyzed.Results The incidence of acute post-stroke pneumonia was 11.0％ (60/545).The independent risk factors of acute post-stroke pneumonia were:age ≥ 80 year ( OR =6.024,95％ CI:1.923 - 18.868,P =0.002 ),hemorrhagic stroke ( OR =3.546,95％ CI:1.266 -9.901,P =0.016),stay in bed ( OR =4.295,95％ CI:1.642 - 11.233,P =0.003 ),baseline Glasgow coma scale ≤8 ( OR =5.127,95％ CI:1.377 - 19.090,P =0.015 ),baseline Barthel index ＜50 ( OR =8.403,95％ CI:1.468 -47.619,P =0.017 ),malnutrition ( OR =10.625,95％ CI:3.260 -34.631,P =0.000 ),baseline fasting plasma glucose ≥ 7.0 mmol/L ( OR =10.000,95％ CI:3.115 -32.258,P =0.000); and early rehabilitation was the protective factor (OR =0.159,95％ CI:0.055 -0.466,P =0.001 ).Conclusions The incidence of acute post-stroke pneumonia is high,and it is relatedwith many independent risk factors.Comprehensive interventions may contribute to early identify and prevent acute post-stroke pneumonia.

Neuroimmunological mechanisms of infection after acute stroke / 国际脑血管病杂志

Infection is one of the most important complications of acute stroke, and it is an independent risk factor for resulting in stroke worsening. Growing evidence has indicated that acute stroke patients suffer an impaired peripheral immune response, i.e. stroke-induced immunodepression system (SIDS). SIDS is characterized by the rapid and sustained cellular immunodepression after acute stroke, which is mainly presented as wide apoptosis and dysfunction of lymphocyte. Multiple reasons activate the sympathetic nervous system, and thus cause SIDS. SIDS weakens the effective defense against the invasion of pathogens in the human body, resulting in the increased infection and mortality rate. However, SIDS also has protective effect on the human body. It can prevent the excessive inflammatory response in the injured brain tissue. A better understanding of the complex relationships between the central nervous system and the immune system are promising to provide more effective treatment methods for patients with acute stroke.

The risk factors for malnutrition in post-stroke patients / 中华内科杂志

Objective To investigate the detection rate of malnutrition among post-stroke patients in community hospitals and unravel the relevant factors that precipitate malnutrition after stroke. Methods Based on 438 post-stroke patients who were admitted in community hospitals, we examined the demographic characteristics, the nutritional indices and the possible malnutrition related factors through a cross-sectional study.Results The detection rate of malnutrition among post-stroke patients was 52.7%. Group comparison through multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that there was a higher malnutrition detection rate in the post-stroke patients with multiple stroke attacks (three stroke attackes and above, OR = 11.00,95%CI 1. 14-106.34), higher NIHSS scores (group with NIHSS≥15, OR=7.09, 95% CI 2.90-17.36) , higher modified Rankin scales (group mRS 4-5, OR = 15. 77,95% CI 6.61-37.59) (trend test P<0.0001) .The risk of malnutrition was also correlated with the post-stroke depression, poorer family care, no early-stage rehabilitation, history of malignant tumors and severe alcoholism. Conclusions There is a high detection rate of malnutrition among post-stroke patients in community hospitals. There are many factors related to malnutrition among post-stroke patients in the community. More attention to controllable influencing factors would improve the prognosis of post-stroke patients.