Regulatory effect of Flos Abelmoschus manihot in mice with inflammatory bowel disease based on gut microbiota sequencing and untargeted lipidomics / 药学学报

In this study, the ameliorative effects of Flos Abelmoschus manihot on mice with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were investigated and its effects on the structure of the intestinal flora as well as the lipid profile in feces of IBD mice were analyzed. All animal welfare and experimental procedures followed the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese medicine. A mouse model with chronic IBD induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) was used to evaluate changes in body weight, disease activity index (DAI), colonic histopathological damage as well as gene expression levels of inflammatory factors in the colon. Fecal samples from mice in each group were collected and subjected to Illumina high-throughput sequencing to detect the abundance of intestinal flora; samples were analyzed by UHPLC-Q-Exactive® HF Quadrupole-Orbitrap® of untargeted lipidomics, which detects lipid content in feces. Administration of Flos Abelmoschus manihot could significantly restore the body weight and ameliorate colonic histopathological damage in IBD mice. Sequencing of the gut microbiota revealed that the species diversity and richness of the gut microbiota in IBD mice were decreased, with a significant increase in the abundance of Verrucomicrobia and a significant decrease in the abundance of Bacteroidetes; Flos Abelmoschus manihot significantly increased the richness and diversity of intestinal microbiota in IBD mice, increased the number of taxa species at each level, and restored the abundance of bacteria in the phylum Bacteroidetes. Analysis of fecal lipid profiles identified the most significant changes in sphingolipid and glycerophospholipid metabolic pathways in IBD mice, with Flos Abelmoschus manihot inhibiting ceramide and sphingomyelin synthesis in sphingolipid metabolism. In summary, Flos Abelmoschus manihot can effectively improve the disease condition of mice with chronic IBD, and it has the effect of regulating intestinal flora homeostasis and lipid metabolism, but the related mechanism between the two still needs to be deeply explored.

The effect of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. on intestinal function and gut microbiota homeostasis in aging mice / 药学学报

Aging can cause degenerative changes in the function of multiple tissues and organs in the body. Gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal dysfunction are very common in the elderly people. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of the total extract of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. on intestinal function and gut microbiota homeostasis in natural aging mice, which will provide clues for further mechanism study. The natural aging mice model is established and animal experiments follow the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The overall health of the mice was evaluated by the "frailty index" scoring method. The intestinal absorption and transport function were measured by detecting intestinal glucose absorption capacity, transport time, lipase and amylase activities of aging mice. Intestinal inflammation was assessed by detecting inflammatory cytokines by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The pathological changes in the intestines of aging mice were tested by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining and alizarin blue (AB) staining. The qRT-PCR method was used to explore the gene transcription level related with the proliferation and differentiation of intestinal stem cells. Microbiota analysis based on 16S rDNA were used to evaluate the composition of gut microbiota. The results showed that Astragalus had a tendency to reduce the "frailty index" of aging mice, but did not show a significant difference. In some indicators of aging phenotype, Astragalus has the most significant effect on hair loss and physical fitness. In terms of intestinal function, Astragalus could increase intestinal glucose absorption capacity, shorten intestinal transportation time and promote lipase secretion in aging mice. The levels of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-‍α) in the aging intestinal tissue were reduced after Astragalus administration. Astragalus also ameliorated the pathological degeneration of the intestinal tissue of aging mice by increasing the length of small intestinal villi, the thickness of colonic mucosa and goblet cell number. In addition, Astragalus elevated the expression of genes associated with the proliferation and differentiation in jejunum and modulated gut microbiota, especially restoring the abundance of Lachnospiraceae. Taken together, the above research results demonstrate the total extract of Astragalus as a key factor improving the intestinal function and gut microbiota homeostasis of aging mice.

Piceatannol alleviates host inflammation in chronic kidney disease model mice through regulating gut microbiota / 药学学报

The purpose of this research is to study the effect of small molecule compound piceatannol (PIC) on host inflammation in adenine induced chronic kidney disease (CKD) mice, and then to explore its mechanism based on the regulation of gut microbiota. All procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. The level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); UPLC-TQ/MS technology was used to monitor the level of proinflammatory uremic toxin indoxyl sulfate (IS) and p-cresol sulfate (PCS); the expression of occludin was tested by Western blot; in vitro anaerobic culture of gut bacteria was used to produce indole; the abundance of gut microbiota was evaluated by 16S rDNA sequencing. The results showed that PIC had no effect on inflammatory infiltration in kidney tissue of CKD mice, but could decrease IL-6 level in blood and IL-6/TNF-α level in colon tissue. PIC did not improve intestinal occludin protein expression in CKD mice; while it could significantly reduce the levels of IS and PCS in blood and liver of CKD mice. Further mechanism studies showed that PIC could inhibit the synthesis of IS precursor indole in gut bacteria. Moreover, PIC could decrease the abundance of gut bacteria which producing uremic toxin, such as reducing the abundance of indole and p-cresol producing gut bacteria. In conclusion, PIC could regulate gut microbiota and inhibit the synthesis of uremic toxin precursor, thereafter reducing the accumulation of IS and PCS in vivo, ultimately relieving the inflammation of CKD mice.

Syndrome Distribution of 9 323 Cough Cases in Ancient Chinese Medical Books Based on Latent Structure Model and Logistic Regression Analysis / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To explore the syndrome distribution of cough cases in ancient Chinese medical books. Method:A total of 9 323 cough cases in the database of lung diseases in ancient Chinese medical books were extracted. Lantern 5.0 was used to construct the latent structure model for the 100 manifest variables based on the first 50 symptoms and 50 Chinese herbal medicines， and different latent nodes were interpreted. The syndrome differentiation patterns of syndromes with symptoms and Chinese herbal medicine （formula） were quantitatively revealed by the comprehensive clustering weights of latent structure. The correlation of diseases with syndromes was fitted through the binary Logistic regression analysis. Result:There were 204 syndromes involved in 9 323 cough cases with 18 syndromes showing a frequency higher than 100. As demonstrated by the model established on the first 50 symptoms and 50 Chinese herbal medicines， 35 latent variables， 98 latent classes， and 10 comprehensive clustering models were obtained， where <italic>Z</italic>5<italic> </italic>was the highest in the threshold value （6.7）， <italic>Z</italic>6 in the information coverage of productive cough （52%）， and <italic>Z</italic>7 in the score （19）. The binary Logistic regression model fitted the correlation between different disease types and five syndromes， where the dominance ratio of external wind to the syndrome of wind-heat invading lung reaching up to 88.919， those of syndrome of phlegm-heat accumulating in lung to diseased heat and sputum 51.594 and 15.861， and those of the syndrome of phlegm-dampness obstructing lung to dampness， phlegm， and fluid retention 31.415， 34.370， and 4.936， respectively. Conclusion:The newly discovered cough syndromes included lung heat and yin deficiency， external cold and internal fluid retention， weakness of spleen and stomach， and phlegm and blood stasis in lung. In most cases， multiple syndromes were observed clinically， such as syndrome of deficiency of both Qi and Yin in lung combined with yin deficiency in lung and kidney. Since differentiation of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome is subjective， the weight can indicate the difference in the contributions of different symptoms to the syndrome， which is of guiding significance for syndrome inference. The latent structure model combined with Logistic regression analysis can solve the problem of quantification in TCM syndrome differentiation and can be used to explore the syndrome distribution of diseases.

Value of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Differential Diagnosis between the Adult Reversible Splenial Lesion Syndrome and Ischemic Infarction of the Splenium of the Corpus Callosum / 中国医学科学院学报

Objective To evaluate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in differential diagnosis between the adult reversible splenial lesion syndrome (RESLES) and ischemic infarction of the splenium of the corpus callosum (SCC). Methods The MRI findings and clinical data of 7 RESLES patients and 13 patients with ischemic infarction of SCC who were clinically diagnosed and treated in our center from May 2015 to June 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. The main MRI findings included location,morphology,signal intensity,maximum cross-sectional area,diffusion weighted imaging (DWI),and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value. Results On the MRI findings of 7 RESLES patients (5 males and 2 females),the centers of all lesions of the SCC were located in the midline of SCC,the lesion shapes were round,ellipse,or spindle,and the distribution of the lesions was bilateral and symmetric as the center of the midline of SCC. The lesions were hyperintense on DWI,and the mean maximum cross-sectional area of lesions was (56.9±32.6) mm and the mean ADC value was (0.3963±0.0715) ×10 mm/s. On the review MRI,all the lesions disappeared (mean interval:10 days). On the MRI findings of 13 patients with ischemic infarction of SCC (10 males and 3 females),the lesions were irregular or patchy in shape and were almost laterally and asymmetrically distributed. The lesions were hyperintense on DWI,and the mean maximum cross-sectional area was (55.1±43.9) mm and the mean ADC value was (0.4978±0.0123) ×10 mm/s. The mean maximum cross-sectional area (t=0.096,P=0.925) and the ADC value (t=-1.988,P=0.062) were not significantly different between RESLES group and ischemic infarction of SCC group. Conclusions The location,morphology,and distribution of the SCC lesions and the co-existence of other lesions in the brain are helpful for the differential diagnosis between RESLES and ischemic infarction of SCC. However,the mean maximum cross-sectional area and the ADC value show no obvious difference between these two diseases.

Correlations between apparent diffusion coefficient in diffusion?weighted magnetic resonance imaging and molecular subtypes of invasive breast cancer masses / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the correlation of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measured by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the molecular subtypes and biological prognostic factors of invasive breast cancer masses.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Breast MRI data (including dynamic enhanced and diffusion-weighted imaging) were collected from 64 patients with pathologically confirmed invasive breast cancer masses (a total of 69 lesions). The mean ADC values of the lesions were calculated and their correlations were analyzed with the 5 molecular subtypes of invasive breast cancer and the biological prognostic factors including estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2), and Ki-67 index.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The ADC values did not differ significantly among the 5 molecular subtypes of invasive breast cancer masses (P>0.05) or among lesions with different ER, PR, or HER2 status (P>0.05). The mean ADC values were significantly higher in Ki-67-positive lesions than in the negative lesions (P=0.023 and negatively correlated with the expressions of Ki-67 (r=-0.249).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>ADC value can not be used to identify the molecular subtypes of invasive breast cancer masses or to evaluate the biological prognosis of the lesions, but its correlation with Ki-67 expression may help in prognostic evaluation and guiding clinical therapy of the tumors.</p>

Predictors for abundance of Rattus tanezumi in households of commensal rodent plague foci / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To explore the predictors on the abundance of Rattus (R.) tanezumi in households of commensal rodent plague foci.Methods Thirty natural villages that experienced previous plague cases in Lianghe county,Yunnan province,were selected followed by random selection of 20 households in each village through computer technique.Live traps were set in households to capture small mammals which were then identified to species in the field according to their morphological features.Data on potential factors for abundance of R.tanezumi were collected through questionnaires and field observation and were coded and computerized using EpiData software and further analyzed by hurdle regression model under R software.Results A total of 166 rodents (133 R.tanezumi and 33 Suucus murinus) were captured.Results from final multilevel hurdle regression model showed that the likelihood of R.tanezumi captures increased by 1.67-to 2.76-fold in households belonged to Dai ethnic families that stored foodstuff in metal pails,often raising dogs,and having adjacent houses.The number of R.tanezumi captures increased by 2.18-fold in the villages where over 80％ of the households would raise chickens.In the villages with communal latrine,the likelihood and the number of R.tanezumi capture increased 1.93-fold and 2.38-fold,respectively.While the likelihood of R.tanezumi captures would reduce by 45％-61％ in those households where there were cats and cattle being raised and maize grown in the village.The number of R.tanezumi captures would reduce by 63％ in the households where there were outside toilets.Conclusion The abundance of R.tanczumi seemed to be closely related to the ecological environment factors.Programs on plague control and prevention should relate to ecological factors that influencing the abundance of R.tanezumi.

The structural study of prefabrication stress stent and the hemodynamics in percutaneous transhepatic portacaval shunt / 介入放射学杂志

Objective To present a preliminary latest procedure for portal hypertension and evaluate the technical feasibility and efficacy of portacaval shunt creation through the percutaneous transhepatic approach in order to make a hemodynamic comparison with that of the classic TIPS.Methods Thirty-eight patients with portal hypertension(36 men;mean age 57 years,range 32～73)were referred for PTPS procedure because of bleeding varices(n=36),intractable ascites(n=1),and hepatopulmonary syndrome(n=1).The severity of liver disease was classified as Child-Pugh B in 27 and C in 11.The PTPS was created by a percutaneous transhepatic puncture into right portal vein and then through left portal vein to the hepatic segment of IVC followed by a prefabrication stress stent-graft placement at the very site.Results Technical and functional success of 100% was achieved in all patients,without related complications.The postprocedural portal vein-IVC gradients mean 13 cmH_2O was achieved with the follow-up period mean 493 days.No recurrence of variceal bleeding and controlled refractory ascites were achieved,and still more with primary patency rate of the involved vascular structure up to 94.8% at 365 days,much better than classic TIPS. Conclusions Portacaval shunt creation using the prefabrication stress stent via percutaneous transhepatic technique is safe and feasible.The compact coincidence was obtained between the stent and the involved vessel with restoration of intrahepatic portal venous bemodynamics together with partial lowering of portal venous pressure and guaranteeing intrahepatic perfusion through right portal vein.It is also obviously to have postoperative prevention of shunt restenoses and lowering postoperative incidence of hepato-encephalopathy.