Effects of Taoren-Honghua drug pair on degeneration of cervical disc cartilage endplate in rat model of dynamic and static forces imbalance / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate the effect of TaorenHonghua drug pair on intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) in rats.Methods Fifty healthy Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group,model group,sham group,meloxicam group and Taoren-Honghua drug pair group,with 10 rats in each group.We established dynamic and static forces imbalance of cervical disc degeneration model or sham surgery in rats.12 weeks later,rats were intragastrically administered with meloxicam,Taoren-Honghua drug pair or saline for 30 days.C4/5 and C6/7 discs were harvested from rats.ABOG staining was used for observation of intervertebral disc morphology,real time PCR for mRNA expressions of type Ⅱ collagen (Col Ⅱ) and type Ⅹ collagen (Col Ⅹ),and immunohistochemical staining for Col Ⅱ and Col Ⅹ.Results Compared with model group,Col Ⅱ expression increased,while Col X expression decreased in chondrocyte of intervertebral disc in Taoren-Honghua-treated group(P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion Taoren-Honghua drug pair could delay the degeneration of cartilage endplate in rat intervertebral disc.

The synergistic effect of amygdalin and HSYA on the IL-1beta induced endplate chondrocytes of rat intervertebral discs / 药学学报

The effect of amygdalin joint hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) on the endplate chondrocytes derived from intervertebral discs of rats induced by IL-1beta and the possible mechanism were studied and explored. Chondrocytes were obtained from endplate of one-month SD rat intervertebral discs and cultured primary endplate chondrocytes. After identification, they were divided into normal group, induced group, amygdalin group, HSYA group and combined group. CCK-8 kit was adopted to detect the proliferation of the endplate chondrocytes. FCM was measured to detect the apoptosis. Real-time PCR method was adopted to observe the mRNA expression of Aggrecan, Col 2 alpha1, Col 10 alpha1, MMP-13 and the inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta. The protein expression of Col II, Col X was tested through immunofluorescence. Compared with the normal group, the proliferation of the endplate chondrocytes decreased while the apoptosis increased (P < 0.05). With down regulation of the mRNA expressions of Aggrecan, Col 2 alpha1 and up regulation of the mRNA expressions of Col 10 alpha1, MMP-13, IL-1beta (P < 0.05), the protein expression of Col II decreased while the protein expression of Col X increased. Compared with the induced group, amygdalin group, HSYA group, the combined group could inhibit the apoptosis and promote the proliferation (P < 0.05). They could increase the mRNA expressions of Aggrecan and Col 2 alpha1 while decrease the mRNA expressions of Col 10 alpha1, MMP-13 and IL-1beta (P < 0.05). They could also enhance the protein expression of Col II while reduce the protein expression of Col X. The effect of the combined group was significantly better than that of amygdalin and HSYA. Amygdalin joint HSYA could inhibit the degeneration of the endplate chondrocytes derived from intervertebral discs of rats induced by IL-1beta and better than the single use of amygdalin or HSYA.

Intervention of liuwei dihuang pill on lupus nephropathy treated with cylophosphamide and glucocorticoids / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the intervening effect of Liuwei Dihuang pill (LWDH) on lupus nephropathy (LN) treated with glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide (CTX).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-four patients were randomly divided into two groups, all patients were treated by conventional treatment, using prednisone in standard program, and CTX in a daily dose of 8 - 12 mg/kg, accumulated dose < or = 150 mg/kg, by adding into 500 ml of 5% glucose in saline through intravenous dripping, as well as the symptomatic treatment. Patients in the treated group were given LWDH additionally.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The curative effect in the treated group was significantly superior to that in the control group (P < 0.05). Laboratory indexes, including urinary protein, plasma protein and serum creatinine (SCr), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), complement C3, etc. were significantly improved in both groups (P < 0.01), but all the improvement, except that of SCr, in the treated group were superior to those in the control group respectively (P <0.05 or P <0.01). Besides, the recurrent rate and incidence rate of adverse reaction in the treated group was significant lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>LWDH can significantly enhance the therapeutic effect of CTX and glucocorticoids on LN, decrease the recurrence and shows advantage in counteracting against the adverse effects of glucocorticoids and CTX.</p>