Mannitol inhibits the proliferation of neural stem cell by a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent signaling pathway / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

PURPOSE@#Mannitol is one of the first-line drugs for reducing cerebral edema through increasing the extracellular osmotic pressure. However, long-term administration of mannitol in the treatment of cerebral edema triggers damage to neurons and astrocytes. Given that neural stem cell (NSC) is a subpopulation of main regenerative cells in the central nervous system after injury, the effect of mannitol on NSC is still elusive. The present study aims to elucidate the role of mannitol in NSC proliferation.@*METHODS@#C57 mice were derived from the animal house of Zunyi Medical University. A total of 15 pregnant mice were employed for the purpose of isolating NSCs in this investigation. Initially, mouse primary NSCs were isolated from the embryonic cortex of mice and subsequently identified through immunofluorescence staining. In order to investigate the impact of mannitol on NSC proliferation, both cell counting kit-8 assays and neurospheres formation assays were conducted. The in vitro effects of mannitol were examined at various doses and time points. In order to elucidate the role of Aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in the suppressive effect of mannitol on NSC proliferation, various assays including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunocytochemistry were conducted on control and mannitol-treated groups. Additionally, the phosphorylated p38 (p-p38) was examined to explore the potential mechanism underlying the inhibitory effect of mannitol on NSC proliferation. Finally, to further confirm the involvement of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent (MAPK) signaling pathway in the observed inhibition of NSC proliferation by mannitol, SB203580 was employed. All data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). The statistical analysis among multiple comparisons was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Turkey's post hoc test in case of the data following a normal distribution using a Shapiro-Wilk normality test. Comparisons between 2 groups were determined using Student's t-test, if the data exhibited a normal distribution using a Shapiro-Wilk normality test. Meanwhile, data were shown as median and interquartile range and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, if the data failed the normality test. A p < 0.05 was considered as significant difference.@*RESULTS@#Primary NSC were isolated from the mice, and the characteristics were identified using immunostaining analysis. Thereafter, the results indicated that mannitol held the capability of inhibiting NSC proliferation in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner using cell counting kit-8, neurospheres formation, and immunostaining of Nestin and Ki67 assays. During the process of mannitol suppressing NSC proliferation, the expression of AQP4 mRNA and protein was downregulated, while the gene expression of p-p38 was elevated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunostaining, and western blotting assays. Subsequently, the administration of SB203580, one of the p38 MAPK signaling pathway inhibitors, partially abrogated this inhibitory effect resulting from mannitol, supporting the fact that the p38 MAPK signaling pathway participated in curbing NSC proliferation induced by mannitol.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Mannitol inhibits NSC proliferation through downregulating AQP4, while upregulating the expression of p-p38 MAPK.

Clinical study of Yiqi Huoxue decoction on improving cancer pain and cancer-related fatigue in patients with malignant tumors / 中国肿瘤生物治疗杂志

@#[摘 要] 目的：探究益气活血汤对恶性肿瘤患者癌痛及癌因性疲乏（CRF）的疗效。方法: 选取2020年1月至2022年12月间安徽省中医药大学第二附属医院收治的82例确诊发生CRF的恶性肿瘤患者（气血亏虚证），采用随机数字表余数分组法将其分为对照组与观察组，每组各41例。对照组患者采用常规止痛、止吐、化痰等对症治疗及健康、心理指导，观察组患者在对照组干预的基础上联合益气活血汤治疗，4周为1个疗程。治疗前及治疗4周后，对两组患者进行中医证候积分评估，以积分变化评估中医临床疗效；采用修订版Piper疲乏量表（RPFS）评估CRF的改善情况；采用数字疼痛分级法（NRS）评分比较癌痛情况；检测患者外周血纤维蛋白原（FIB）、D-二聚体（D-D）评价凝血功能差异，检测患者肝、肾功能指标以评估益气活血汤治疗的安全性。结果：治疗前，两组患者在中医证候积分、RPFS评分、NRS评分及外周血FIB、D-D方面的差异均无显著统计学意义（均P>0.05）。治疗4周后，两组患者在神疲乏力、面色淡白或萎黄、自汗、失眠健忘、手足麻木的证候评分及总积分均较治疗前明显降低（均P<0.05），且观察组各项评分均低于对照组（均P<0.05），中医临床疗效明显高于对照组（P<0.05）；两组患者RPFS各维度评分及总分均较治疗前降低（均P<0.05），观察组行为、情感、感觉维度RPFS评分及总分均低于对照组（均P<0.05），观察组CRF的改善明显优于对照组（P<0.05）；两组患者NRS评分及外周血FIB、D-D指标均较治疗前降低（均P<0.05），且观察组均低于对照组（均P<0.05）。两组患者治疗期间均未发生肝功能、肾功能等明显异常，说明益气活血汤安全性良好。结论：益气活血汤可纠正气血亏虚之证，改善机体凝血功能，促进恶性肿瘤患者CRF及癌痛的减轻，临床应用价值较高。

Polydatin improves intestinal barrier injury after traumatic brain injury in rats by reducing oxidative stress and inflammatory response via activating SIRT1-mediated deacetylation of SOD2 and HMGB1 / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the protective effect against intestinal mucosal injury in rats following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and explore the underlying mechanism.@*METHODS@#SD rat models of TBI were established by fluid percussion injury (FPI), and the specimens were collected at 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after TBI. Another 15 rats were randomly divided into shamoperated group (n=5), TBI with saline treatment (TBI+NS) group (n=5), and TBI with PD treatment (TBI+PD) group (treated with 30 mg/kg PD after TBI; n=5). Body weight gain and fecal water content of the rats were recorded, and after the treatments, the histopathology of the jejunum was observed, and the levels of D-lactic acid (D-LAC), diamine oxidase (DAO), ZO-1, claudin-5, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were detected. Lipid peroxide (LPO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) 2 content, jejunal pro-inflammatory factors (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF- α), Sirt1 activity, SOD2 and HMGB1 acetylation level were also determined after the treatments.@*RESULTS@#The rats showed significantly decreased body weight and fecal water content and progressively increased serum levels of D-LAC and DAO after TBI (P < 0.05) with obvious jejunal injury, significantly decreased expression levels of ZO-1 and claudin-5, lowered SOD2 and Sirt1 activity (P < 0.05), increased expression levels of LPO, ROS, and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and enhanced SOD2 and HMGB1 acetylation levels (P < 0.05). Compared with TBI+NS group, the rats in TBI+PD group showed obvious body weight regain, increased fecal water content, reduced jejunal pathologies, decreased D-LAC and DAO levels (P < 0.05), increased ZO-1, claudin-5, SOD2 expression levels and Sirt1 activity, and significantly decreased ROS, LPO, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and acetylation levels of SOD2 and HMGB1 (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#PD alleviates oxidative stress and inflammatory response by activating Sirt1-mediated deacetylation of SOD2 and HMGB1 to improve intestinal mucosal injury in TBI rats.