Study on the mechanism of Yiyi Fuzi powder in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis based on metabolomics and network pharmacology / 药学学报

In this study, a combination of metabolomics and network pharmacology was used to study the pharmacodynamic substances and mechanism of action of Yiyi Fuzi powder (YYFZ) on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats. The animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (approval number: TCM-LAEC2021241). The metabolomic analysis using UPLC-Q-TOF/MS technique identified 22 metabolites, including arachidonic acid, tryptophan, linoleic acid, phenylalanine, as significant biomarkers for the treatment of RA with YYFZ, and they were significantly regressed after YYFZ treatment. The analysis of YYFZ blood components also revealed that 11 blood components, including hypaconitine, benzoylhypaconitine, and deoxyaconitine, may be the components that exert direct pharmacological effects in YYFZ in vivo, and further network pharmacological analysis of blood components obtained that YYFZ may exhibit anti-inflammatory effects through acting on PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, estrogen signaling pathway, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway. The results of this study provide implications for the clinical application of YYFZ.

Role of Counterevidence from Chinese Medicinal Prescription in Construction of Integrated Disease-syndrome Animal Model： Xiaoyaosan as Counterevidence for Depression of Liver Depression and Spleen Deficiency Syndrome / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To seed for stable time window of the integrated disease-syndrome animal model based on the counterevidence from Chinese medicinal prescriptions， and to verify syndrome stability and reliability. Method:A model of depression was established by exposing rats to chronic unpredictable mild stress （CUMS）， followed by body weight measurement， sugar water test， behavioral test， and brain 5-hydroxytryptamine（5-HT） detection. The identification of liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome was conducted after the equivalent transformation of human clinical symptoms into macroscopic representations of rats. Based on the dynamically collected macroscopic representation scale， Xiaoyaosan was used to reversely verify the stability and reliability of the integrated disease-syndrome animal model of depression due to liver depression and spleen deficiency. Result:The sugar water consumption and the number of crossings and the total movement distance in the open field test of 16-week-old rats in the CUMS （eight weeks of CUMS） group were significantly lower than those in the normal group （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. According to the immunohistochemical results， the 5-HT content in hippocampal area CA2 of rats in the CUMS group was also significantly lowered as compared with that in the normal group（<italic>P</italic><0.05），which indicated that depression was successfully modeled. The liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome was present in 14-week-old rats （six weeks after CUMS）of the CUMS group， and the number of rats experiencing the liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome reached the peak in the 16th week （eight weeks after CUMS），accounting for 70% of the total number. Thereafter， the number decreased gradually. The syndrome scores of the 14-， 16-， 18-， 20-， and 22-week-old rats in the Xiaoyaosan group were reduced by 66.6%， 70.7%， 54.8%， 50.4%， and 44.8%， which were graded as effective， marked effective， effective， effective， and effective， respectively. Conclusion:The age of 14-16 weeks（six to eight weeks after CUMS） is considered the stable and reliable time window for depression due to liver depression and spleen deficiency.

Research status and progress of miR-15a in ophthalmological diseases / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#miRNA-15a(miR-15a)is a non-coding small molecule RNA located on 13q14 gene. It affects the growth, development, differentiation and apoptosis of all organs and cells of the whole body. As the study progressively deepened, it was found that the role of miR-15a in different tissues and cells was not entirely consistent. Sometimes it plays a role in suppressing cancer, and sometimes it promotes cancer. The signal pathways it affects are complex and diverse. With the deepening of biological research into cell signaling pathways, miRNA-15a has become a miRNA more extensively studied. But in the ophthalmology, the corresponding research is not much. In this article, we mainly focus on the mechanism of miR-15a and its current research situation in ophthalmic diseases, so as to provide a reference for further study and their treatment.

Research status and progress of miR-15a in ophthalmological diseases / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#miRNA-15a(miR-15a)is a non-coding small molecule RNA located on 13q14 gene. It affects the growth, development, differentiation and apoptosis of all organs and cells of the whole body. As the study progressively deepened, it was found that the role of miR-15a in different tissues and cells was not entirely consistent. Sometimes it plays a role in suppressing cancer, and sometimes it promotes cancer. The signal pathways it affects are complex and diverse. With the deepening of biological research into cell signaling pathways, miRNA-15a has become a miRNA more extensively studied. But in the ophthalmology, the corresponding research is not much. In this article, we mainly focus on the mechanism of miR-15a and its current research situation in ophthalmic diseases, so as to provide a reference for further study and their treatment.

Pharmacokinetics mechanism of ABC efflux proteins-mediated seven features of compatibility / 中国中药杂志

ABC efflux proteins are a kind of transporters mediating diversified endogenous and exogenous efflux protein substrates across the plasma membrane by depending on the chemical energy released by ATP hydrolysis. As a vitally important functional membrane, it is widely found in various tissues and organs. The drug changes the expressions and/or functions of the transport proteins, which will affect the disposal process of substrate drugs corresponding to transporters , and finally lead to the pharmacokinetic interactions. The efflux proteins take part in the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs, and mainly consist of P-glycoprotein(P-gp), multidrug resistance associated protein(MRP) and breast cancer resistance protein(BCRP). The induction effect or inhibition effect of drugs on efflux protein plays a greatly significant role in the drug interaction produced by the compatibility of traditional Chinese medicine, which may be one of the important mechanisms of the theory of seven features of compatibility. In this article, the effects of seven features of compatibility on the ABC efflux transporters were reviewed, in order to reveal the roles of efflux protein in the herb-pairs compatibility, and provide new ideas for the mechanism and rationality of herb compatibility.

Effect of two Chinese medicinal compounds, blood-activating and water-draining medicine, on tumor necrosis factor α and nuclear factor κ B expressions in rats with intracerebral hemorrhage / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of blood-activating Chinese medicinal compounds and water-draining Chinese medicinal compounds on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κ B) expressions in rats with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) at the acute stage, and to monitor their therapeutic effect and mechanism of action on inflammation and cerebral edema.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A rat model of cerebral hemorrhage was achieved by injecting autologous arterial blood into the caudate nucleus. A total of 168 rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: blood-activating medicine group (n=42), water-draining medicine group (n=42), sham operated group (n=42), and the model group (n=42). A series of brain samples were obtained at days 1, 3 and 5 after ICH from rats in all groups. Protein expression levels of TNF-α and NF-κ B were measured by immunohistochemical staining and gene expression levels of TNF-α and NF-κ B were measured by real-time fluorescent PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to the sham operated group, protein expression levels of TNF-α and NF-κ B in the model group significantly increased (P<0.01). Protein and gene expressions of TNF-α from the blood-activating medicine group and water-draining medicine group significantly decreased when compared to those in the model group P<0.05). Meanwhile, compared to the model group, the expression of NF-κ B in the blood-activating medicine group significantly decreased (P<0.05), while expression of NF-κ B in the water-draining medicine group did not differ (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Blood-activating Chinese medicinal compounds and water-draining Chinese medicinal compounds can alleviate inflammation of peripheral tissue and cerebral edema. However, the blood-activating Chinese medicinal compounds were more effective than the water-draining Chinese medicinal compounds. The possible effective mechanism may be by means of inhibiting the activation of NF-κ B so as to suppress the transcription of target genes including gene expression of TNF-α.</p>

Simultaneous determination of five organic acids in Kudiezi injection by HPLC / 中国中药杂志

The aim was to develop a high performance liquid chromatography method for simultaneous determination of five organic acids in Kudiezi injection. The Diamonsil C18 column (4.6 mm x 200 mm, 5 microm) was adopted with acetonitrile and water as the mobile phase at a gradient mode program. The flow rate was 1.0 mL min-1 , detection wavelength was 325 nm, and column temperature was 35 degree C. The linear range of monocaffeyltartaric acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and chicoric acid were 0. 64-81.60 (r =0. 999 9),0.09-11. 10 (r =0.999 8) ,0.09-11.30 (r =0. 999 8),0.10-12.80 (r =0.999 9),0.43-55. 50 mg L-1 (r = 0.999 8) , respectively. The average recoveries were 101.8% ,100. 9% ,99. 24% ,99. 83% ,101.9%, respectively, with RSD of less than 2.0%. The developed HPLC method was simple, sensitive and accurate with good repeatability. This work provided helpful information for comprehensive quality control of Kudiezi injection. [Key words] Kudiezi injection; organic acids; content determination; HPLC

Status of household disaster preparedness and affecting factors among the general public of four counties in Shaanxi / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the status of household disaster preparedness in 4 counties of Shaanxi province and explore the affecting factors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>During the period from September to October in 2008, multi-stage sampling was used to select subjects from urban and rural residents in Xincheng district, Hantai district, Fuping county and Xunyang county of Shaanxi province. Questionnaire survey was conducted among 1945 subjects aged 18-88 years to investigate their experience and expectation of disaster events, preparedness knowledge, activities and emergency supplies. Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors influencing household disaster preparedness.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The average age of the 1945 subjects was (43.55 ± 12.76) years old. A total of 7.12% (138/1939) of respondents never experienced disaster. Earthquake and fire (57.35% (1175/2049), 19.81% (406/2049), respectively) were rated as the two disasters most likely to occur. The awareness rate of knowledge about household disaster preparedness was 51.43% (989/1923), and 23.41% (454/1939) discussed how to prepare for disaster with their family, only 9.27% (179/1932) attended evacuation drill. The rates of preparing household emergency supplies were 23.64% (230/973), 30.56% (55/180), 31.19% (141/452) and 54.49% (97/178) for urban residents, subjects with junior college or above education, subjects having frequent family discussions of disaster preparedness and subjects participating in emergency rescue drills, respectively. For subjects with junior high school, senior high school and junior college or higher education, the likelihood of preparing household emergency supplies was 5.02 (95%CI: 1.12 - 22.42), 5.74 (95%CI: 1.27 - 26.04) and 6.84 (95%CI: 1.44 - 32.39) times as that of illiterate, respectively. Urban residents, subjects who often discussed disaster preparedness with their family, and who participated in emergency rescue drills were more likely to prepare emergency supplies than rural residents (OR = 4.38, 95%CI: 2.74 - 7.00), those who never discussed (OR = 4.99, 95%CI: 2.52 - 9.91), and who didn't participate (OR = 5.72, 95%CI: 3.84 - 8.51).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The residents in 4 counties of Shaanxi lack comprehensive knowledge and appropriate activities of disaster preparedness, the rate of preparing household emergency supplies is low. Higher education, living in urban area, frequent family discussions of disaster preparedness and participating in emergency rescue drills are facilitating factors of preparing household emergency supplies.</p>

Effects of herbs capable of activating blood circulation or inducing diuresis on the expressions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, nuclear factor-kappaB, and aquaporin-4 in rats with intracerebral hemorrhage / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of herbs capable of activating blood circulation or inducing diuresis on the expressions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), and aquaporin-4 (AQP-4) in rats with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and to study their possible mechanisms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The ICH rat model was established by injecting autologous arterial blood into the right caudate nucleus. The 168 male rats were randomly divided into four groups, the sham-operative group, the model group, the blood activating group, and the diuresis inducing group, 42 in each group. Chinese compound decoction (consisting of 0.2 g rhubarb, 0.02 g leech, and 0.3 g notoginseng in each milliliter decoction) was given to rats in the blood activating group by gastrogavage at the dose of 10 mL/kg, once daily. Chinese compound decoction (consisting of 0.2 g poria, 0.2 g water plantain tuber, and 0.2 g acori graninei in each milliliter decoction) was given to rats in the diuresis inducing group by gastrogavage at the dose of 10 mL/kg, once daily. 4.0 mL/kg normal saline was given to rats in the model group and the sham-operative group by gastrogavage, once daily. A series of brain samples were obtained on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th day, respectively. The mRNA and protein expressions of TNFalpha, NF-kappaB p65, and AQP-4 were determined by immunohistochemical staining and Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After ICH, TNF-alpha, NF-KB, and AQP-4 protein positive cells in the brain tissue and their protein and mRNA expressions significantly increased in rats of the model group at each time point when compared with the sham-operative group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The gene and protein expressions of TNF-alpha and AQP-4 significantly decreased in the blood activating group and the diuresis inducing group at each time point when compared with the model group (PP < 0.05). The expression of NF-kappaB p65 in the blood activating group obviously decreased when compared with the model group (P < 0.05), but there was no statistical difference in the NF-KB expression when compared with the diuresis inducing group (P > 0.05). Compared with the model group, the water content of the brain tissue decreased to some degree in the blood activating group and the diuresis inducing group at each time point. There was statistical difference between the blood activating group and the diuresis inducing group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Chinese herbs capable of activating blood circulation or inducing diuresis could inhibit the release of TNF-alpha, down-regulate the expression of AQP-4, and alleviate the brain edema around hematoma. But the action strength and the effect links were different.</p>

Public health situation and needs assessment after Wenchuan earthquake in Anxian, Sichuan province / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the public health situation and needs in Anxian after Wenchuan earthquake so as to make an effective strategy for disease control and prevention.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>69 concentrated settlements with 100 residents were investigated. Probability proportion to size was adopted for sampling of 2200 residents from 687 scattered households (about 440 000 scattered residents). The content of this survey included drinking water, food hygiene, environment sanitation, planning immunity and medical health service, disease surveillance and so on. SPSS 16.0 was used for data analysis, and statistical interpretation was used to describe the results.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>90.9% (31/66) resettled residents in Anxian lived in tents, 7.6% (5/66) lived in the movable-plate house, 93.3% (621/666) scattered households lived in tents and 71.9% (446/621) of them lived in tents which were built by residents themselves; the rate of drinking water disinfection in resettlement sites and scattered households were 97.1% (66/68) and 94.6% (650/687); 12.8% scattered residents had mouldy or food; 50% of resettlement sites raised animals; 43.6% (17/39) medical station didn't have bacterin inoculation service; 66.7% (10/15) lacked sufficient disinfection equipment; register rate was 50.0% (33/66) and report rate of symptoms and infectious diseases was 56.1% (37/66).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There was still some risk of enteric and vector-borne diseases in Anxian, therefore, some tailored measures should be very important.</p>

Mental health assessment among scattered residents after Wenchuan earthquake in Anxian, Sichuan province / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the mental health status of residents scattered living in Anxian after Wenchuan earthquake so as to provide scientific basis for further mental health intervention.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A face to face interview was conducted among the scattered residents with designed questionnaire, which had three parts of the physical and emotional reaction, the relax methods and the social care and supports expected. Two-stage probability proportional to size (PPS) sample method was performed to sample 2184 from 0.44 million scattered residents in Anxian. On the basis of statistical description, mental health of different characteristics groups was compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Three main symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorders in 2184 residents (11.23+/-3.44) were higher than the 103 fire victims in Hunan in 2003 (10.06+/-3.26), three factor scores of SCL-90 (5.76+/-1.74) were higher than normal in 1998 repair mode (n=23 891) (4.72+/-1.44), and the statistical difference was observed (t=10.77, P<0.05; t=706.04, P<0.05). Comparing the mental health of different groups, some significant differences were found by age, gender and education background.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The earthquake disaster brought prevalent physical and emotional reaction. Elderly people, female, junior students need mental intervention immediately. Therefore, strengthen the mental education and assistance (especially in high risk groups) would be of more significance.</p>

Chemical constituents from herb of Epimedium brevicornum / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the chemical constituents of Epimedium brevicornum.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The chemical constituents were isolated by using silica gel column chromatography and preparative TLC. The structures were identified on the basis of physical-chemical constants and spectral data.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Five compounds were isolated and identified as hyperoside, icariin, epimedin B, epimedin C, inositol.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compound I and III - V were isolated from the plant for the first time.</p>