Network pharmacology-based mechanism of Sijunzi Decoction in treatment of colorectal cancer / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective:To explore the potential target and signaling pathway of Sijunzi Decoction in treating Colorectal Cancer (CRC) with network pharmacology.Methods:The Traditional Chinese Medicine System Platform (TCMSP) and Swiss Target Prediction database were adopted to establish the database of Sijunzi Decoction effective ingredients and targets. Therapeutic Target Database (TTD), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, Drugbank and GeneCards were used to build the CRC target database. The common gene names of target proteins were checked in Uniprot database. The STRING database was applied to analyze the interactions between the targets and the DAVID was used for the enrichment analysis on gene ontology (GO) biological process and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway. The network topology results were analyzed by Cytoscape 3.7.1 software.Results:134 active compounds of Sijunzi Decoction were gained, and PPI includes 125 targets protein (TP53,AKT1,IL-6,et al.). The 516 cellular biological processes, 53 cellular component and 98 molecular function were obtained through GO biological process enrichment analysis. The result of KEGG pathway enrichment showed that PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway and FoxO signaling pathway were the main pathways.Conclusion:Sijunzi Decoction is mainly used to treat CRC by regulating key proteins such as TP53,AKT1, IL-6 and interfering with signal pathways such as PI3K-Akt, TNF and FoxO, reflecting the characteristics of Sijunzi Decoction in the treatment of CRC with multi-component,multi-target and multi-pathway characters.

Thoughts on post-marketing evaluation of classical Chinese patent medicines based on clinical value / 中国中药杂志

Classical Chinese patent medicines(CPMs) are a kind of modern preparation developed from the experience of compatibility and application about ancient prescriptions. Its rich history of human use and reliable clinical efficacy imply the unique theoretical essence and precious value of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). With the development of evidence-based medicine and the improvement of medical policy, it is particularly urgent to evaluate the clinical values of post-marketing classical CPMs. In this paper, some problems on the clinical value evaluation of CPMs would be described, and it is considered that the simplified evaluation procedures can lead to the lack of evidence for evaluating clinical value of CPMs, causing the difficulty in evaluating the quality of CPM, lack of R&D motivation of enterprises, low content of science and technology, and poor international development. Based on this background, it points out that the clinical value evaluation is the core of the post-marketing evaluation of the classical CPMs, and the eva-luation should be based on the direction of literature research and the latest practice. We should adhere to the research mode of combination disease with syndrome, and select the appropriate type of trials, with clinical efficacy, health economic benefits and safety eva-luation as the main content of the studies, in order to refine the indications and standardize the clinical positioning. Clinical value eva-luation is the basis and main content of post-marketing comprehensive researches on classic and famous CPMs to clarify their clinical value, obtain the conditions for continued marketingand standardize their clinical application, so as to optimize the evidence and quality service of classic and famous CPMs and inherit the core value concept of Chinese medicine.

The mechanism by which Peganum harmala L. inhibits high glucose-induced tube formation in endothelial cells / 药学学报

The study investigates the mechanism by which Peganum harmala L. (Luotuopeng, LTP) inhibits tube formation in retinal vascular endothelial cells. Tube formation was induced by treatment of retinal vascular endothelial cells with glucose. The cells were divided into a normal group, model group, and an LTP group. The total length of tube formation was measured. The active components, targets, and pathway by which LTP acts in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy was explored by network pharmacology. The mRNA expression levels of targets [extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2), phosphoinositide 3 kinase catalytic alpha polypeptide (PIK3CA), serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (AKT1)] related to the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway was measured by real-time PCR. The results of tube formation indicated that compared with the normal group, the total tube length increased in the model group (P < 0.01); after the treatment with LTP, the total tube length decreased compared with the model group (P < 0.01). Network pharmacology revealed that the targets of LTP included PIK3CA, AKT1, and ERK2, and the pathways involved the MAPK signaling pathway and the VEGF signaling pathway. Real-time PCR indicated that compared with the normal group, the mRNA expression levels of ERK2, PIK3CA and AKT1 were elevated in the model group (P < 0.05); after treatment with LTP, the mRNA expression levels of ERK2, PIK3CA and AKT1 decreased compared with the model group (P < 0.05). LTP may inhibit retinal vascular endothelial cell tube formation by regulating the MAPK signaling pathway and the VEGF signaling pathway. This study confirms the multi-targets and multi-pathways of LTP and provides a basis for its use in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy．

Differential expression of miR-146a-5p in giant congenital melanocytic nevi, medium-sized congenital melanocytic nevi and normal skin / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To investigate the differences in miRNA expression levels between giant congenital melanocytic nevi, medium-sized congenital melanocytic nevi and normal skin.@*Methods@#The experiment was divided into three groups: giant congenital melanocytic nevi group, medium-sized congenital melanocytic nevi group and normal skin group, with ten samples in each group. Firstly, 3 samples of each group were detected by Agilent miRN Amicroarray to screen the different miRNAs between different groups. 5 differential miRNAs related to MAPK, Wnt, NF-kB signaling pathways were selected for further verification: miR-146a-5p, miR-140-5p, miR-106b-5p, miR-17-5p, and miR-483-5p. miRNA expression levels were measured using real-time quantitative PCR (Taqman) in ten clinical samples from each group. .Experimental data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0.@*Results@#A total of 23 differential miRNAs between congenital melanocytic nevi and normal skin were found by miRNA microarray detection. The results of real-time PCR showed that miR-146a-5p expression was significantly different between the three groups: giant congenital melanocytic nevi VS medium-sized congenital melanocytic nevi (P=0.003); giant congenital melanocytic nevi VS normal skin (P=0.000); medium-sized congenital melanocytic nevi VS normal skin (P=0.013). There was no statistically significant difference in the expression of the other four miRNAs between the 3 groups.@*Conclusions@#The expression of miR-146a-5p is increased in congenital melanocytic nevi, especially in giant congenital melanocytic nevi, which may be related to the proliferation and senescence of melanocytes in different tissues.