[Network pharmacological analysis and experimental study of Pulsatilla chinensis against inflammatory injury caused by pneumonia in mice infected with influenza virus FM_1].

Network pharmacology and the mouse model of viral pneumonia caused by influenza virus FM_1 were employed to explore the main active components and the mechanism of Pulsatilla chinensis against the inflammatory injury of influenza virus-induced pneumonia. The components and targets of P. chinensis were searched from TCMSP, and the targets associated with influenza virus-induced pneumonia were searched from GeneCards. The common targets between P. chinensis and influenza virus-induced pneumonia were identified with Venn diagram established in Venny 2.1. The herb-component-disease-target(H-C-D-T) network was constructed by Cytoscape 3.7.2. The above data were imported into STRING for PPI network analysis. Gene Ontology(GO) enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment were performed with DAVID. BALB/cAnN mice were infected with the influenza virus FM_1 by nasal drip to gene-rate the mouse model of pneumonia. Immunohistochemistry was adopted to the expression profiling of inflammatory cytokines in the lung tissues of mice in the blank group, model group, and P. chinensis group 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after infection. The pathological changes of lung and trachea of mice in blank group, model group, and P. chinensis group were observed with light microscope and scanning electron microscope at all the time points. The network pharmacological analysis indicated that 9 compounds of P. chinensis were screened out, with a total of 57 targets, 22 of which were overlapped with those of influenza virus-induced pneumonia. A total of 112 GO terms(P<0.05) were enriched, including 81 terms of biological processes, 11 terms of cell components, and 20 terms of molecular functions. A total of 53 KEGG signaling pathways(P<0.05) were enriched, including TNF signaling pathway, influenza A signaling pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and other signaling pathways related to influenza/inflammation. In the P. chinensis group, the expression of TNF-α and IL-1 in the lung tissue was down-regulated on the 3 rd day after infection, and that of IL-6 in the lung tissue was down-regulated on the 5 th day after infection. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that P. chinensis significantly alleviated the pathological damage of lung and trachea compared with the model group. This study reflects the multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-pathways of P. chinensis against influenza virus-induced pneumonia. P. chinensis may reduce the production of proinflammatory cytokines and mediators and block the pro-inflammatory signaling pathways to alleviate viral pneumonia, which provides reference for future research.

[Effect of Scutellariae Radix on expression of inflammatory cytokine protein and gene in lung of mice with viral pneumonia caused by influenza virus FM1 infection].

Mice models of viral pneumonia were induced by pulmonary adaptive strain FM1 of influenza A virus in Asian mice.RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to dynamically observe the effect of Scutellariae Radix on the protein and gene expression of inflammatory cytokine in the lungs of the model mice infected by influenza virus FM1 at different phases. The partial mechanism of Scutellariae Radix in repairing the immune inflammatory damage of target organs of pneumonia caused by influenza virus was further explored. The results showed that Scutellariae Radix reduced protein and gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor( TNF-α),interleukin IL-1,IL-6 in lung tissues from 3 rd to 5 th day after infection,and increased protein and gene expression of IL-10 and IFN-γ in lung tissues on the 5 th day after infection. Scutellariae Radix may inhibit excessive release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and promote the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines,thereby inhibiting the systemic inflammatory response syndrome,reducing the immunoinflammatory pathological damage of lung caused by influenza virus FM1 infection,and promoting lung repair of tissue inflammatory lesions.

Clinicopathological and prognostic value of CD24 expression in breast cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A number of studies have been conducted to explore the relationship between CD24 expression and the prognosis of breast cancer; however, the results remain inconsistent. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to clarify the impact of CD24 expression on clinicopathological features and prognosis of breast cancer. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search for relevant studies was performed, and statistical analysis was conducted using Stata software. RESULTS: Twenty studies, including 5,179 cases, were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analysis indicated that CD24 expression was associated with lymph node invasion (odds ratio [OR] = 0.68, for negative vs. positive, 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.53-0.87, p = 0.002) and TNM stage (OR = 0.63, for I + II vs. III + IV, 95% CI, 0.49-0.81, p<0.001). The prognosis analysis also suggested CD24 overexpression indicated a poorer 5-year overall survival (OS) rate (relative risk ratio [RR] = 0.93, 95% CI, 0.86-0.99, p = 0.03) and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate (RR = 0.90, 95% CI, 0.83-0.98, p = 0.02). However, CD24 expression had no correlation with tumor size, tumor grade, distance metastasis, estrogen receptor (ER) status, progesterone receptor (PR) status, or HER2 status. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that higher CD24 expression is significantly associated with lower OS rate, lower DFS rate and some clinicopathological factors such as lymph node invasion and TNM stage. This meta-analysis suggested that CD24 is an efficient prognostic factor in breast cancer.

Using benthic diatom assemblages to assess human impacts on streams across a rural to urban gradient.

Benthic diatom assemblages on the natural substrata were investigated at 21 sites of the Ganhe River watershed (China) once per season and in addition, early spring in 2013. A total of 487 diatom taxa from 36 genera were identified during five investigations. The assemblages were dominated by Achnanthidium minutissimum (Kützing) Czarnecki and Cocconeis placentula in the rural reach, whereas Navicula, Nitzschia, and Gomphonema species were characteristic of urbanized sites. Our results suggest that biodiversity was positively related to high nutrient levels and strongly negatively related to diatom-based indices. The periphyton biomass (expressed as chlorophyll a and ash-free dry mass) was not related to water quality. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the nutrient concentration gradient was the most important factor that affected the diatom assemblage composition and species distribution. The diatom-based indices (specific pollution sensitivity index (IPS), biological diatom index (IBD), and trophic diatom index (TDI)) were significantly positively correlated with water quality and are adequate for use in China. Slight changes in the biodiversity and diatom-based indices followed a temporal pattern. The species composition was less related to the season or hydrological characteristics of the river but more strongly related to differences in the trophic status. In this region, urbanization masked the impact of rural land use on benthic diatoms. The research will expand the understanding of using benthic diatom assemblages for water quality monitoring in urban streams and improve watershed-scale management and conservation efforts in the Ganhe River, China.

[Research progress on the relationship between three kinds of liver fluke infections and cholangiocarcinoma].

Liver fluke disease caused by Clonorchis sinensis, Opisthorchis viverrini and O. felineus is a food-borne zoonotic parasitic disease and widely prevalent in Asia. The definitive hosts including human beings get the infection by ingestion of raw or undercooked fish or shrimp infested with metacercariae. Long-term or severe infection of the flukes can lead to dysfunction of the liver, such as cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, and so on. Researches indicated that there is an etiology relation between the fluke infection and cholangiocarcinoma. This paper reviews the relationship and possible mechanisms of the liver fluke-associated cholangiocarcinoma