Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata as Potential Anticancer Herb: Bioactive Compounds and Molecular Mechanisms.

Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata (Fuzi in Chinese) is a traditional herbal medicine widely used in China and other Asian countries. In clinical practice, it is often used to treat heart failure, rheumatoid arthritis, and different kinds of pains. Fuzi extract and its active ingredients exert considerable anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects. The main chemical substances of Fuzi include alkaloids, polysaccharides, flavonoids, fatty acids, and sterols. Among of them, alkaloids and polysaccharides are responsible for the anticancer efficacy. Most bioactive alkaloids in Fuzi possess C19 diterpenoid mother nucleus and these natural products show great potential for cancer therapy. Moreover, polysaccharides exert extraordinary tumor-suppressive functions. This review comprehensively summarized the active ingredients, antineoplastic effects, and molecular mechanisms of Fuzi by searching PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and CNKI. The anticancer effects are largely attributed to inducing apoptosis and autophagy, inhibiting proliferation, migration and invasion, regulating body immunity, affecting energy metabolism, as well as reversing multidrug resistance. Meanwhile, several signaling pathways and biological processes are mainly involved, such as NF-κB, EMT, HIF-1, p38 MAPK, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and TCA cycle. Collectively, alkaloids and polysaccharides in Fuzi might serve as attractive therapeutic candidates for the development of anticancer drugs. This review would lay a foundation and provide a basis for further basic research and clinical application of Fuzi.

Wulingsan (Oryeongsan/Goreisan) ameliorate lipid metabolism of obesity rats via regulation of the plasma metabolic profiling.

OBJECTIVES: Wulingsan has been used to cure disease about disorders related to fluid balance for thousands of years. The clinical practice of modern Chinese medicine has found that Wulingsan has the effect on reducing weight and fat, but its mechanism is not clear. This study investigated its effects on obesity rats and explored the underlying mechanisms by analyzing the plasma metabolic profiling. METHODS: The effects of Wulingsan on obesity were evaluated with obesity rats induced by high-fat diet. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was performed to discover potential biomarkers and evaluate whether Wulingsan could regulate these biomarkers. The levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) in serum were assessed by ELISA kits. RESULTS: Remarkably, TG, TC, HDL-C and LDL-C in obesity rats were ameliorated after oral administration of Wulingsan. Further investigation indicated that the plasma metabolic profiles were clearly improved. Twelve potential biomarkers were identified. After intervention, these biomarkers turned back to normal level at some extent. CONCLUSION: The results showed that Wulingsan extract groups were normalized. Additionally, this study also showed that the metabonomics method was a promising tool to unravel how traditional Chinese medicines worked and these data can provide scientific basis for clinical application of Wulingsan.

Disease distribution and medical resources during the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

BACKGROUND: Appropriate planning and staffing for medical services at large-scale athletic events is essential to provide for a safe and successful competition. There are few well-documented accounts describing the demand for such services. The present study provided the data from the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, with a view to provide the guidance for planning future events. METHODS: A total of 22 029 and 8046 patients, who received medical care from a physician at an Olympic or Paralympic medical station, were included. The patient proportion among different personnel, various disease proportions at different kinds of venues, and the disease spectrum at specified venues at the Olympics and Paralympics were analyzed. RESULTS: At both games, the patient proportion varied by accreditation status. The staff accounted for the largest number of visits at the Olympics (44.83%) and Paralympics (36.95%), with respiratory diseases the most common. Various disease spectrums were discovered at the different kinds of venues. Surgical diseases were the most frequently listed reason for visits, both at competition and non-competition venues, especially during the Paralympics. The sport-related injuries accounted for a majority of the surgical cases during both games. At training venues, ear nose and throat diseases accounted for the greatest number of visits during both games. CONCLUSIONS: During both games, people contracted different diseases at different venues. Adequate surgeons should be designated to offer assistance mostly in trauma situations. Appropriate numbers of physicians in respiratory diseases and otorhinolaryngology is of great importance.

[Analysis on disease distribution at Beijing 2008 Olympic venues].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the incidence and the variety of diseases at Olympic competition venues, non-competition venues and special control zones through the statistical analysis of medical data of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. METHODS: The proportions of people contracting diseases among different groups, i.e. non-registered people, athletes, staff, media, VIPs and others were analyzed. At different venues the incidence proportions of diseases in cardiovascular system, stomatology, gastroenterology, ENT, respiratory system, surgery, neuropsychiatry, physical injury, genitourinary system and burns were calculated. And the disease spectrum and incidence proportions at specified venues were analyzed. RESULTS: 1. Among all groups of people involved in Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the proportion of disease-contracting staff was the highest (44.83%) while that of VIPs the lowest (4.76%) so that the incidence proportions were different among different groups of people. 2. Chi2 = 2427.803, (P < 0.01) The statistical analysis of disease distribution indicates that people at different venues might contract different diseases. 3. The proportions of disease-contracting people at competition venues, non-competition venues, training venues and special control zones were 36.08%, 50.66%, 2.31% and 10.96% respectively, which was related to the number of people at a particular venue. 4. The incidence proportion of surgical diseases was quite high, especially maxillofacial and orthopedic diseases (orthopedic trauma) ranking as top 2 at all venues. Thus there should be surgeons at every venue, especially maxillofacial (for hockey) and orthopedic surgeons. At training venues, the number of people contracting E.N.T. diseases ranked No. 1, chi2 = 74.859 (P < 0.01), compared with that of non-competition venues at No. 2. So the incidence proportion of ENT diseases was higher at training venues than at non-competition venues. The number of people contracting respiratory diseases was the largest in special control zones and the figure of competition venues ranked at No. 2, chi2 = 123.708 (P < 0.01). Therefore the incidence proportion of respiratory diseases at special control zones was higher than that of competition venues. CONCLUSION: The proportions of people contracting diseases were different among different groups of people and the staff ranked the first in this regard. People contracted different diseases at different venues so that the distribution of medical resources should cater to this situation. In case of such a large-scale international competition as the Olympic Games, the patients are mainly from competition venues and non-competition venues so these two places have the largest demand for medical staff. The incidence proportion of surgical diseases is quite high and it is important to have maxillofacial and orthopedic surgeons stationed at all the venues. The ophthalmological and ENT specialists are recommended at training venues and respiratory specialists at special control zones. Meanwhile, the gastroenterologic and stomatological specialists should be present at all venues.