Traditional Chinese Medicine ShenZhuGuanXin Granules Mitigate Cardiac Dysfunction and Promote Myocardium Angiogenesis in Myocardial Infarction Rats by Upregulating PECAM-1/CD31 and VEGF Expression.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) is the main cause of global mortality and morbidity despite the development of therapeutic approaches. ShenZhuGuanXin granules (SG) have been shown to possess cardioprotective effects against coronary heart disease (CHD). However, little is known about its specific mechanism. The present study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of SG in cardiac dysfunction and to demonstrate whether SG can promote myocardium angiogenesis by establishing a rat model of myocardial infarction with left anterior descending ligating. METHODS AND RESULTS: Three days after MI, rats were randomly divided into six groups: sham group (sham), MI group (MI), MI + low dose SG (SG-L) group, MI + middle dose SG (SG-M) group, MI + high dose SG (SG-H) group, and MI + compound Danshen dropping pills (CDDP) group as a positive control. Four weeks after administration, rats underwent hemodynamics and echocardiography study. Ventricle tissues were processed for histology and immunohistochemistry studies. Compared with MI group, SG treatment dose-dependently improved cardiac hemodynamic function, attenuated infarct size, increased microvessel density, and increased the expression of PECAM-1/CD31 and VEGF. CONCLUSIONS: SG dose-dependently improved cardiac hemodynamic function and attenuated infarct size by promoting angiogenesis through upregulating PECAM-1/CD31 and VEGF expression.

Tricyclic antidepressants for preventing migraine in adults.

BACKGROUND: Migraine, ranked as the 7th-highest specific cause of disability worldwide, has caused an enormous burden on the economy and society. Tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) is one of the most commonly drugs for migraine prevention. However, evidence about the efficacy and tolerability of TCAs in the prophylaxis of migraine in adults is somewhat confusing. METHODS: A computerized literature search of the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases from inception to July 2016 was conducted. We reviewed all randomized controlled trials that assigned adults with a clinical diagnosis of migraine to TCAs or other treatments (placebo or other antidepressants). Reduction in migraine frequency or index and response rates to treatment were defined as the efficacy outcomes. Rates of dropout due to adverse effects were defined as the tolerability outcomes. RESULTS: In total 12 trials consisting of 1006 participants were identified: 9 trials compared TCAs with placebo, and the other 3 compared amitriptyline with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). A significant advantage of TCAs compared with placebo in the prevention of migraine in adults was observed (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.05 to -.46; P < .00001). Participants receiving TCAs were more likely to experience an ≥50% reduction in their headache burden than those receiving placebo (risk ratio [RR] =1.40; 95% CI = 0.89-2.20; P = .14). In addition, the efficacy between amitriptyline and SSRIs or SNRIs did not differ for migraine prevention in adults (SMD = -.01; 95% CI = -0.31 to 0.28; P = .94) based on the available limited trials. However, TCAs were less well tolerated than placebo (RR = 1.73; 95% CI = 1.00-2.99; P = .05) and SSRI or SNRI (RR = 2.85; 95% CI = 0.97-8.41; P = .06) on account of adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: This research reveals that TCAs were more effective than placebo, but no more than SSRI or SNRI in ameliorating the headache burden in adults with migraine. However, TCAs appeared to be less tolerated than placebo and SSRIs or SNRIs for some side effects.

Potential antidepressant and resilience mechanism revealed by metabolomic study on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of stress resilient rats.

Resilience is an active coping response to stress, which plays a very important role in major depressive disorder study. The molecular mechanisms underlying such resilience are poorly understood. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were promising objects in unveiling the underlying pathogenesis of resilience. Hereby we carried out successive study on PBMCs metabolomics in resilient rats of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomic approach coupled with principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used to detect differential metabolites in PBMCs of resilient rats. Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA) was applied for pathway analysis. A set of differential metabolites including Malic acid, Ornithine, l-Lysine, Stigmasterol, Oleic acid, γ-Tocopherol, Adenosine and N-acetyl-d-glucosamine were significantly altered in resilient rats, meanwhile promoting antidepressant research. As revealed by IPA that aberrant energy metabolism, HIFα signaling, neurotransmitter, O-GlcNAcylation and cAMP signaling cascade in peripheral might be evolved in the pathogenesis of coping mechanism. The GC-MS based metabolomics may contribute to better understanding of resilience, as well as shedding light on antidepressant discovery.

Efficacy and feasibility of antidepressant treatment in patients with post-stroke depression.

BACKGROUND: Depression greatly impacts the quality of life in most stroke survivors. Therefore, effective treatment of post-stroke depression (PSD) is critically important. However, evidence supporting the effectiveness and feasibility of antidepressant treatment in this population is limited and somewhat confusing. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search of the Cochrane, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases from inception up to November 2015 was conducted. We reviewed all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assigned patients with a clinical diagnosis of PSD to antidepressant or placebo treatment. Reduction in depression rating scale scores and response rate to antidepressants were defined as the efficacy outcomes. Rates of dropout for any reason and for adverse effects were defined as the acceptability outcomes. We also assessed improvements in activities of daily living (ADL) as functional outcomes. RESULTS: In total, 11 trials consisting of 740 participants were indentified. A significant advantage of antidepressants compared with placebo treatment in PSD was observed in overall pooled effect size analysis (SMD = -0.96; 95% CI = -1.41 to -0.51; P <0.0001). In addition, patients receiving antidepressants presented a much greater improvement in various depressive symptoms than those with placebo (RR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.01-1.83; P = 0.04). However, antidepressants were less well tolerated than placebo because of some adverse events (RR = 2.72; 95% CI = 1.37-5.43; P = 0.04). Intriguingly, no consistent evidence was found for a positive effect of antidepressants on ADL in our analysis. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that antidepressants treatment confers potentially positive effects in patients with PSD as compared with simple placebo treatment. However, this must be carefully considered in light of its possible adverse events in some individual patients.

Mongolian folk medicine--from traditional practice to scientific development.

Mongolian folk medicine, the important part of Mongolian medicine, is the main means, method and weapon of disease prevention, treatment and health care. Mongolian materia medicas are the important literatures of guiding the healthy development of the modern Mongolian medicine with a long and dazzling history. Since the founding of new China, a new history chapter of Mongolian folk medicine was opened under the attention and support from all levels of party and government. This paper intends to provide comprehensive insight into the rapid development of Mongolian folk medicine. The resources, phytochemistry, quality standard, pharmacology, dosage forms reform and production were reviewed to expound the process that Mongolian folk medicine was developed from traditional practices to scientific development

[Ecology suitability study of Lomatogonium rotatum in Inner Mongolia].

The distribution information of Lomatogonium rotatum. was collected by interview investigation and field survey, and 55 related environmental factors were collected, the habitat suitability study was conducted based on geographic information system (GIS) and maximum entropy model. The AUCs of ROC curve were both above 0.99, indicating that the predictive results with the maximum model were highly precise. The results showed that 13 major environmental factors have obvious influence on ecology suitability distributions of L. rotatum, including month average temperature of February et al., the suitable distribution areas are mainly concentrated in the east-central of Inner Mongolia, including Hexigten banner, Duolun county, Zhenglan banner et al., The zoning results basically coincide with the genuine producing areas, and further afford new suitable distribution areas, which can provide reference for L. rotatum's wild nursery and the siting of introduction and cultivation.

[Study on identification of cistanche hebra and its adulterants by PCR amplification of specific alleles based on ITS sequences].

To explore the new method of discriminating Cistanche deserticola, Cynomorium songaricum and Orobanche pycnostachya by using PCR amplification of specific alleles. 30 samples of the different C. deserticola, 21 samples of C. songaricum and O. pycnostachya were collected. The total DNA of the samples were extracted, the ITS sequences from C. deserticola, C. songaricum and O. pycnostachya were amplified by PCR and sequenced unidirectionally. These sequences were aligned by using ClustulW. Specific primer was designed according to the ITS sequences of specific alleles, and PCR reaction system was optimized. Additionally, compare with the identification of specific PCR method and DNA sequence analysis method. The result showed that the 331 bp identification band for C. deserticola and the adulterants not amplified bands by a single PCR reaction, which showed good identification ability to the three species. PCR amplification of specific alleles can be used to identify C. deserticola, C. songaricum and O. pycnostachya successfully.