Mechanisms of Chinese Medicine in Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Treatment: Data Mining and Systematic Pharmacology Study / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To identify specific Chinese medicines (CMs) that may benefit patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and explore the action mechanism.@*METHODS@#Domestic and foreign literature on the treatment of GERD with CMs was searched and selected from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, Wanfang Database, and PubMed from October 1, 2011 to October 1, 2021. Data from all eligible articles were extracted to establish the database of CMs for GERD. Apriori algorithm of data mining techniques was used to analyze the rules of herbs selection and core Chinese medicine formulas were identified. A system pharmacology approach was used to explore the action mechanism of these medicines.@*RESULTS@#A total of 278 prescriptions for GERD were analyzed, including 192 CMs. Results of Apriori algorithm indicated that Evodiae Fructus and Coptidis Rhizoma were the highest confidence combination. A total of 32 active ingredients and 66 targets were screened for the treatment of GERD. Enrichment analysis showed that the mechanisms of action mainly involved pathways in cancer, fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis, advanced glycation end product (AGE), the receptor for AGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, bladder cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis.@*CONCLUSION@#Evodiae Fructus and Coptidis Rhizoma are the core drugs in the treatment of GERD and the potential mechanism of action of these medicines includes potential target and pathways.

Effect and Mechanism of Longshengzhi Capsule on Atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- Mice / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo study the effect of Longshengzhi capsule （LSZC） on high fat diet （HFD）-induced atherosclerosis （AS） in apolipoprotein E knockout （ApoE-/-） mice. MethodApoE-/- mice were fed with HFD for 8 weeks to induce AS. Then the mice were randomized into model group， simvastatin group （4 mg·kg-1）， high-dose LSZC group （1.6 g·kg-1）， medium-dose LSZC group （0.8 g·kg-1）， and low-dose LSZC group （0.4 g·kg-1）. C57BL/6J Mice with normal diet were used as the blank control. After 10 weeks， serum levels of triglyceride （TG）， total cholesterol （TC）， high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C）， low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C）， malondialdehyde （MDA）， superoxide dismutase （SOD）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， and interleukin-6 （IL-6） were detected. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） and oil red O were used to detect aortic plaque in each group. The levels of CD34 and F4/80 in aorta were determined by immunohistochemistry （IHC）. ResultCompared with the blank control， the model group demonstrated obvious aortic plaque， a large amount of lipid accumulation， serious damage of aortic intima， increase in serum levels of TC， TG， LDL-C， HDL-C， MDA， IL-1β， and IL-6 （P<0.01）， decrease in SOD level （P<0.01）， and rise of the expression of CD34 and F4/80 （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， LSZC of the three doses all decreased the serum levels of TG and LDL-C （P<0.05）， and the levels of IL-1β and IL-6 （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the high-dose and medium-dose LSZC improved SOD level， decreased MDA content （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and reduced the expression of the CD34 and F4/80 in blood vessels （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionLSZC has certain intervention effect on the formation of aortic plaque in atherosclerosis ApoE-/- mice. The mechanism is that it reduces the levels of serum TG and LDL-C to lower blood lipid， decreases MDA level and improves SOD activity to inhibit lipid peroxidation， lowers the levels of IL-1β and IL-6 and down-regulates the expression of CD34 and F4/80 to protect blood vessels from inflammatory damage.

Uniform and Easy-To-Prepare Glycopolymer-Brush Interface for Rapid Protein (Anti-)Adhesion Sensing.

Glycopolymers have emerged as powerful and versatile glycan analogues for the investigation of cellular signal transduction. In this study, a layer of the glycopolymer-brush (GlyB) interface was functionalized on the surface of gold substrates. In order to enhance the capability and accessibility of this transducer interface, a combined protocol of copper(0)-mediated living radical polymerization (Cu(0)-LRP) with subsequent "CuAAC" click reaction was utilized to synthesize a set of novel glycopolymer precursors with a tunable scaffold structure and pyranose ligands. The resulting glycopolymer exhibited a fine-tuned molecular weight with a minor dispersity of 1.27. Through surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis, various GlyB interfaces exhibiting different saccharide moieties (glucose, mannose, and galactose) were examined to study their adhesion or antiadhesion potential toward three types of proteins, concanavalin A, bovine serum albumin, and peanut agglutinin (PNA). The strong affinity between poly(galactose) and PNA was further employed to construct a proof-of-concept aggregation-mediated sensing system. This minimal naked-eye sensor that consisted of only two substances, namely, gold nanoparticles and glycopolymers, was characterized and tested for its potential in protein quantification.