Prediction of the molecular mechanism of eucommiae Cortex - Achyranthis bidentatae radix in the treatment of osteoarthritis: network pharmacology and molecular docking.

OBJECTIVE: To retrieve the core drug of osteoarthritis in clinic using Data Mining, predict the drug molecular action target through the Network Pharmacology, identify the key nodes of the interaction by combining with the related targtes of osteoarthritis, explore the pharmacological mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine against osteoarthritis and other possible mechanisms of actions. METHODS: to retrieve the commonly used therapeutic formulations for osteoarthritis patients in clinical with PubMed, CNKI, VIP, CBM, Wan Fang Database and other databases, and screen out the core drugs through the Ancient and Modern Medical Case Cloud Platform and software Gephi, filter out the core drug molecules and targets combined with TCMSP database and the targets of osteoarthritis in Genecard and OMIM database, plunge those data into R project and Cytoscape to construct the intersection model of Drug molecule-osteoarthritis, establish PPI network and GO and conduct KEGG enrichment analysis with String database. Vina molecular docking was finally implemented to draw molecular docking diagram, and the results were analyzed after comprehensive analysis. RESULTS: The core drug pairs were identified as 'Eucommiae Cortex - Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix' through correlation analysis, complex network analysis based on the coefficient. 'Eucommiae Cortex - Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix' can intervene cell behavior through multiple pathways and regulate cell metabolism, cytokine synthesis, oxidative and cellular immunity with the help of topology analysis in String Database. CONCLUSIONS: The core molecules of Quercetin and Kaempferol derived from 'Eucommia bark - achyranthes' can change the spatial conformation of PTGSs by hydrogen bonding with PTGSs, the hydrophobic bonds and van der Waals forces generated by Baicalein, Wogonin and ß-carotene, thereby changing the activity of PTGSs and affecting bone properties the process of osteoarthritis.

Similarities and differences among eosinophilic esophagitis, proton-pump inhibitor-responsive esophageal eosinophilia, and reflux esophagitis: comparisons of clinical, endoscopic, and histopathological findings in Japanese patients.

BACKGROUND: Esophageal eosinophilia is classified as either eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) or proton-pump inhibitor-responsive esophageal eosinophilia (PPI-REE), depending on the response to PPI treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical, endoscopic, and histopathological findings of EoE and PPI-REE in Japanese patients. In addition, the characteristics of these cases were compared with those of reflux esophagitis (RE) cases. METHODS: Eleven patients diagnosed with EoE, 16 with PPI-REE, and 39 with RE, who were all consecutively examined from 2005 to 2015 at Shimane University Hospital, were enrolled. Clinical, endoscopic, and histopathological esophageal findings in these groups were retrospectively examined and compared. RESULTS: The differences in the clinical characteristics of EoE and PPI-REE were not remarkable, though patients with EoE and PPI-REE were younger, presented a higher prevalence of allergic comorbidities, and complained of symptoms of dysphagia more frequently than those with RE. The only noteworthy differences between EoE and PPI-REE were more frequent reports of asthma (36.4 vs. 2.6 %) and food allergy (27.3 vs. 0 %) by patients with EoE (P < 0.05, P < 0.05, respectively). Endoscopic findings in patients with EoE and PPI-REE were similar, with the presence of esophageal erosions in a small percentage of PPI-REE cases being the only difference. There were no histopathological differences between EoE and PPI-REE. CONCLUSIONS: Comparisons of clinical, endoscopic, and histopathological findings between EoE and PPI-REE showed that these two types have similar characteristics, though EoE patients showed a higher atopic background. Predicting PPI responsiveness in cases with esophageal eosinophilia is difficult and requires further investigation.

Clinical features of eosinophilic esophagitis: differences between Asian and Western populations.

The prevalence and incidence of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) have been rapidly increasing in Western countries. It is thought to be more common among Caucasians than other racial or ethnic groups, but epidemiological studies have not been fully evaluated in Asian populations, and its clinical manifestation is rarely documented. In this review, recent reports regarding EoE in Asian countries have been collected, and differences in the clinical features, including symptoms and endoscopic findings, between Asian and Western populations have been evaluated. In Asia, EoE is still much less prevalent than in Western countries. Baseline values for average age, male/female ratio, and personal history of allergic disease were comparable to those in Western populations. Predominant symptoms were dysphagia, and food impaction was extremely rare among Asian patients. Although the frequency of abnormal endoscopic findings varies among studies, over 90% of patients with EoE have shown abnormal findings such as linear furrow, which is the most common findings, in recent prospective studies in Asia. There are few reports regarding the treatment of EoE and no prospective studies evaluating drugs or elimination diet in patient with EoE have been reported in Asia. Overall, EoE had similar clinical characteristics in Asian populations. Because the incidence of EoE could increase in the future with the increase in allergic disorders in Asian countries, large-scale, nationwide prospective studies should be performed to more fully understand the epidemiology and pathophysiology of EoE in Asian populations.