Treatment of Renal Proteinuria by Traditional Chinese Medicine and Its Mechanism / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) refers to abnormal renal structure and function for more than 3 months, and is characterized by abnormal urine, blood and kidney structure. As an important clinical manifestation of CKD, proteinuria is closely related to glomerular damage. It is not only a pathological manifestation of CKD, but also an important pathological factor to accelerate the development of CKD. After thousands of years of development, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a systematic theoretical foundation and rich clinical experience in the treatment of CKD. By referring to the treatment principles and methods of "leakage of vital essence", "low back pain", "asthenia", "blood urine" and "edema" in TCM, the general treatment principle of proteinuria is to coordinate the body Yin and Yang and restore the balance of Yin and Yang. Specific methods include removing blood stasis, sweating, urinating, invigorating the spleen and strengthening the kidney, smoothing liver and activating collaterals, and removing dampness and detoxification. Both ancient and modern physicians have established effective prescriptions according to the treatment principles and methods. Modern studies have showed that the mechanism of TCM to reduce proteinuria is mainly to improve the pathological manifestations of large area fusion of podocyte processes and complete disappearance of poddout, up-regulate the expression of nephrin and podocin, regulate immune, alleviate systemic inflammation, and improve the serum superoxide dismutase (SOD)level and the ability of the body to remove free radicals. The method and mechanism of treating renal proteinuria are discussed from three aspects:classical prescriptions, empirical prescriptions and the Chinese patent medicine. It provides a theoretical reference for the clinical treatment of chronic kidney disease, reducing the excretion of proteinuria and improving the clinical symptoms of the patients.

(2R, 3S)-Pinobanksin-3-cinnamate ameliorates photoreceptor degeneration in Pde6rd10 mice.

As an inherited disorder caused by initial death of rod photoreceptors, retinitis pigmentosa is currently untreatable and usually leads to partial or complete blindness. (2R, 3S)-Pinobanksin-3-cinnamate (PC) is a new flavonone isolated from the seed of Alpinia galanga Willd, and has been reported to exert neuroprotective effects by upregulating endogenous antioxidant enzymes. In this study, the anti-oxidative and neuroprotective activity of PC against photoreceptor apoptosis in rd10 mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa was explored. PC showed to produce significant improvement in histology and function in rd10 mice through reducing oxidative stress. For the first time, the protective effects of PC were demonstrated against retina degeneration in rd10 mice and our study provides scientific rationale on using PC as the supplementary treatment to the outer retina diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa, in which oxidative stress is thought to contribute to disease progression.

Effect of metabolites of Clostridium butyricum, butyric acid and hydro-gen, on acute gastric mucosal lesion / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To observe the antiulcer effect of butyric acid and hydrogen , the main metabolites of Clos-tridium butyricum (C.butyricum), and to explore the underlying mechanism .METHODS: The mouse model of acute gastric mucosal lesion was prepared by gavage with ethanol .The mice were randomly divided into 4 groups:normal group , model group , butyric acid group and hydrogen group .The mice in butyric acid group and hydrogen group were given buty-rate and hydrogen prior to model establishment , respectively .Macroscopic observation of the pathological changes in gastric tissues was performed to evaluate the effect of the 2 metabolites of C.butyricum.Meanwhile, the mRNA expression levels of inflammatory factors, such as IL-12, RAN1 and MCP-1, were determined by RT-qPCR.The expression levels of apopto-sis-related proteins Bcl-2 and Bax were detected by immunohistochemical staining .RESULTS:The macroscopic observa-tion found that butyrate , not hydrogen , protected gastric mucosa .HE staining also showed that butyrate significantly attenu-ated the pathological damage of the gastric mucosa induced by ethanol .Compared with model group , the mRNA levels of inflammatory factors IL-12, RAN1 and MCP-1 in butyrate group significantly decreased (P<0.01).In butyrate group, the protein level of Bax was obviously decreased compared with model group (P<0.01), while the protein level of Bcl-2 was significantly increased ( P<0.01 ) .CONCLUSION: The gastric mucosa protective metabolite of C.butyricum may be butyric acid , not hydrogen .Butyric acid protects the gastric mucosa against ethanol-induced lesion by inhibiting the inflam- mation and reducing the expression ratio of Bax/Bcl-2.

Effect of metabolites of Clostridium butyricum, butyric acid and hydro-gen, on acute gastric mucosal lesion / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM:To observe the antiulcer effect of butyric acid and hydrogen , the main metabolites of Clos-tridium butyricum (C.butyricum), and to explore the underlying mechanism .METHODS: The mouse model of acute gastric mucosal lesion was prepared by gavage with ethanol .The mice were randomly divided into 4 groups:normal group , model group , butyric acid group and hydrogen group .The mice in butyric acid group and hydrogen group were given buty-rate and hydrogen prior to model establishment , respectively .Macroscopic observation of the pathological changes in gastric tissues was performed to evaluate the effect of the 2 metabolites of C.butyricum.Meanwhile, the mRNA expression levels of inflammatory factors, such as IL-12, RAN1 and MCP-1, were determined by RT-qPCR.The expression levels of apopto-sis-related proteins Bcl-2 and Bax were detected by immunohistochemical staining .RESULTS:The macroscopic observa-tion found that butyrate , not hydrogen , protected gastric mucosa .HE staining also showed that butyrate significantly attenu-ated the pathological damage of the gastric mucosa induced by ethanol .Compared with model group , the mRNA levels of inflammatory factors IL-12, RAN1 and MCP-1 in butyrate group significantly decreased (P<0.01).In butyrate group, the protein level of Bax was obviously decreased compared with model group (P<0.01), while the protein level of Bcl-2 was significantly increased ( P<0.01 ) .CONCLUSION: The gastric mucosa protective metabolite of C.butyricum may be butyric acid , not hydrogen .Butyric acid protects the gastric mucosa against ethanol-induced lesion by inhibiting the inflam- mation and reducing the expression ratio of Bax/Bcl-2.

Meta-analysis of best corrected visual acuity after treatment for myopic choroidal neovascularisation.

AIM: To compare the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between Verteporfin with photodynamic therapy (PDT) and intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) in patients with myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV). METHOD: Published literature from Medline, Premedline, Embase and the Cochrane Library from inception until November 2013 were retrieved. All studies evaluating the BCVA between Verteporfin with PDT and intravitreal anti-VEGF for myopic CNV were included. The results were pooled using mean difference (MD), a corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: Finally, five studies enrolled 349 eyes were included in the meta-analysis. We inferred that the BCVA of myopic CNV after the treatment of anti-VEGF was significantly better compared with Verteporfin with PDT (MD=0.25, 95%CI:0.17-0.33, Z=5.97, P<0.00001). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that intravitreal anti-VEGF could have a better BCVA after treatment than Verteporfin with PDT for myopic CNV.

TGFBI and CHST6 gene analysis in Chinese stromal corneal dystrophies.

AIM: To investigate whether mutations in TGFBI gene or CHST6 gene correlated with stromal corneal dystrophies (CD) in 8 Chinese probands. METHODS: Eight unrelated patients with stromal corneal dystrophies were recruited in this study; all affected members were assessed by completely ophthalmologic examinations. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral leukocytes, 17 exons of TGFBI gene and the exon of CHST6 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), sequenced directly and compared with the reference database. RESULTS: Three heterozygous mutations in TGFBI gene were identified in six patients: c. 370C>T (p.Arg124Cys) was found in exon 4 of TGFBI gene in three members, c. 371G>A (p.Arg124His) was found in one patient; c. 1663C>T (p.Arg555Trp) was found in exon 12 in other two members. In addition, four polymorphisms with the nucleotide changes rs1442, rs1054124, rs4669, and rs35151677 were found in TGFBI gene. Mutations were not identified in the rest of 2 affected individuals in TGFBI gene or CHST6 gene. CONCLUSION: Within these patients, R124C, R124H and R555W mutations were co-segregated with the disease phenotypes and were specific mutations for lattice corneal dystrophy type I (LCD I), Avellino corneal dystrophy (ACD, GCD II), granular corneal dystrophy type I (GCD I), respectively. Our study highlights the prevalence of codon 124 and codon 555 mutations in the TGFBI gene among the Chinese stromal corneal dystrophies patients.

[Variations of the zinc finger protein 161 gene in Chinese with or without high myopia].

To investigate the association between variations of ZFP161 gene and high myopia, A total of 204 probands with simple high myopia(< or = -6.0 dipoters) were collected while 116 normal persons from different families without high myopia or related disease were used as controls. Genomic DNA was prepared from the peripheral leucocytes. The coding sequences of ZFP161 gene in 320 subjects were analyzed by using exon-by-exon PCR-heteroduplex-SSCP analysis. Identification of the Variations by cloning and sequencing, combinated with controls and family analysis, was used to disclose the correlation between ZFP161 gene and high myopia. A mutation of ZFP161 gene was identified as an insertion of AT before the 58th nucleotide of intron 1 (IVS1 58-59)(1/204) and a variation of ZFP161 gene was identified as a heterozygous C to A of the 168th nucleotide in exon 2 (Codon56, GCC-->GCA, Ala56Ala). Ala56Ala is a non-sense mutation identified in 5 of the 204 patients and 3 of 116 controls. No evidence shows that these variations are responsible for high myopia.

[The SNPs analysis of encoding sequence of interacting factor gene in Chinese population].

OBJECTIVE: To screen the variations of TG interacting factor(TGIF) gene in encoding sequence in Chinese high myopia patients and normal controls and to analyze the SNPs of TGIF gene encoding sequence in Chinese population. METHODS: Genomic DNA was collected from 204 probands with high myopia and 112 unrelated persons without high myopia. The coding sequences of TGIF gene in 316 subjects were analyzed by using exon-by-exon PCR heteroduplex-SSCP analysis and sequencing. RESULTS: There were 3 types of SNP and one single nucleotide mutation in the coding sequence of TGIF gene: IVS-2 nt350 G --> T(36/204), codon140 CCA --> CCG; Pro140Pro codon163 CCG --> CTG;Pro163Leu and codon126 GTG --> GCG; Val126Ala(1/204). The SNPs of codon140 CCA --> CCG and codon163 CCG --> CTG were composed of 3 alleles and 5 genotypes in Chinese population which abide by Hardy-Weinberg law. CONCLUSION: There was no evidence to prove that mutations in the TGIF gene are responsible for the high myopia in Chinese. Three SNPs of coding sequence TGIF gene in Chinese population abide by Hardy-Weinberg law.

[Variation of the peripherin gene in Chinese with or without high myopia].

To analyze the relationship of the peripherin gene(PRPH, OMIM17071) mutations with high myopia,genomic DNA was collected from 180 probands with high myopia (TTT(Phe21Phe,4/180), nt2138C-->G(IVS3,1/180), codon277 GCC-->ACC(Ala277Thr,8/180), codon237 CCA-->TCA (Arg237stop,1/180), codon292CCG-->CCA (Ala292Ala,1/180),codon361CUG-->CUC(Leu361Leu,12/180), codon369 AAA-->AAG(Lys369Lys,12/180),nt3331G-->C(IVS7,3/180)were detected in a number of probands as indicated in the blanket. Of the 8 variations one( codon 277,G-->A,Ala277Thr) is a missense mutation identified in 8 of the 180patients and one of 60 controls; The mutation of codon361 and codon 369 were synonymous one and linkage each other; Another one(codon237,CCA-->TCA,Arg237stop) is a heterozygous nonsense mutation identified in one patient with autosomal recessive inheritance mode population but not in the 60 normal controls. The others were synonymous mutations. Eight nucleotide variations were found in the PRPH gene. We found no evidence that mutations in the PRPH gene are responsible for the high myopia in Chinese.