[Establishment of a Rat Model of Hypotension Induced by Reserpine].

Objective To determine the optimal dosage and intervention duration of reserpine to establish a rat model of hypotension.Methods According to the body weight and systolic blood pressure (SBP),60 male Wistar rats were assigned to six groups (n=10),including a control group and five observation groups with different doses.The control group was administrated with 10 ml/kg 0.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose solution,and the observation groups with 0.016,0.032,0.064,0.128,and 0.160 mg/kg reserpine suspensions,respectively.All the groups were administrated by gavage twice a day,and the body weights of rats were monitored daily.SBP and heart rate (HR) were measured before modeling and 1-6 weeks after administration.After 6 weeks of administration,the blood samples of inner canthus were collected.The levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH),creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (CK-MB),alanine aminotransferase,aspartate aminotransferase (AST),serum creatinine,and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were measured by an autoanalyzer.Three rats in each group were randomly selected for observation of the changes in SBP after drug withdrawal and the rest rats were sacrificed for measurement of the levels of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain.Results Compared with the control group,different doses of reserpine lowered the SBP of rats (F=28.492,P<0.001).The decline in SBP increased in a concentration-dependent manner.SBP reached the lowest value after 1 week,rose slightly later,and was stable after 3 weeks of administration.There was no significant difference in SBP between 0.016 mg/kg reserpine group and the control group after the 5th week (P>0.05).The SBP levels of rats in 0.032,0.064,0.128,and 0.160 mg/kg reserpine groups showed no significant difference between each other (P=0.204) and were lower than that in the control group (all P<0.001).One week after drug withdrawal,the SBP of rats in the observation groups rose to the baseline level and remained stable.HR showed similar changes among groups,first increasing and then decreasing.There was no significant difference in HR among different groups at the same time point (F=0.922,P=0.475).Compared with the control group,reserpine of different doses reduced the norepinephrine content in the hippocampus (all P<0.001),and 0.128 mg/kg (P=0.045) and 0.160 mg/kg (P=0.042) reserpine lowered the dopamine level in the striatum,which showed no significant differences between different reserpine groups(P=0.343,P=0.301).The levels of LDH,CK-MB,and BUN in the serum increased with the increase in reserpine concentration,and the levels of LDH (P=0.001),CK-MB (P=0.020),AST (P=0.007),and BUN (P=0.001) in the 0.160 mg/kg reserpine group were significantly different from those in the control group.Conclusions The rat model of hypotension can be induced by gavage with reserpine.The gavage with reserpine at a dose of 0.032 mg/kg,twice a day for three consecutive weeks is the optimal scheme for the modeling.After the model establishment,continuous administration is essential to maintain the hypotension.

Traditional chinese medicine in coronary microvascular disease.

Coronary microvascular disease (CMVD) is common in patients with cardiovascular risk factors and is associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events. Although the study of CMVD in modern medicine is ongoing, there is still no effective treatment for it. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has some clinical advantages based on syndrome differentiation and individualized treatment. In this review, we review the clinical significance, pathogenesis, and current treatments of CMVD and systematically summarize the clinical efficacy and potential action mechanisms of TCM for CMVD. In addition, the scientific problems that need to be solved urgently and the research strategy of TCM for CMVD are described. CMVD has great clinical significance, but there are still many gaps in the related research. This review aims to attract the attention of clinicians to CMVD and promote research on CMVD in TCM.

Traditional Chinese medicine against COVID-19: Role of the gut microbiota.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and it has become a public health concern worldwide. In addition to respiratory symptoms, some COVID­19 patients also show various gastrointestinal symptoms and even consider gastrointestinal symptoms to be the first manifestation. A large amount of evidence has shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection could disrupt the gut microbiota balance, and disorders of the gut microbiota could aggravate the condition of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, maintaining the gut microbiota balance is expected to become a potential new therapeutic target for treating COVID-19. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has significant effects in all stages of the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. It can adjust the gut microbiota and is an ideal intestinal microecological regulator. This review summarizes the advantages and clinical efficacy of TCM in the treatment of COVID-19 and expounds on the relationship between TCM and the gut microbiota, the relationship between COVID-19 and the gut microbiota, the mechanism of gut microbiota disorders induced by SARS-CoV-2, the relationship between cytokine storms and the gut microbiota, and the role and mechanism of TCM in preventing and treating COVID-19 by regulating the gut microbiota to provide new research ideas for TCM in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.