Effects and mechanism of Chinese medicine Jiawei Yupingfeng in a mouse model of allergic rhinitis.

OBJECTIVE: Chinese medicine has the potential to modulate allergic rhinitis (AR). There have been studies investigating the treatment efficacy of Yupingfeng San, alone or in combination with other ingredients, in AR, though few have studied the potential mechanisms of these drugs. In the present study, we measured the effects of Jiawei Yupingfeng (JWYPF), a traditional Chinese medicine formula, on mice with ovalbumin-induced AR and explored its underlying mechanism of action. METHODS: Forty BALB/c mice were randomly divided into normal control, allergy control and two treatment groups of ten mice each. In the normal control group, mice were sensitized and challenged with saline. The mice in the allergy control and treatment groups were sensitized and challenged with ovalbumin and aluminum hydroxide gel. The treatments of JWYPF and Nasonex were administered intranasally in the AR mice for one week. Several signs of allergic inflammation, such as nasal eosinophils and inflammatory cytokines, were measured to determine the underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: Mice in the JWYPF and Nasonex groups had significantly lower AR symptom scores than those in the allergy control group (the mean differences between JWYPF and the allergy control, and Nasonex and the allergy control were -2.00 ± 0.35 and -2.40 ± 0.32). After treatment with JWYPF and Nasonex, the levels of ovalbumin-specific IgE and histamine were significantly reduced, as were the levels of interlukin-4 and transforming growth factor-ß, while interferon-γ levels were increased (all P < 0.0001, vs. allergy control). These two treatments also significantly inhibited eosinophil and mast cell infiltration into the nasal cavity but were not statistically different from one-another. CONCLUSION: JWYPF has a potential therapeutic effect on AR via adjusting the rebalance of T helper 1 and T helper 2.

Panax Notoginseng Saponin Attenuates Gastric Mucosal Epithelial Cell Injury Induced by Dual Antiplatelet Drugs through COX and PI3K/Akt/ VEGF-GSK-3ß-RhoA Network Pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the underlying mechanism of Panax notoginseng saponin (PNS) on gastric epithelial cell injury and barrier dysfunction induced by dual antiplatelet (DA). METHODS: Human gastric mucosal epithelial cell (GES-1) was cultured and divided into 4 groups: a control, a DA, a PNS+DA and a LY294002+PNS+DA group. GES-1 apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry, cell permeability were detected using Transwell, level of prostaglandins E2 (PGE2), 6-keto-prostaglandin F1α (6-keto-PGF1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in supernatant were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), expression of phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), phosphorylated-PI3K (p-PI3K), Akt, phosphorylated-Akt (p-Akt), cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) and Ras homolog gene family member A (RhoA) were measured by Western-blot. RESULTS: DA induced apoptosis and hyper-permeability in GES-1, reduced supernatant level of PGE2, 6-keto-PGF1α and VEGF (P<0.05). Addition of PNS reduced the apoptosis of GES-1 caused by DA, restored the concentration of PGE2, 6-keto-PGF1α and VEGF (P<0.05). In addition, PNS attenuated the alteration of COX-1 and COX-2 expression induced by DA, up-regulated p-PI3K/p-Akt, down-regulated RhoA and GSK-3ß. LY294002 mitigated the effects of PNS on cell apoptosis, cell permeability, VEGF concentration, and expression of RhoA and GSK-3ß significantly. CONCLUSIONS: PNS attenuates the suppression on COX/PG pathway from DA, alleviates DA-induced GES-1 apoptosis and barrier dysfunction through PI3K/Akt/ VEGF-GSK-3ß-RhoA network pathway.

Different treatment protocols for moderate idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Treatment of idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is problematic due to the unclear etiology of the illness. Corticosteroid is recommended by some papers, and hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) by others. Recently HBO2 has been shown to be an important therapy for ISSNHL, with an increasing number of studies demonstrating its beneficial results. Recovery from ISSNHL depends on the interval period between onset and treatment, hearing loss severity and audiogram type used to determine damage. Treatment of ISSNHL requires a detailed analysis. In this retrospective study we reviewed data from 56 patients with moderate ISSNHL. These patients were divided into three groups based on different treatments: corticosteroid group; corticosteroid + HBO2 (combination)group; and HBO2-only group. Additionally, all patients received intravenous vasodilator treatment. Hearing levels before and after treatment were compared. All three groups had a similar recovery rate, with an effective rate of more than 50%, and a hearing gain average of 17.38 decibels (dB). HBO2 treatment got a higher recovery rate. The combination therapy, which included corticosteroid and HBO2, did not elevate the recovery rate.

Detection of cognitive impairment in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome using mismatch negativity.

In this experiment, 97 patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome were divided into three groups (mild, moderate, severe) according to minimum oxygen saturation, and 35 healthy subjects were examined as controls. Cognitive function was determined using the mismatch negativity paradigm and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The results revealed that as the disease worsened, the mismatch negativity latency was gradually extended, and the amplitude gradually declined in patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome. Importantly, mismatch negativity latency in severe patients with a persistent time of minimum oxygen saturation < 60 seconds was significantly shorter than that with a persistent time of minimum oxygen saturation > 60 seconds. Correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between minimum oxygen saturation latency and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores. These findings indicate that intermittent night-time hypoxemia affects mismatch negativity waveforms and Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores. As indicators for detecting the cognitive functional status of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome patients, the sensitivity of mismatch negativity is 82.93%, the specificity is 73.33%, the accuracy rate is 81.52%, the positive predictive value is 85.00%, the negative predictive value is 70.21%, the positive likelihood ratio is 3, and the negative likelihood ratio is 0.23. These results indicate that mismatch negativity can be used as an effective tool for diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction in obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome patients.

[Elicitation of mismatch negativity and its influence from stimuli deviant in the healthy youth].

OBJECTIVE: To work out the elicitation plan, obtain the mismatch negativity (MMN) and get out the laboratory normal value as well as to study the influence to MMN from the deviation of auditory stimuli. METHODS: Hearing test of the tone burst stimulation was performed on 21 healthy young volunteers according to oddball stimulation sequence. Each subject was performed two kinds of auditory stimuli including frequency deviant stimuli and intensity deviant stimuli, and of each one included three series of stimulation. MMN was gained by subtracting the ERP of deviant stimuli from the ERP of standard stimuli. The latency and amplitude of each MMN were recorded, and then the effect of the deviant extent for MMN was analyzed. RESULTS: By this setup the MMN of normal young people was recorded and normal value of latency and amplitude of MMN were got. In the group of frequency deviant stimuli, the MMN latency [(155.81 +/- 29.08) ms], if the frequency was up to 2000 Hz, was shorter than that when the frequency deviance was 1000 Hz [(182.89 +/- 45.85) ms, (183.32 +/- 43.33) ms] (P = 0.033, 0.030); when the deviant extent were the same, the latency had no obvious difference if changing the frequency of the standard and deviant stimuli (P = 0.973); the MMN amplitude of three groups [(3.85 +/- 2.22) microV, (2.90 +/- 2.05) microV, (2.66 +/- 2.12) microV] had no obvious difference among them (P > 0.05). In the group of intensity deviant stimuli, the MMN latency [(157.04 +/- 34.87) ms], if the frequency was up to 20 dB, was shorter (P = 0.025, 0.017) than that when the intensity deviance was 10 dB [(184.46 +/- 38.05) ms, (186.24 +/- 42.36) ms]. When the deviant extent were the same, the latency had no obvious difference (P = 0.882) if changing the intensity of the standard and deviant stimuli but only group 4 and group 6 [(3.41 +/- 1.64) microV, (2.37 +/- 1.47) microV] were different in evidence (P = 0.031) while the others had no obvious difference (P = 0.524, 0.122). CONCLUSIONS: MMN was only related to the difference between standard stimuli and deviant stimuli, but there was no relationship between MMN and the notice, which indicate that MMN could objectively reflect the capability of brain to detect the change of stimuli. MMN is the representation of brain high-level sensory function.