Exploring the autophagy-related pathogenesis of active ulcerative colitis

BACKGROUND The pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis(UC)is complex,and recent therapeutic advances remain unable to fully alleviate the condition.AIM To inform the development of novel UC treatments,bioinformatics was used to explore the autophagy-related pathogenesis associated with the active phase of UC.METHODS The GEO database was searched for UC-related datasets that included healthy controls who met the screening criteria.Differential analysis was conducted to obtain differentially expressed genes(DEGs).Au-tophagy-related targets were collected and intersected with the DEGs to identiy differentially expressed autophagy-related genes(DEARGs)associated with active UC.DEARGs were then subjected to KEGG,GO,and DisGeNET disease enrichment analyses using R software.Differential analysis of immune infiltrating cells was performed using the CiberSort algorithm.The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator algorithm and protein-protein interaction network were used to narrow down the DEARGs,and the top five targets in the Dgree ranking were designated as core targets.RESULTS A total of 4822 DEGs were obtained,of which 58 were classified as DEARGs.SERPINA1,BAG3,HSPA5,CASP1,and CX3CL1 were identified as core targets.GO enrichment analysis revealed that DEARGs were primarily enriched in processes related to autophagy regulation and macroautophagy.KEGG enrichment analysis showed that DEARGs were predominantly associated with NOD-like receptor signaling and other signaling pathways.Disease enrichment analysis indicated that DEARGs were significantly linked to diseases such as malignant glioma and middle cerebral artery occlusion.Immune infiltration analysis demonstrated a higher presence of immune cells like activated memory CD4 T cells and follicular helper T cells in active UC patients than in healthy controls.CONCLUSION Autophagy is closely related to the active phase of UC and the potential targets obtained from the analysis in this study may provide new insight into the treatment of active UC patients.

Chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab for small cell lung cancer with brain metastases:A case report

BACKGROUND Small cell lung cancer(SCLC)is a common and aggressive subtype of lung cancer.It is characterized by rapid growth and a high mortality rate.Approximately 10%of patients with SCLC present with brain metastases at the time of diagnosis,which is associated with a median survival of 5 mo.This study aimed to summarize the effect of bevacizumab on the progression-free survival(PFS)and overall survival of patients with brain metastasis of SCLC.CASE SUMMARY A 62-year-old man was referred to our hospital in February 2023 because of dizziness and numbness of the right lower extremity without headache or fever for more than four weeks.The patient was diagnosed with limited-stage SCLC.He received 8 cycles of chemotherapy combined with maintenance bevacizumab therapy and achieved a PFS of over 7 mo.CONCLUSION The combination of bevacizumab and irinotecan effectively alleviated brain metastasis in SCLC and prolonged PFS.

Lysine demethylase 5B transcriptionally regulates TREM1 in human cardiac fibroblasts

Background:A differential gene,triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1(TREM1),was identified in blood sequencing datasets from myocardial infarction patients and healthy controls.Myocardialfibrosis following myocardial infarction significantly contributes to cardiac dysfunction.Objectives:This study aimed to unveil the intrinsic regulatory mechanism of TREM1 in myocardialfibrosis.Methods:Mimicking pathology by angiotensin II(Ang II)treatment of human cardiacfibroblasts(HCFs),the impacts of TREM1 knockdown on its proliferation,migration,and secretion of the pro-fibrotic matrix were identified.Using the Human Transcription Factor Database(HumanTFDB)website,lysine-specific demethylase 5B(KDM5B)was found to bind to the TREM1 promoter,which was further validated through luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation(ChIP).By promoting KDM5B overexpression,its effect on the regulation of TREM1 was examined.Results:TREM1 knockdown suppressed the proliferation,migration,and secretion of the pro-fibrotic matrix in HCFs upon Ang II treatment.KDM5B bound to the TREM1 promoter and upregulated its transcriptional expression.Furthermore,KDM5B overexpression reversed the regulation of the above cellular phenotypes by TREM1 knockdown.Conclusion:This study sheds light on the positive regulation of TREM1 by KDM5B,demonstrating their role in promoting myocardialfibrosis.Thisfinding provides a theoretical foundation for understanding disease pathology and potentially advancing the development of new targeted therapies.

Crosstalk among Oxidative Stress,Autophagy,and Apoptosis in the Protective Effects of Ginsenoside Rb1 on Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells:A Mixed Computational and Experimental Study

Objective Brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) were found to shift from their usually inactive state to an active state in ischemic stroke (IS) and cause neuronal damage. Ginsenoside Rb1 (GRb1),a component derived from medicinal plants,is known for its pharmacological benefits in IS,but its protective effects on BMECs have yet to be explored. This study aimed to investigate the potential protective effects of GRb1 on BMECs. Methods An in vitro oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) model was established to mimic ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Bulk RNA-sequencing data were analyzed by using the Human Autophagy Database and various bioinformatic tools,including gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA),Gene Ontology (GO) classification and enrichment analysis,Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis,protein-protein interaction network analysis,and molecular docking. Experimental validation was also performed to ensure the reliability of our findings. Results Rb1 had a protective effect on BMECs subjected to OGD/R injury. Specifically,GRb1 was found to modulate the interplay between oxidative stress,apoptosis,and autophagy in BMECs. Key targets such as sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1/p62),autophagy related 5 (ATG5),and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) were identified,highlighting their potential roles in mediating the protective effects of GRb1 against IS-induced damage. Conclusion GRbl protects BMECs against OGD/R injury by influencing oxidative stress,apoptosis,and autophagy. The identification of SQSTM1/p62,ATG5,and HIF-1α as promising targets further supports the potential of GRb1 as a therapeutic agent for IS,providing a foundation for future research into its mechanisms and applications in IS treatment.

Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of Bushen Huoxue decoction in the treatment of Osteoporosis

Objective:To systematically evaluate the long-term efficacy of Bushen Huoxue Decoction combined with vertebroplasty(PVP or PKP)in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures(OVCF),in order to provide evidence-based reference for clinical application.Methods:To ensure the novelty of research data,a computer search was conducted between 2017 and February 2023 to publicly publish all randomized controlled studies and clinical trials at home and abroad on the treatment of OVCF with Bushen Huoxue Decoction combined with vertebroplasty published in CNKI,Wanfang,Vip,PubMed,CBM,and Cochrane libraries.Two researchers independently conducted literature screening and data extraction,evaluated the quality of randomized controlled trials included one by one according to the Cochrane collaboration network standards,and conducted a meta statistical analysis using RevMan5.3 for studies that met the inclusion criteria.Results:A total of 684 patients were included in 7 randomized controlled trials,including 342 patients in the observation group and 342 patients in the control group,with a ratio of 1:1;The meta-analysis results showed that in the observation group,the overall effective rate[RR=1.30,95%CI(1.14,1.47),P<0.001],visual analog pain(VAS)score[SMD=1.19,95%CI(0.77,1.61),P<0.0001],bone mineral density score[SMD=1.09,95%CI(0.15,2.04),P=0.02],COQOL score[SMD=0.99,95%CI(0.68,1.30),P<0.00001],OPG score[SMD=0.48,95%CI(0.18,0.77),P=0.002]The RANKL score[SMD=1.33,95%CI(1.00,1.65),P<0.0001]was significantly superior to the control group,with statistically significant differences.There was no significant difference in the Oswestry Disability Index(ODI)score[SMD=0.27,95%CI(-0.03,0.57),P=0.08],Cobb score[SMD=1.52,95%CI(-1.05,4.09),P=0.25],and vertebral height score[SMD=0.43,95%CI(-0.14,1.01),P=0.14].Conclusion:The results show that Bushen Huoxue Decoction combined with vertebroplasty has significant advantages in improving bone mineral density and alleviating pain in patients after OVCF,which is significantly superior to using OVCF alone.

Time Series Forecasting Fusion Network Model Based on Prophet and Improved LSTM

Time series forecasting and analysis are widely used in many fields and application scenarios.Time series historical data reflects the change pattern and trend,which can serve the application and decision in each application scenario to a certain extent.In this paper,we select the time series prediction problem in the atmospheric environment scenario to start the application research.In terms of data support,we obtain the data of nearly 3500 vehicles in some cities in China fromRunwoda Research Institute,focusing on the major pollutant emission data of non-road mobile machinery and high emission vehicles in Beijing and Bozhou,Anhui Province to build the dataset and conduct the time series prediction analysis experiments on them.This paper proposes a P-gLSTNet model,and uses Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model(ARIMA),long and short-term memory(LSTM),and Prophet to predict and compare the emissions in the future period.The experiments are validated on four public data sets and one self-collected data set,and the mean absolute error(MAE),root mean square error(RMSE),and mean absolute percentage error(MAPE)are selected as the evaluationmetrics.The experimental results show that the proposed P-gLSTNet fusion model predicts less error,outperforms the backbone method,and is more suitable for the prediction of time-series data in this scenario.

Study on medication rules of Chinese herbs in the regulation of necroptosis based on network pharmacology and data mining

Objective:To analyze the basis and medication rules of Chinese herbs in the regulation of necroptosis.Methods:With the help of GeneCards,DrugBank,TTD,DisGeNET,OMIM database to collect the action targets of necroptosis,the TCMSP database to obtain the target‑related compounds and Chinese herbs,and the ADME criteria and Lipinski rule as the conditions for screening,to build the target‑compound,target‑compound‑Chinese herbs network.The information of Chinese herbal medicine's sexual taste and meridian was collected,and the drug use pattern was analyzed.The information on the property,flavor and channel tropism of Chinese herbs was collected to analyze the medication laws.Molecular docking of core targets and compounds in the network with AutoDockTools software,and PyMOL software was used to display the combinations with good docking results.Results:A total of 12 potential targets acting on necroptosis were obtained,matching to 191 candidate compounds and 366 herbal medicines.Quercetin,wogonin,triptolide,licochalcone a,ellipticine are more important and may be the main small molecule substances underlying the regulation of necroptosis.The more important Chinese herbs are Licorice,Forsythia,Salivae Miltiorrhizae,Ginkgo Leaf,Eucommia ulmoides Oliv,etc.The herbal medicines are mainly bitter and pungent,with cold and warm taste,which were attributed to the liver and lung meridians.BCL2‑beta‑sitosterol、MAPK14‑luteolin、MAPK14‑formononetin、TP53‑formononetin are better molecular docking results,which have strong docking activity.Conclusion:The study systematically analyzes the material basis of regulating necroptosis and summarizes the general rule of regulating necroptosis in Chinese medicine,which provides ideas for clinical development of agents to interfere with necroptosis.

Network Meta-analysis of nerve block combined with Chinese medicine for lumbar disc herniation

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Chinese medicine methods(acupuncture,tui na,acupuncture knife,traditional Chinese medicine,traction)combined with nerve block treatment for lumbar disc herniation using Bayesian mesh Meta-analysis.Methods:Randomized controlled studies of TCM methods combined with nerve block for lumbar disc herniation in CNKI,Wanfang,Vip,China Biomedical Literature Library,Pubmed,Web of science,and The Cochrance Library databases were searched for the period from the establishment of each database to May 2021.2 researchers independently followed the developed nerf criteria to Screening was performed.Bayesian model mesh Meta-analysis was performed using R,RStudio,and addis-1.16.6 software.Results:Twenty-seven papers with a total of 2074 subjects were finally included,involving six interventions,namely nerve block alone,herbal medicine combined with nerve block,acupuncture combined with nerve block,acupuncture combined with nerve block,traction combined with nerve block,and tui na combined with nerve block.The results of the net analysis showed that(1)in terms of efficiency,all interventions were better than simple nerve block except for traction combined nerve block,and acupuncture,acupuncture,tui-na and Chinese medicine combined nerve block were better than traction combined nerve block respectively,and the probability ranked first for acupuncture combined nerve block.(2)On the VAS score,except for traction combined with nerve block,other interventions were superior to simple nerve block,and the combination of herbal medicine,acupuncture,and acupuncture respectively was superior to traction combined with nerve block,and the intervention with the best probability ranking result was herbal medicine combined with nerve block.(3)There was no statistical difference between the two interventions compared in terms of JOA scores,and the probability ranked first for herbal medicine combined nerve block.Conclusion:Chinese medicine combined nerve block was superior to nerve block alone,and Chinese medicine combined nerve block and acupuncture combined nerve block measures were more effective in the treatment of LDH,and traction combined nerve block was less effective.

Hyperprogression after anti-programmed death-1 therapy in a patient with urothelial bladder carcinoma:A case report

BACKGROUND Immune checkpoint inhibitors,including programmed death-ligand 1(PD-L1)and programmed death-1(PD-1)have recently been approved to treat locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma(UC).However,some patients experience rapid tumor progression rather than any clinical benefit from anti-PDL1/PD-1 therapy.CASE SUMMARY A 73-year-old woman with bladder UC showed the progression of multiple metastases after surgery and chemotherapy for over 12 mo.The patient could not tolerate further chemotherapy.Next-generation sequencing was performed,and the results indicated that the tumor mutational burden was 6.4 mutations/Mb.The patient received the anti-PD-L1 agent toripalimab combined with albuminbound paclitaxel.Compared with the baseline staging before immunotherapy,the patient had a treatment failure time of<2 mo,an increase in tumor burden of>50%,and a>2-fold increase in progression,indicating hyperprogression.CONCLUSION Selecting patients most likely to respond to treatment with immunotherapeutic agents remains challenging.For older patients with advanced UC who have already exhausted multi-line chemotherapy options,immunotherapy should be used prudently if no effective biomarker is available.Further studies are required to clarify the causes and mechanisms of hyperprogression.

Efficacy and Safety of Traditional Chinese Patent Medicine Qizhi Weitong Granules(气滞胃痛颗粒)in Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Predominant Constipation:A Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective:To systematically review the efficacy and clinical safety of Qizhi Weitong Granules(气滞胃痛颗粒)(QZWT)in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with predominant constipation(IBS-C).Methods:Randomized controlled trials(RCTs)of QZWT in patients with IBS-C were retrieved from Pub Med,EMBASE,Cochrane Library,China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),Wanfang,Chinese Scientific Journals Database(VIP),and Chinese Biological Medical Database(CBM)from inception to December 3,2022.Conventional meta-analysis with random-effects model or fixed-effects model and trial sequential analysis(TSA)were performed by Review Manager 5.4,Stata and TSA software.Results:A total of 4 RCTs and 368 patients with IBS-C were included in this study.The findings of the meta-analysis indicated that the cure and efficacy rate of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group[RR=2.19;(95%CI,1.35–3.55),P<0.01;RR=1.14;(95%CI,1.03–1.27),P<0.05],while the result of Bristol Score was negative.The funnel plot was probably symmetry,and the P value was>0.05 in the Egger test,which confirmed the nonexistence of significant publication bias in this outcome.TSA showed the cumulative z-value crossed the traditional threshold and TSA threshold,while it didn't get to the required information size.Finally,2 studies reported adverse events after QZWT treatment,including 3 cases of diarrhea.No serious adverse events were reported.Conclusion:QZWT was an effective and safe complementary therapy in the treatment of IBS-C with no obvious adverse reactions.TSA analysis confirmed our meta-analysis results.Therefore,QZWT may be a potential candidate for the treatment of IBS-C.However,due to the limited quality of current studies,more long-term,randomized,double-blinded clinical trials are needed in future studies.

Current Status of Research on Treatment of Osteonecrosis of Femoral Head with Traditional Chinese Medicine from the Perspective of Security-based Chinese Medicine

The publication of"Evidence-based Chinese Medicine"and the establishment of the Chinese Traditional Medicine Evidence-based Medicine Center mark that evidentiary-based Chinese medicine has stood in front of all Chinese medicine practices in the form of new disciplines,greatly promoting the modernization of Chinese medicine.It will always give Chinese medicine a powerful impetus to the world.Femoral head necrosis is the dominant disease in the treatment of TCM.Chinese medicine practices should seize the optionality to active learn the content of evidentiary-based Chinese medicine and apply it to clinical and scientific research practice.This article review the development status of femoral head necrosis treatment by TCM medicine from the perspective of event-based Chinese medicine.It provides a reference for the event-based development of Chinese medicine in the treatment of femoral head necrosis,and continues to develop advantages and make up for the shortcomings.

Diagnostic value of cancer-testis antigen mRNA in peripheral blood from hepatocellular carcinoma patients

AIM:To evaluate the diagnostic value of cancer-testis antigen(CTA) mRNA in peripheral blood samples from hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients.METHODS:Peripheral blood samples were taken from 90 patients with HCC before operation.Expression of melanoma antigen-1(MAGE-1),synovial sarcoma X breakpoint-1(SSX-1),and cancer-testis-associated protein of 11 kDa(CTp11) mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) was tested by nested reverse transcriptspolymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Serum α-fetoprotein(AFP) in these patients was also determined.RESULTS:The positive rate of MAGE-1,SSX-1 and CTp11 transcripts was 37.7%,34.4%,31.1% in PBMC samples,and 74.4%,73.3%,62.2% in their resected tumor samples,respectively.The positive rate for at least one of the transcripts of three CTA genes was 66.7% in PBMC samples and 91.1% in their resected tumor samples.MAGE-1,SSX-1 and/or CTp11 mRNA were not detected in the PBMC of those patients from whom the resected tumor samples were MAGE-1,SSX-1 and/or CTp11 mRNA negative,nor in the PBMC samples from 20 healthy donors and 10 cirrhotic patients.Among the 90 patients,the serum AFP in 44 patients met the general diagnostic standard(AFP > 400 μg/L) for HCC,and was negative(AFP ≤ 20 μg/L) or positive with a low concentration(20 μg/L < AFP ≤ 400 μg/L) in the other patients.The positive rate for at least one of the transcripts of three CTA genes in PBMC samples from the AFP negative or positive patients with a low concentration was 69.2% and 45.0%,respectively.Of the 90 patients,71(78.9%) were diagnosed as HCC by nested RT-PCR and serum AFP.Although the positive rate for at least one of the transcripts of three CTA genes in PBMC samples from 53 patients at TNM stage or was obviously higher than that in PBMC samples from 37 patients at stage or(77.9% vs 51.4%,P = 0.010),the CTA mRNA was detected in 41.7% and 56.0% of PBMC samples from HCC patients at stages andrespectively.CONCLUSION:Detecting MAGE-1,SSX-1 and CTp11 mRNA in PBMC improves the total diagnostic rate of HCC.

Effects and mechanisms of acupuncture and electroacupuncture for functional dyspepsia:A systematic review

BACKGROUND Functional dyspepsia(FD)is a common digestive disease with limited therapeutic options.According to evidence-based clinical practice,acupuncture or electroacupuncture(EA)seems to be a promising therapy for patients with FD.However,there is still a lack of systematic reviews that have analyzed current clinical trials for a better understanding of mechanisms involved in the ameliorating effect of acupuncture and EA on FD.AIM To evaluate the results and qualities of existing clinical evidence for researching the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture/EA in treating FD.METHODS A systematic search of the literature was performed to identify randomized controlled trials in which research on the mechanism of acupuncture or EA was conducted in FD patients.Databases searched included PubMed,EMBASE,Cochrane Library,and Web of Science.Data extraction and quality assessment were completed by two investigators independently and the results of quality evaluation were exported through Review Manager V5.3.RESULTS Eight studies were included in this review with a total of 17 items for detecting techniques for mechanistic research.Positive effects of acupuncture and EA were observed in regulating gastric motility,gastric accommodation,mental status,gastrointestinal hormones,and central and autonomic functions while improving dyspeptic symptoms and quality of life.CONCLUSION The key findings of this systematic review support the potential of acupuncture and EA in altering the heterogeneous pathophysiology in patients with FD.However,high-quality studies with well-planned designs are necessary to provide more credible evidence.

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 Montrea 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.

Traditional Chinese medicine ointment combined with tuina therapy in treatment of pain and swelling after total knee arthroplasty

BACKGROUND The most effective treatment for knee joint pain is total knee arthroplasty(TKA),but the risk of pain and swelling in patients after surgery is high.Ice application,ankle pump exercise and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers are the primary clinical treatments after surgery.However,long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory pain relievers can easily cause gastrointestinal damage.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)ointments and tuina therapy integrate TCM and manipulation,which effectively promotes the penetration of TCM into the skin lesions,improves local blood circulation and inflammatory reaction and has good long-term effects on patients.AIM To evaluate the efficacy of TCM ointment combined with tuina therapy in the treatment of pain and swelling after TKA.METHODS The randomized controlled clinical trial enrolled 80 patients who underwent TKA via the same procedure.The patients were randomly divided among the treatment group(n=40)and the control group(n=40).The control group was given an analgesia pump in addition to oral painkillers as the postoperative intervention.The treatment group received TCM ointment with tuina therapy in addition to the analgesia pump and oral painkillers in the postoperative period.The following variables were recorded 3 d before surgery and 3 d,7 d and 14 d after surgery:Visual analogue scale(VAS)score;skin temperature;circumferences at 15 cm above and below the patella;maximum active knee flexion angle;and the knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome score(KOOS).RESULTS After treatment,VAS was significantly lower in the treatment group than the control group at 7 d(t=7.536,P<0.001)and 14 d(t=8.563,P<0.001).The skin temperature of participants in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group at 7 d(t=2.968,P=0.004)and 14 d(t=4.423,P<0.001).The circumference values of the two positions in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group at 7 d[t=2.315,P=0.023(above);t=2.121,P=0.037(below)]and 14 d[t=2.374,P=0.020(above);t=2.095,P=0.039(below)].After 14 d of treatment,the maximum active knee flexion angle and KOOS of the two groups were significantly improved but were significantly higher in the treatment group(P<0.05 for both).CONCLUSION TCM ointment and tuina therapy have significant advantages over standard care in the treatment of pain and swelling after TKA.This additional treatment may improve knee function but additional studies are needed to confirm our observations.

Efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine in functional dyspepsia: A meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine(CHM)for the treatment of functional dyspepsia(FD).Methods:Web of Science,PubMed,EMBASE,Cochrane Library,and four other Chinese electronic databases,including China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),Chinese Biological Medical Database(CBM),Chinese Scientific Journals Database(VIP),and WanFang Database were used to search(up to Feb,2016)for randomized,double-blind,placebocontrolled trials recruiting adults with FD treated with CHM.Study selection,data extraction,quality assessment,and data analyses were conducted based on Cochrane standards using Review Manager software.Results:Fourteen publications(1424 patients)were included.Evidence revealed that CHM was more efficacious than the placebo in improving global dyspepsia symptoms(RR,1.45;95%CI,1.31e1.60),Chinese medicine syndrome(CMS)(RR,1.36;95%CI,1.23e1.50),and quality of life(SMD,0.30;95%CI,0.15e0.45)in FD patients.Furthermore,the difference in the incidence of adverse events between CHM and placebo groups had no statistical significance(RR,1.06;95%CI,0.66e1.70).Conclusion:This meta-analysis demonstrates that CHM has a therapeutic potential in treating FD with a certain safety.However,due to the restricted number of trials included,wellplanned,long-term studies are necessary to provide credible evidence.

Molecular mechanisms of Baihedihuang decoction as a treatment for breast cancer related anxiety:A network pharmacology and molecular docking study

BACKGROUND The therapeutic effects of a combination of Chinese medicines called Baihedihuang decoction(BD)have been clinically verified,although its molecular targets in breast cancer related anxiety remain unknown.AIM To explore the molecular mechanisms of BD for breast cancer related anxiety treatment.METHODS We used the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database to screen the active ingredients and potential targets of BD,and constructed the"drug-ingredient-target"network map with the help of Cytoscape 3.8 software.Also,we used the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man,DrugBank,and Gencards databases to collect the disease targets of breast cancer related anxiety,and used the STRING platform to perform protein interaction analysis and construct the protein-protein interaction network.Metascape platform was used for Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis of key targets.Molecular docking technology was used to verify the drug component/target disease network.RESULTS We screened 16 active ingredients of BD for breast cancer related anxiety,with 113 target proteins.There are 931 disease targets of breast cancer related anxiety,and finally,43 key targets and 305 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were generated.The main active ingredients of BD for breast cancer related anxiety are verbascoside,β-sitosterol,stigmasterol,catalpol,etc.CDK2,TP53,HTR2A,ESR1,etc.are its key targets,and the main involved signaling pathways may include neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway,5-hydroxytryptaminergic synapse,P53 signaling pathway,cGMP-PKG signaling pathway,the cAMP signaling pathway,etc.Finally,molecular docking was performed with Vina software to validate the key active ingredients in BD with the selected key action targets.The molecular docking results showed that verbascoside,β-sitosterol,stigmasterol and CDK2 could stably bind and interact through amino acid residues SER249,ARG260,PRO228,ALA282,SER276,LYS273,ASN272,etc.CONCLUSION The therapeutic effect of BD for breast cancer related anxiety is multi-level,multi-target,and multi-pathway.The findings of this study provide ideas and basis for further research.

Clinical Controlled Study of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine in Treating 49 Cases of SARS

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of integrative Chinese and western medicine (ICWM) in treating severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients. Methods: Through parallel control design, 49 SARS patients were observed. Used as control, there were in the western medicine (WM) group 29 patients, who were treated with Ribavirin, Levofloxacin, Thymopentin, Azithromycin, methylprednisolone, etc. , on the basis of 'Recommended Protocol for Infectious Atypical Pneumonia' (abbreviated as 'Recommended Protocol') issueed by Ministry of Health. As the treated group, there were in the ICWM 20 cases. The protocol for treatment of SARS in 'Special Science and Technological Action to Prevent and Treat SARS' (abbreviated as 'Special S-T Action'), issued by Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the same WM as those for the control group. Results: (1) Time from the disease onset to the symptom improvement were 5.10±2. 83 days and 7. 62±2. 27 days in ICWM and WM group respectively, P<0.05; (2) As to corticosteroid (CS) amount and days before reducing dosage, 2 groups showed no significant difference, P>0. 05;(3) There was no significant difference in the time from disease onset to the body temperature normalization and the total amount of CS and the duration of using CS before reducing it to 80 mg between the ICWM group and the WM group; (4) The days and amounts for use CS after reducing between the ICWM group and the WM group were significantly different (P<0. 05). Conclusion: There were obvious advantages in ICWM to treat SARS, compared with that of WM alone, especially in improving the clinical symptoms, promoting the recovery of immune function, promoting the absorption of pulmonary inflammation and reducing the dosage and duration of CS treatment.

Evaluation on the Therapeutic Effects of Digital Acupoint Pressure for Obstetric Spastic Cerebral Palsy

To probe the evaluation methods for effects of TCM treatment of cerebral palsy through clinical observation on the digital acupoint pressure in treating obstetric spastic cerebral palsy. From 1998-2003,40 cases of spastic cerebral palsy were treated with digital acupoint pressure therapy. Ten indexes including intelligence, language, salivation, hand-grasping, thumb-adduction, turnover, sitting, standing,walking, and scissors-gait were divided into the 4 grades of normal, mild abnormal, moderate abnormal,and severe abnormal (dysfunction), respectively marked as 6, 4, 2, and 0 point, with 2 points increased for improving each grade of each item after the treatment. Meanwhile, the ranges were recorded and evaluated before and after the treatment on shoulder-abduction, elbow-extension, wrist-extension,forearm-backward-rotation, hip-abduction, straight-leg-lifting, knee-extension, and ankle-dorsiflexion.Those with the improvement of 10° , 15° , 20° , 25° , and 30° in the range of movement of their contractured joints would obtain respectively 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 points. There were significant differences before and after the treatment in the 18 items under observation except for intelligence, with obvious improvement shown after the treatment (P＜0.01), the effective rate being 92.5%. The therapeutic criteria set in this research are well established in reflecting the functional improvements of the patient.

Effect of Chengzai Pill on the L-Type Ca^(2+) Channel Currents of Osteoblasts Pretreated with Methylprednisolone

Objective: To observe the effect of the serum containing Chengzai Pill on the L-type voltage-sensitive calcium channels current (L-VSCCsC) of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells pretreated with methylprednisolone (mPSL). Methods: A control group, a model group, a low dose group and a high dose group were set up. The whole cell patch clamp technique was used to record L-VSCCsC of 10 osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells in each group and their peak currents were determined. Results: The peak current of the control group was 0.2284±0.0209 nA; the peak current of the model group was 0.1839±0.0179 nA; decreased by 19.5% as compared with the control group (P<0.01); the peak current of the low and high dose groups was 0.2526± 0.0093 nA and 0.2671±0.0120 nA respectively, increased by 37.4% and 45.2% as compared with the model group (P<0.01); the difference between the low and high dose groups was P<0.05. Conclusion: 1. mPSL inhibits L-VSCCsC of osteoblasts; and 2. The serum containing Chengzai Pill increases L-VSCCsC of osteoblasts pretreated with mPSL.