Study on Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine for Enhancing Therapeutic Efficacy on Refractory Drug Resistant Leukemia

The so-called multidrug resistance （MDR） of leukemic cells means the cross resistance of leukemic cells against multiple anti-tumor agents with different constitution and acting mechanism, which takes place simultaneous after resistance to a single contacted drug has been produced. Tumor cells with MDR would now show a low sensitivity to anti-tumor agents, making chemotherapy ineffective or of little effect. Moreover, MDR is one of the pathogenetic factors for inducing refractory leukemia.

Exploring the mechanism of action bitter melon in the treatment ofbreast cancer by network pharmacology

BACKGROUND Bitter melon has been used to stop the growth of breast cancer(BRCA)cells.However,the underlying mechanism is still unclear.AIM To predict the therapeutic effect of bitter melon against BRCA using network pharmacology and to explore the underlying pharmacological mechanisms.METHODS The active ingredients of bitter melon and the related protein targets were taken from the Indian Medicinal Plants,Phytochemistry and Therapeutics and SuperPred databases,respectively.The GeneCards database has been searched for BRCA-related targets.Through an intersection of the drug’s targets and the disease’s objectives,prospective bitter melon anti-BRCA targets were discovered.Gene ontology and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analyses were carried out to comprehend the biological roles of the target proteins.The binding relationship between bitter melon’s active ingredients and the suggested target proteins was verified using molecular docking techniques.RESULTS Three key substances,momordicoside K,kaempferol,and quercetin,were identified as being important in mediating the putative anti-BRCA effects of bitter melon through the active ingredient-anti-BRCA target network study.Heat shock protein 90 AA,proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase,and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 were found to be the top three proteins in the proteinprotein interaction network study.The several pathways implicated in the anti-BRCA strategy for an active component include phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling,transcriptional dysregulation,axon guidance,calcium signaling,focal adhesion,janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling,cyclic adenosine monophosphate signaling,mammalian CONCLUSION Overall,the integration of network pharmacology,molecular docking,and functional enrichment analyses shed light on potential mechanisms underlying bitter melon’s ability to fight BRCA,implicating active ingredients and protein targets,as well as highlighting the major signaling pathways that may be altered by this natural product for therapeutic benefit.

Prognostic analysis of transarterial chemoembolization combined with a traditional Chinese herbal medicine formula for treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

Background Transarterial chemoembolization （TACE） is the most widely used primary treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） due to its survival benefit, though its clinical effect is still far from satisfactory. Jiedufang （JDF） granule preparation is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine formula for HCC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of combined therapy with TACE and JDF granule preparation in treatment of unresectable HCC on survival. Methods A retrospective study of TACE was performed in 165 patients with unresectable HCC who were admitted between January 2002 and December 2007 in Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China. Of the 165 patients, 80 patients （study group） received combined therapy consisting of TACE and a long-term maintenance treatment with oral JDF granule preparation, and the remaining 85 patients （control group） received TACE alone. The survival rates of both groups were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Factors possibly affecting survival were assessed by multivariate analysis in the Cox proportional hazard model, such as maximum tumor size, number of lesions, portal vein invasion, and etc. Results The median overall survival was 9.2 months （95% CI： 6.94-11.46） in the study group versus 5.87 months （95% CI： 4.21-7.52） in the control group. In the study group,survival rates of the 1-, 2- and 3-year follow-up were 41.2%, 18.4%, and 9.6%, respectively. Significant independent prognostic factors identified by the Cox regression analysis were as follows： serum hepatitis B surface antigen （HBsAg） （P=0.014）, maximum tumor size （P=0.027）, number of lesions （P 〈0.001）, portal vein invasion （P 〈0.001）, and the therapy model （P=-0.006）. Conclusion Combination therapy of TACE and JDF granule preparation may significantly prolong survival of patients with unresectable HCC.

Characteristics and Advantages of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction

Objective: To obtain epidemiological data on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapeutic status of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to determine TCM characteristics and advantages to improve the level of TCM prevention and treatment of AMI. Methods: Clinical epidemiology methods were used to register and survey the TCM therapeutic status of hospitalized AMI patients. In 2001, the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine surveyed the therapeutic status of 3308 AMI patients hospitalized in 30 hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai from 2000-2001. The Beijing Collaborative Study Group on Therapeutic Status of Acute Myocardial Infarction (the Study Group) then conducted a 10-year-long register survey on hospitalized AMI patients in Third-grade A-Level TCM hospitals in Beijing. After 2002, the Study Group further surveyed the treatment conditions of AMI-hospitalized patients in 10 Second-grade A-Level TCM hospitals. The therapeutic status in 8 Third-grade A-Level Western medicine hospitals was surveyed in 2001 and 2005 as a control. In 2008, in cooperation with the China Association of Chinese Medicine, the Study Group further performed a survey at 26 Third-grade A-Level TCM hospitals nation-wide. Approximately 5000 cases were investigated to obtain authoritative data on the therapeutic status of AMI patients in TCM hospitals in China. Results: We found that Chinese herbal intravenous preparations may be beneficial in reducing the mortality of AMI. Major complications of AMI, such as heart failure and arrhythmia, were significantly less during the 10-year survey period. The mortality of hospitalized AMI patients showed a decline. TCM treatment was helpful for AMI patients in improving their quality of life. Ten-year dynamic monitoring showed that the ability to perform reperfusion and to use drugs appropriately, as well as an effort to carry out the Clinical Guidelines has made great progress in TCM hospitals. However, TCM hospitals still have some problems in treating AMI, including a lack of standardized TCM syndrome diagnosis, the need for syndrome differentiation and treatment standardization, and clinical skills in reperfusion and standardized drug treatment still need to be further improved. Compared with AMI patients in Western medicine hospitals during the same period, those in TCM hospitals had the following characteristics: they were admitted to hospital later; they were older when they had a heart attack; there were more females, they had more problems in their medical history, and they had more concomitant illnesses and complications. Therefore, the demographic baseline data were significantly different between AMI patients in TCM hospitals and those in Western medicine hospitals. This indicated that patients in TCM hospitals were more critical than those in Western medicine hospitals. Conclusions: TCM has special advantages in treating AMI. TCM hospitals are making continuous progress in standardized treatment of AMI, but further improvement is still required. AMI patients in TCM hospitals have some special characteristics, and their condition may be more critical. Further clinical research on TCM treatment of AMI is required.

Joint Development of Evidence-Based Medical Record by Doctors and Patients through Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine on Digestive System Diseases

Building the clinical therapeutic evaluation system by combing the evaluation given by doctors and patients can form a more comprehensive and objective evaluation system.A literature search on the practice of evidence-based evaluation was conducted in key biomedical databases,i.e.PubMed,Excerpt Medica Database,China Biology Medicine disc and China National Knowledge Infrastructure.However,no relevant study on the subjects of interest was identified.Therefore,drawing on the principles of narrative medicine and expert opinion from systems of Chinese medicine and Western medicine,we propose to develop and pilot-test a novel evidence-based medical record format that captures the perspectives of both patients and doctors in a clinical trial.Further,we seek to evaluate a strategic therapeutic approach that integrates the wisdom of Chinese medicine with the scientific basis of Western medicine in the treatment of digestive system disorders.Evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of remedies under the system of Chinese medicine is an imperative ongoing research.The present study intends to identify a novel approach to assess the synergistic benefits achievable from an integrated therapeutic approach combining Chinese and Western system of medicine to treat digestive system disorders.

Application of Response Evaluation Criteria of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Solid Tumor in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Objective：To evaluate the objectivity and comprehensiveness of Response Evaluation Criteria of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Solid Tumor（Draft,REC-TCM-ST） in application of Chinese medicine therapeutic effect in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer（NSCLC）.Methods：A retrospective clinical research was used in 104 NSCLC patients in stages of Ⅲ-Ⅳ,53 cases were in Chinese medicine（CM） group and 51 cases were in Western medicine（WM） group.The therapeutic effect of the two groups was evaluated with both REC-TCM-ST and Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumor（RECIST）.Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the survival time.Kappa test method was used to test the consistency of the two kinds of evaluation results.Results：According to REC-TCM-ST,the effective rate on relieving tumor mass in the CM group was significantly lower than that in the WM group（P〈0.05）,but there was no significant difference in tumor-mass stable rate（P〉0.05）;the symptom of weakness in the CM group was improved significantly,indicating better therapeutic effect than that in the WM group（P〈0.01）.Karnofsky score in the CM group was significantly better than that in the WM group（P〈0.01）.In terms of survival conditions,the median survival time and the survival rate of 6 months,1 year and 2 years of the CM group were higher than the WM group.The total effective rate was 9.62%,and the total stable rate was 72.12%for 104 cases according to RECIST;while the total effective rate was 34.62%,and the total stable rate was 84.62%according to REC-TCM-ST,thus there were significant differences between the results of the two criteria（P〈0.01）,and there was also some consistency between them,but not satisfactory.Conclusions：REC-TCM-ST was used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of CM in the treatment of advanced NSCLC,which shows that its evaluation results can better reflect the advantages and disadvantages of CM,and the effectiveness of CM is more objective and comprehensive than RECIST,so REC-TCM-ST is worthy of further improvement and clinical expansion.