A network pharmacology approach to investigate the mechanisms of Si-Jun-Zi decoction in the treatment of gastric precancerous lesions

Objective:To find out the potential mechanisms of Si-Jun-Zi(SJZ)decoction in the treatment of gastric precancerous lesions(GPL).Methods:A network pharmacology approach was used to analyze the active compounds,drug targets and interacting pathways of SJZ decoction in treating GPL.The compounds and predicted targets of SJZ decoction were screened from TCMSP,and the disease targets were obtained from GeneCards.The therapeutic mechanisms of action of the SJZ decoction were analyzed by gene ontology(GO)enrichment,Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathway enrichment analyses.Results:The results show that 111 compounds and 90 targets were obtained in this work.These targets were further mapped to 654 GO biological process terms and 21 remarkably pathways.Active compounds,targets,and pathways were used to construct a compound-target network,a target-pathways network,and an integrated GPL pathway.These results indicated that SJZ decoction may treat the dysfunctions of GPL mainly from intervening in the mucosal inflammation,cell apoptosis process,and cell proliferation.Conclusions:This work provided a novel approach to understand the pathogenesis of GPL and revealed the therapeutic mechanisms of SJZ decoction,which facilitate the modernization of herbal medicine for complex diseases in the future.

Discussing the six meridional diseases of Shanghan Lun based on stress theory

As the theoretical source of Traditional Chinese Medicine clinical medicine,Shanghan Lun plays a vital role in guiding the diagnosis and treatment of clinical diseases.Stress is a systemic nonspecific and adaptive response that occurs when the body is stimulated by internal and external environmental factors.This paper discusses the correlation between the three phases of stress containing alarm,resistance,and exhaustion and the three yin and three yang diseases.It was concluded that sanyang diseases were related to the alarm stage and resistance stage,and sanyin diseases were related to the failure stage.The results indicated the essence of diseases of six meridians from the perspective of stress and provided reference for the diagnosis and treatment of six classics diseases.

Effect of low-dose glucocorticoid on corticosteroid insufficient patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence rate of critical illness-related corticosteroid insuffi ciency(CIRCI) and the effect of low-dose glucocorticoid on prognosis of CIRCI in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD).METHODS: Since January 2010 to December 2012, 385 patients, who met the criteria of AECOPD, were enrolled in the Intensive Care Unit(ICU) of the First People's Hospital and Municipal Central Hospital of Xiangtan City. The AECOPD patients complicated with CIRCI screened by an adrenalcorticotrophic hormone test within 12 hours after admission to ICU were divided into a treatment group(n=32) and a control group(n=31) for a prospective, randomized and controlled clinical trial. Hydrocortisone(150 mg/d) or normal saline was injected intravenously for 7 days. The patients were followed up for 28 days after injection. The endpoint included 28-day survival time, non-shock time, ICU stay and the period of non-mechanical ventilation. The markers ofinfl ammation C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin 6 and procalcitonin were measured at baseline and 7 days after treatment. The variables were analyzed by Student's t test, the non-parametric statistical test, the Chi-square test or the Kaplan-Meier method with SPSS18.0 statistic software. A P value <0.05 was considered statistically signifi cant.RESULTS: Totally 63 patients were diagnosed with CIRCI by an adrenalcorticotrophic hormone test and the prevalence rate was 16.4%. The shock rate of the AECOPD patients complicated with CIRCI was higher than that of the AECOPD patients without CIRCI(23.8% vs. 8.7%, P<0.01). KaplanMeier analysis revealed that the 28-day survival time of the treatment group was obviously longer than that of the control group(P<0.05). Compared with the control group, shock-free days within 28 days was longer in the treatment group(18.2±9.5 vs. 25.8±4.1, P<0.05). Treatment with low-dose glucocorticoid obviously decreased the markers ofinfection and inflammation(P<0.01), such as C-reactive protein(13.2±5.5 mg/L vs. 8.3±3.1 mg/L for the control group; 13.5±5.9 mg/L vs. 5.1±2.3 mg/L for the treatment group), tumor necrosis factor-α(26.1±16.2 g/L vs. 17.5±11.7 g/L for the control group; 25.0±14.8 g/L vs. 10.4±7.8 g/L for the treatment group) and procalcitonin(3.88 g/L vs. 2.03 g/L for the control group; 3.77 g/L vs. 1.26 g/L for the treatment group). Furthermore, the markers in the treatment group decreased more obviously than those in the control group(P<0.01).CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of CIRCI was higher in the patients with AECOPD in the department of critical medicine, and low-dose glucocorticoid treatment for one week reduced the 28-day mortality, shock time and markers ofinfection and infl ammation.