Effectiveness of Xiaoyao capsule on sleep disorders and mood disturbance in patients in recovery from coronavirus disease 2019: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of Xiaoyao capsule in improving the clinical symptoms of sleep and mood disorders during recovery from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: The study cohort comprised 200 patients with sleep and mood disorders during recovery from COVID-19. Patients were randomized into the control group and the experimental group in a 1:1 ratio by blocked randomization. The patients received either Xiaoyao capsule (experimental group) or a placebo Xiaoyao capsule (control group) for 2 weeks. The improvements in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome scales, total effective rates, and disappearance rates of irritability, anxiety, and poor sleep were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The TCM syndrome pattern scales, total effective rates, and disappearance rates of irritability, anxiety, and poor sleep did not significantly differ between the experimental group versus the control group in the full analysis set and the per protocol set after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment ( > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Xiaoyao capsule do not significantly improve the clinical symptoms of sleep and mood disorders in patients in recovery from COVID-19.

The relationship between serum vitamin K concentration and coronary artery calcification in middle-aged and elderly people.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin K is involved in the formation of coronary artery calcification which is an independent predictor of coronary heart disease. This study aims to explore the association between coronary artery calcification score and serum concentrations of vitamin K1, menaquinone-4 (MK-4) and menaquinone-7 (MK-7) in middle-aged and elderly Chinese population. METHODS: A total of 116 patients who underwent CT coronary angiography were consecutively enrolled. Serum concentrations of vitamin K1, MK-4 and MK-7 were determined by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The relationships between coronary artery calcification score and serum vitamin K concentrations were analyzed. RESULTS: Significantly lower serum vitamin K1 concentration was found in the patients with CACS > 400, comparing with the other CACS categories, respectively. Log (CACS + 1) was significantly higher in MK-4 < 0.05 ng/ml group compared with MK-4 ≥ 0.05 ng/ml group [2.03(0.21, 2.58) vs 1.31(0.00, 2.19), P < 0.05]. In subjects with established coronary calcification (defined as CACS > 10), vitamin K1 was found to be an independent factor contributing to higher CACS (r = -0.288, P = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective analysis, serum vitamin K1 and MK-4 concentrations were significantly lower in middle-aged and elderly cohorts with increasing calcification scores. The significant effect of vitamin K1 on CACS was only found in individuals who already had calcification. Whether the detection of circulating vitamin K in patients with preexisting coronary calcification could guide vitamin K supplementation needs further exploration.