[Cluster Analysis of Medication Laws for Treating Coronary Heart Disease by Distinguished Veteran Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine].

OBJECTIVE: To provide inspiration and ideas for clinical treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD) by data mining technology based frequency analysis and cluster analysis of medical records, prescriptions and herbs in treating CHD by distinguished veteran doctors of traditional Chinese Dedicine (TCM). METHODS: Totally 386 medical cases were retrieved from Wanfang Data, Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP medical information resources system, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Typical Collections of Medical Cases by Contemporary Distinguished Veteran Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine. They input into database trimmed after unified standard. Medication laws of CHD by distinguished veteran doctors of TCM were analyzed using frequency analysis and cluster analysis, and so on. RESULTS: Distinguished veteran doctors of TCM frequently used top ten herbs in treatment of C D as Salvia miltiorrhiz , Ligusticum wallichii, Trichosanthes kirilowi, Pinellia ternat, Angelica sinensis, Poria coco stragalu , Panax ginseng, Allium macrostemon, and Radix Ophiopogonis. Cluster analysis summarized that there were 16 herb pairs commonly used, 7drug assemblies consisting of 3 herbs and 5 drug assemblies consisting of multiple herbs. CONCLUSIONS: Distinguished veteran doctors of TCM mainly used herbs assemblies capable for invigorating Pi to resolve phlegm, and promoting qi and activating blood circulation in treating CHD. Meanwhile, they concurrently used herbs combination of nourishing Xin and tranquilization, and regulating yin and yang.

Liraglutide Suppresses Myocardial Fibrosis Progression by Inhibiting the Smad Signaling Pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Liraglutide is a commonly used hypoglycemic agent in clinical practice, and has been demonstrated to have protective effects against the development of cardiovascular disease. However, its potential role in myocardial fibrosis remains unexplored. The present study aims to assess the impact of liraglutide on the activation of cardiac fibroblasts. METHODS: Primary rat adult fibroblasts were isolated, cultured, and randomly allocated into 4 groups: control group, transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFß1) stimulation group, liraglutide group, and TGFß1+liraglutide group. Fibroblast activation was induced by TGFß1. Cell proliferation activity was assessed using the CKK-8 kit, and cellular activity was determined using the MTT kit. Reverse transcrition-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was utilized to quantify the level of collagen transcription, immunofluorescence staining was performed to detect the expression level of type III collagen and α-smooth muscle protein (α-SMA), and immunoblotting was conducted to monitor alterations in signal pathways. RESULTS: The addition of 10, 25, 50 and 100 nmol/L of liraglutide did not induce any significant impact on the viability of fibroblasts (P>0.05). The rate of cellular proliferation was significantly higher in the TGFßl stimulation group than in the control group. However, the treatment with 50 and 100 nmol/L of liraglutide resulted in the reduction of TGFßl-induced cell proliferation (P<0.05). The RT-qPCR results revealed that the transcription levels of type I collagen, type III collagen, and α-SMA were significantly upregulated in the TGFßl stimulation group, when compared to the control group (P<0.05). However, the expression levels of these aforementioned factors significantly decreased in the TGFßl+liraglutide group (P<0.05). The immunofluorescence staining results revealed a significant increase in the expression levels of type III collagen and α-SMA in the TGFßl stimulation group, when compared to the control group (P<0.05). However, these expression levels significantly decreased in the TGFßl+liraglutide group, when compared to the TGFßl stimulation group (P<0.05). The Western blotting results revealed that the expression levels of phosphorylated smad2 and smad3 significantly increased in the TGFßl stimulation group, when compared to the control group (P<0.05), while these decreased in the TGFßl+liraglutide group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Liraglutide inhibits myocardial fibrosis development by suppressing the smad signaling pathway, reducing the activation and secretion of cardiac fibroblasts.

The landscape of investigator-initiated oncology trials conducted in mainland China during the past decade (2010-2019).

The number of clinical trials conducted in mainland China, including investigator-initiated trials (IITs), has increased rapidly in recent years. However, there are few data on the characteristics of cancer-related IITs. We performed a comprehensive analysis of the landscape of cancer-related IITs in mainland China in the past decade. All cancer-related IITs registered on two clinical trial registries in the United States (www.clinicaltrials.gov, CT.gov) and mainland China (www.chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR) from 2010 to 2019 were identified. IITs were reviewed manually to validate classification, subcategorized by cancer type, and stratified by design characteristics to facilitate comparison across cancer types and with other specialties. A total of 8199 cancer-related IITs were identified. The number of trials registered annually increased over time, especially in the last 5 years. Although interventional studies were predominant, randomized double-blind studies accounted for only 8% of IITs. In the past decade, the trend for interventional studies conducted with different drugs increased year on year, although the increase in hormonal therapy IITs was not significant. Additionally, cancer-related IITs were unevenly geographically distributed, with half concentrated in the economically developed cities Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangdong. We also found an increase in registration before participant enrollment (64.9% for trials in conducted in 2015-2019 vs. 40.2% in 2010-2014, p < 0.001) and data monitoring committee use (44.5% vs. 40.0%, p = 0.001) and a decrease in randomization (51.5% vs. 62.7%, p < 0.001) and funding (36.4% vs. 56.3%, p < 0.001) between these periods. We also observed changes in intervention type (decrease in cytotoxic drug therapy [34.8% vs. 48.9%, p < 0.001]; increase in targeted therapy [17.8% vs. 14.2%, p = 0.004], immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy [6.6% vs. 0.0%, p < 0.001], and immune cell therapy [9.6% vs. 4.5%, p < 0.001]). Details of cancer-related IITs conducted during the past decade illustrate the merits of oncology research in mainland China. Although the increased quantity of IITs is encouraging, limitations remain regarding the quality of clinical trials, regional imbalances, and funding allocation.