ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Qinggan Jianpi Huoxue prescription（QGJPHXP） on the polarization of M1/M2 macrophages in rats with hepatic fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride（CCl4）. MethodA rat hepatic fibrosis model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 40% CCl4-olive oil suspension twice a week at the dosage of 2.0 mL·kg-1 for 8 weeks. After the model was successfully established， these rats were randomly divided into the model group， QGJPHXP group（32.084 g·kg-1） and Biejiajian pills（BJJP） group（0.925 5 g·kg-1）， with 12 rats in each group. The blank group was injected intraperitoneally with the same amount of olive oil. The rats in the administration groups were given the corresponding solution according to the dose， and the blank and model groups were given the same dose of purified water， once a day. After 4 weeks of continuous administration， the liver tissues of rats were taken and stained with hematoxylin-eosin（HE） and Masson to observe the pathological changes. The serums were collected to detect the alanine aminotransferase（ALT） and aspartate aminotransferase（AST） levels. Interleukin（IL）-6， IL-12， IL-10， IL-1β， transforming growth factor-β1（TGF-β1） and tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） levels in liver tissues were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. The expression levels of CD86 and CD206 were detected by immunohistochemistry（IHC）. Western blot and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR） were used to detect the protein and mRNA expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase（iNOS）， arginase-1（Arg-1）， phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase（p-p38 MAPK）， nuclear transcription factor-κB p65（NF-κB p65） in liver tissues of rats. ResultCompared with the blank group， the hepatic cell plate was irregularly arranged, and local inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrous hyperplasia were observed， while the serum levels of ALT and AST were significantly increased in the model group（P<0.01）， and IL-1β， IL-6， IL-12， TGF-β1， TNF-α， CD86， CD206， iNOS， p-p38 MAPK，p38 MAPK and NF-κB p65 levels in liver tissues were obviously increased（P<0.05， P<0.01）， while the levels of IL-10 and Arg-1 were obviously decreased（P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， QGJPHXP group reduced the degree of liver cell fibrosis，and serum levels of ALT and AST（P<0.01）， and IL-1β， IL-6， IL-12， TGF-β1， TNF-α， CD86， iNOS， p-p38 MAPK， p38 MAPK， and NF-κB p65 levels in liver tissues were obviously decreased（P<0.05， P<0.01）， the levels of IL-10， CD206 and Arg-1 were obviously increased in the QGJPHXP group（P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionQGJPHXP has ability to inhibit the activation of pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages， induce the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines by M2 macrophages， reduce the release of pro-fibrogenic cytokines， and promote the macrophage polarization of M1 to M2 in liver for tissue repair， thereby serving as an anti-inflammatory and anti-hepatic fibrosis drug.
ABSTRACT
Described in the paper is the reform made at public hospitals in Zhejiang province,with analysis of its problems and causes. Based on such,the authors proposed the following actions:to accelerate the reform of public hospitals centering on health promotion, and encourage such hospitals to shoulder the health care responsibility on behalf of the government; to proceed with hierarchical medical system and contract-based service focusing on capacity building of general practitioners; to attract private capital into building the healthcare system; and to motivate non-governmental organizations to cater to diversified healthcare needs of the people.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed at investigating the utilization of TCM services and exploring the influencing factors,such as education,economic condition,health condition,attitude to TCM treatment and TCM health literacy,of TCM treatment-seeking behavior in the elders in Zhejiang Province.In this study,a cross-sectional study with stratified sampling was adopted for the further investigation of the elders over 55 years by questionnaire.The questionnaire contained four aspects:1.demographic information:gender,age,education,pension mode,medicare and self-evaluation of economic level;2.health status:self-evaluation of health and current diseases;3.attitude to TCM treatment:Would you accept the TCM health services? 4.health literacy:self-made KAB questionnaire including health knowledge,attitude and behavior.Nine hundred and fifty questionnaires were issued and 945 valid questionnaires were returned.Among them,four hundred and eighty-four cases were male and 461 were female.The average age was 72.0 ± 8.9 years with a low level of education,mainly junior high school or lower (88.3％).Over the past year,only 50.11％ elders sought for TCM treatment.Generally speaking,age,gender,education,pension mode and health behavior showed no significant association with TCM treatment.The elders seeking for TCM treatment over the past year held favorable attitude to TCM treatment and high economic status,yet,with poor health status,high prevalence and health literacy (or health attitudes).It was concluded that the utilization rate of TCM services in the elders in Zhejiang Province was not optimist,probably resulting from the lack of publicity and market competitiveness of TCM.Therefore,TCM services should be promoted to meet the health needs of the elders and enhance the utilization rate of TCM services for the achievement of a significant role in the aging society in China.
ABSTRACT
This study was aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Self Rate Health Assessment Questionnaire (TCM-SRHAQ). A total of 859 middle age and aged cases were enrolled in a cross-sectional study, which were evaluated by the questionnaire. The salivary level of ɑ-amylase was tested at the same time. The results showed that the split-half reliability coefficient was 0.91, which can highly differentiate the health level of the crowd. The spearman correlation coefficients between items in the “spleen deficiency” sub-scale were all higher than 0.3. While the correlation coefficients between items were less than 0.25. Salivary level of ɑ-amylase was used as indicator. The “spleen deficiency” sub-scale showed high validity in identifying spleen-qi deficiency people from healthy people. It was concluded that TCM-SRHAQ showed good reliability and validity in this study, which indicated it can be used as a valuable measurement for assessing different types of health status, especially the spleen-qi deficiency type.
ABSTRACT
Chronic lung diseases, including bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, allergic rhinitis and repeated respiratory tract infection (RRTL) in infants, exacerbate frequently in winter because of respiratory viral infections and low temperature. Summer acupoint application therapy (SAAT) is thought to be effective in reducing exacerbation frequency of chronic lung diseases in winter. It is a kind of therapy using a herbal mixture for external application on special acupoints during summer. The herbal mixture basically contains Semen Sinapis Albae, Herba Asari, Radix Euphorbiae Kansui and Rhizoma Corydalis. The acupoints include Feishu (BL13), Dazhui (GV14) and Danzhong (CV17). Through a large-scale multicenter trial based on three years of clinical observation, and retrospective and prospective analyses, this study aims to explore the efficacy of SAAT.