Clinical efficacy of Kuanxiong aerosol for patients with prehospital chest pain: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Kuanxiong Aerosol (KXA)(CardioVent®), consisting of Asarum sieboldii Miq. oil, Santalum album L. oil, Alpinia officinarum Hance oil, Piper longum L. oil and borneol, seems to relieve the symptoms of chest pain and serve as a supplementary treatment for prehospital chest pain in emergency department. STYLE OF THE STUDY: This randomized controlled trial aimed to determine the clinical effect and safety of KXA for patients with prehospital chest pain. METHODS: A total of 200 patients were recruited from Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine and randomly divided into KXA group (n = 100) and Nitroglycerin Aerosol (NA) group (n = 100) by SAS 9.2 software. All patients were treated with standardized Western medicine according to the pre-hospital procedure. The experimental group and NA group was additionally treated with KXA and NA respectively. The primary outcome was the relieving time of prehospital chest pain (presented as relief rate) after first-time treatment. The secondary outcomes included the evaluation of chest pain (NRS scores, degree of chest pain, frequency of chest pain after first-time treatment), efficacy in follow-up time (the frequency of average aerosol use, emergency department visits, 120 calls, medical observations and hospitalization at 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks), alleviation of chest pain (Seattle angina questionnaire, chest pain occurrence, and degree of chest pain at 12-weeks treatment) and the change of TCM symptoms before and after 12-weeks treatment. In addition, the safety of KXA was also assessed by the occurrence of adverse events. The database was created using Epidata software, and statistical analysis was conducted by SPSS 23.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 194 participants finally completed the trial, the results showed that after first-time treatment, KXA had a higher relief rate (72.2%) of chest pain within 30 min than that of NA group (59.4%, p = 0.038), KXA group had a lower degree of chest pain (p = 0.005), lower NRS score (p = 0.011) and higher reduction of NRS score (p = 0.005) than the NA. In the follow-up period, KXA group decreased the frequency of 120 call better than that of NA group at 4 weeks (p = 0.040), but KXA had a similar efficacy as NA in the improvement on the of frequency of chest pain, aerosol use, emergency department visits, 120 call, medical observation and hospitalization at 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks (p>0.05). There also had no difference between the two groups on the occurrence of chest pain, degree of chest pain, physical limitation, angina stability, treatment satisfaction, and disease perception between the two groups at 12 weeks (p>0.05). In addition, KXA and NA both improved the patient's chest pain, but not the TCM symptoms. In terms of safety, KXA showed similar safety as NA in this study. CONCLUSIONS: KXA relieved prehospital chest pain faster than NA and had a better remission effect on the prehospital chest pain than that of the NA group in short-period. In long-period, KXA showed similar efficacy on the improvement of prehospital chest pain as NA. KXA may be a safe and reliable therapy for prehospital chest pain.

Andrographolide ameliorates hepatic steatosis by suppressing FATP2-mediated fatty acid uptake in mice with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Excessive intrahepatocellular lipid accumulation or steatosis is caused by abnormal lipid metabolism and a common character of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which may progress into cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. Andrographolide (Andro) is the primary active ingredient extracted from Andrographis paniculata, showing a protective role against dietary steatosis with the mechanism not fully understood. In this study, we showed that administration of Andro (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks, respectively) attenuated obesity and metabolic syndrome in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice with improved glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and reduced hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia. HFD-fed mice presented hepatic steatosis, which was significantly prevented by Andro. In vitro, Andro decreased the intracellular lipid droplets in oleic acid-treated LO2 cells. The selected RT-PCR array revealed a robust expression suppression of the fatty acid transport proteins (FATPs) by Andro treatment. Most importantly, we found that Andro consistently reduced the expression of FATP2 in both the oleic acid-treated LO2 cells and liver tissues of HFD-fed mice. Overexpression of FATP2 abolished the lipid-lowering effect of Andro in oleic acid-treated LO2 cells. Andro treatment also reduced the fatty acid uptake in oleic acid-treated LO2 cells, which was blunted by FATP2 overexpression. Collectively, our findings reveal a novel mechanism underlying the anti-steatosis effect of Andro by suppressing FATP2-mediated fatty acid uptake, suggesting the potential therapeutic application of Andro in the treatment of NAFLD.

Development and validation of an efficient HILIC-QQQ-MS/MS method for quantitative and comparative profiling of 45 hydrophilic compounds in four types of tea (Camellia sentences).

Hydrophilic constituents are significant for the taste and nutrition of tea, but their simultaneous quantification remains challenging due to the lack of efficient methods. Based on the hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole-tandem mass spectrometry, this work developed and validated an efficient (8.5 min per run), sensitive (LOQ: 0.002-0.493 µg/mL) and accurate method. This method was successfully used to determine the contents of 45 hydrophilic constituents in Yunnan large-leaf tea. Umami amino acids and umami-enhanced nucleotides generally exhibited higher content in green tea and Pu-erh raw tea. By contrast, a few number of amino acids (e.g., proline and γ-aminobutyric acid) and most alkaloids and nucleosides showed significantly higher contents in black tea or Pu-erh ripen tea. By performing the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, classification models for distinguishing four types of tea, and green tea from Pu-erh raw tea were established.

The formation, determination and health implications of polar compounds in edible oils: Current status, challenges and perspectives.

To effectively control the quality of edible oil, polar compounds in edible oils have been studied extensively in the past few decades, particularly in the field of frying. This article critically reviews the formation, determination, and health implications of the polar compounds in edible oils via comprehensive literature research. The challenges and perspectives of polar compounds in edible oils are also discussed. Three chemical reactions, including oxidation, hydrolysis, and polymerization, elaborate polar compound formation. Many techniques are used to determine the total polar compound content of edible oils, with comparative analysis; Fourier transform infrared technique is a relatively ideal method. A major obstacle for nutritional studies focused on polar compounds formed during frying is that few pure compounds have been quantified. To inhibit the formation of the polar compounds effectively, investigations into the applications of enzymatic method in developing new lipophilized antioxidants may be a new direction in research.

Analytical methods for determining the peroxide value of edible oils: A mini-review.

Edible oils are prone to oxidation during processing and storage that may negatively affect the oil quality and human health. Determining the peroxide value (PV) of edible oils is essential because PV is one of the most typically used quality parameters to monitor lipid oxidation and control oil quality. Many approaches have been developed to determine the PV of oils. Among them, iodometric titration is the commonly used method for PV determination. Considering the limitations related to titrimetric methods, such as time and environmental concerns, several instrumental techniques have been considered as reliable alternatives. The advantages and limitations of classical titration and instrumental methods are summarized in this review. The prospects and reformative aspects for the future applications of these approaches in PV determination are also discussed.

Effects and Mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine in the Treatment of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.

The incidence of ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) is increasing yearly, which seriously endangers human health. There is rarely any remarkable progress in the treatment of ICM from the available drugs. Recent research shows that natural herbal medicine may have beneficial effects in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The effective extracts of the herbs may improve myocardial ischemia through various actions, such as hemodynamic, hemorheological, and vascular actions, and on various cell biology aspects, such as intracellular calcium balance, mitochondria function, cell apoptosis, and scavenging free radicals. Here, we review the animal research progress and potential mechanisms in the treatment of ICM using extracts of well-known traditional Chinese herbal medicines.

[Antitumor effect of low-voltage electric pulses on melanoma-bearing mice].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the antitumor effect of the low-voltage electric pulses (LVEPs) on melanoma-bearing mice. METHODS: Tumor models were established by subcutaneously inoculating BALB/c mice with B16F10 melanoma cells. These mice were randomly divided into control group and treated groups which were exposed to electric pulses of different frequency 10, 20, 30 Hz for consecutive 20 days with 30 minutes per day. In every day, tumor size was measured, and morphological changes of tumors were observed by HE staining. The expressions of caspase-3 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) mRNAs were tested by real-time quantitative PCR, and the expressions of caspase-3 and MMP-9 proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, seven days after LVEPs treatment, the tumor size in 30Hz treated group was reduced significantly; twenty days after treatment, the tumor size of all treated groups diminished significantly. The tumor growth inhibition rate increased with time. Compared with the control group, nuclear shrinkage and necrosis of more tumor cells were found in the treated groups; the expression of caspase-3 mRNA and protein was significantly enhanced in the treated groups; the expression of MMP-9 mRNA and protein was significantly depressed in the treated groups; and the changes of caspase-3 and MMP-9 expressions became greater with the frequency increasing. CONCLUSION: LVEPs can induce the activation of caspase-3, suppress the expression of MMP-9, and inhibit tumor growth.