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Objective: Autophagy is the catabolic process where the components of eukaryotes experience damage, and the affected or superfluous components undergo self-degradation. However autophagy can promote cancer cell apoptosis or facilitate cell growth. This work aimed to investigat the significance of autophagy-related genes (ARGs) in predicting the prognosis of breast cancer (BC) intervened with Cremastra. Methods: Active ingredients and action targets were obtained using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and SwissTargetPrediction. Then, the BC transcriptome and clinical data were downloaded in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), whereas ARGs were collected in the Human Autophagy Database (HADb). Meanwhile, Perl and R software were used for data processing and analysis. Firstly, the transcriptome data of BC were mapped to ARGs to screen the BC-ARGs. Secondly, the above genes were mapped to the action targets of Cremastra, ARGs of Cremastra-intervened BC were then screened out. Moreover, an enrichment analysis of biological function was carried out. Univariate Cox regression was carried out on ARGs of BC for preliminarily selecting the independent prognostic genes and constructing the autophagy prognosis model. These genes were mapped to ARGs involved in Cremastra-intervened BC. Finally, those mapped genes were optimized by multi-factor Cox regression, and the key ARGs and potential compounds were obtained. Finally, all cases were classified as low- or high-risk group based on the median risk score. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, Kaplan-Meier (K-M) survival, independent prognosis and clinical correlation analyses were conducted for model evaluation and identification of factors to independently predict prognosis. Results: Altogether, 66 active components and 38 targets of the Cremastra-intervened autophagy of BC were screened and the autophagy prognosis model demonstrate good predictive performance. As suggested by the survival curve, low-risk patients had a markedly increased survival rate compared with high-risk patients (P < .01). Besides, the gene expression levels of the high-risk group increased with the increases in patients' risk scores. Upon univariate regression, 34 differentially expressed ARGs related to BC treatment were screened. Multivariate regression identified 4 key ARGs, which were mainly derived from glycosides, lignans, flavonoids, and dibenzyl compounds. Thereafter, key genes were subjected to correlation analysis between clinicopathological features and prognosis, among which BCL2 and TP63, showed independent prognostic value. Conclusions: In this study, an autophagy prognosis model was established, and BCL2 and TP63 were predicted for the Cremastra intervention of BC by Bioinformatics, which will be applied to further work.
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Colorectal cancer is a common clinical malignant tumor of the digestive tract, and intestinal flora has played an important role in the development of colorectal cancer. Bifidobacteria, as one of the main dominant florae in intestinal tract, can inhibit the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer through various mechanisms. Recent studies have shown that traditional Chinese medicine can regulate the abundance of bifidobacteria in intestinal tract and exhibit anti-tumor effects on colorectal cancer. Detailed investigations have revealed that the mechanisms of bifidobacteria in the treatment of colorectal cancer involve three aspects: the production of short-chain fatty acids, the regulation of the body's immunity, and the regulation of cell apoptosis and differentiation. In this review, we provide an updated summary of recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms by which traditional Chinese medicine regulate intestinal flora to inhibit colorectal cancer development and metastasis.
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Among all malignant tumors in the whole universe, the incidence and mortality of lung cancer disease rank first. Especially in the past few years, the occurrence of lung cancer in the urban population has continued to increase, which seriously threatens the lives and health of people. Among the many treatments for lung cancer, chemotherapy is the best one, but traditional chemotherapy has low specificity and drug resistance. To address the above issue, this study reviews the five biological pathways that common terpenoid compounds in medicinal plants interfere with the occurrence and development of lung cancer: cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, cell autophagy, cell invasion, metastasis, and immune mechanism regulation. In addition, the mechanism of the terpenoid natural traditional Chinese medicine monomer compound combined with Western medicine in the multipathway antilung cancer is summarized.
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BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders among women of reproductive age. As a widely used complementary and alternative therapy, acupuncture is increasingly used to treat PCOS. However, the effect of acupuncture in treating PCOS is uncertain, and the mechanisms are unclear. This systematic review aims to determine the efficacy of acupuncture on PCOS in animal preclinical models. METHODS: Experimental animal studies of acupuncture in PCOS animal models were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database from inception to December 2020. The risk of bias was assessed using the Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory Animal Experimentation (SYRCLE) risk of bias tool. RESULTS: A total of 358 studies were screened based on the title and abstract, and 31 studies were included. A total of 722 animals were involved, and all studies used either Wistar rats or SD rats. Twenty-six studies used electroacupuncture, 9 studies used manual acupuncture, and 5 of them employed both electroacupuncture and manual acupuncture. A total of 22 acupoints were involved; 7 studies followed the modern acupuncture pattern, and the rest followed classic acupuncture theory. CONCLUSIONS: The present review summarizes the current evidence of the effects of acupuncture on PCOS in animal models. Unfortunately, we could not draw a definite conclusion due to the methodological weakness of the included studies and the high heterogeneity. Well-designed studies are needed in the future to fill this gap.
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It has been confirmed by growing evidence that common hormone replacement therapy is associated with an increasing risk of causing cardiovascular disease and cancer, while complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is gaining popularity and application in more and more patients with premature ovarian failure (POF). Although there is little data concerning the clinical safety and efficacy of CAM, the literature includes application studies on the phytoestrogen-rich herbal, acupuncture treatment and intervention therapy. This article reviews recent literature on CAM therapy for POF, aiming to provide theoretical support for clinical application.
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BACKGROUND: Hiccups are involuntary contractions of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, which lead to sudden contractions of the glottis. CAM, such as acupuncture is commonly used and stimulation of the vagus nerve and interference with phrenic nerve conduction are also used to treat hiccups. However, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture for cancer-related hiccups. We will plan to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs to evaluate the current evidence on the effects of acupuncture for cancer-related hiccups. METHOD: The following databases will be searched: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Wanfang Data, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SinoMed, VIP, Medline, Embase, and EI. Randomized controlled trials will be included to evaluate the effect and safety of acupuncture on cancer patients with hiccups. We will set standards for the curative effect on the basis of the standard of cure and improvement for clinical disease diagnoses. The risk of bias will be assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool. We will conduct a meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis, as well as a subgroup analysis if high heterogeneity is present, using Revman 5.3. We will use funnel plots to identify potential reporting biases. We will test asymmetry using Egger test. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) will be used to evaluate the quality of evidence. RESULTS: This study will be to assess the effect and safety of acupuncture for cancer-related hiccups. CONCLUSIONS: This study will assess the effect of acupuncture for cancer-related hiccups and provide reliable evidence for the choice of treatments.
Subject(s)
Acupuncture Therapy , Hiccup/therapy , Hiccup/etiology , Humans , Neoplasms/complications , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Meta-Analysis as TopicABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Approximately 5%-20% of reproductive women suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Auricular points acupressure (AA) may serve as alternative management for PCOS for its benefits in both physical and psychological well-being. However, the effects of AA for insulin resistance (IR) in overweight/obese PCOS women have not been confirmed. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The present study is designed as a randomised, placebo-controlled pilot trial to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of AA in treating IR in women with PCOS. A total of 60 eligible PCOS subjects will be randomised into an intervention group (AA group) and a control group (sham AA group) in a ratio of 1:1. Magnetic beads will be taped to the auricular points by the same senior acupuncture specialist from the First Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine. The treatment will last for 12 weeks. Primary outcome measure will be changes in homeostasis model assessment of IR between baseline and after 3 months of AA/sham AA treatment. Secondary outcomes include hormonal profile, weight, waist/hip circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, Ferriman-Gallwey score, acne and the assessment of health-related quality of life. Outcome measures are collected at baseline and the end of treatment visit. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The protocol has been approved by the ethics committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine (HZYLLKY201800301). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals for publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03546595; Pre-results.