Essential oils for treating anxiety: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials and network meta-analysis.

Background and purpose: The findings of clinical studies exploring essential oils (EOs) for anxiety remain disputed, and no studies have yet clarified the differences in the efficacy of EOs. The purpose of the study was to directly or indirectly compare the efficacy of different types of EOs on anxiety by pooling the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases were searched from inception to November 2022. Only full texts of RCTs that investigated the effects of EOs on anxiety were included. The trial data were extracted and the risk of bias was assessed by two reviewers independently. Pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis were performed by Stata 15.1 or R 4.1.2 software. Results: Forty-four RCTs (fifty study arms) involving 10 kinds of EOs and 3419 anxiety patients (1815 patients in EOs group and 1604 patients in control group) were included. Pairwise meta-analyses showed that EOs were effective in reducing State Anxiety Inventory scores (SAIS) [WMD = -6.63, 95% CI-8.17, -5.08] and Trait Anxiety Inventory scores (TAIS) [WMD = -4.97, 95% CI-6.73, -3.20]. Additionally, EOs could decrease systolic blood pressure (SBP) [WMD = -6.83, (95% CI -10.53, -3.12), P < 0.001] and heart rate (HR) [WMD = -3.43, (95% CI -5.51, -1.36), P < 0.001]. Network meta-analyses demonstrated that regarding the outcome of SAIS, Jasminum sambac (L.)Ait. (jasmine) was the most effective with a weighted mean difference (WMD) of-13.61 (95% CrI-24.79, -2.48). Followed by Citrus (citrus aurantium L.), which had a WMD of-9.62 (95% CrI-13.32, -5.93). Moderate effect sizes were observed for Rosa rugosa Thunb. (damask rose) (WMD = -6.78, 95% CrI-10.14, -3.49) and Lavandula angustifolia Mill. (lavender) (WMD = -5.41, 95% CrI-7.86, -2.98). Regarding the results of TAIS, citrus aurantium L. was the best ranked intervention with a WMD of-9.62 (95% CrI-15.62, -3.7). Moderate-to-large effect sizes were observed for Citrus limon (L.) Burm. F. (lemon) (WMD:-8.48; 95% CrI-16.67, -0.33) and lavender (WMD:-5.5; 95% CrI-8.7, -2.46). Conclusion: According to the comprehensive analysis, EOs are effective in reducing both state anxiety and trait anxiety, and citrus aurantium L. essential oil seems to be the most recommended type of EO for treating anxiety because of its significant effects in reducing SAIS and TAIS. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier: CRD42022331319.

[Knowledge graph analysis of pyroptosis research in traditional Chinese medicine based on VOSviewer and CiteSpace].

To explore the research hotspots and frontier directions of pyroptosis in the field of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), the authors searched CNKI and Web of Science for literature related to pyroptosis in TCM, screened literature according to the search strategy and inclusion criteria, and analyzed the publication trend of the included literature. VOSviewer was used to draw author cooperation and keyword co-occurrence network diagrams, and CiteSpace was employed for keyword clustering, emergence, and timeline view. Finally, 507 Chinese literature and 464 English literature were included, and it was found that the number of Chinese and English literature was increasing rapidly year by year. The co-occurrence of the authors showed that in terms of Chinese literature, there was a representative research team composed of DU Guan-hua, WANG Shou-bao and FANG Lian-hua, and for English literature, the representative research team was composed of XIAO Xiao-he, BAI Zhao-fang and XU Guang. The network visualization of Chinese and English keywords revealed that inflammation, apoptosis, oxidative stress, autophagy, organ damage, fibrosis, atherosclerosis, and ischemia-reperfusion injury were the primary research diseases and pathological processes in TCM; berberine, resveratrol, puerarin, na-ringenin, astragaloside Ⅳ, and baicalin were the representative active ingredients; NLRP3/caspase-1/GSDMD, TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3, and p38/MAPK signaling pathways were the main research pathways. Keyword clustering, emergence, and timeline analysis indicated that the pyroptosis research in TCM focused on the mechanism of TCM monomers and compounds intervening in diseases and pathological processes. Pyroptosis is a research hotspot in the area of TCM, and the current discussion mainly focuses on the mechanism of the therapeutic effect of TCM.

[Evidence mapping of clinical research on 20 Chinese patent medicines for hypertension].

In this study, evidence mapping was employed to sort out and summarise the evidence from clinical studies of Chinese patent medicines for hypertension and to understand the evidence distribution in related studies. Chinese patent medicines for hypertension were searched from Medicine Catalogue for National Basic Medical Insurance, Employment Injury Insurance, and Maternity Insu-rance(2021) and Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020). Relevant articles(published from January 1, 2016 to February 14, 2022) were retrieved from Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and SinoMed. Then, the evidence distribution was analysed based on description, tables, and bubble charts. A total of 31 Chinese patent medicines were identified and 20 were finally included, involving 111 articles. The basic information of the 20 Chinese patent medicines, the number of related articles, the hypertension staging and traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndrome types of the subjects, sample size, interventions, and outcome indicators were compared. The results showed Chinese patent medicines with the function of pacifying liver and eliminating wind were frequently studied, and most of them were single-center, small-sample, short-period randomized controlled trials. They failed to highlight the key and advantages of TCM. A wide variety of outcome indicators were involved, and in addition to blood pressure, surrogate outcome indicators and composite outcome indicators were emphasized. However, health economic indicators, quality of life, and damage to target organs such as blood vessels and heart, were rarely used.

Guanxinning Injection Combined With Ischemic Postconditioning Attenuate Myocardial Ischemic Reperfusion Injury in Chronic Renal Failure Rats by Modulating Mitochondrial Dynamics.

Purpose: Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. (Danshen, DS) and Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. (Chuanxiong, CX) have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to prevent and treat myocardial ischemia and renal insufficiency, and their extracts (Guanxinning injection, GXN) have been reported to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-ischemia-reperfusion injury properties. It is well-established that ischemic postconditioning (IPOC) can protect against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats with chronic renal failure (CRF). However, little is known on whether GXN combined with IPOC may affect myocardial I/R injury in CRF rats. We sought to observe the effect of GXN combined with IPOC on myocardial I/R injury in CRF rats by quantifying changes in the expression of proteins related to mitochondrial dynamics. Materials and Methods: In a survey, 90 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups (15 rats per group): CRF group, I/R group, comorbid group (CRF + I/R), IPOC group, IPOC + GXN group and the sham group. Changes in blood myocardial injury markers, urea, and creatinine were analyzed. Heart tissues were harvested for histomorphometry and western blotting when rats were sacrificed. Myocardial infarction area was measured by Evans blue and Triphenyltetrazolium chloride solution staining. The expressions of mitochondrial fission relative proteins (DRP1 and FIS1) and mitochondrial fusion relative proteins (OPA1 and MFN1) were detected by western blotting. Results: IPOC could significantly decrease myocardial injury markers and myocardial area of necrosis (AN)/area at risk (AAR) of the comorbid model rats. Further results showed that GXN combined with IPOC could significantly reduce CK-MB levels and myocardial AN/AAR in comorbid model rats compared with the IPOC group. Meanwhile, both IPOC and IPOC + GXN significantly reduced DRP1 levels and increased the MFN1 and OPA1 protein levels in the comorbid model rats. However, compared with the IPOC group, MFN1 and OPA1 protein levels increased significantly in the IPOC + GXN group. Conclusion: Extracts of DS and CX combined with IPOC exert a protective effect against myocardial I/R injury in rats with CRF, mediated by increased expression of mitochondrial fusion proteins (MFN1 and OPA1).

Preclinical Evidence of Paeoniflorin Effectiveness for the Management of Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Vessel recanalization is the main treatment for ischemic stroke; however, not all patients benefit from it. This lack of treatment benefit is related to the accompanying ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Therefore, neuroprotective therapy for I/R Injury needs to be further studied. Paeonia lactiflora Pall. is a commonly used for ischemic stroke management in traditional Chinese medicine; its main active ingredient is paeoniflorin (PF). We aimed to determine the PF's effects and the underlying mechanisms in instances of cerebral I/R injury. Methods: We searched seven databases from their inception to July 2021.SYRCLE's risk of bias tool was used to assess methodological quality. Review Manager 5.3 and STATA 12.0 software were used for meta-analysis. Results: Thirteen studies, including 282 animals overall, were selected. The meta-analyses showed compared to control treatment, PF significantly reduced neurological severity scores, cerebral infarction size, and brain water content (p = 0.000). In the PF treatment groups, the apoptosis cells and levels of inflammatory factors (IL-1ß) decreased compared to those in the control groups (p = 0.000). Conclusion: Our results suggest that PF is a promising therapeutic for cerebral I/R injury management. However, to evaluate the effects and safety of PF in a more accurate manner, additional preclinical studies are necessary.

Mechanisms and Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Heart Failure.

Heart failure (HF) is one of the main public health problems at present. Although some breakthroughs have been made in the treatment of HF, the mortality rate remains very high. However, we should also pay attention to improving the quality of life of patients with HF. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history of being used to treat HF. To demonstrate the clinical effects and mechanisms of TCM, we searched published clinical trial studies and basic studies. The search results showed that adjuvant therapy with TCM might benefit patients with HF, and its mechanism may be related to microvascular circulation, myocardial energy metabolism, oxidative stress, and inflammation.

[Clinical comprehensive evaluation of Wenxin Granules in treatment of arrhythmia with deficiency of Qi and Yin].

This study evaluated the safety, effectiveness, economy, innovation, suitability, accessibility, and characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine of Wenxin Granules in the treatment of arrhythmia(ventricular premature beat and atrial premature beat) with deficiency of Qi and Yin. The multi-criteria decision analysis(MCDA) model was adopted, and the criterion layer and index layer were weighted by experts. CSC v2.0 was used for clinical comprehensive evaluation. This study embodies the clinical value of Wenxin Granules, promotes its safe, effective and rational use, and provides a basis for national medical decision-making. The multi-source evidence shows that the major adverse reaction of Wenxin Granules is gastrointestinal damage. According to the available studies, Wenxin Granules has controllable risk and thus is rated as grade B in terms of safety. The systematic evaluation of effectiveness shows that compared with antiarrhythmic western medicine, Wenxin Granules demonstrates improved clinical efficacy and electrocardiogram efficacy, which is supported by high-quality evidence, and thus the effectiveness of Wenxin Granules is evaluated as grade A. Economic research shows that Wenxin Granules is more economical than antiarrhythmic western medicine, which is supported by sufficient evidence and clear results, and thus the economy of this preparation is rated as grade B. The indications and contraindications of Wenxin Granules are clear and detailed to different types of arrhythmia, which, together with the precise positioning and prominent clinical innovation and industrial innovation, rates it as grade A in terms of innovation. The suitability of drug storage, prescription circulation, dosage form and course of treatment basically meet the clinical medication needs of doctors and patients, and thus the suitability of Wenxin Granules is evaluated as grade B. Because of the few restrictions and the sustainable resources of medicinal materials, the accessibility of Wenxin Granules is evaluated as grade A. The prescription compatibility focuses on the pathogenesis characteristics of deficiency of Qi and Yin, and there are more than 3 000 cases studied. Therefore, the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine of Wenxin Granules are evaluated as grade B. Based on the evidence from all the above dimensions, Wenxin Granules has the clinical comprehensive value of class A and prominent characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine. It is suggested to include Wenxin Granules into the policy results related to basic clinical medication management according to the procedure.

Metabonomics: A Useful Tool to Reveal Underlying Relationships between Altered Chinese Medicine Syndromes and Ultrafiltration in Treatment of Heart Failure.

OBJECTIVE: To reveal the underlying relationships between Chinese medicine (CM) syndromes and ultrafiltration (UF) in the treatment of heart failure based on a metabonomic approach. METHODS: Seventeen acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) patients were enrolled, and their CM syndromes before and after UF were collected. In addition, their venous plasma collected before and after UF was used for liquid chromatographmass spectrometer-based metabonomic analysis. Both reversed phase liquid chromatography and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography were used to analyze the plasma samples. Partial least-squares to latent structure-discriminant analyses were used for data analysis. RESULTS: An obvious difference was observed pre- and post-treatment. A total of 17 potential biomarkers associating with alterd syndromes with UF including hypoxanthine, 1-methylhistidine, phytosphingosine, O-decanoyl-R-carnitine, etc. were screened out, showing a significant change after UF. The major adjusted metabolic pathways were purine metabolism, histidine metabolism, leucine and isoleucine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, carnitine shuttle, sphingolipid metabolism and phospholipid metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: Metabonomic approach is a useful tool to identify potential biomarkers of altered syndromes link to UF and could provide a theoretical basis for further research on the therapeutic mechanism of UF combined with CM.

A multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-parallel controlled trial for the efficacy and safety of shenfuqiangxin pills in the treatment of chronic heart failure (Heart-Kidney yang deficiency syndrome).

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is the final stage of various cardiac diseases with poor prognosis. The integrated traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and western medicine therapy has been considered as a prospective therapeutic strategy for chronic heart failure (CHF). There have been small clinical trials and experimental studies to demonstrate the efficacy of Shenfu Qiangxin Pills (SFQX) for treating CHF, however, there is still a lack of further high-quality trial. This paper describes the protocol for the clinical assessment of SFQX in CHF (heart-kidney Yang deficiency syndrome) patients. METHODS: A randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, multi-center trial will assess the efficacy and safety of SFQX in the treatment of CHF. 352 patients with CHF (heart-kidney Yang deficiency syndrome) from 22 hospitals in China will be enrolled. Besides their standardized western medicine, patients will be randomized to receive treatment of either SFQX or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary outcome is the plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels, which will be measured uniformly by the central laboratory. The secondary outcomes include composite endpoint events (hospitalization due to worsening HF, all-cause mortality, other serious cardiovascular events), echocardiography indicators, grades of the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification, the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) results, Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire and TCM syndrome scores. DISCUSSION: The integrated TCM and western medicine therapy has developed into a treatment model in China. The rigorous design of the trial will assure an objective and scientific assessment of the efficacy and safety of SFQX in the treatment of CHF. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2000028777 (registered on January 3, 2020).

Investigation of the Cellular Pharmacological Mechanism and Clinical Evidence of the Multi-Herbal Antiarrhythmic Chinese Medicine Xin Su Ning.

Xin Su Ning (XSN), a China patented and certified multi-herbal medicine, has been available in China since 2005 for treating cardiac ventricular arrhythmia including arrhythmia induced by ischemic heart diseases and viral myocarditis, without adverse reactions being reported. It is vitally important to discover pharmacologically how XSN as a multicomponent medicine exerts its clinical efficacy, and whether the therapeutic effect of XSN can be verified by standard clinical trial studies. In this paper we report our discoveries in a cellular electrophysiological study and in a three-armed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter trial. Conventional electrophysiological techniques were used to study the cellular antiarrhythmic mechanism of XSN. Data was then modeled with computational simulation of human action potential (AP) of the cardiac ventricular myocytes. The clinical trial was conducted with a total of 861 eligible participants randomly assigned in a ratio of 2:2:1 to receive XSN, mexiletine, or the placebo for 4 weeks. The primary and secondary endpoint was the change of premature ventricular contraction (PVC) counts and PVC-related symptoms, respectively. This trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Register Center (ChiCTR-TRC-14004180). We found that XSN prolonged AP duration of the ventricular myocytes in a dose-dependent, reversible manner and blocked potassium channels. Patients in XSN group exhibited significant total effective responses in the reduction of PVCs compared to those in the placebo group (65.85% vs. 27.27%, P < 0.0001). No severe adverse effects attributable to XSN were observed. In conclusion, XSN is an effective multicomponent antiarrhythmic medicine to treat PVC without adverse effect in patients, which is convincingly supported by its class I & III pharmacological antiarrhythmic mechanism of blocking hERG potassium channels and hNaV1.5 sodium channel reported in our earlier publication and prolongs AP duration both in ventricular myocytes and with computational simulation of human AP presented in this report.

[Clinical study on effect of qingxuan tiaoya recipe in treating menopausal women with hypertension].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect and mechanism of Qingxuan Tiaoya Recipe (QXTYR) on depressing blood pressure in menopausal women with hypertension. METHODS: Patients were randomly assigned to two groups, the 44 patients in the test group were administered with perindopril tablet and QXTYR granule, while the 43 in the control group were administered with the same program, but a simulator of QXTYR was used to replace for the real one. The treatment course for them all was 2 months. Before and after treatment, the ambulatory blood pressure (ABMP), heart rate, related clinical symptoms, blood lipids, serum estradiol (E2), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein ( Hs-CRP), homocysteine (HCY) and angiotensin II (Ang II) were measured. RESULTS: The treatment in the test group showed an effect better than that in the control group in terms of reducing blood pressure variability and night-time blood pressure decrease rate (P <0.05), with the total effective rate and markedly effective rate in lowering blood pressure superior to the control group (P<0.05), alleviating symptoms as headache, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, and insomnia (P <0.05), and decreasing levels of heart rate, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), Hs-CRP and Ang II (P <0.05), The plasma level of endogenous E2 was elevated after treatment in the test group (P< 0.05), but showed no statistical difference in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: QXTYR shows favorable effect in depressing blood pressure of menopausal women with hypertension, it can reduce blood pressure variability, improve the symptoms of the menopause syndrome, blood lipid metabolism and plasma levels of Hs-CRP, E2, and Ang II in patients, suggesting that its mechanism may be related to the functional regulation of sympathetic-vagus nerve and neuro-endocrine-immune system, and also the inhibition on the circulatory renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activity.

A clinical study of Yigu capsule in treating postmenopausal osteoporosis.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy and safety of Yigu capsule (YGC), a Chinese herbal compound preparation, in treating postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) and to explore its possible mechanism. METHODS: The clinical study was conducted in a prospective, randomized, double blinded method lasting for 6 months with placebo and positive control. Two hundred and ten PMO patients with confirmed diagnosis were assigned into the YGC group, the calciferol group and the placebo group. Besides being administered element calcium, they were treated with YGC, calciferol capsule and placebo capsule respectively. And such symptoms as newly found fracture and ostealgia, bone mineral density (BMD) of the 2nd-4th lumbar vertebrae (L(2-4)) and upper femur, blood and urinary indexes for bone metabolism, sex hormone level and adverse reaction that occurred in patients were observed. RESULTS: In the YGC group, the total effective rate was 95.50%, with no new occurrence of fractures, which was significantly better than that in the other two groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, in the YGC group, the increase rate of BMD was 9.83% in L(2-4), 4.09% in femoral neck, 4.60% in Wards triangle, 3.00% in greater trochanter, which was also better than that in the placebo group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). As compared with the placebo group, levels in the YGC group of urinary oxyproline hydroxyproline/creatinine, urinary calcium/creatinine were significantly lower, serum and bone alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, estradiol and estradiol/testosterone were significantly higher, but no difference was shown in the comparison of testosterone level. In the observation period, no abnormality in blood or urine routine, liver or renal function was found. Only mild, transient gastro-intestinal response occurred in individual patients, but it did not affect the treatment. CONCLUSION: YGC could treat PMO effectively, as it could obviously increase the BMD of lumbar vertebrae and coxafemoral bone, elevate the alleviating rate of ostealgia and incessant motion time, yet causing no newly found compressive fracture of vertebrae, or and any related adverse reaction. YGC could not only promote the formation, but also inhibit the absorption of bone as well as increase the sex hormone level. Therefore, it is a pure Chinese herbal compound preparation worthy of further research and development.

[Preliminary study on change of serum proteome in noxious heat blood stasis syndrome treated by radix Paeoniae rubra].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of red peony root (RPR) on serum proteome in rat suffering from noxious heat with blood stasis Syndrome (NH-BS). METHODS: The differences of serum proteome among rats in four groups, treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), RPR, LPS + RPR and saline respectively, were analyzed by bi-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) assay. LPS was administered by intravenous injection and RPR by oral intake. RESULTS: (1) Serum of rats with LPS induced NH-BS showed significant changes in volume of serum protein (xPr) in 13 points on 2DE collagen, the volume of xPr 16 and 19 were significantly lower, volume of xPr 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 23 were significantly higher respectively, as compared with those in the normal control group. (2) After being treated with RPR, the increased volume of xPr 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9 significantly decreased, and the decreased xPr 16 significantly increased, with xPr 2, 3 restored to normal level but the xPr16 still lower and xPr 1, 4, 9 higher than those in the normal group. RPR showed interaction with LPS on xPr 1, 3, 9, and 16. (3) For xPr 19, the interaction of RPR with LPS might be synergistic. (4) In the group treated with RPR, volumes of xPr 13 and 14 were significantly higher and those of 15, 17 were significantly lower than those in the normal group respectively, but the similar changes didn't found in the LPS group. CONCLUSION: The molecular basis of therapeutic effect of RPR on NH-BS might be through the regulation of xPr 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 and 16.

[Clinical study on effect of qingxin capsule in treating patients with hypertension of mild or moderate degree].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of qingxin capsule (QXC) in treating patients with hypertension of mild or moderate degree, and to explore its mechanism in lowering blood pressure. METHODS: Adopting randomized double-blind double-simulated positive controlled clinical trial design, 98 patients were randomly divided into three groups, they were treated by QXC (n = 34), captopril (n = 32) and QXC plus captopril (n = 32), respectively for 12 weeks. Changes of blood pressure, clinical symptoms, quality of life (QOF), plasma levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), angiotensin II (Ang II) and endothelin (ET) in patients before and after treatment were observed, and the adverse reactions to the treatment were recorded. RESULTS: The markedly effective rate in lowering blood pressure of QXC, captopril and QXC plus captopril was 44.1%, 53.1% and 75.0% respectively, the markedly effective rate in ameliorating symptoms was 56.0%, 47.0% and 50.0% respectively. In respect of reducing symptomatic scores, QXC > captopril > QXC + captopril, in respect of ameliorating QOF, QXC was superior to captopril (P < 0.05). Single or combined use of QXC and captopril could increase the plasma CGRP level. QXC could also reduce the plasma levels of Ang II and ET, showing statistical significance in comparing the levels before and after treatment (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: QXC can safely and effectively lower blood pressure of patients with mild or moderate degree of hypertension. QXC alone or combined with captopril could improve clinical symptoms and raise QOF in patients more potently than that of captopril alone. The mechanism of QXC might be related with its inhibition on the activity of circulatory renin-angiotensin system and adjustment on ET/CGRP imbalance.

[Study on serum proteome of rat endotoxemia treated by figwort root].

OBJECTIVE: To study the serum proteome of rat endotoxemia treated by figwort root (FR). METHOD: The differences of serum proteome among rats treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), FR, LPS + FR and saline respectively were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) assay. RESULT: The volumes of sixteen serum proteins (xPr) in LPS induced-endotoxemia group were greatly changed compared with those of the control group. Among them, the volumes of xPr 16, 19 were significantly decreased, and the volumes of xPr 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 18, 23 were significantly increased. When treated with FR, the volumes of xPr 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 18, 23 were significantly decreased, and the volumes of xPr 8, 9, 11, 12, 23, 14 were back to normal level. Two factors statistic analysis showed that FR had interaction with LPS for xPr 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and FR might be the functional antagonist of LPS. We also observed that the volumes of xPr 10, 13, 15, 20, 21, 22 were found to change significantly only in FR treated group but not in LPS treated group or control group. Interestingly, the volume of xPr 13, 20, 21, 22 were increased and the volume of xPr 10, 15 were decreased. CONCLUSION: The molecular basis of therapeutic effect of FR on endotoxemia might be through the regulation of xPr 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 18, 23. We can use proteomic techniques to study the molecular mechanisms of diseases treated by functional Chinese herbs and the combination of different herbs is necessary for the treatment of endotoxemia, as FR can not regulated all the changed proteins induced by LPS.

[Study on efficacy of "bushen huoxue liquid" in male rats with osteoporosis induced by dexamethasone and its mechanism].

OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of "Bushen Huoxue Liquid" (BSHXL) in male rats with osteoporosis induced by dexamethasone (DM) and its mechanism. METHODS: Forty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats at 18 months of age were chosen. They were divided into four groups, BSHXL and DM were administered appropriately for 12 weeks. General bone mineral density (GBMD), femur bending strength (FBS), serum-BGP, serum-PTH and serum-E2 were measured. RESULTS: GBMD, FBS in BSHXL prevention group were significantly higher than those in DM group (P < 0.01), and the same with those in normal control group (P > 0.05). GBMD, FBS in BSHXL treatment group were higher than those in DM group (P < 0.05), and lower than those in normal control group. Compared with DM group, level of serum-T in BSHXL prevention group and BSHXL treatment group increased (P < 0.05) and level of serum-PTH in those two groups decreased (P < 0.05). But in comparison with DM group, level of serum-E2 and serum-BGP in the above-mentioned two groups had no significant difference (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: BSHXL could prevent and treat osteoporosis in male rats induced by DM.