Exploring the mechanism of action of herbal compounding in the treatment of myasthenia gravis based on network pharmacology.

Myasthenia gravis is a major disease in the context of an ageing society, and the discovery of effective herbal compound and herbal active ingredients is a highly promising direction for the treatment of myasthenia gravis. In this study, we selected shujiao, dried ginger and ginseng from the compound ingredients through a network pathology approach. The three ingredients were used to obtain drug targets in Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP), HERB and BATMAN-TCM data and intersected with the disease targets of myasthenia gravis. The resulting regulatory network maps were then used to identify core genes through the String database, and finally the core genes were molecularly aligned with the corresponding active ingredients using Autodock vina software. The 'herbal-component-target' regulatory network of the Chinese herbal formulae was constructed, which is important for finding the potential molecular mechanism for the treatment of myasthenia gravis. It will provide a theoretical basis for the therapeutic and clinical research of myasthenia gravis.

Comparative Effectiveness of Multiple Psychological Interventions for Psychological Crisis in People Affected by Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The objective of our current research is to compare the different psychological interventions and distinguish the most effective way to treat psychological crisis according to different clinical manifestations in people affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). No previous systematic review has provided a comprehensive overview by performing a Bayesian network meta-analysis of this current topic. Method: A systematic review and a Bayesian network meta-analysis were conducted on randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-RCTs, case-control studies, self-controlled case series (SCCS), cohort studies, and cross-sectional studies of all the available interventions for psychological crisis in people affected by COVID-19. We searched the electronic databases EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library, as well as the Chinese databases such as Sinomed, Chinese Biomedicine Literature (CBM), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), WanFang Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), from 2019 to April 30, 2020. The main outcomes were self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9), and symptom checklist (SCL-90). The study is registered with Inplasy, number 202050076. Result: Sixteen self-controlled case series (SCCS) comprising 1,147 participants compared five different psychological interventions with four different measurement scales were included in this study. For effectiveness, all the psychological therapies were significantly more effective than before intervention. Our results showed that supportive therapy (ST), which is adjusted to the COVID-19-related mental crisis, is the best treatment compared with behavioral therapy (BT), nursing-based psychological therapy (NBPT), traditional Chinese medicine therapy (TCMT), and COVID-19-related standard training (CRST) at reducing the anxiety-related symptoms assessed by SAS. When measured by SDS, BT was better than ST and NBPT treatment for reducing the depression symptoms. And ST was better than BT and ST+BT as assessed by PHQ-9. In the end, the last network meta-analysis indicated that NBPT was more effective than ST by the measurement of SCL-90. Conclusion: Our research suggested the potential effectiveness of psychological interventions for decreasing psychological crisis in people affected by COVID-19 and try to introduce the best effective treatment options for clinical practice according to the clinical manifestations of psychological problems, but further confirmation from high-quality RCTs is needed.

Electroacupuncture at GV24 and bilateral GB13 improves cognitive ability via influences the levels of Aß, p-tau (s396) and p-tau (s404) in the hippocampus of Alzheimer's disease model rats.

Acupuncture is widely used to treat various neurodegenerative diseases and can effectively improve cognitive and memory states in Alzheimer's disease. However, its mechanism is unclear. We speculated that the effect of acupuncture on cognitive function may be associated with reductions in the levels of Aß and phosphorylated tau in the brain. In this experiment, 60 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control, model, electroacupuncture and nonacupoint groups. We perform electroacupuncture at Shenting (GV24) and bilateral Benshen (GB13) acupoints once a day for 4 weeks in electroacupuncture group (with 1 day of rest after every 6 days of treatment). The electroacupuncture group showed a better performance in cognitive-related behavior tests and significantly lowers the levels of Aß, p-tau (s396) and p-tau (s404) in the hippocampus. These results may suggest that electroacupuncture at the GV24 and bilateral GB13 acupoints might improve cognitive functions in Alzheimer's disease by decreasing the levels of Aß, p-tau (s396) and p-tau (s404) in the brain as these proteins are the main causes of neurological damage and cognitive dysfunction during the pathogenesis underlying Alzheimer's disease.

The effects of acupuncture on cognitive deficits in transgenic mouse studies of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Study protocol of a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging. The major clinical features of both are progressive memory loss and progressive cognitive loss. The objective of this systematic review protocol is to provide the methods for evaluating the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment on cognitive deficits in transgenic mouse. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will search the electronic databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, as well as the Chinese databases such as Chinese Biomedicine Literature (CBM), Chinese Medical Current Content (CMCC), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), WanFang Database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) from their inceptions to July 2019. RevMan 5.3 software will be used for the data synthesis and the quality of each study was assessed independently by use of the CAMARADES checklist. RESULTS: This review will provide a high-quality synthesis based on present evidence of acupuncture treatment for AD and MCI in transgenic mouse models. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review will provide evidence for weather acupuncture is an effective intervention for AD and MCI in transgenic mouse models. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not necessary since this protocol is only for systematic review and does not involve privacy data or conduct an animal experiment. This protocol will be disseminated by a peer-review journal or conference presentation. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42019142985. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY: This systematic review will be the first to provide new knowledge underlying the effectiveness to improve cognitive function of acupuncture treatment for AD and MCI in transgenic mouse models. The result of this systematic review may provide experimental and theoretical basis for the future clinical application of acupuncture in the treatment of AD.The limitation of this systematic review may come from language barriers, because only English and Chinese can be included. Also, this study includes various kinds of acupuncture treatments which may result in essential heterogeneity.

Role of 5-HT1A in the nucleus of the solitary tract in the regulation of swallowing activities evoked by electroacupuncture in anesthetized rats.

Somatic stimulation therapy, such as electroacupuncture (EA), has been widely applied in the clinic to treat dysphagia. However, its underlying mechanism has remained unknown. In the present study, the effect of EA at acupoints Fengfu (DU16) and Lianquan (RN23) on swallowing activities and the involvement of 5-HT1A in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) were examined in anesthetized rats. EA at DU16 and RN23 significantly evoked myoelectric activity of the mylohyoid muscle, which was attenuated by injection of 10 nmol 5-HT1A antagonist (WAY-100635) into the NTS. Meanwhile, 5-HT1A expression in the NTS increased following EA. The results suggested that EA at DU16 and RN23 promotes swallowing activity, and 5-HT1A in the NTS may play an important role in the excitatory effects.