[Role of TGF-ß/Smad signaling pathway in diabetic kidney disease and research progress of traditional Chinese medicine intervention].

Diabetic kidney disease is an important microvascular complication of diabetes and the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Its pathological characteristics mainly include epithelial mesenchymal transition(EMT) in glomerulus, podocyte apoptosis and autophagy, and damage of glomerular filtration barrier. Transforming growth factor-ß(TGF-ß)/Smad signaling pathway is specifically regulated by a variety of mechanisms, and is a classic pathway involved in physiological activities such as apoptosis, proliferation and differentiation. At present, many studies have found that TGF-ß/Smad signaling pathway plays a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease. Traditional Chinese medicine has significant advantages in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease for its multi-component, multi-target and multi-pathway characteristics, and some traditional Chinese medicine extracts, traditional Chinese medicines and traditional Chinese medicine compound prescription improve the renal injury of diabetic kidney disease by regulating TGF-ß/Smad signaling pathway. This study clarified the mechanism of TGF-ß/Smad signaling pathway in diabetic kidney disease by expounding the relationship between the key targets of the pathway and diabetic kidney disease, and summarized the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease by interfering with TGF-ß/Smad signaling pathway in recent years, to provide reference for drug research and clinical treatment of diabetic kidney disease in the future.

[Sdudy on effect of tripterygium on plasma IL-18 content in patients with lupus nephritis].

OBJECTIVE: It is to study the effect of tripterygium (TW) on the plasma IL-18 content in patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and its treatment value. METHOD: The patients with LN treated with prednisone were divided into active groupand inactive group with active index. The active group was given tripterygium additionally. The changing of plasma IL-18 and release of nephritis were observed after treatment for three months. RESULT: The level of plasma IL-18 lowered down obviously, urinary protein decreased, LN activity index, hematuria and renal function improved. CONCLUSION: Tripterygium caninhibitroduction of plasma IL-18. It has definite treatment value on controlling LN activity.

[Effect of integrative Chinese and Western medicine in treating chronic urticaria and its impact on interleukin-10 and interleukin-8 in peripheral blood].

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical effects of integrative Chinese and Western medicine in treating chronic urticaria and its impact on peripheral blood content of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-8. METHODS: Patients were assigned to the treatment group and the control group according to their sequence of visiting. They were treated orally with levocetirizine hydrochloride 5 mg once a day, but additional Kangqian Decoction (a self-formulated Chinese herbal preparation consisted of thorowax root 15 g, divaricate saposhnikovia root 9 g, licorice root 15 g, moutan bark 15 g, red sage root 15 g, milkvetch root 30 g, and schisandra fruit 12 g, etc. ) was given to the treatment group one dose per day, for 2 weeks as one therapeutic course. The efficacy was evaluated after two courses of medication, and patients' IL-10 and IL-8 levels in the peripheral blood were determined before and after treatment. RESULTS: The total effective rate in the treatment group and control group was 93.75% and 56.66% respectively with significance difference between them (P <0.01). After treatment, the level of serum IL-10 was significantly lower while that of IL-8 was significantly higher in the treatment group (2.96 +/- 1.66, 50.17 +/- 32.35) than that in the control group (4.77 +/- 2.99, 29.44 +/- 17.62) respectively (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Chronic urticaria was related to the immune unbalance of body. Integrative medicine could adjust immune function to display a quick, potent anti-inflammatory and anti-anaphylactic actions in treating chronic urticaria with less adverse reaction and low recurrent rate.