Traditional Chinese Medicine for Breast Cancer: A Review.

A total of 18% of global breast cancer (BC) deaths are attributed to BC in China, making it one of the five most common cancers there. There has been a steady rise in BC morbidity and mortality in women in the last few years and it is now a leading cancer among Chinese women. Conventional treatments for BC are currently effective but have several limitations and disadvantages, and Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays a vital role in the overall process of cancer prevention and therapy. It is known that TCM can treat a variety of conditions at a variety of sites and targets. In recent years, increasingly, research has been conducted on TCM's ability to treat BC. TCM has shown positive results in the treatment of breast cancer and the adverse effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This review describes the progress of clinical observation and mechanism research of TCM in the treatment of breast cancer in recent years. It provides some ideas and theoretical basis for the treatment of BC with TCM.

The Relationship Between Mindfulness, Fatigue, and Perceived Symptoms Among Frontline Nurses Who Performed Nucleic Acid Sample Collection During the COVID-19 in China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: Given the immense stress faced by medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between mindful attention awareness, fatigue, and perceived symptoms among frontline nurses who performed nucleic acid sample collection during the COVID-19 pandemic, to reduce their fatigue and help them cope with perceived uncomfortable symptoms. Methods: A convenience sampling method was used to survey nurses who travelled to Hainan for nucleic acid sampling in August 2022 using an online (WeChat) questionnaire. A total of 514 frontline nurses who performed nucleic acid tests completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire covered basic demographic information, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) ratings, and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) ratings. Spearman correlation analysis was used to separate the relationship between MASS and FSS, and univariate and multivariate factor analyses were used to explore the relevant influences contributing to the occurrence of fatigue. Results: A total of 514 individuals completed the survey,93.97% (n=483) were female, mean age was 31.15 ± 5.7, MASS score was 69.01 ± 13.53, and 296 (57.59%) nurses experienced symptoms of fatigue during the auxiliary period. Spearman correlation analysis showed that FSS was associated with MASS. Multifactorial analysis showed that sex, age, marital status, fertility status, years of work, adaptation to dietary habits, hidrorrhea, and MAAS scores affected the presence of fatigue symptoms among the medical staff in Hainan (P<0.05). Conclusion: The psychological status of frontline nurses undergoing nucleic acid testing during the pandemic was poor, and the appearance of fatigue symptoms could be effectively reduced by increasing levels of positive thinking among medical staff to help them cope with public health emergencies.

[Analysis of prescription and medication rules of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of the coronavirus disease 2019 based on traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support platform].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the rules of medication and principles of formulas for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using the traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support platform (V2.5). METHODS: The clinical data, including gender, age, clinical symptoms, frequency of traditional Chinese medicine medication and prescription information, of patients with COVID-19 and asymptomatic infection who were admitted to Hebei COVID-19 designated hospital supported by medical team of First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Chinese Medicine from January to March 2021 were collected. The information data were input into the traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support platform (V2.5). The data mining and analysis were realized by the integrated association rules and complex entropy clustering analysis methods of the software, including the analysis of the frequency of each drug use, drug meridian, taste, and prescription rules, and the new prescriptions were developed. RESULTS: A total of 564 patients (564 prescriptions) were enrolled, involving 200 Chinese herbs, including 357 cases of common COVID-19 and 207 cases of asymptomatic infection. The proportion of women with common COVID-19 was high, and the high incidence age group was 51-70 years old. There was no significant difference in gender of asymptomatic infection, and the high incidence age group was 1-20 years old. The main clinical manifestations of most patients were head heavy and cough, followed by low fever and cough with sputum, the main tongue coating and pulse pattern were similar in both types of patients. The frequency of traditional Chinese medicine used in patients with common type of COVID-19 from high to low was liquorice root (326 times), indian bread (264 times), pinellia tuber (263 times), bitter apricot seed (236 times), baical skullcap root (229 times), gypsum (205 times), agastache rugosus (201 times), dried tangerine peel (194 times), ephedra (184 times), and Chinese thorowax root (163 times), while that used by asymptomatic infection were baical skullcap root (174 times), liquorice root (142 times), medicated leaven (137 times), agastache rugosus (127 times), pinellia tuber (114 times), Chinese thorowax root (100 times), officinal magnolia bark (91 times), atractylodes rhizome (89 times), peony root (84 times), and milkvetch root (83 times). The two types of patients were mainly treated with warm, cold and flat drugs, and the nature and taste were mainly pungent, bitter and sweet. The meridian tropism of drugs was mainly lung, spleen and stomach. High frequency drug formulation mainly included drugs for resolving turbidity and detoxification. At the same time, seven new prescriptions for common COVID-19 and four new prescriptions for asymptomatic infection were developed. CONCLUSIONS: The primary reason for the COVID-19 occurrence and development is turbidity-toxin and the qi of plague, and resolving turbidity and detoxication are the basic treating principle. On the basis, for patients with common COVID-19, symptomatic treatment such as relieving exterior syndrome, clearing heat, resolving phlegm, and antitussive drugs should be taken into account at the same time, while the treatment of asymptomatic infections should focus more on supporting the body and eliminating the harmful pathogens.

Acupuncture Relieves Opioid-Induced Constipation in Clinical Cancer Therapy - A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

Cancer pain is a common problem in clinical cancer therapy. Opioid analgesia is one of the most effective drugs for pain relief with satisfying performance besides the side effect of opioid-induced constipation (OIC). Acupuncture, as a Chinese traditional non-invasive intervention, has been applied to clinical cancer pain management and functional constipation therapy. However, only a few studies have adopted this treatment for OIC patients. Due to limited numbers of investigated subjects and variability of application methods, including treatment apparatus, acupoints, durations, and sessions, the interpretation of acupuncture's therapy effects from single-site randomized clinical trials (RCT) is limited. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis by collecting published data from Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane library, and Web of Science. Five RCTs focusing on the application of acupuncture with or without medication in OIC patients were included. An overall remission rate of 86.8% in the acupuncture-treated group was achieved, higher than the control group (78.9%; RR, 1.10, 95% CI [1.03, 1.18]). The symptom scores, reporting on defecation frequency, defecation straining, abdominal pain, defection time, and stool property, in acupuncture groups were lower than control groups with a standardized mean difference (SMD) of -2.21 [-4.15, -0.27]. The quality of life (QOL) for patients in the acupuncture treated group increased compared to the control group with reduced PAC-QOL scores (SMD, -1.02 [-1.78, -0.26]). Referring to the effects from pure acupuncture treatment (SMD, -0.43 [-0.83, -0.03]), the co-intervention of acupuncture and drugs (SMD, -1.77 [-2.51, -1.02]) improved the life quality of patients more remarkably (P < 0.05). Overall, our data confirmed the therapeutic effects of acupuncture in the treatment of OIC. The co-intervention of acupuncture with drugs improves the outcomes of OIC patients better than a single strategy. Combined therapy with both medicine and acupuncture has insightful potential for future clinical cancer patient management on constipation problems.

Acupuncture Combined with Three-Step Analgesic Drug Therapy for Treatment of Cancer Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Clinical Trials.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture combined with the WHO three-step analgesic drug ladder for cancer pain. METHODS: The Cochrane Library, PubMed, and CNKI Database of Systematic Reviews were searched. Using the Cochrane Register for Randomized Controlled Trials, the quality of the included literature was evaluated, and the meta-analysis was carried out with RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS: Compared with three-step analgesia alone, acupuncture combined with three-step analgesia for cancer pain increased pain relief response rates (RR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.08∼1.17, P < 0.00001), reduced NRS score (SMD = -1.10, 95% CI: -1.86∼-0.35, P=0.004), reduced the rate of side effects (RR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.38∼0.53, P < 0.00001), including nausea (P < 0.00001), vomiting (P=0.008), constipation (P < 0.00001), and dizziness (P=0.010), reduced the burst pain rate (SMD = -1.38; 95% CI: -2.44∼-0.32, P=0.01), shortened analgesia effect onset time (P=0.004), and extended the duration of response (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: For the treatment of cancer pain, acupuncture combined with three-step analgesic drugs is better than using only three-step analgesic drugs.

Based on BATMAN-TCM to Explore the Molecular Mechanism of Xihuang Pill Regulating Immune Function to Treat Breast Precancerous Lesions.

OBJECTIVE: The specific mechanism of Xihuang Pill in the treatment of breast precancerous lesions and breast cancer has not yet been elucidated. METHODS: In our study, BATMAN-TCM (a Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Medicine) was used to forecast the relationship among chemical components, immune targets, and diseases of each herb in Xihuang Pill and constructed a component-target-disease network. Taking breast precancerous lesion model rats as the research object, the molecular mechanism of Xihuang Pill regulating immunity was analyzed. RESULTS: BATMAN-TCM prediction showed that 309 genes were enriched in the biological process of "immune system response", which was the target of Xihuang Pill to regulate the immune system. The target of breast cancer disease and the genes related to Xihuang Pill's immune system response were crossed, and 88 cross genes were obtained. According to the enrichment results of GO/KEGG pathway, T cell activation was found to be the most relevant. We select Th1 cells (IL-2, IFN-γ) and Th2 cells (IL-4, IL-10) among them for animal experiment verification. The results show that Xihuang Pill can upregulate the serum IFN-γ and IL-2 levels, reduce the IL-4 and IL-10 levels, and regulate the balance of Th1/Th2 cells in the peripheral blood of rats with breast precancerous lesions. CONCLUSION: Xihuang Pill targets a variety of immune-related molecules related to breast precancerous lesions and is a traditional Chinese medicine formula that effectively regulates immune function.

A Network Pharmacology-Based Identification Study on the Mechanism of Xiao-Xu-Ming Decoction for Cerebral Ischemic Stroke.

OBJECTIVE: We used the network pharmacological analysis method to explore the mechanism of multicomponent, multitarget, and multiway actions of Xiao-Xu-Ming decoction (XXMD) for cerebral ischemic stroke (CIS), which provided a basis on the research of innovative drugs. METHOD: We used the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) to retrieve the active ingredients and targets of 12 herbs of XXMD; we used the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) to screen for differentially expressed genes in CIS to obtain the disease targets of CIS and to intersect it with the action targets of XXMD, and then the target drug efficacy is obtained. We used Cytoscape 3.6 software to construct the drug-active ingredient-action target interaction network of XXMD to treat CIS and conduct protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and topology analysis. The action target Gene Ontology (GO) biological processes and metabolic pathways in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) of XXMD to treat CIS were enrichment analyzed with R software. RESULT: We screened out 226 active ingredients and 3646 action targets for XXMD. Among them, XXMD to treat CIS has 144 active ingredients, 12 targets, and proteins in the core network of PPI having STAT3, HIF1A, etc. Pathway enrichment analysis was based on the GO and KEGG biological processes involved in active oxygen metabolism, smooth muscle cell proliferation, cytokine production, angiogenesis, redox coenzyme metabolism, and oxidative stress. The main action processes are significantly associated with CIS signal pathways involved in microRNAs, ovarian steroid hormones, NF-кB signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, folic acid synthesis pathway, galactose metabolism, and fructose and mannose metabolism. CONCLUSION: This study initially clarified the main targets and pathways of XXMD in the treatment of CIS, which can lay the foundation for further research on its pharmacological effects.

Electroluminescence and photocurrent generation from atomically sharp WSe2/MoS2 heterojunction p-n diodes.

The p-n diodes represent the most fundamental device building blocks for diverse optoelectronic functions, but are difficult to achieve in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) due to the challenges in selectively doping them into p- or n-type semiconductors. Here, we demonstrate that an atomically thin and sharp heterojunction p-n diode can be created by vertically stacking p-type monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe2) and n-type few-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). Electrical measurements of the vertically staked WSe2/MoS2 heterojunctions reveal excellent current rectification behavior with an ideality factor of 1.2. Photocurrent mapping shows rapid photoresponse over the entire overlapping region with a highest external quantum efficiency up to 12%. Electroluminescence studies show prominent band edge excitonic emission and strikingly enhanced hot-electron luminescence. A systematic investigation shows distinct layer-number dependent emission characteristics and reveals important insight about the origin of hot-electron luminescence and the nature of electron-orbital interaction in TMDs. We believe that these atomically thin heterojunction p-n diodes represent an interesting system for probing the fundamental electro-optical properties in TMDs and can open up a new pathway to novel optoelectronic devices such as atomically thin photodetectors, photovoltaics, as well as spin- and valley-polarized light emitting diodes, on-chip lasers.

Modulation of expression of p16 and her2 in rat breast tissues of mammary hyperplasia model by external use of rupifang extract.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Rupifang Extract in external use on expression of proto-oncogenes her2 and tumor suppression genes p16 in rat breast tissues of mammary hyperplasia model. To explore the mechanisms of Rupifang Extract in external use for preventing and treating mammary hyperplasia. METHODS: Thirty virginal female Wistar rats were randomized into 5 groups, 6 in each, A: blank control group; B: model group; C: the low dose group of Rupifang; D: the middle dose group of Rupifang; and E: The high dose group of Rupifang. The mammary hyperplasia rat models were produced by injecting estradiol benzoate and progesterone and irritating by tail nipping. Drug intervention was also launched during the model formation. After 30 days, the expression of her2 and p16 in breast tissues of rats in each group were detected by the SP immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: Compared with Blank control group, the expression of her2 in breast tissues in Model group was higher, and the expression of p16 was lower (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). After intervention with Rupifang Extract, compared with Model group, the expression of her2 in breast tissues in Rupifang groups was lower, and the expression of p16 higher (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The mechanisms of Rupifang Extract in external application for preventing and treating mammary hyperplasia may be reducing the expression of proto-oncogenes her2 and increasing the expression of tumor suppression genes p16.