Maternal propionate supplementation ameliorates glucose and lipid metabolic disturbance in hypoxia-induced fetal growth restriction.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), one of the major complications of pregnancy, is characterized by low birth weight and results in higher risks for long-term problems including developing metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially propionate, have been reported to correct glucose and lipid disorders in metabolic diseases. We hypothesized that maternal propionate supplementation could prevent glucose and lipid metabolic disturbance in hypoxia-induced IUGR. Here, in our study, maternal hypoxia was induced from gestational day (GD) 11 to GD 17.5 to establish an IUGR mouse model. Maternal propionate treatment reversed reduced birth weight in male IUGR offspring. Hepatic transcriptomics demonstrated that SP treatment significantly lowered glucose and lipid metabolism-related genes (Scd1, G6pc, Pck1 and Fasl) in IUGR offspring. KOG enrichment analysis showed that propionate-induced down-regulated differential expressed genes (DEGs) mainly belonged to lipid transport and metabolism. KEGG enrichment results showed that the down-regulated DEGs were mostly enriched in PPAR and FoxO signaling pathways. We also found that maternal oral administration of SP decreased serum lipid content, attenuated hepatic insulin resistance and liver lipid accumulation, reduced hepatic key gene expressions of gluconeogenesis and lipogenesis, increased energy expenditure and improved liver function in 11-week-old male IUGR offspring. These results indicate that maternal propionate supplementation increases birth weight and corrects hepatic glucose and lipid metabolic disturbance and energy expenditure in male mice born with IUGR, which may provide a basis for using propionate to treat IUGR disease.

Systematic review of external applications combined with three-step analgesic therapy in treating primary liver cancer pain / 中国中药杂志

To systemically evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine( TCM) external application combined with three-step analgesic therapy in treating primary liver cancer pain. CNKI,Wanfang,CBM,VIP,Medline and Cochrane Library and manual retrieval were used to search for the clinical randomized controlled trials on TCM external applications combined with three-step analgesic therapy in treating primary liver cancer pain from database establishment to January,2018. The bias risk of RCTs was assessed by using the Cochrane system evaluator's Manual,and the extracted data were analyzed by using Review Manager 5. 3. Finally sixteen Chinese articles were enrolled,including one high quality article and 1 164 patients. Meta-analysis showed that TCM external applications combined with three-step analgesic therapy could alleviate the cancer pain( OR = 3. 44,95% CI[2. 49,4. 75],P <0. 000 01); prolong pain relief time( SMD = 3. 42,95%CI[1. 83,6. 40],Z = 3. 85,P = 0. 000 1); and improve the cartesian score of the patients( OR = 3. 42,95%CI[1. 83,6. 40],P = 0. 000 01). Descriptive analysis showed that the intervention may effectively shorten the onset time of pain relief,reduce VAS and NRS scores,reduce the dose of morphine,and reduce the number of bursts of pain. At present,the evidences have shown that the combination of TCM external applications combined with three-step analgesic therapy in treating primary liver cancer pain has superior clinical efficacy as compared with the three-step analgesic therapy alone. However,the clinical trials of existing small-sized randomized controlled trials have low quality of methodology and require a large sample of high quality clinical trials for further validation.

Effects of Shehuang Paste on hemodynamics, endotoxin, nitric oxide and endothelin-1 in patients with refractory cirrhotic ascites / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the influence of Shehuang Paste (SHP) to the hemodynamics, endotoxin, nitric oxide (NO), and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in patients with refractory cirrhotic ascites.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-nine cases of refractory cirrhotic ascites were randomly assigned to two groups, 32 cases in the treatment group and 27 cases in the control group. The basic treatment was the same for both groups, including liver protecting medicines, diuretics and supportive drugs, but SHP navel sticking was applied for the treatment group additionally once a day. A course of one month of treatment was applied and the general efficacy on ascites was observed by the end of the therapeutic course. Before and after the treatment, examinations by limulus lysate chromogenic test was conducted to measure plasma endotoxin content; colorimetry to measure plasma content of NO indirectly, radioimmunoassay to measure plasma ET-1 content; and color Doppler ultrasonography to measure the blood flow of portal vein and splenic vein. The relationship between the blood flow of portal vein and splenic vein and endotoxin, NO and ET-1 in the treatment group was analyzed as well.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate on ascites was 84.4% in the treatment group, and 48. 1% in the control group, with significant difference shown between them (P<0.01). In the treatment group the blood flow of portal vein and splenic vein, contents of endotoxin, NO and ET-1 all got significantly reduced after treatment ( P<0.05 or P<0.01); while these indexes in the control group were not significantly changed ( P 0.05). Moreover, it was found that in the treatment group, the blood flow of portal vein and splenic vein had a positive correlation to the levels of NO, ET-1, and endotoxin, either before or after treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Application of SHP navel sticking could clearly reduce the blood flow of portal vein and splenic vein, and lower the content of endotoxin, NO and ET-1. The blood flow of portal vein and splenic vein in the treatment group showed a positive correlation with the contents of endotoxin, NO and ET-1. liver cirrhosis, refractory ascites, vasoactive substance, hemodynamics</p>