The comprehensive study on the therapeutic effects of baicalein for the treatment of COVID-19 in vivo and in vitro.

Baicalein is the main active compound of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, a medicinal herb with multiple pharmacological activities, including the broad anti-virus effects. In this paper, the preclinical study of baicalein on the treatment of COVID-19 was performed. Results showed that baicalein inhibited cell damage induced by SARS-CoV-2 and improved the morphology of Vero E6 cells at a concentration of 0.1 µM and above. The effective concentration could be reached after oral administration of 200 mg/kg crystal form ß of baicalein in rats. Furthermore, baicalein significantly inhibited the body weight loss, the replication of the virus, and relieved the lesions of lung tissue in hACE2 transgenic mice infected with SARS-CoV-2. In LPS-induced acute lung injury of mice, baicalein improved the respiratory function, inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration in the lung, and decreased the levels of IL-1ß and TNF-α in serum. In conclusion, oral administration of crystal form ß of baicalein could reach its effective concentration against SARS-CoV-2. Baicalein could inhibit SARS-CoV-2-induced injury both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, baicalein might be a promising therapeutic drug for the treatment of COVID-19.

[Distribution characteristics of common syndrome types and syndrome elements extracted by experts' experience in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the distribution characteristics of common syndrome types and syndrome elements of menopause syndrome in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women on the basis of standardized syndrome differentiation extracted by experts' experiences. METHODS: A total of 1 582 outpatients with menopause syndrome who met with the diagnosis and inclusion criteria in seven grade 3 hospitals from October 2006 to June 2007 were included. A clinical epidemiological survey in the patients was carried out. The syndrome elements of disease location and characteristics were extracted and analyzed statistically by standardizing the syndrome differentiation of experts' experience in traditional Chinese medicine. RESULTS: There were 105 syndrome types after initial standardization, and the common syndrome types were kidney yin deficiency, deficiency of liver and kidney yin, stagnation of liver qi, and deficiency of both kidney yin and yang. Six syndrome elements of the disease location were extracted, among which the common elements were kidney, liver, spleen and heart. Seventeen syndrome elements of the disease characteristics were extracted, among which the common elements were yin deficiency, qi stagnation, qi deficiency, yang deficiency and deficiency. Syndrome types of stagnation of liver qi, deficiency of spleen and kidney, and qi stagnation were more frequently diagnosed during perimenopausal period, while the syndrome type of kidney yin deficiency was more frequently diagnosed during postmenopausal period, and the kidney was the main disease location. The distribution characteristics of the other syndrome types and elements were similar during the two periods. CONCLUSION: The syndrome type distribution in women with menopause syndrome is complex, while the syndrome element distribution is simple. Generally, the syndrome type and syndrome element distributions during perimenopausal and postmenopausal periods are similar, but there are significant differences in some syndrome types and syndrome elements between the two periods. All of these can give support for revealing the distribution rule of the common syndrome types and syndrome elements and give a theoretical basis for clinical treatment of menopause syndrome.

Effects of osthole on apoptosis and TGF-beta1 of hypertrophic scar fibroblasts.

Osthole, 7-methoxy-8-[3-methylpent-2-enyl]coumarin (1), was extracted from a Chinese herb Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss. It showed immunity strengthening, anti-tumor, anti-hepatitis, and anti-osteoporosis activities in previous studies. Our goals are to study the effects of 1 on cell proliferation and TGF-beta of hypertrophic scar fibroblasts. Our results showed that 1 induced apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that its IC(50) value toward hypertrophic scar fibroblasts was 15.5 +/- 2.2 micromol/l. Furthermore, the results of cell growth curve matched with the above results. Inducing apoptosis by 1 in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts was assessed by various morphological and biochemical characteristics, including cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation, membrane blebbing, formation of apoptotic bodies, and DNA ladder formation. A typical 'Sub-G(1) peak' was also checked through flow cytometry. We used immunohistochemistry to observe the expression of TGF-beta(1). Also, we found that 1 could obviously inhibit the expression of TGF-beta(1) of fibroblasts derived from hypertrophic scar compared with the control group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that 1 inhibits the growth of hypertrophic scar fibroblasts through apoptosis and decreases the expression of TGF-beta(1).