Tai Chi for the elderly patients with COVID-19 in recovery period: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has caused a great impact in many countries. Older people are more susceptible to the virus than other people. As a good health exercise suitable for the elderly, Tai Chi has a positive impact on heart function, blood pressure, lung function, immunity, etc. It can enhance cardiopulmonary function, increase the elasticity of blood vessels, and improve the body's self-regulation function. For the elder patients with COVID-19, Tai Chi has outstanding merits. METHODS: We will search PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, Wanfang Database, Clinical Trials and Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. The complete process will include study selection, data extraction, risk of bias assessment and meta-analyses. Endnote X9.3 will be used to manage data screening. The statistical analysis will be completed by Stata/SE 15.1 software. RESULTS: This proposed study will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Tai Chi for the improvement of psychological pressure, cardiopulmonary function, and immunity in elderly COVID-19 patients during the recovery period. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this study will provide evidence to prove the safety and effectiveness of Tai Chi on elderly COVID-19 patients during the recovery period. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This protocol will not evaluate individual patient information or infringe patient rights and therefore does not require ethical approval. REGISTRATION: PEROSPERO CRD42020220128.

Extracellular organic matter from Micrococcus luteus containing resuscitation-promoting factor in sequencing batch reactor for effective nutrient and phenol removal.

Culture supernatant containing resuscitation-promoting factor (SRpf) from Micrococcus luteus was added to the sequencing batch reactor (SBR) for effective treatment of phenol-containing wastewater. SRpf acclimation significantly improved combined removal of phenol and nutrients. Moreover, the Illumina high-throughput sequencing analysis revealed that the SRpf boosted bacteria diversity, which enhanced the stability of the system under phenol stress. Addition of SRpf increased the abundances of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria phyla which are involved in nutrient and phenol removal. Specifically, SRpf promoted Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira which participate in nitrification, family Comamonadaceae, genera Dechloromonas and Pseudomonas involved in denitrification, and Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas and Rhodocyclus which remove phosphorus elements. Moreover, the abundances of Bacillus and Klebsiella responsible for phenol removal as well as Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter were significantly increased after SRpf acclimation. These results show that SBR combined with SRpf acclimation provide optimal nutrient and phenol removal.

Intussusception patients older than 1 year tend to have early recurrence after pneumatic enema reduction.

PURPOSE: To identify age risk factors of early recurrent intussusception after pneumatic enema reduction. Management opinions are proposed. METHODS: Two thousand two hundred and ninety-five intussusception patients' medical records from January 2009 to December 2011 were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 2295 patients, the intussusception of 1917 of them was initially reduced by pneumatic enema, with 127 cases recurring within 72 h. The early recurrence rate is 6.62%. The early recurrence rate of patients younger than 1 year old is 2.1% (22/1032), while the rate for those older than 1 year is 11.9% (105/885). The difference is significant (P = 0.0001). There were no significant differences between age groups older than 1 year. One hundred and seventeen cases of recurrence happened within 48 h, which accounted for 92.1% of all early recurrence. Recurrence patients were treated again with pneumatic enema, with a successful reduction in 93.7%. They were followed up for 2-4 years; the long-term recurrent rate was 11.8% (14/119). No patient had poor prognosis because of delayed treatment. CONCLUSION: Intussusception patients older than 1 year tend to have greater early recurrence rate after pneumatic enema reduction; 92.1% of the early recurrent cases happened in 48 h. There is no need to hospitalize patients after pneumatic enema reduction. A repeat pneumatic enema is a good choice before surgical approach.

In vitro and in vivo activities of antimicrobial peptides developed using an amino acid-based activity prediction method.

To design and discover new antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with high levels of antimicrobial activity, a number of machine-learning methods and prediction methods have been developed. Here, we present a new prediction method that can identify novel AMPs that are highly similar in sequence to known peptides but offer improved antimicrobial activity along with lower host cytotoxicity. Using previously generated AMP amino acid substitution data, we developed an amino acid activity contribution matrix that contained an activity contribution value for each amino acid in each position of the model peptide. A series of AMPs were designed with this method. After evaluating the antimicrobial activities of these novel AMPs against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, DP7 was chosen for further analysis. Compared to the parent peptide HH2, this novel AMP showed broad-spectrum, improved antimicrobial activity, and in a cytotoxicity assay it showed lower toxicity against human cells. The in vivo antimicrobial activity of DP7 was tested in a Staphylococcus aureus infection murine model. When inoculated and treated via intraperitoneal injection, DP7 reduced the bacterial load in the peritoneal lavage solution. Electron microscope imaging and the results indicated disruption of the S. aureus outer membrane by DP7. Our new prediction method can therefore be employed to identify AMPs possessing minor amino acid differences with improved antimicrobial activities, potentially increasing the therapeutic agents available to combat multidrug-resistant infections.

[Study on tolerability for safflower peony ointment in clinical trial phase I].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the tolerability for safflower peony ointment and determine its safe dosage, by selecting health volunteers and testing from the initial safety dosage, in order to provide basis for formulating administration scheme of the drug in clinical trial phase II. METHOD: Forty-six healthy volunteers were included in the open, random, dose escalation, self control clinical trial on tolerability for single dosage scheme or multi-dosage. In the single dosage scheme, dosages of test drugs were 2.16 g (four people), 4.32 g (6 people), 6.48 g (6 people), 8.62 g (6 people), 11.46 g (6 people), 15.24 g (including crude drug) for 24 hours, once everyday. In the multi-dosage scheme, dosages of test drugs were 8.62 g (6 people), 11.46 g (including crude drug) once everyday for 7 days. RESULT: The maximum safe dosage of single administration was 15.24 g (including crude drug) , while that of multiple administration 8.62 g (including crude drug). The occurrence rate of side effect was as low as 2.17%, which was recovered by medicines, without severe adverse event. CONCLUSION: The study proves the safe application of single administration and multiple administration of safflower peony ointment in human bodies, which lays a foundation for the application in the clinical trial phase II.

A novel combined conjugate vaccine: enhanced immunogenicity of bFGF with CRM197 as a carrier protein.

Tumor growth is partly dependent on tumor-associated angiogenesis, which is regulated by angiogenic growth factors. As the first angiogenic growth factor to be identified, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) plays a major role in angiogensis and tumor growth and has been an effective target for anti-tumor therapy. However, due to its low immunogenicity, injection with bFGF alone cannot stimulate the body to produce a strong immune response. In this study, we investigated the role of CF (containing bFGF and CRM197) assisted by CpG and alum in enhancing antigen-specific immune response and suppressing the growth of murine colon carcinoma. The results revealed that compared to bFGF, CF could not stimulate NIH-3T3 fibroblast proliferation even at a concentration of 10 µg/ml in vitro. In vivo, the CF-CpG-alum produced a stronger antigen-specific immune response and inhibited tumor growth. The anti-tumor activity was associated with generating antigen-specific antibody, suppressing angiogenesis, promoting the apoptosis of tumor cells and inducing the mixed Th1 and Th2 responses. This indicates that CRM197 may be an innovative intramolecular adjuvant and provides a rational preservation for mouse CT26 colon carcinoma.

[Effect of emodin on induction of apoptosis in jurkat cells and its possible mechanisms].

The aim of study was to investigate the effect of a traditional Chinese medicine, emodin, on proliferation and apoptosis in T lymphocytic leukemic cell line Jurkat and its mechanisms. Cell proliferation inhibition was detected by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was measured by DNA ladder and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay. The expressions of related proteins and caspase family members were determined by Western blot. The results showed that emodin inhibited proliferation in Jurkat cells, with an IC50 about 20 micromol/L and induced cell apoptosis in both time-and dose-dependent manners. The expressions of proliferation-related protein C-MYC, hTERT and apoptosis-related protein BCL-2 were down-regulated in a time dependent manner after the treatment with emodin. The expressions of procaspase-3, -8 and -9 all decreased while activated caspase-3 and PARP expressions were up-regulated. It is concluded that emodin can remarkably inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in Jurkat cells. The down-regulation of proliferation-related proteins C-MYC, hTERT and apoptosis-related protein BCL-2 expressions and activation of caspase cascade may be involved in the process of apoptosis.

[Effects of traditional Chinese medicine on CD4 + T cell counts and HIV viral loads during structured treatment interruption in highly active antiretroviral therapy].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the impacts of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on CD4 + T cell counts and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral loads during the course of structured treatment interruption (STI) in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). METHODS: Nineteen HIV/ADIS patients were treated for 14 months as follows: initiated with zidovudine/lamivudine + efavirdine for 6 months, then discontinued the therapy and treated with TCM instead for 2 months. HAART was then reinitiated for another 3 months, and then discontinued and replaced with TCM for another 3 months. The changes of CD4 + T cell counts and HIV viral loads were measured. RESULTS: During the first STI of HAART, 43.8% of patients had no viral rebounds one month later, and 62.6% had stable or increased immune functions; 18.8% had no viral rebounds two months later, and 43.8% had stable or increased immune functions. Changes of viral loads were not significantly different between these two months (P = 0.097), while CD4 + T cell counts significantly decreased two months later compared with one month later (P = 0.043). During the second STI of HAART, 33.3% of patients had no viral rebounds one month later, and 64.3% had stable or increased immune functions; 13.3% had no viral rebounds 3 months later and 46.6% had stable or increased immune functions. Changes of viral loads had significant difference (P = 0. 017), while CD4 + T cell counts at month 12 elevated significantly compared with the baseline (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: TCM can suppress the viral rebounds during STI-HAART, maintain immune functions. However, this effect may decrease along with the prolongation of STI-HAART.

Traditional Chinese medicine Qing Yi Tang alleviates oxygen free radical injury in acute necrotizing pancreatits.

AIM:To observe the changes in oxygen free radical (OFR) and the curative effect of traditional Chinese medicine Qing Yi Tang in acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP).METHODS:After induction of ANP by injection of sodium taurocholate into pancreatic duct, 16 dogs were randomly divided into control group and Chinese medicine group.Serum amylase, SOD and MDA were determined on postoperative day 1, 2, 4 and 7. The animals were sacrificed on day 7. SOD and MDA in organs were determined, and pathological changes in pancreas were observed.RESULTS: As compared with control group, the serum level of amylase (734U/L vs 2783U/L) and MDA (7.8nmol/ml vs 14.8nmol/ml) in Chinese medicine group were decreased on day 7 (P < 0.05), while SOD increased significantly (281nU/ml vs 55nU/ml, P < 0.01), and similar changes occurred in MDA and SOD in organs, especially in the pancreas; the pathological changes in the pancreas were alleviated as well.CONCLUSION: Qing Yi Tang is effective in clearing OFRs and alleviating pathological changes in ANP.