Effectiveness and safety of different traditional Chinese medicines for Coronavirus disease 2019: A protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The effectiveness of different Traditional Chinese Medicine in the treatment of COVID-19 is worthy of attention, but the efficacy and safety of different Traditional Chinese Medicine in the treatment of COVID-19 have not yet been compared, based on network meta-analysis. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The 2 members independently searched 7 databases according to the retrieval strategy, and the retrieval time was from the beginning of the establishment of the database to June 19, 2021. Then the title was imported into the EndNote Software AQ8 (V.X9), and the duplicate literature was deleted successively, the nonconforming articles were deleted in the title reading, and finally the full text was read to determine the articles included in the study. The Cochrane Collaboration's Tool will be used to evaluate the article quality, and Stata Statistical Software (Version 14.0, Stata Corporation, College Station, TX) will be used for data analysis. Levels of evidence are evaluated according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) instrument. RESULTS: The efficacy and safety of different Traditional Chinese Medicine in the treatment of COVID-19 were evaluated, and the order was determined according to the value of sucre. CONCLUSION: This study will provide evidence for the treatment of COVID-19 with TCM therapy, and provide ideas for the clinical treatment of COVID-19. INPLASY REGISTRATION NUMBER: No. INPLASY202160092.

Shensu IV prevents glomerular podocyte injury in nephrotic rats via promoting lncRNA H19/DIRAS3-mediated autophagy.

Shensu IV is a Chinese prescription well-known for its function in treating chronic kidney diseases. However, the potential mechanisms underlying how Shensu IV exerts its effects remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effects of Shensu IV on glomerular podocyte injury in nephrotic rats and puromycin-induced injury in cultured podocytes, and assessed the associated molecular mechanisms. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) results showed that the main components of Shensu IV were l-Carnitine, P-lysoPC (LPC) 16:0, Coumaroyl tyramine, Tetramethylpyrazine, LPC 18:1, Choline, (S,S)-Butane-2,3-diol, and Scopoletin. We further found that nephrotic rats displayed pathological alterations in kidney tissues and ultrastructural changes in glomerular podocytes; however, these effects were reversed with Shensu IV treatment. Compared with the control, the numbers of autophagosomes were markedly reduced in the model group, but not in the Shensu IV treatment group. Furthermore, the expression of p62 was significantly higher in the model group than in the controls, whereas the LC3-II/I ratio was significantly lower; however, these changes were not observed when Shensu IV was administered. The protective effects of Shensu IV were further confirmed in podocytes displaying puromycin-induced injury. Compared with control group, the expression of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) H19, mTOR, p-mTOR, and p62 was significantly increased in the puromycin group, whereas that of distinct subgroup of the RAS family member 3 (DIRAS3) was significantly decreased, as was the LC3-II/I ratio. The opposite results were obtained for both shH19- and Shensu IV-treated cells. Collectively, our data demonstrated that Shensu IV can prevent glomerular podocyte injury in nephrotic rats and puromycin-treated podocytes, likely via promoting lncRNA H19/DIRAS3-regulated autophagy.

Reno-Protective Effect of Realgar Nanoparticles on Lupus Nephritis of MRL/Lpr Mice through STAT1.

BACKGROUND: Realgar, an arsenic tetrasulfide compound, is a highly recognized traditional Chinese medicinal prescription that has been widely used to treat various diseases such as inflammatory diseases. However, there are still some problems in the clinical treatment of Realgar, such as large oral dose and high potential toxicity. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate effects of Realgar nanoparticles on lupus nephritis (LN) in vivo in MRL/lpr mice. METHODS: Ten-week mice were orally administered every day for eight consecutive weeks except the mice of normal model groups. The serum levels of anti-ds-DNA antibody IgG, IgM, IFN-γ, Creatinine (Cr), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were determined, and 24-hour urine protein was also measured. Renal inflammatory pathology analysis was assessed by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining. The expression of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (p-STAT 1) and Janus Kinase 1 (JAK 1) in kidney tissue was determined by direct reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: The mice treated with Realgar nanoparticle in the high dose-treated (Realgar HD, 0.03 g/kg/d) group exhibited significantly reduced serum levels of anti-dsDNA (p<0.01), IgG (p<0.01), IgM (p<0.01), BUN (p<0.01), Cr (p<0.01), and inflammatory cytokine IFN-γ (p<0.01) as well as proteinuria (p<0.01) compared to the untreated model MRL/lpr mice. Additionally, high doses of Realgar nanoparticles significantly suppressed the phosphorylations of STAT 1(p<0.01) and the renal pathological changes. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates that Realgar nanoparticles may be a potential agent to treat LN, and the down-regulated p-STAT1 expression suggests that it may be one of the LN treatment targets for Realgar nanoparticles.