Research Progress of Chinese Herbal Medicine for Softening Hardness to Dissipate Stagnation in Treatment of Malignant Tumors / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Clinically， the incidence and mortality of malignant tumors are relatively high， especially in underdeveloped regions or countries. In recent years， with the continuous improvement of people's health awareness， living standards and medical standards， the incidence and mortality of malignant tumors have been declining. At present， malignant tumors are mostly treated by western medicine therapies in clinic， such as surgical resection or radiation therapy， chemical drug therapy， targeted drug therapy and immunotherapy. However， patients with postoperative tumors are prone to relapse and metastasis， with severe adverse reactions and a poor prognosis. And drug resistance and other issues have a serious impact on clinical efficacy and the quality of life of patients. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that malignant tumors belong to the "accumulation" and "abdominal mass"， with both internal and external etiologies. The internal etiology is mainly the insufficient anti-pathogenic energy. The external etiology is mainly six exogenous pathogenic factors to the body seven emotional stimulations. Pathogenic factors， such as deficiencies of Qi and blood， imbalance of Yin and Yang and visceral dysfunction， which lead to the occurrence of malignant tumors. The pathogenesis is mostly based on the asthenia in origin and access in superficiality. The asthenia in origin is mainly due to the insufficient anti-pathogenic energy， with Qi stagnation， blood stasis， phlegm coagulation， and toxic knot as the symptoms. For malignant tumors， like modules， the method for softening hardness to dissipate stagnation is the first choice. Chinese herbal medicine for softening hardness to dissipate stagnation is widely used for malignant tumors in clinic， with a remarkable clinical efficacy. Therefore， in recent years， anti-tumor mechanism and clinical studies of Chinese herbal medicine for softening hardness to dissipate stagnation have become a hotspot at home and abroad. This paper combines the domestic and foreign literatures of the effect of Chinese herbal medicine for softening hardness to dissipate stagnation in treating malignant tumors in both pharmacological trials and clinical research over the past cade. The progress of the studies is reviewed， in the expectation of providing a reference for the clinical anti-tumor application of Chinese herbal medicine for softening hardness to dissipate stagnation.

Identification and screening of cardiac glycosides in Streptocaulon griffithii using an integrated data mining strategy based on high resolution mass spectrometry / 中国天然药物

The present study was designed to develop a practical strategy to tackle the problem of lacking standard compounds and limited references for identifying structure-related compounds in Streptocaulon griffithii Hook. f., especially those in trace concentrations, with a focus on antitumor activity. The cardiac glycosides (CGs)-enriched part was determined using in vitro bioactive assays in three cancer cell lines and then isolated using macroporous resins. The MS and MS/MS data were acquired using a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole-time of flight (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS) system. To acquire data of trace compound in the extract, a multiple segment program was applied to modify the HPLC-Q-TOF-MS method. A mass defect filter (MDF) approach was employed to make a primary MS data filtration. Utilizing a MATLAB program, the redundant peaks obtained by imprecise MDF template calculated with limited references were excluded by fragment ion classification, which was based on the ion occurrence number in the MDF-filtered total ion chromatograms (TIC). Additionally, the complete cleavage pathways of CG aglycones were proposed to assist the structural identification of 29 common fragment ions (CFIs, ion occurrence number ≥ 5) and diagnostic fragment ions (DFIs, ion occurrence number < 5). As a result, 30 CGs were filtered out from the MDF results, among which 23 were identified. This newly developed strategy may provide a rapid and effective tool for identifying structure-related compounds in herbal medicines.

Identification and screening of cardiac glycosides in Streptocaulon griffithii using an integrated data mining strategy based on high resolution mass spectrometry / 中国天然药物

The present study was designed to develop a practical strategy to tackle the problem of lacking standard compounds and limited references for identifying structure-related compounds in Streptocaulon griffithii Hook. f., especially those in trace concentrations, with a focus on antitumor activity. The cardiac glycosides (CGs)-enriched part was determined using in vitro bioactive assays in three cancer cell lines and then isolated using macroporous resins. The MS and MS/MS data were acquired using a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole-time of flight (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS) system. To acquire data of trace compound in the extract, a multiple segment program was applied to modify the HPLC-Q-TOF-MS method. A mass defect filter (MDF) approach was employed to make a primary MS data filtration. Utilizing a MATLAB program, the redundant peaks obtained by imprecise MDF template calculated with limited references were excluded by fragment ion classification, which was based on the ion occurrence number in the MDF-filtered total ion chromatograms (TIC). Additionally, the complete cleavage pathways of CG aglycones were proposed to assist the structural identification of 29 common fragment ions (CFIs, ion occurrence number ≥ 5) and diagnostic fragment ions (DFIs, ion occurrence number < 5). As a result, 30 CGs were filtered out from the MDF results, among which 23 were identified. This newly developed strategy may provide a rapid and effective tool for identifying structure-related compounds in herbal medicines.

Effects of Kudzu Root plus Cinnamon Granules on prostatic hyperplasia in mice / 中华男科学杂志

Objective@#To explore the effects of Kudzu Root plus Cinnamon Granules (KR+C) on prostatic hyperplasia (PH) in mice.@*METHODS@#Sixty 4-week-old Kunming male mice were randomly divided into six groups: blank control, PH model, high-, medium- and low-dose KR+C, and finasteride control. All the mice except those in the blank control group were subcutaneously injected with testosterone propionate (5 mg / ［kg·d］) at 7 days after surgical castration. The animals of different groups were treated intragastrically with different doses of KR+C, finasteride, and normal saline respectively for 3 weeks and then sacrificed for weighing of the prostate, calculation of the prostatic index, observation of the morphological changes in the prostate after HE staining, determination of the expressions of FGF2, Ki67 and TGF-β1 by immunohistochemistry, detection of 5α-reductase activity by ELISA, and measurement of the apoptosis index of the prostatic cells by TUNEL.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the model controls, the mice of the other groups showed significantly reduced prostatic volume (P 0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#KR+C can reduce the prostatic volume of PH mice by decreasing the activity of 5α- reductase, inhibiting the expressions of FGF2, Ki67 and TGF-β1, and promoting the apoptosis of prostatic cells.

Fat emulsion tolerance in preterm infants of different gestational ages in the early stage after birth / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the fat emulsion tolerance in preterm infants of different gestational ages in the early stage after birth.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 98 preterm infants were enrolled and divided into extremely preterm infant group (n=17), early preterm infant group (n=48), and moderate-to-late preterm infant group (n=33). According to the dose of fat emulsion, they were further divided into low- and high-dose subgroups. The umbilical cord blood and dried blood filter papers within 3 days after birth were collected. Tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure the content of short-, medium-, and long-chain acylcarnitines.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The extremely preterm infant and early preterm infant groups had a significantly lower content of long-chain acylcarnitines in the umbilical cord blood and dried blood filter papers within 3 days after birth than the moderate-to-late preterm infant group (P<0.05), and the content was positively correlated with gestational age (P<0.01). On the second day after birth, the low-dose fat emulsion subgroup had a significantly higher content of short-, medium-, and long-chain acylcarnitines than the high-dose fat emulsion subgroup among the extremely preterm infants (P<0.05). In the early preterm infant and moderate-to-late preterm infant groups, there were no significant differences in the content of short-, medium-, and long-chain acylcarnitines between the low- and high-dose fat emulsion subgroups within 3 days after birth.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Compared with moderate-to-late preterm infants, extremely preterm infants and early preterm infants have a lower capacity to metabolize long-chain fatty acids within 3 days after birth. Early preterm infants and moderate-to-late preterm infants may tolerate high-dose fat emulsion in the early stage after birth, but extremely preterm infants may have an insufficient capacity to metabolize high-dose fat emulsion.</p>

Hemostatic Effect of Spleen-invigorating, Qi-replenishing and Blood-containing Formula on Simvastatin-induced Zebrafish Hemorrhage Model / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the hemostatic effect of spleen-invigorating, qi-replenishing and blood-containing formula on simvastatin-induced zebrafish hemorrhage model, and to compare with the effect of clearing heat and cooling blood formula.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Zebrafishes from breed A B line were treated with 0.5 µmol/L simvastatin for 24 hours to establish zebrafishes hemorrhage model. Under strict blinded experimental conditions, the above mentioned zebrafishes were then treated with experimental drug of different concentrations at the maximum non-lethal dose. The intervention effect of spleen-invigorating, qi-replenishing and blood-containing formula was comprehensively assessed by examining the main observational parameters, such as bleeding reduction rate and hemostasis rate while referring to additional parameters, such as blood flow, improvement rate of blood flow, velocity of movement, improvement rate of motion, which are characteristics of spleen qi deficiency.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>When the hemostatic effect of experimental drug B1 at the concentrations of 500 and 1 000 µg/ml, zebrafish bleeding rates were 30% and 15%, the hemostatic rate was 60% and 80%, respectively; when the experimental drug B2 at concentration of 500 and 1 000 µg/ml, Zebrafish bleeding rates were 45% and 40%, the hemostatic rate was 40% and 47%, respectively, showing that experimental drug B1 was superior to B2 in terms of decreasing bleeding rate and improving hemostatic effect in zebrafish. In the equal concentration, the experimental drug B1 was superior to B2 in terms of increasing and improving the blood flow of hemorrhagic zebrafish. Promotion and improvement of motion: in equal concentration, experimental drug B1 was superior to B2 in terms of promoting the motion velocity and increasing the improving rate of motion in zebrafish.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The spleen-invigorating, qi-replenishing and blood-containing formula displays a good hemostatic effect on simvastatin-induced hemorrhage of zebrafish. It also boosts the blood flow and motion velocity in hemorrhagic zebrafish, therefore, providing an experimental basis for the treatment of syndrome of spleen failing to control blood by spleen-invigorating, qi-replenishing and blood-containing formula.</p>

Effect of shenqi fuzheng injection for hemopoietic and immune function reconstruction in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of Shenqi Fuzheng Injection (SFI) for hemopoietic and immune function reconstruction in patients with hematologic malignancies (HM) after chemotherapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighty HM patients at remission inducing stage of initial treatment were randomly assigned to two groups, the treatment group treated with SFI (250 mL daily) plus chemotherapy and the control group only treated with chemotherapy for 14 days, with same supportive treatments administered to both. Levels of blood routine test, T lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD4+, CD4+ /CD8+) and B lymphocyte subsets CD3- CD19+ were determined before and after treatment, and the remission rate was assessed after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The remission rates in the two groups showed no significant difference [90% (36/40) vs 82.5% (33/40), P > 0.05] statistically. Levels of peripheral leucocyte count and hemoglobin as well as levels of CD3+, CD4+, CD4+ /CD8+; were significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group (P < 0.05), but no significant difference was shown between groups in CD3- CD19+ level.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SFI can lighten the inhibition of chemotherapy on hemopoietic function of bone marrow, and promote its recovery, enhance the immune function, and improve the quality of life in patients with HM undergoing chemotherapy.</p>