Modified Hongyu Decoction promotes wound healing by activating the VEGF/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Wound healing is a considerable problem for clinicians. Ever greater attention has been paid to the role of Chinese herbal monomers and compounds on wound healing. This study aims to elucidate the wound healing mechanism of Modified Hongyu Decoction (MHD) in vivo and in vitro. MHD wound healing activity in vivo was evaluated using an excision rat model. H and E staining, Masson's staining and immunofluorescence of wound tissue on days 7 and 14 were performed to evaluate the efficacy of MHD on wound healing. Subsequently, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used to evaluate wound healing characteristics in vitro. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and scratch assays were conducted to assess the effects of MHD on the proliferation and migration of HUVECs. The involvement of the VEGF/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway was assessed by western blotting. The rats in the MHD group displayed more neovascularization and collagen fibers. Western blotting of wound tissue showed that VEGF, PI3K, p-Akt and p-eNOS expression were significantly increased (p<0.05) in the MHD group. Cell Counting Kit-8 and scratch assays demonstrated that MHD promoted HUVECs proliferation and migration. MHD treatment significantly increased VEGF, PI3K, p-Akt and p-eNOS expression in HUVECs (p<0.05), which was inhibited by LY294002. Both in vivo and in vitro data indicated that MHD promotes wound healing by regulating the VEGF/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Modulation effects of different treatments on periaqueductal gray resting state functional connectivity in knee osteoarthritis knee pain patients.

BACKGROUND: The analgesic effect of acupuncture is widely recognized, but the mechanical characteristics of acupuncture for pain relief, compared to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) and placebo medication, remain unknown. AIMS: To compare the modulation effects of acupuncture treatment with NSAIDs and placebo medication on descending pain modulation system (DPMS) in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients. METHODS: This study recruited 180 KOA patients with knee pain and 41 healthy controls (HCs). Individuals with KOA knee pain were divided randomly into groups of verum acupuncture (VA), sham acupuncture (SA), celecoxib (SC), placebo (PB), and waiting list (WT), with 36 patients in each group. VA and SA groups included ten sessions of puncturing acupoints or puncturing non-acupoints acupuncture treatment for two successive weeks. Celecoxib capsules were continuously given orally to patients in the SC group at a dosage of 200 mg daily for 2 weeks. In the PB group, patients received a placebo capsule once a day for 2 weeks at the same dosage as celecoxib capsules. In the WL group, patients did not receive any treatment. Patients underwent a resting-state BOLD-fMRI scan pre- and post-receiving the therapy, whereas HCs only underwent a baseline scan. Seed (ventrolateral periaqueductal gray, vlPAG, a key node in DPMS) based resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) was applied in the data analysis. RESULTS: All groups demonstrated improved knee pain scores relative to the initial state. There was no statistical difference between the VA and SA groups in all clinical outcomes, and vlPAG rs-FC alterations. KOA knee pain individuals reported higher vlPAG rs-FC in the bilateral thalamus than HCs. KOA knee pain patients in the acupuncture group (verum + sham, AG) exhibited increased vlPAG rs-FC with the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the right angular, which is associated with knee pain improvement. In contrast with the SC and PB group, the AG exhibited significantly increased vlPAG rs-FC with the right DLPFC and angular. Contrary to the WT group, the AG showed greater vlPAG rs-FC with the right DLPFC and precuneus. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture treatment, celecoxib, and placebo medication have different modulation effects on vlPAG DPMS in KOA knee pain patients. Acupuncture could modulate vlPAG rs-FC with brain regions associated with cognitive control, attention, and reappraisal for knee pain relief in KOA patients, compared with celecoxib and placebo medication.

The Effect of Acupuncture on Elbow Joint Sports Injuries Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Purpose: Elbow joint injuries are extremely common in most athletes. Athletes' chronic elbow injuries can involve multiple complex anatomical structures related to orthopedics. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore the characteristics of magnetic resonance (MR) images of chronic sports injuries of the elbow joint and the influence of acupuncture treatment on MR images and clinical symptoms. Methods: A total of 60 elbow joints of 39 athletes from 15-25 years old were selected for coronal, sagittal, and axial MR scans to observe the image characteristics; 60 elbow joints were randomly divided into acupuncture group and control group and observed changes in MR images and clinical symptoms after acupuncture treatment. Results: After acupuncture treatment, the clinical symptoms were significantly improved. MR images showed that the elbow joint effusion was reduced, and the bone marrow edema was reduced. The effective rate of acupuncture treatment is as high as 100%, while the effective rate of the control group is only 40%. Acupuncture treatment has significantly improved the range of motion of the elbow joint. Conclusion: Acupuncture treatment can significantly relieve athletes' elbow joint pain and locking symptoms, improve joint range of motion, and is beneficial to recovery of special training and high-level competitive competitions. It is a sensitive, effective, and noninvasive method.

Simultaneous determination of six synthetic phenolic antioxidants in edible oils using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection.

A simple, rapid, organic-solvent- and sample-saving pretreatment technique, called dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, was developed for the determination of six synthetic phenolic antioxidants from edible oils before high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection. The entire procedure was composed of a two-step microextraction and a centrifugal process and could be finished in about 5 min, only consuming only 25 mg of sample and 1 mL of the organic solvent for each extraction. The influences of several important parameters on the microextraction efficiency were thoroughly investigated. Recovery assays for oil samples were spiked at three concentration levels, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg, and provided recoveries in the 86.3-102.5% range with a relative standard deviation below 3.5%. The intra-day and inter-day precisions for the analysis were less than 3.8%. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of synthetic phenolic antioxidants in different oil samples, and satisfactory results were obtained. Thus, the developed method represents a viable alternative for the quality control of synthetic phenolic antioxidant concentrations in edible oils.

Remediation of Cr(VI)-Contaminated Soil Using the Acidified Hydrazine Hydrate.

Acidified hydrazine hydrate was used to remediate Cr(VI)-contaminated soil. The content of water-soluble Cr(VI) in contaminated soil was 4977.53 mg/kg. The optimal initial pH of hydrazine hydrate solution, soil to solution ratio and molar ratio of Cr(VI) to hydrazine hydrate for remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated soil were 5.0, 3:1 and 1:3, respectively. Over 99.50 % of water-soluble Cr(VI) in the contaminated soil was reduced at the optimal condition within 30 min. The remediated soil can keep stable within 4 months. Meanwhile the total phosphorus increased from 0.47 to 4.29 g/kg, indicating that using of acidified hydrazine hydrate is an effective method to remediate Cr(VI)-contaminated soil.

Nutrients removal and nitrous oxide emission during simultaneous nitrification, denitrification, and phosphorus removal process: effect of iron.

The short- and long-term influences of ferric iron (Fe(III)) on nutrients removal and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission during SNDPR process were evaluated. According to the continuous cycle experiments, it was concluded that the addition of Fe(III) could lower the nitrogen removal of the following cycle during SNDPR process, which was mainly induced by the chemical removal of phosphorus. However, the impacts were transitory, and simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal would recover from the inhibition of Fe(III) after running certain cycles. Moreover, the addition of Fe(III) could stimulate N2O emission transitorily during SNDPR process. However, if Fe(III) was added into reactor continuously, the nitrogen removal would be improved, especially at low Fe load condition. It was because that the activity of NO reductase was enhanced by the addition of Fe. However, the low Fe load in reactor would induce more N2O emission. When Fe(III) load was 40 mg/L in the reactor, the N2O yield was 10 % higher than control. The TN removal was weakened when Fe(III) load reached to 60 mg/L, and the N2O yield was lower than control, due to the inhibition of the high Fe load on denitrification enzymes.

Leojaponic acids A and B, two new homologous terpenoids, isolated from Leonurus japonicus.

The present study aimed at isolation and purification of the bioactive terpenoids from the herb of Leonurus japonicus by chromatographic separations such as silica gel, sephadex LH-20 and C18 reversed phase silica gel, as well as preparative HPLC. As a result, leojaponic acids A (1, C17H24O4) and B (2, C18H26O4), two homologous terpenoids, together with (-)-loliolide (3), 1-(3-ethylphenyl) ethane-1, 2-diol (4) and dibutyl phthalate (5), were isolated from the EtOH extract of L. japonicus. All the chemical structures of the isolates were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR analyses. Compounds 1 and 2 were new terpenoids, and Compounds 3 and 4 were isolated and identified for the first time from this plant. In addition, the α-glucosidase and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the new compounds were evaluated.

[Effects of granules for nourishing kidney and strengthening brain on main symptoms of kidney-yin deficiency and blood stasis syndrome and hemorrheological characteristics of brain atrophy].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the influence of granules for nourishing kidney and strengthening brain (GNKSB) on main symptoms of kidney-yin deficiency and blood stasis syndrome and the hemorrheological characteristics of brain atrophy patients. METHODS: Ninety patients of brain atrophy with kidney-yin deficiency and blood stasis syndrome were randomly divided into two groups. Sixty cases in treatment group were treated with GNKSB, and the 30 cases in control group were treated with piracetam for 8 weeks. RESULTS: The effective rate of treatment group was 73.3%, with significant difference as compared with 46.6% of the control group (P<0.01). The scores of symptom-assessment of the two groups were also significantly different (P<0.01). The mini-mental state examination of treatment group was obviously improved, and was significantly different as compared with the control group (P<0.01). The scores of Hasegawa's dementia scale and activities of daily living were increased, but without significant difference as compared with the control group. The platelet aggregation rate was improved, with significant difference as compared with the control group (P<0.05). The whole blood viscosity was also improved obviously, but without significant difference as compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: GNKSB is effective for kidney-yin deficiency and blood stasis syndrome of brain atrophy patients and can improve their mental state and the hemorrheological indexes.

TCM treatment for 40 cases of rheumatoid arthritis with channel blockage due to yin deficiency.

To verify the therapeutic effects of the method of softening and lubricating the joints, and calming the endogenous wind in case of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with the syndrome of channel blockage due to yin deficiency, 60 RA patients with the syndrome of channel blockage due to yin deficiency were randomly divided into a treatment group (40 cases) and a control group (20 cases) and treated respectively by the above method for the former and with Zheng Qing Feng Tong Ning Tablets ([symbol: see text]) for the latter. The result turned out to be that the effect in the treatment group was very satisfying. The treatment group obtained a better result in the accumulated points of syndrome and RA, morning rigidity of the joints, grip strength, 20m walking time and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). The above indicates that channel blockage due to yin deficiency is an important pathogenesis of RA, and calming the endogenous wind is a method of choice for treating RA.

[Clinical study of ifosfamide and cisplatin in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer].

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of ifosfamide and cisplatin in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS: Fifty-six patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were treated by combination chemotherapy of ifosfamide and cisplatin for two cycles: ifosfamide 1.5-2.0g/m² iv drip on day 1-4, mesna 400mg iv at 0,4,8 hours after using ifosfamide; DDP 25-30mg/m² iv drip on day 5-7. The response, toxicity, relievable period and survival period were evaluated. RESULTS: The total response rate was 50.0%. The response rate of patients in primary treatment was 52.8% and that of return cases was 45.0% (P > 0.05). The median relievable period was five months. The median duration of survival (MDS) was nine months. The major toxicity was inhibition of bone marrow, especially of leukocyte and platelet. CONCLUSIONS: Combination chemotherapy of ifosfamide and cisplatin is effective in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer including the return cases, and the toxicity is tolerable. If G-CSF is used as a complementary therapy, this regimen could be quite clinically valuable.