Transcriptome profiling reveals the genes involved in tuberous root expansion in Pueraria (Pueraria montana var. thomsonii).

BACKGROUND: Pueraria is a dry root commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine or as food and fodder, and tuberous root expansion is an important agronomic characteristic that influences its yield. However, no specific genes regulating tuberous root expansion in Pueraria have been identified. Therefore, we aimed to explore the expansion mechanism of Pueraria at six developmental stages (P1-P6), by profiling the tuberous roots of an annual local variety "Gange No.1" harvested at 105, 135, 165, 195, 225, and 255 days after transplanting. RESULTS: Observations of the tuberous root phenotype and cell microstructural morphology revealed that the P3 stage was a critical boundary point in the expansion process, which was preceded by a thickening diameter and yield gain rapidly of the tuberous roots, and followed by longitudinal elongation at both ends. A total of 17,441 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by comparing the P1 stage (unexpanded) against the P2-P6 stages (expanded) using transcriptome sequencing; 386 differential genes were shared across the six developmental stages. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs shared by P1 and P2-P6 stages were mainly involved in pathways related to the "cell wall and cell cycle", "plant hormone signal transduction", "sucrose and starch metabolism", and "transcription factor (TF)". The finding is consistent with the physiological data collected on changes in sugar, starch, and hormone contents. In addition, TFs including bHLHs, AP2s, ERFs, MYBs, WRKYs, and bZIPs were involved in cell differentiation, division, and expansion, which may relate to tuberous root expansion. The combination of KEGG and trend analyses revealed six essential candidate genes involved in tuberous root expansion; of them, CDC48, ARF, and EXP genes were significantly upregulated during tuberous root expansion while INV, EXT, and XTH genes were significantly downregulated. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide new insights into the complex mechanisms of tuberous root expansion in Pueraria and candidate target genes, which can aid in increasing Pueraria yield.

Comparative study of the inflammatory factor in patients with COPD in different traditional Chinese medicine syndrome / 中国医师杂志

Objective:The changes of serum inflammatory factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with different traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome types were compared, and the characteristics and significance of inflammatory factors in COPD were discussed from the perspective of traditional Chinese and western medicine.Methods:A total of 100 patients with COPD who met the inclusion criteria and were admitted to Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from September 2021 to September 2022 were selected and divided into phlegm turbation obstructing lung group ( n=50) and lung and kidney qi deficiency group ( n=50) according to TCM syndrome types. Twenty healthy subjects in the same period were selected as control group. Serum levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and other inflammatory factors were compared in each group. Results:The MCP-1, IL-6, ESR, CRP, white blood cell count (WBC) and procalcitonin (PCT) of COPD patients in phlegm turbation obstructing lung group were significantly higher than those in lung and kidney qi deficiency group (all P<0.05). The WBC, MCP-1, MIP-1α, IL-6, ESR and CRP of COPD patients in the lung and kidney qi deficiency group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). In the phlegm turbation obstructing lung group, the MIP-1α, MCP-1, IL-6, ESR, CRP, WBC, and PCT were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Patients with COPD have inflammatory reactions, and the inflammatory reactions of patients with phlegm turbation obstructing lung syndrome are more obvious than those with lung and kidney qi deficiency syndrome. The inflammatory factors MCP-1, MIP-1α, IL-6, ESR, CRP, WBC, PCT and other indicators could be used to judge the degree of COPD inflammation, which had certain clinical guiding significance for different syndrome types of COPD patients.

Efficacy evaluation of acupuncture combined with acupoint application in the treatment of intestinal dysfunction secondary to mechanical ventilation in elderly patients with emergency sepsis / 中国医师杂志

Objective:To compare the efficacy of conventional Western medicine alone and acupuncture combined with acupoint application in treating intestinal dysfunction secondary to mechanical ventilation in elderly patients with emergency sepsis.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 111 elderly patients with mechanical ventilation for sepsis admitted to the emergency department of Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from January 2019 to June 2021. They were divided into two groups according to the time of admission: Western medicine treatment group alone (patients from January 2019 to December 2019, n=47) and acupuncture combined with acupoint application group (patients from January 2020 to June 2021, n=64). Acupuncture combined with acupoint application group was treated with acupuncture combined with acupoint application on the basis of conventional Western medicine. The intestinal dysfunction score, abdominal circumference and mortality after 4 weeks were compared between the two groups. Results:The abdominal circumference and intestinal dysfunction score in acupuncture combined with acupoint application group were significantly lower than those before treatment [(100.56±9.34)cm vs (106.25±9.74)cm; (0.92±0.72)point vs (2.31±0.69)point, all P< 0.05], while there was no significant difference in the above indexes before and after treatment in the Western medicine treatment group (all P>0.05). The abdominal circumference, intestinal dysfunction score and mortality after 4 weeks in the acupuncture combined with acupoint application group were significantly lower than those in the Western medicine treatment group [(100.56±9.34)cm vs (108.09±10.52)cm; (0.92±0.72)point vs (2.43±0.62)point; (29.7%, 19/64) vs (48.9%, 23/47), all P<0.05]. Conclusions:The curative effect of acupuncture combined with acupoint application in the treatment of intestinal dysfunction secondary to mechanical ventilation in elderly patients with sepsis in emergency is better than that of routine treatment of Western medicine alone. The gastrointestinal function and prognosis of patients have been significantly improved, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Some thoughts on treating sepsis with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine / 中国医师杂志

Sepsis is a hot and difficult research topic in the field of acute and critical care all over the world. Sepsis mortality remains high despite ongoing guideline updates. This situation has prompted the research thinking of Western medicine to change from one-sided pursuit of killing pathogenic microorganisms to regulating the body′s immune response, and change from focusing on local pathological changes to focusing on the internal connection of systemic organs. They put forward theories such as liver-renal syndrome, cardio-renal syndrome, and lung-gut axis, which are consistent with the overall concept of traditional Chinese medicine. The research fields, goals, and treatment objects of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine are the same, so Integrative traditional Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of sepsis has important application value and broad development space. In the process of sepsis treatment, we must make full use of modern technology, and at the same time give full play to the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, to reduce the fatality rate. Only in this way can we contribute to the protection of human health.