Role of TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway in diabetic kidney disease and research progress of traditional Chinese medicine intervention / 中国中药杂志

Diabetic kidney disease is an important microvascular complication of diabetes and the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Its pathological characteristics mainly include epithelial mesenchymal transition(EMT) in glomerulus, podocyte apoptosis and autophagy, and damage of glomerular filtration barrier. Transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)/Smad signaling pathway is specifically regulated by a variety of mechanisms, and is a classic pathway involved in physiological activities such as apoptosis, proliferation and differentiation. At present, many studies have found that TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway plays a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease. Traditional Chinese medicine has significant advantages in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease for its multi-component, multi-target and multi-pathway characteristics, and some traditional Chinese medicine extracts, traditional Chinese medicines and traditional Chinese medicine compound prescription improve the renal injury of diabetic kidney disease by regulating TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. This study clarified the mechanism of TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway in diabetic kidney disease by expounding the relationship between the key targets of the pathway and diabetic kidney disease, and summarized the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of diabetic kidney disease by interfering with TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway in recent years, to provide reference for drug research and clinical treatment of diabetic kidney disease in the future.

Research Progress of the Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Glycemic Control and Adverse Maternal-neonatal Outcomes in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Patients / 中国医学科学院学报

Gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM)can cause blood glucose disorders in pregnant women and result in adverse maternal-neonatal outcomes.Vitamin D(VD)can improve glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity,and thus theoretically,VD supplementation during pregnancy could improve glycemic control as well as maternal-neonatal outcomes in GDM patients.Although studies have shown that VD deficiency is associated with poor maternal-neonatal outcomes in GDM patients,no solid conclusion has been drawn with regard to the effects of VD supplementation on these patients.Therefore,here we summarized the research progress of the effects of VD supplementation on glycemic control and adverse maternal-neonatal outcomes in GDM patients,in an effort to guide the clinical VD supplementation during pregnancy.

Preliminary studies on critical control point of traceability system in wolfberry / 中国中药杂志

As a traditional Chinese medicine, wolfberry (Lycium barbarum) has a long cultivation history and a good industrial development foundation. With the development of wolfberry production, the expansion of cultivation area and the increased attention of governments and consumers on food safety, the quality and safety requirement of wolfberry is higher demanded. The quality tracing and traceability system of production entire processes is the important technology tools to protect the wolfberry safety, and to maintain sustained and healthy development of the wolfberry industry. Thus, this article analyzed the wolfberry quality management from the actual situation, the safety hazard sources were discussed according to the HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control point) and GAP (good agricultural practice for Chinese crude drugs), and to provide a reference for the traceability system of wolfberry.

Effect of artemisinin on ischemia/reperfusion injury of isolated rat myocardium / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of artemisinin on the ischemia/reperfusion injury of the iisolated rat myocardium and to preliminarily study the possible mechanism.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Fifty Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: a control group, an ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) group, and 3 artemisinin (AS) groups (10, 100, 1000 micromol x L(-1)), 10 rats in each group. Ischemia/reperfusion injury of the isolated rat myocardium was induced by a Langendorff system. The electrocardiogram, the cardiac functional parameters, coronary flow, and the activities of LDH (lactate dehydrogenase), CPK (creatine phosphokinase), SOD (superoxide dis-mutase) and the level of malondiadehyde (MDA) in myocardial tissue, and the myocardial ultrastructures were investigated.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>AS (10,100 micromol x L(-1)) could significantly improve the index of the myocardial function (+/- dp/dt(max), LVSP) after the ischemia/reperfusion, increase the coronary flow, decrease the leakage of LDH and CPK, and increase the SOD activity and decrease the MDA level in cardiac tissues, and alleviate the myocardial ultrastructure injury. But, AS (1000 micromo x L(-1)) did not have the above effects.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>AS (10, 100 micromol x L(-1)) alleviate the myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats. The mechanism may be related to its functions of antioxidation and scavenging free radicals.</p>

Effects of resveratrol on isolated thoracic aorta rings of rats / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relaxative characteristics of resveratrol on thoracic aortic artery in the rat and its mechanism.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>We perfused the isolated rings and observed the response of NA-induced artery contraction to resveratrol under the Ca2+-contained and Ca2+-free bath solutions. In the same way were the effect of reveratrol on the vascular smooth muscle observed by adding two different concentration of KCl (30 and 80 mmol x L(-1)), and the effect on the contraction of the vascular smooth muscle depending on the intracellular calcium and extracellular calcium were also observed by adding NA. We also observed the effect of resveratrol on the contraction of rings induced by NA in the presence of L-NNA and Glibenclamide.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Resveratrol relaxed rat aorta rings precontracted by NA in a dose-dependent manner. The relaxant effect of resveratrol on the rat rings of endothelium-denuded group was reduced compared with that of endothelium-intact group; the relaxant effect of resveratrol on rat rings was higher under the condition of Ca2+-free bath solution than that under the condition of Ca2+-contained bath solution. Resveratrol had a repressive effect on the aorta's contraction induced by intracellular calcium, but had no effect induced by extracellular calcium. Resveratrol relaxed the contractions induced by KCl 30 mmol x L(-1) as well as KCl 80 mmol x L(-1), but the contraction curve of KCl 80 mmol x L(-1) was shifted upward significantly. In the L-NNA group, the relaxant effect was attenuated by (26.0 +/- 4.6) %; but there was no change in the group of Glibenclamide ( P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The results indicate that resveratrol relaxes vascular smooth muscle in an endothelium dependent manner. The mechanisms for this phenomenon seem to be related with promoting synthesis and release of NO, opening Ca2+ activated K+ channel (KCa channel) as well as the inhibition of Ca2+ influx and release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores.</p>