The Effect of Tai Chi Chuan on Emotional Health: Potential Mechanisms and Prefrontal Cortex Hypothesis.

Deep involvement in the negative mood over long periods of time likely results in emotional disturbances/disorders and poor mental health. Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is regarded as a typical mind-body practice combining aerobic exercise and meditation to prevent and treat negative mood. Although there are an increasing number of TCC studies examining anxiety, depression, and mental stress, the mechanisms underlying these negative emotions are not fully understood. This review study examined TCC studies related to emotional health from both clinical patients and healthy individuals. Next, several potential mechanisms from physiological, psychological, and neurological perspectives were evaluated based on direct and indirect research evidence. We reviewed recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, which demonstrated changes in brain anatomy and function, mainly in the prefrontal cortex, following TCC practice. Finally, the effects of TCC on emotion/mental health is depicted with a prefrontal cortex hypothesis that proposed "an immune system of the mind" indicating the role of the prefrontal cortex as a flexible hub in regulating an individual's mental health. The prefrontal cortex is likely a key biomarker among the multiple complex neural correlates to help an individual manage negative emotions/mental health. Future research is needed to examine TCC effects on mental health by examining the relationship between the executive control system (mainly prefrontal cortex) and limbic network (including amygdala, insula, and hippocampal gyrus).

Rhubarb-Aconite Decoction (RAD) Drug-Containing Serum Alleviated Endotoxin-Induced Oxidative Stress Injury and Inflammatory Response in Caco-2 Cells In Vitro.

Rhubarb-Aconite Decoction (RAD), a famous Chinese medicine prescription, has been widely used for treating intestinal injury. However, the effect of RAD on intestinal epithelial cells is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of RAD drug-containing serum on the oxidative stress injury and inflammatory response induced by endotoxin (ET) in Caco-2 cells in vitro. Lipid peroxide malondialdehyde (MDA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), caspase-11, tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-3(IL-3), and cytokeratin (CK)18, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) activity, and intracellular free calcium ion levels were measured. The results showed that ET triggered the activation of caspase-11 and the massive release of TNF-α, increased the inhibitory rate of cell growth, MDA, and LDH expressions in Caco-2 cells. Moreover, RAD drug-containing serum could inhibit caspase-11 activation, decrease the release of TNF-α and IL-3, reduce intracellular free calcium ion, and enhance CK 18 expression and ATP activity. These novel findings demonstrated that ET-induced oxidative stress injury and inflammatory response of Caco-2 cells were improved by RAD drug-containing serum, indicating that RAD may be a good choice for the treatment of intestinal injury.

Combinatorial screening of a panel of FDA-approved drugs identifies several candidates with anti-Ebola activities.

Ebola virus (EBOV), pathogen of Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is an enveloped filamental RNA virus. Recently, the EHF crisis occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo again highlights the urgency for its clinical treatments. However, no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved therapeutics are currently available. Drug repurposing screening is a time- and cost-effective approach for identifying anti-EBOV therapeutics. Here, by combinatorial screening using pseudovirion and minigenome replicon systems we have identified several FDA-approved drugs with significant anti-EBOV activities. These potential candidates include azithromycin, clomiphene, chloroquine, digitoxin, epigallocatechin-gallate, fluvastatin, tetrandrine and tamoxifen. Mechanistic studies revealed that fluvastatin inhibited EBOV pseudovirion entry by blocking the pathway of mevalonate biosynthesis, while the inhibitory effect of azithromycin on EBOV maybe due to its intrinsic cationic amphiphilic structure altering the homeostasis of later endosomal vesicle similar as tamoxifen. Moreover, based on structure and pathway analyses, the anti-EBOV activity has been extended to other family members of statins, such as simvastatin, and multiple other cardiac glycoside drugs, some of which exhibited even stronger activities. More importantly, in searching for drug interaction, we found various synergy between several anti-EBOV drug combinations, showing substantial and powerful synergistic against EBOV infection. In conclusion, our work illustrates a successful and productive approach to identify new mechanisms and targets for treating EBOV infection by combinatorial screening of FDA-approved drugs.

A Prospective Randomized Multicenter Controlled Trial on Salvianolate for Treatment of Unstable Angina Pectoris in A Chinese Elderly Population.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of salvianolate in elderly patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP). METHODS: A prospective double-blind randomized placebo-controlled multicenter trial in elderly patients with UAP from 13 third-grade class-A hospitals in China was performed. A total of 318 patients were randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to an experimental group (160 patients) and a control group (158 patients). The experimental group was treated with salvianolate for 14 days on the basis of conventional medicine, and the control group was given a placebo for 14 days with the same criteria. Follow-up was lasted 28 days in both groups. The primary endpoint was biweekly frequency of angina pectoris attacks. The secondary endpoints included biweekly dosage of nitroglycerin, the Seattle Angina Questionnaire, angina pectoris severity and duration, myocardial injury markers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), as well as major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). Safety was assessed according to adverse events and serious adverse events. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar between treatment groups. Compared with those in the control group, the frequency of biweekly angina attacks (2.92 vs . 4.08, P=0.025), the biweekly dosage of nitroglycerin, as well as the severity and duration of angina attacks (P<0.01) were reduced by salvianolate. The Seattle Angina Questionnaire score was also significantly improved in the experimental group than in the control group (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed between the two groups with respect to the incidence of MACEs. Salvianolate was well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Salvianolate appear to have efficacy and well tolerated for elderly patients with UAP. [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03037047].

Low-density lipoprotein decorated silica nanoparticles co-delivering sorafenib and doxorubicin for effective treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Combinational therapy is usually considered as a preferable approach for effective cancer therapy. Especially, combinational chemotherapies targeting different molecular targets are of particular interest due to its high flexibility as well as efficiency. In our study, the surface of silica nanoparticles (SLN) was modified with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to construct platform (LDL-SLN) capable of specifically targeting low-density lipoprotein receptors (LDLRs) that overexpressing in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In addition, the versatile drug loading capacity of LDL-SLN was employed to fabricate a preferable drug delivery system to co-deliver sorafenib (Sor) and doxorubicin (Dox) for combinational chemotherapy of HCC. Our results revealed that the LDL-SLN/Sor/Dox nanoparticles with size around 100 nm showed preferable stability in physiological environments. Moreover, the LDL-SLN/Sor/Dox could target LDLR overexpressed HepG2 cells. More importantly, both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that the LDL-SLN/Sor/Dox exerted elevated antitumor efficacy compared to Sor or Dox alone, which indicated that LDL-SLN/Sor/Dox could be a powerful tool for effective combinational chemotherapy of HCC.

Puerarin induces mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in hypoxic human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary vascular medial hypertrophy in hypoxic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is caused in part by decreased apoptosis in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). Puerarin, an isoflavone purified from the Chinese medicinal herb kudzu, ameliorates chronic hypoxic PAH in animal models. Here we investigated the effects of puerarin on apoptosis of hypoxic human PASMCs (HPASMCs), and to determine the possible underlying mechanisms. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: HPASMCs were cultured for 24 h in normoxia or hypoxia (5% O2) conditions with and without puerarin. Cell number and viability were determined with a hemacytometer or a cell counting kit. Apoptosis was detected with a TUNEL test, rhodamine-123 (R-123) fluorescence, a colorimetric assay, western blots, immunohistochemical staining and RT-PCR. Hypoxia inhibited mitochondria-dependent apoptosis and promoted HPASMC growth. In contrast, after puerarin (50 µM or more) intervention, cell growth was inhibited and apoptosis was observed. Puerarin-induced apoptosis in hypoxic HPASMCs was accompanied by reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, cytochrome c release from the mitochondria, caspase-9 activation, and Bcl-2 down-regulation with concurrent Bax up-regulation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Puerarin promoted apoptosis in hypoxic HPASMCs by acting on the mitochondria-dependent pathway. These results suggest a new mechanism of puerarin relevant to the management of clinical hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.

[Gastrodine represses expression of IL-1 beta, IL-6 induced by hyperglycemia in gitter cells].

OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory factors have been known to induce nerve cells apoptosis and decrease learning capacity of diabetics. The aim of this study is to evaluate the inhibitory effect of Gastrodine on the expression of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), interleukin-6 (IL-6) in culturing for gitter cells (BV-2 cells) induced by high concentration of glucose. METHOD: The BV-2 cells incubated in vitro with different concentrations of glucose and gastrodine were divided into five groups: control group (glucose: 25 mmol x L(-1)), high concetration of glucose (glucose: 45 mmol x L(-1) HCG) group and Gastrodine groups (glucose 45 mmol x L(-1) with gastrodine 25 mg x L(-1) (LG), 50 mg x L(-1) (MG), 100 mg x L(-1) (HG). After culturing for 24 h, morphological changes of cells were observed by inverted phase contrast microscope. The supernatant protein of IL-1 beta and IL-6 was detected by ELISA. The mRNA expression of IL-1 beta and IL-6 was assessed by Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULT: The cells were proned to aggregate, some of them with hypertrophy, distinct nucleoli and branch-shaped hyperplasy in HCG group, while less change in Gastrodine groups. The supernatant protein of IL-1 beta is higher in HCG group than control group (119.53 +/- 15.91) ng x L(-1) vs (25.74 +/- 15.72) ng x L(-1) (P < 0.01), but lower in the gastrodine groups than HCG LG (99.32 +/- 19.66) ng x L(-1), MG (76.94 +/- 17.16) ng x L(-1), HG (88.35 +/- 18.72) ng x L(-1) vs (119.53 +/-15.91) ng x L(-1) (P < 0.05). The supernatant protein of IL-6 protein also higher in HCG than control group (393.7 +/- 17.51) ng x L(-1) vs (125.85 +/- 36.62) ng x L(-1) (P < 0.01), and lower in the gastrodine groups than HCG (LG 327.06 +/- 23.53) ng x L(-1), MG (217.36 +/- 28.81) ng x L(-1), HG (263.17 +/- 22.32) ng x L(-1) vs (393.7 +/- 17.51) ng x L(-1), P < 0.05). The mRNA expression of IL-1 beta was increased significantly higher in HCG than control group (2.77 +/- 0.29) vs (1.13 +/- 0.27) (P < 0.05), but decreased significantly in gastrodine groups than HCG LGA (2.66 +/- 0.31), MGA (2.1 +/- 0.41), HGA (2.4 +/- 0.28) vs (2.77 +/- 0.29) (P < 0.05). The mRNA Expression of IL-6 was higher in HCG than control group (3.97 +/- 0.33) vs (1.05 +/- 0.13) (P < 0.05, but lower in gastrodine groups than HCG LG (3.28 +/- 0.3), MG (2.65 +/- 0.33), HG (3.04 +/- 0.26), vs (3.97 +/- 0.33) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Gastrodine can inhibit the expression of IL-1 beta, IL-6 in cultured BV-2 cells induced by high concentration of glucose.