The Effect of Yijinjing on the Cognitive Function of Patients With Chronic Schizophrenia.

Background: Patients with chronic schizophrenia present cognitive impairment, which affects their social function and prevents them from reintegrating into society. Yijinjing is a traditional Chinese aerobic exercise that has a putative psychosomatic effect on improving cognitive function. Methods: From January to May 2021, 40 patients with chronic schizophrenia were recruited and randomly divided into a control group and a Yijinjing group. In the 12-week intervention, the patients in the control group received conventional treatment, whereas patients in the Yijinjing group performed Yijinjing exercise (40 min/session, twice a week) in addition to receiving conventional treatment. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Insight and Treatment Attitude Questionnaire (ITAQ), the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (SES), and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used to measure clinical symptoms and cognitive function at 0, 6, and 12 weeks. Results: The demographic information was not significantly different between groups. At baseline, the scores of all the scales were not statistically different between groups. After 12 weeks of intervention, compared to those at baseline, the scores of the negative scale (t = 19.00, p < 0.0001), general psychopathology scale (t = 15.98, p < 0.0001), and total score (t = 15.47, p < 0.0001) of the PANSS and SES (t = 5.378, p < 0.0001) had significantly decreased, and the scores of the ITAQ (t = 7.984, p < 0.0001) and MMSE (t = 6.750, p < 0.0001) had significantly increased in Yijinjing group; the score of the MMSE increased in the control group as well (t = 2.491, p = 0.0222). Compared to the respective scores in the control group, the negative scale score (t = 2.953, p = 0.0054) significantly decreased, and the ITAQ (t = 3.043, p = 0.0042) and MMSE (t = 2.2.68, p = 0.0291) scores significantly increased in the Yijinjing group after 12 weeks of intervention. Conclusion: These results provide a preliminary indication that Yijinjing exercise had the potential to improve cognitive function and negative symptoms in patients with chronic schizophrenia. A larger-scale study to determine the trajectory of change in the longer term should be undertaken.

Effects of high-pressure processing on the functional properties of pork batters containing Artemisia sphaerocephala krasch gum.

Here, the effect of high-pressure conditions (0.1-400 MPa) on the water-loss, texture, gel strength, color, dynamic rheological property, and water migration of pork batters containing 0.1% (W/W) Artemisia sphaerocephala krasch gum (PB-AG) is studied. Results indicated that the cooking yield, water-holding capacity, texture, gel strength, L* values, and G' values increased with the increase in pressure (0.1-300 MPa) (p < 0.05). Dynamic rheological results (G') revealed that the thermal gelling ability of the PB-AG gel gradually increased with pressure (0.1-300 MPa). The minimum of T22 content was observed and the proportion of immobilized water decreased at 300 MPa by low-filed nuclear magnetic resonance. However, excessive high-pressure processing treatments (400 MPa) resulted in lower gel strength, WHC, texture, and G'. The scanning electron microscopy results shown that a denser network structure with small cavities was observed at 300 MPa. Therefore, moderate pressure treatment (≤300 MPa) may improve gelation properties of PB-AG gel, while excessive pressure treatment (400 MPa) may weaken the gelation properties. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: High-pressure processing combining Artemisia sphaerocephala krasch gum could enhance the gelation properties of pork batters. To do so, establishing knowledge on gelation properties of pork batters with Artemisia sphaerocephala krasch gum at different pressure levels treatment would be of paramount importance, because this contributes furnishing engineering data pertinent to the technical progress for the processing of emulsion-type meat with high quality.

Network pharmacology-based exploration of therapeutic mechanism of Liu-Yu-Tang in atypical antipsychotic drug-induced metabolic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is prevalent in patients receiving atypical antipsychotic drugs (AADs), but there are few effective interventions. The Traditional Chinese herbal decoction Liu-Yu-Tang (LYT) has achieved clinical improvement for AAD-induced MetS, but its pharmacological mechanism remains unclear. METHOD: A network pharmacology-based method was utilized in this study. First, the TCMSP and SwissTargetPrediction database were used to acquire plasma-absorbed components and putative targets of LYT, respectively. Second, an interaction network between shared targets of LYT and MetS was constructed using STRING online tool. Topological analyses were performed to extract hub gene targets. Finally, we did a pathway analysis of gene targets using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) to find biological pathways of LYT. RESULTS: We obtained 655 putative targets of LYT, 434 known targets of AADs, and 1577 MetS-related gene targets. There are 232 shared targets between LYT and MetS. Interaction network construction and topological analysis yielded 60 hub targets, of which 18 were major hub targets, among which IL-6, IL-8, TNF, PI3K, MAPK, and NF-κB (RELA) are the most important in LYT's treatment of AAD-induced MetS. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed a statistically high significance of the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, lipid and atherosclerosis and the insulin resistance pathway. CONCLUSIONS: LYT may control activities of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, TNF and the important signal transduction molecules PI3K, MAPKs, and NF-κB (RELA), regulating metabolic disturbance-related pathways like the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, lipid and atherosclerosis, and the insulin resistance pathway, generating therapeutic effects for AAD-induced MetS.

[Study of macrophage polarization on pulmonary fibrosis and signaling pathway].

Macrophages are a group of immune cells with pluripotency and plasticity that can differentiate into different phenotypes under different microenvironments in vitro and in vivo. In the development of pulmonary fibrosis, there are alveolar macrophages and interstitial macrophages, which are polarized to different cell phenotypes at different stages of development. And their polarized phenotypes include M1 macrophages and M2 macrophages. In the inflammation early stages of pulmonary fibrosis, the increase of classical activated macrophages are helpful to clear pathogenic microorganisms and promote the progress of inflammation. In the fibrosis stage, the alternatively activated macrophages increased, which inhibiting the inflammatory reaction or directly promoting tissue fibrosis, on the other hand, it also promoting the fibrosis degradation. To clarify the polarization and polarization mechanisms of macrophages in pulmonary fibrosis will be conducive to the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. In IPF, the polarization mechanism of M1 and M2 is closely related to TGF-ß1/Smad. TGF-ß1/Smad pathway plays an important regulatory role in liver fibrosis, renal fibrosis, myocardial fibrosis, scars, tumors and other diseases. Blocking the signaling of TGF-ß1 by Smad3 and Smad4 is beneficial to inhibit the polarization of AM, which in turn helps to inhibit the progression of IPF.

Does intravenous fish oil benefit patients post-surgery? A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Supplementation of fish oil (FO) containing lipid emulsions has been associated with a reduction in the length of hospital stay, infections and liver dysfunction in patients undergoing major surgery. We carried out a meta-analysis and subgroup analysis to examine randomised clinical trial (RCT)-based evidence of the aforementioned effects. METHODS: Four databases, reference lists and the WHO ICTRP were systematically searched for RCTs to access the clinical efficacy of fish oil-enriched total parenteral nutrition in post-surgery patients. Methodological quality assessment was based on the Cochrane Handbook and GRADE. RESULTS: Twenty-one RCTs were enrolled for meta-analysis. FO was associated with a significant reduction in the length of hospital stay (mean = -2.14 d, 95% CI = -3.02 to -1.27), infections (OR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.35-0.81), ALT (mean = -6.35 U/L, 95% CI = -11.75 to -0.94), GGT (mean = -11.01 U/L, 95% CI = -20.77 to -1.25) and total bilirubin (mean = -2.06 µmol/L, 95% CI = -3.6 to -0.52), as well as a non-significant change in mortality and postoperative medical cost. The quality of evidence of each clinical outcome was accessed as high. CONCLUSION: FO-enriched lipid emulsions are likely to reduce infections, the length of hospital stay and liver dysfunction without influencing mortality and may be a safe and preferable choice in post-surgery patients. Further well-designed trials should be performed to determine whether FO lipid emulsions reduce mortality in patients undergoing hepatic surgery, especially liver transplantation, and the cost effectiveness of such treatment.

[Clinical observation of preoperative administration of enteral nutrition support in gastric cancer patients at risk of malnutrition].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate safety and efficacy of preoperative administration of enteral nutrition support in gastric cancer patients at risk of malnutrition. METHODS: A single center randomized controlled clinical trial was performed in 60 gastric cancer patients in West China Hospital from May to October 2012. Thirty patients were given enteral nutrition support(Ensure(R)) manufactured by Abbott Laboratories for ten consecutive days before surgical operation in the treatment group, and 30 patients were given an isocaloric and isonitrogenous homogenized diet in the control group for 10 days as well. The laboratory parameters of nutritional status and hepatorenal function were observed and compared between the two groups on admission, preoperative day 1 and postoperative day 3, respectively. Clinical observations, such as nausea and vomiting, were carried out until patients were discharged. RESULTS: Before the intervention, there were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the two groups. The levels of serum albumin [(33.9±5.6) g/L vs. (31.0±5.3) g/L, P<0.05], and hemoglobin[(103.4±7.7) g/L vs.(96.6±10.5) g/L, P<0.01] were significantly improved in the treatment group on postoperative day 3. However, the levels of body mass index, lymphocyte count, liver and renal function, serum glucose, sodium, and potassium were not significantly different between the two groups(all P>0.05). Moreover, two patients with nausea and one with vomiting in each group were found. In clinical observation period, no severe treatment-related adverse event were observed. CONCLUSION: The enteral supplement with Ensure(R) in gastric cancer patients at risk of malnutrition during preoperative period is effective and safe, which is superior to homogenized diet and an appropriate choice for gastric cancer patients with nutritional risk.