Efficacy of needle-knife combined with etanercept treatment regarding disease activity and hip joint function in ankylosing spondylitis patients with hip joint involvement: A randomized controlled study.

This study aimed to assess the efficacy of needle-knife (NK) combined with etanercept (NKCE) in attenuating pain, inflammation, disease activity, and improving hip joint function in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients with hip joint involvement.Totally, 90 patients with active AS involving unilateral hip joint were enrolled and randomly assigned in 1:1:1 ratio to receive NKCE, NK or conventional drugs (control). The ESR, CRP, hip joint pain Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI), bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index (BASFI), modified Harris hip score (mHHS), and range of motion (ROM) of affected hip joint were assessed at baseline (W0), after 1-week treatment (W1) and after 24-week treatment (W24).ESR and CRP were decreased in NKCE group compared with NK and control groups, while was not attenuated in NK group compared with control group. Regrading pain and disease activity, NKCE group presented a reduction in hip pain VAS score and BASDAI compared with NK and control groups, and NK group showed a decrease in hip pain VAS score and BASDAI compared with control group. Besides, BASFI was lowered in NKCE and NK groups compared with control group, but similar between NKCE and NK groups. mHHS and hip ROM were raised in NKCE and NK groups compared with control group, but similar between NKCE and NK groups.NKCE decreases hip pain, inflammation, disease activity and improves hip joint function in AS patients with hip joint involvement.

Neuroprotection by saponins.

Saponins, an important group of bioactive plant natural products, are glycosides of triterpenoid or steroidal aglycones. Their diverse biological activities are ascribed to their different structures. Saponins have long been recognized as key ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine. Accumulated evidence suggests that saponins have significant neuroprotective effects on attenuation of central nervous system disorders, such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease. However, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the observed effects remains incomplete. Based on recently reported data from basic and clinical studies, this review highlights the proposed mechanisms of their neuroprotective function including antioxidant, modulation of neurotransmitters, anti-apoptosis, anti-inflammation, attenuating Ca(2+) influx, modulating neurotrophic factors, inhibiting tau phosphorylation, and regeneration of neural networks.

Cytotoxic activity of the alkaloids from Broussonetia papyrifera fruits.

CONTEXT: Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) Vent. (Moraceae), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been extensively applied for many years to treat various diseases. Recently, a number of compounds with biological and pharmacological activities have been extracted from the plant and used as chemotherapeutic candidates to treat a range of diseases such as cancer. OBJECTIVE: The current study was designed to isolate the alkaloid compounds from ethyl acetate extraction of Broussonetia papyrifera fruits, and to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of total alkaloids as well as individual isoquinoline alkaloids from B. papyrifera fruits. METHODS: Alkaloid compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate extraction by silica gel column chromatography methods using CHCl3/MeOH as eluents. The compounds' structures were determined by detailed analysis of NMR, MS spectral data, and chemical methodology. Cytotoxic activity was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) methods against human A375, Hela, BEL-7402 cancer cells, and non-cancer cells. RESULTS: Two isoquinonline alkaloids were isolated and characterized as N-norchelerythrine and dihydrosanguinarine. The total alkaloids and seven individual alkaloids had higher activities on BEL-7402 and Hela cell lines with low IC50 values 6.61-47.41 and 5.97-40.17 µg/mL (<50 µg/mL). Nitidine, broussonpapyrine, and chelerythrine had strong toxic on non-cancer cells with IC50 value 18.01, 19.91, and 22.31 µg/mL, respectively. DISCUSSION: N-Norchelerythrine and dihydrosanguinarine were isolated from this plant for the first time. Our data implicated that seven isoquinoline alkaloids had cytotoxity with structure-activity relationships, which provided fundamental information for further modification of their anticancer effect.