Efficacy and safety of total glucosides of paeony in the treatment of recurrent aphthous ulcers: a single-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Introduction: There has been a lack of treatments available to lower the frequency of recurrent aphthous ulcers (RAUs) until now. Total glucosides of paeony (TGP) is a botanical drug extracted from the dried roots of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. [Ranunculaceae; Paeoniae Radix Alba]. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TGP in the treatment of RAU. Methods: This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900025623). Patients were randomly assigned to the TGP or placebo group and treated with 1.8 g/day for 24 weeks. Participants were observed for a total of 36 weeks and were asked to record ulcer severity, medication, and adverse reactions in the form of diaries or apps every day. The primary outcome was the monthly ulcer-free interval. Results: A total of 79 individuals were enrolled, with 40 assigned to the TGP group and 39 to the placebo group. The dropout rate was 18.18%. In the TGP group, the monthly ulcer-free interval was significantly longer than baseline (median, 9.6 days) since weeks 13-24 (median, 18.5 days) (p < 0.05), and after discontinuation, it was further prolonged (median, 24.7 days) than in weeks 13-24 (p < 0.05). In addition, the monthly ulcer-free interval was longer in the TGP group than in the placebo group (median, 15.9 days) at weeks 25-36 (p < 0.001). There were better improvements in the monthly number of ulcers and monthly area of ulcers, and visual analog scoring in the TGP group at weeks 25-36 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: TGP had a good long-term therapeutic effect on RAU with frequent occurrence. Systematic Review Registration: www.chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR1900025623.

Nanoparticle-Hydrogel Systems Containing Platensimycin for Local Treatment of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection.

Skin and soft tissue infections require effective and sustained topical administration. Platensimycin (PTM) is a natural drug lead that targets bacterial fatty acid synthases and has a great potential to treat infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). To facilitate the use of PTM against local MRSA infections, we prepared polyacrylamide hydrogels containing polyamidoamine (PAMAM)/PTM nanoparticles (NP-gel(PTM)) for the controlled release of PTM. NP-gel(PTM) can continuously inhibit the growth of MRSA and its biofilm formation in simulated drug flow models in vitro. In situ implantation of NP-gel(PTM) could treat MRSA-infected subcutaneous soft tissues without toxicity. For MRSA-infected skin wounds, NP-gel(PTM) not only showed strong anti-MRSA activity but also accelerated more wound healing than the widely used antibiotic mupirocin. Collectively, PTM is expected to be used in this safe and effective NP-gel delivery platform for the treatment of local infections, which might help to alleviate the current antibiotic resistance crisis.

Modulation of functional activity and connectivity by acupuncture in patients with Alzheimer disease as measured by resting-state fMRI.

Acupuncture has been used in the therapy of Alzheimer disease (AD); however, its neural mechanisms are still unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of acupuncture on the functional connectivity in AD by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Twenty-eight subjects (14 AD and 14 normal controls) participated in this study. The rs-fMRI data were acquired before and after acupuncture stimulation at the acupoints of Tai chong (Liv3) and Hegu (LI4). During the baseline resting state, by using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), we found a significantly decreased or increased ALFF in the AD patients relative to the controls. These regions were located in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), left postcentral gyrus, subgenual cingulate cortex (SCC), right middle cingulate cortex (MCC), right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right hippocampus and the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG). Then, we selected these brain regions as seeds to investigate whether regional activity and functional connectivity could be modulated by acupuncture in the AD patients. When compared to the pre-acupuncture stage, several of the above regions showed an increased or decreased ALFF after acupuncture in the AD patients. In addition, the functional connectivity between the hippocampus and the precentral gyrus showed enhancement after acupuncture in the AD patients. Finally, there were close correlations between the functional activity, connectivity and clinical performance in the AD patients. The current study confirmed that acupuncture at Tai chong (Liv3) and He gu (LI4) can modulate functional activity and connectivity of specific cognition-related regions in AD patients.

A Comprehensive Quality Evaluation System for Complex Herbal Medicine Using PacBio Sequencing, PCR-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis, and Several Chemical Approaches.

Herbal medicine is a major component of complementary and alternative medicine, contributing significantly to the health of many people and communities. Quality control of herbal medicine is crucial to ensure that it is safe and sound for use. Here, we investigated a comprehensive quality evaluation system for a classic herbal medicine, Danggui Buxue Formula, by applying genetic-based and analytical chemistry approaches to authenticate and evaluate the quality of its samples. For authenticity, we successfully applied two novel technologies, third-generation sequencing and PCR-DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis), to analyze the ingredient composition of the tested samples. For quality evaluation, we used high performance liquid chromatography assays to determine the content of chemical markers to help estimate the dosage relationship between its two raw materials, plant roots of Huangqi and Danggui. A series of surveys were then conducted against several exogenous contaminations, aiming to further access the efficacy and safety of the samples. In conclusion, the quality evaluation system demonstrated here can potentially address the authenticity, quality, and safety of herbal medicines, thus providing novel insight for enhancing their overall quality control. Highlight: We established a comprehensive quality evaluation system for herbal medicine, by combining two genetic-based approaches third-generation sequencing and DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) with analytical chemistry approaches to achieve the authentication and quality connotation of the samples.

1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 up-regulates IL-34 expression in SH-SY5Y neural cells.

Vitamin D supplementation is regarded as a novel approach to treat Alzheimer's disease, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. The cytokine IL-34 provides strong neuroprotective and survival signals in brain injury and neurodegeneration and could be an immunological mediator for the vitamin D-induced protection. The aim of this study was to investigate whether human IL-34 is up-regulated in neuronal cells by the hormonally active form of vitamin D, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1α,25(OH)2D3]. We found that IL-34 was detectable in a variety of cell lines and its expression was strongly induced in SH-SY5Y neural cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner by 1α,25(OH)2D3 through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). Furthermore, we identified the core promoter of IL-34 gene and a VDR binding site (CGCCCT) that was required for 1α,25(OH)2D3-induced IL-34 expression. These findings suggest that the induction of IL-34 expression by 1α,25(OH)2D3 may constitute a mechanism that explains the protective function of vitamin D in Alzheimer's disease.

Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Volatile Components of Zhengtian Pills Using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry and Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography.

Zhengtian pills (ZTPs) are traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) which have been commonly used to treat headaches. Volatile components of ZTPs extracted by ethyl acetate with an ultrasonic method were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Twenty-two components were identified, accounting for 78.884% of the total components of volatile oil. The three main volatile components including protocatechuic acid, ferulic acid, and ligustilide were simultaneously determined using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (UHPLC-DAD). Baseline separation was achieved on an XB-C18 column with linear gradient elution of methanol-0.2% acetic acid aqueous solution. The UHPLC-DAD method provided good linearity (R (2) ≥ 0.9992), precision (RSD < 3%), accuracy (100.68-102.69%), and robustness. The UHPLC-DAD/GC-MS method was successfully utilized to analyze volatile components, protocatechuic acid, ferulic acid, and ligustilide, in 13 batches of ZTPs, which is suitable for discrimination and quality assessment of ZTPs.