Ancient Herbal Formula Mahuang Lianqiao Chixiaodou Decoction Protects Acute and Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure via Inhibiting von Willebrand Factor Signaling.

BACKGROUND: Acute liver failure (ALF) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) are characterized by systemic inflammation and high mortality, but there is no effective clinical treatment. As a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, MaHuang-LianQiao-ChiXiaoDou decoction (MHLQD) has been used clinically for centuries to treat liver diseases. METHODS: The LPS/D-GalN-induced ALF mice model and the CCl4+LPS/D-GalN-induced ACLF mice model were used to observe the therapeutic effects of MHLQD on mice mortality, hepatocytes death, liver injury, and immune responses. RESULTS: MHLQD treatment significantly improved mice mortality. Liver injury and systemic and hepatic immune responses were also ameliorated after MHLQD treatment. Mechanistically, proteomic changes in MHLQD-treated liver tissues were analyzed and the result showed that the thrombogenic von Willebrand factor (VWF) was significantly inhibited in MHLQD-treated ALF and ACLF models. Histological staining and western blotting confirmed that VWF/RAP1B/ITGB3 signaling was suppressed in MHLQD-treated ALF and ACLF models. Furthermore, mice treated with the VWF inhibitor ADAMTS13 showed a reduced therapeutic effect from MHLQD treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that MHLQD is an effective herbal formula for the treatment of ALF and ACLF, which might be attributed to the protection of hepatocytes from death via VWF/RAP1B/ITGB3 signaling.

Sandplay therapy could be a method to decrease disease activity and psychological stress in children with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: Although the prevalence rate of childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) is far lower than that of adults, cSLE has a high rate of organ involvement, rapid development and poor prognosis, which is more serious than that in adults. And studies have shown that a wide range of physiological, functional, nerve, and organ damage will have a great impact on the mental health of children. At present, there is no relevant psychological intervention research for cSLE in China. This paper aimed to explore the effect of Sandplay therapy on mental health and disease activity of children with cSLE. METHODS: Forty childrens with cSLE were randomly divided into control group (CG) and intervention group (IG); the CG were treated with glucocorticoid, immunosuppressant and other drugs, while the IG were treated with Sandplay therapy in addition to drug therapy, at the time of 0, 2, and 4 weeks after initial diagnosis, respectively. The questionnaire evaluation and related clinical indicators of the two groups were compared and analyzed (before psychotherapy intervention) at 0, 2, 4, and 12 weeks after initial diagnosis. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups in the evaluation of questionnaire and related clinical indicators at the time 0, 2 weeks after initial diagnosis respectively. At 12 weeks after the intervention, the score of Short version of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI-S) in the IG was significantly lower than that in the CG, the score of The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) scale in the IG was significantly lower than that in the CG, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 4.0) showed that the scores of social function, school performance, and emotional health of the IG were higher than those of the CG (p < 0.05), and the clinical indexes of the IG were better than those of the CG (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Sandplay therapy may help to slow down the occurrence and development of anxiety and depression and reduce disease activity in patients with cSLE.

Nitrate and phosphate supplementation to increase toxin production by the marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense.

Alexandrium tamarense toxins have great value in biotechnology research as well as important in connection with shellfish poisoning. The influence of nitrate or nitrate and phosphate supplementation on cell biomass and toxin content were investigated in batch cultures. When cultures at low nitrate (88.2 microM NaNO(3)) were supplemented with 793.8 microM NaNO(3) at day 10 the cell density and cellular toxin contents were increased by 6-29% and 20-76%, respectively, compared with controls, and maximal values were 43,600 cells/ml (day 38) and 0.91 pg/cell (day 31). Supplementation with nitrate at day 14 or with nitrate and phosphate at day 10/14 to the cultures did not increase the cell density compared with the non-supplemented middle nitrate or high phosphate (108 microM NaH(2)PO(4)) cultures, respectively, but increased the cellular toxin contents by an average of 52%. The results showed that supplementation with nitrate or with nitrate and phosphate at different growth phases of the cultures increased toxin yield by an average of 46%. Supplementation with nitrate at selected times to maintain continuous low level of nitrate might contribute to the effective increase of toxin yield of A. tamarense.

[Nitrogen and phosphorus absorption and growth characteristics of Alexandrium tamarense].

The uptake of nitrate and phosphate by Alexandrium tamarense and its growth characteristics were studied in laboratory cultures, which were conducted using environmentally realistic levels of physical factors during red tide occurrences. The results indicated that the specific growth rate had little difference under three nitrate levels (low-nitrate, 0.0882 mmol.L-1; middle-nitrate, 0.882 mmol.L-1; high-nitrate, 2.646 mmol.L-1). The cell yield was the lowest at low-nitrate, a maximum yield was achieved at the middle-nitrate, which increased by 44.7% and 53.6% respectively, compared with high-nitrate and low-nitrate. The cell yield increased with increasing phosphate concentrations in cultures (low-phosphate, 0.0036 mmol.L-1; middle-phosphate, 0.036 mmol.L-1; high-phosphate, 0.108 mmol.L-1), and the maximum yield (17200 cell.ml-1) was observed at high-phosphate concentration, while the maximum specific growth rate occurred at middle-phosphate. The growth conditions had a significant effect on the uptake rate of nitrate and phosphate by cells, and the cells grown in low-nitrate and low-phosphate cultures had a higher uptake rate. Further experiment suggested that lower ratio of N/P promoted the propagation of cells, and the supplementation of nitrate at later exponential growth phase had a positive effect to the accumulation of biomass.