A Qualitative Exploration of the Psychological Experience of Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19.

This qualitative study describes the psychological experience of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. These patients went through 3 psychological stages: extremely uncertainties during the initial diagnostic stage, complicated feelings of negativity during the treatment stage, and positive growth in the recovery stage. It is important for nurses to provide holistic care.

Patchouli alcohol protects against ischemia/reperfusion-induced brain injury via inhibiting neuroinflammation in normal and obese mice.

Almost all of the candidate drugs for ischemic stroke failed to be translated from bench to beside. One important reason is that animals used in experimental studies cannot mimic ischemic patients due to lack of comorbidities like hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Therefore, it is better to test candidate drugs not only in normal animals but also in animals with comorbidities. Patchouli alcohol (PA), a natural tricyclic sesquiterpene in the traditional Chinese herb Pogostemonisherba, is well recognized for its anti-inflammation function in various inflammatory diseases. And as inflammation plays a very important role in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury process and determines the ultimate brain damage, we hypothesized that PA could protect against cerebral I/R injury through its anti-inflammation ability. In this study, the effects of PA on cerebral I/R injury were evaluated in normal mice and obese mice. In normal mice with cerebral I/R injury, PA treatment reduced the infarct volume and neurological deficits in a dose- and time-dependent manner. PA treatment alleviated BBB dysfunction, inhibited mRNA and protein levels of TNF-α and IL-1ß and modulated the activation of MAPKs signaling pathways. Moreover, PA also reduced infarct volume, alleviated the BBB dysfunction and inhibited inflammation in ob/ob mice with cerebral I/R injury. In conclusion, we demonstrated for the first time that PA could protect against cerebral I/R injury not only in normal mice but also in obese mice via inhibiting inflammation, suggesting that PA can be a potential drug for clinical treatment of ischemic stroke.

Ursodeoxycholic acid induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma xenografts in mice.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) as a chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: BALB/c nude mice were randomized into four groups 24 h before subcutaneous injection of hepatocarcinoma BEL7402 cells suspended in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) into the right flank. The control group (n = 10) was fed a standard diet while treatment groups (n = 10 each) were fed a standard daily diet supplemented with different concentrations of UDCA (30, 50 and 70 mg/kg per day) for 21 d. Tumor growth was measured once each week, and tumor volume (V) was calculated with the following equation: V = (L × W(2)) × 0.52, where L is the length and W is the width of the xenograft. After 21 d, mice were killed under ether anesthesia, and tumors were excised and weighed. Apoptosis was evaluated through detection of DNA fragmentation with gel electrophoresis and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Western blot analysis was performed to determine the expression of apoptosis-related proteins BAX, BCL2, APAF1, cleaved caspase-9, and cleaved caspase-3. RESULTS: UDCA suppressed tumor growth relative to controls. The mean tumor volumes were the following: control, 1090 ± 89 mm(3); 30 mg/kg per day, 612 ± 46 mm(3); 50 mg/kg per day, 563 ± 38 mm(3); and 70 mg/kg per day, 221 ± 26 mm(3). Decreased tumor volumes reached statistical significance relative to control xenografts (30 mg/kg per day, P < 0.05; 50 mg/kg per day, P < 0.05; 70 mg/kg per day, P < 0.01). Increasing concentrations of UDCA led to increased DNA fragmentation observed on gel electrophoresis and in the TUNEL assay (control, 1.6% ± 0.3%; 30 mg/kg per day, 2.9% ± 0.5%; 50 mg/kg per day, 3.15% ± 0.7%, and 70 mg/kg per day, 4.86% ± 0.9%). Western blot analysis revealed increased expression of BAX, APAF1, cleaved-caspase-9 and cleaved-caspase-3 proteins, which induce apoptosis, but decreased expression of BCL2 protein, which is an inhibitor of apoptosis, following administration of UDCA. CONCLUSION: UDCA suppresses growth of BEL7402 hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vivo, in part through apoptosis induction, and is thus a candidate for therapeutic treatment of HCC.

Clinical observation on therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture at Sanyinjiao (SP 6) on peri-menopausal syndrome / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To objectively evaluate the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) at Sanyinjiao (SP 6) for treatment of peri-menopausal syndrome.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>All the patients enrolled were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group were treated with EA at Sanyinjiao (SP 6) for 3 therapeutic courses, thrice each week, 30 min each time, one month constituting one course. The control group were treated with oral administration of nylestriol for 3 months, 2 mg each time, twice each month. For the menopausal patient, medroxyprogesterone was added from the third month of the treatment for 7 days, 6 mg each day. Changes of vasomotorial symptoms, mental symptoms and scores of Kupperman indexes before and after treatment for 1 month, 2 months and 3 months were investigated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>EA could significantly decrease the score of Kupperman indexes, improve vasomotorial symptoms and mental symptoms in the patient of peri-menopausal syndrome with no severe adverse effects. The control group in the score of Kupperman indexes was slightly higher than the treatment group with no significant difference between the two groups, but the treatment group in improvement of the vasomotorial symptoms was better than the control group and in improvement of mental symptoms was not as good as the control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>EA at Sanyinjiao (SP 6) is effective and safe for treatment of peri-menopausal syndrome.</p>