Prenatal exposure to koumine results in cognitive deficits and increased anxiety-like behavior in mice offspring.

Koumine (KM) is a major alkaloid monomer in the traditional Chinese medicine herb Gelsemium elegans Benth that has exhibited therapeutic potential in clinical applications. However, the pharmacological toxicological mechanism of this drug has not been fully explored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impacts of KM administration at a therapeutic dose in offspring. On gestational day 0, mice were injected with KM once daily for 4 consecutive days. Male and female offspring were subjected to behavioral tests and neuropathological analyses from postnatal day 60. Prenatal KM exposure resulted in cognitive and memory impairments in the Morris water maze, Y-maze test, and novel object recognition test. The open field test and elevated plus maze test indicated that prenatal KM exposure induced anxiety-like behavior in offspring. Electrophysiological experiments demonstrated that KM exposure inhibited hippocampal long-term potentiation. Immunostaining for neurogenesis markers DCX and BrdU demonstrated that KM suppressed adult neurogenesis in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus. In addition, prenatal KM exposure induced a significant reduction in dendritic spine density in hippocampal neurons. Synaptic formation-related proteins were decreased in the KM group based on western blot. No sex differences in the effects of KM were observed. Collectively, our results indicate that prenatal KA exposure has detrimental neural effects on offspring. This study provides a preliminary preclinical toxicological assessment of the safety of KM use during pregnancy.

Benefits and harm of niacin and its analog for renal dialysis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Clinical trials have shown that niacin and its analog, niacinamide, significantly reduce serum phosphate in patients undergoing dialysis. This review aimed to assess the benefits and harm of niacin and niacinamide in renal dialysis patients. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched, without language limitation, randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Standard methods, consistent with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, were used. Reviewer Manager software, version 5.2, was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Five RCTs with a sample size of 230 patients were included. The meta-analysis showed that niacin and niacinamide significantly decreased serum phosphorus levels [weight mean difference (WMD) -0.88; 95 % confidence interval (CI) -1.19 to -0.57] as well as the calcium × phosphorus product (Ca × P) (WMD -9.15; 95 % CI -13.23 to -5.08), and increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels (WMD 9.30; 95 % CI 5.86-12.74) in renal dialysis patients. Niacin significantly increased the risk of flushing [relative risk (RR) 33; 95 % CI 4.71-232.12] in these patients, while the risk of thrombocytopenia was significantly increased in the niacinamide group (RR 2.82; 95 % CI 1.14-6.94). However, sensitivity analysis showed that our finding regarding thrombocytopenia should be regarded with a low degree of certainty. CONCLUSION: Niacin and its analog effectively improved phosphorus metabolism in renal dialysis patients. However, niacin can cause flushing and niacinamide probably cause thrombocytopenia. Further larger sample size and well-designed RCTs are needed.

[The Chinese medicine syndrome features of ulcerative colitis by using fluorescence intensity of auto fluorescence imaging].

OBJECTIVE: To study the Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome features of ulcerative colitis (UC) by using fluorescence intensity (the ratio of green to red, G/R ratio) of auto fluorescence imaging, thus providing objective evidences for the CM syndrome typing of UC. METHODS: Totally 49 patients were recruited. They were typed as Dachang damp-heat syndrome (19 cases), Pi-Wei qi deficiency syndrome (30 cases), and the healthy control group (21 cases) on the bases of mucosal morphology of white light endoscopy (WLE) and the G/R ratio of AFI. RESULTS: Compared with the healthy control group (1.227 +/- 0.137), the G/R ratio in Dachang damp-heat syndrome (0.915 +/- 0.114) and Pi-Wei qi deficiency syndrome (1.147 +/- 0.137) decreased with statistical difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Of them, it was lower in Dachang damp-heat syndrome group (P < 0.01). The case number was mainly dominated in moderate endoscopic index (EI) (11 cases) and severe EI (5 cases) in Dachang damp-heat syndrome group. The case number was mainly dominated in the remission phase (17 cases) and mild EI (7 cases) in Pi-Wei qi deficiency syndrome group. The G/R ratio of the remission phase was higher than that of the active phase (1.220 vs. 0.963, P < 0.01). There was statistical difference in the G/R ratio of the mild EI (1.044), the moderate EI (0.967), and the severe EI (0.830) (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The inflammation degree of Dachang damp-heat syndrome was more severe than that of Pi-Wei qi deficiency syndrome. AFI could better reflect the inflammation degree of UC.