Discussion on common problems after introducing "reduction factor" into different working hour systems in occupational exposure assessment in GBZ 2.1—2019 / 环境与职业医学

Occupational exposure limits for hazardous agents in the workplace—Part 1: Chemical hazardous agents (GBZ 2.1—2019) has been implemented since April 1, 2020. The document redefines the evaluation of occupational exposure by introducing a "reduction factor" to adjust the occupational exposure limits of chemical hazardous agents for long working hour systems to ensure a protection level reasonable for the workers and equivalent to conventional occupational exposure limits. This paper discussed common problems encountered in the context of using this adjustment strategy, such as the adjustment being unable to cover all working hours, and the adjustment of values of terms associated with occupational exposure limits. Corresponding solutions were proposed. Working cycle and average exposure time of each working cycle were introduced to evaluate the actual working hours of workers. Regarding involved terms, adjustments of their corresponding values were clarified according to their definitions and application scenarios. Examples were provided for occupational health service providers so that their occupational health practices could be carried out in a more scientific and reasonable manner.

Clinical observation of Qiliqiangxin capsule combined with recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide in patients with acute heart failure / 中华内科杂志

Objective: To observe the clinical effect of Qiliqiangxin capsule combined with recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide in acute left heart failure patients 7 days after onset as well as the effects of plasma MDA and ET-1. Methods: In total, 240 hospitalized patients with acute left heart failure from October 2017 to May 2021 were selected from the Department of Emergency and Critical Care Center of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University and the Department of Cardiology of the Jilin Provincial People's Hospital. They were randomly divided into routine treatment group and combined treatment group, with 120 cases in each group. The routine treatment group was treated with vasodilation, diuresis, cardiotonic and recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide. The combined treatment group was treated with Qiliqiangxin capsules based on the routine treatment group. One week later, the changes in clinical efficacy, ejection fraction, left ventricular commoid diameter, and plasma BNP, MDA, and ET-1 were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. SPSS 11.5 statistical software was used. The measurement data was expressed in x¯±s, the independent sample t-test was used for comparison between groups, and the paired t-test was used for comparison before and after treatment within groups. Counting data was expressed as case (%), and the rank sum test was used for inter-group comparison. Result: In terms of clinical efficacy, the total effective rate of the combined treatment group was significantly higher than that of the conventional treatment group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Compared with the routine treatment group, the left ventricular ejection fraction in the combined treatment group was significantly increased (P<0.05). The levels of plasma BNP, MDA and ET-1 were significantly decreased (P<0.05). Conclusion: Qiliqiangxin capsule combined with rhBNP treatment can effectively improve the clinical symptoms of acute heart failure, as well as reduce the lipid peroxidation product MDA content and endothetin ET-1 level in blood. The clinical application value of the Qiliqiangxin capsule needs to be further confirmed by further trials.

Anemia on the prognosis of elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome: a meta-analysis / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective:To examine the effect of anemia on the prognosis of elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome.Methods:We searched PubMed, Scopus, OVID, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biology Medicine Disc, the WanFang and Weipu databases for studies on the association between anemia and the prognosis of acute coronary syndrome in elderly patients.The date range included the period from the establishment of the database to December 10, 2022.Two reviewers independently completed the literature screening and data extraction according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the literature.Stata 16.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results:Of 1 399 references retrieved from the initial search, 13 met the inclusion criteria, including a total of 9540 patients with a mean age of 70.3 years.2872 of these patients had concurrent anemia and 6 668 patients had no anemia.In elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome, those with anemia showed significantly increased risk of death, compared with those with no anemia( RR=2.28, 95% CI: 1.74-3.00). Anemia also increased the incidence of ischemia( RR=1.36, 95% CI: 1.13-1.64)and bleeding events( RR=2.18, 95% CI: 1.59-3.01)( P<0.05 for all). Conclusions:Anemia significantly increases the risk of death and is associated with poor prognosis in elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Feasibility study of integrating medical Linac with electromagnet to measure magnetic factor of reference dosimetry for MRIgRT / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective:To study the influence of intensive magnet fields on radiation dose measurement, and to demonstrate the feasibility of measuring magnet field correction factor by a combination of medical linac with variable magnet fields in view of needing for accurate measurement of the doses from reference beam arising in MR image-guided radiotherapy.Methods:A photon radiation field and a variable field with 6 MV nominal high voltage were produced by using conventional medical electron linear accelerator equipped with a pair of electromagnets with magnetic field strength up to 1.5 T. Both PTW30013 and PTW31010 ionization chambers were used to test the responses of ionization chambers under different magnetic field strengths at four orientations in which the angles between ionization chamber axis and magnetic field direction were 0°, 180°, 90° and 270°, respectively. The magnetic factors, kB, M was calculated and compared with the reported values in literature. Results:The response of ionization chamber was proportional to the magnetic field strength before it reached to a peak around 1 T, and then fell down as the magnetic field continued to rise. When the magnetic field was 0.35 T, the magnetic factors of PTW31010 were 0.988 2±0.000 3 and 0.997 4±0.000 4 corresponding to 90° and 0° directions, the discrepancy between 0° scenario and literature was 0.05% ± 0.04%. When the magnetic field reached 1.5 T, the magnetic factor of PTW30013 was 0.958 9±0.000 5 at the situation of 90°, which was 0.60% ± 0.05% different from the literature value.Conclusions:Conventional 6 MV medical accelerator equipped with electromagnet can be used to measure the magnetic field factor of reference dosimetry for MRIgRT.

Research progress on effects of high altitude hypoxia environment on antiepileptic drugs / 中国药理学通报

Hie high altitude hypoxic environment affects the pharmacokinetic process of rlnjgs by changing the body's gastrointestinal emptying rate, organ blood flow, drug plasma protein binding rate, dnjg metabolizing enzymes and transporter expression.Epilepsy is a brain disease that requires long-term medication.Most anti-epileptic drugs have a low therapeutic index and a narrow range of effective blood drug concentrations.'Ilierapeu- tic dnjg monitoring (TDM) is commonly used clinically to find the best individualized medication method for antiepileptic dnjgs.rI1iis article summarizes the commonly used anti-epileptic dnjgs and their treatment windows in clinical practice, and analyzes the influence of the pharmacokinetics of anti-epileptic dnjgs in the high altitude hypoxic environment, so as to provide reference for the clinical use of anti-epileptic drugs at high altitude.

Research progress on the exposure pathway and toxic effect of microplastics / 中国职业医学

Global plastics production has been increasing year by year. Due to the large quantity of plastics and the difficulty of their degradation, plastics are continuously accumulated in the environment. Therefore, plastic waste has become one of the most serious threats to the global environment. Microplastics can be absorbed into organisms through the mouth, respiratory tract and skin, causing organ(intestine, liver) toxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, and neurotoxicity. Moreover, microplastics can also take up other pollutants distributed in the surrounding environment, such as heavy metals and organic pollutants, jointly exerting combined toxic effects. The extracts of microplastics, including microplastics unstable polymers and additives, also have toxic effects. The molecular mechanisms involved in the toxic effects induced by microplastics include oxidative stress, inflammation, disturbance of intestinal flora, disturbance of gene expression, and others.

Analysis on exercise capacity of patients with pneumoconiosis and different degrees of pulmonary dysfunction / 中国职业医学

OBJECTIVE: To explore the exercise capacity of patients with occupational pneumoconiosis with varying degrees of pulmonary dysfunction. METHODS: A total of 488 hospitalized occupational pneumoconiosis patients were selected as study subjects using the judgment sampling method and examined for pulmonary function test and cardiopulmonary exercise test(CPET). Among them, 272 patients with normal lung function were assigned as the control group, and 216 patients with abnormal lung function as the case group. The case group was divided into mild, moderate and severe pulmonary dysfunction subgroups according to the forced expiratory volume in one second/predicted value ratio(FEV_1%pred).RESULTS: The FEV_1%pred, maximal voluntary ventilation(MVV), maximum exercise tidal volume(VT_(max)), breathing reserve(BR), maximal Watt(W_(max)), maximum oxygen uptake(VO_(2max)) and anaerobic threshold(AT) in patients of the case group were lower than that in the control group(all P<0.05). The FEV_1%pred, MVV, VT_(max), W_(max), and VO_(2max) in patients in the 3 subgroups of abnormal lung function were decreased(all P<0.05) compared with the control group. The VO_(2max) and AT decreased in the case group with the increase of the degree of pulmonary dysfunction(P<0.05). The FEV1%pred, MVV, maximal exercise minute ventilation and VT_(max) of the study subjects were positively correlated with VO_(2max) and AT(all P<0.01), but the BR had no correlation with VO_(2max) and AT(all P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The more serious the abnormal degree of pulmonary function in the patients with occupational pneumoconiosis, the more obvious the decline of their exercise ability, showing a dose-effect relationship.

The effect of acute hypobaric hypoxia on bile acid composition in the small intestine of rats / 药学学报

In order to clarify the influence of acute hypobaric hypoxia on the bile acids of the rat small intestine, we used ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) to identify bile acids in the contents of the small intestine from untreated and acute hypobaric hypoxia-treated rats. Thirty-nine bile acids were detected; PCA and OPLS-DA analysis revealed marked differences in the composition of bile acids between the untreated and the acute hypobaric hypoxia groups. Bile acids were screened with VIP > 1, |log2FC| ≥ 1, P < 0.05, and a total of 7 bile acids with significant differences in content between the two groups were obtained, including 5 conjugated bile acids, 2 unconjugated bile acids; in addition, the content of conjugated bile acids has risen in the treated group. This study demonstrated the influence of high-altitude hypoxic environment on bile acid composition and metabolism in rats. All the animal experiments in this study were approved by the 940th Hospital Ethics Committee (approval No: 2020KYLL012).

Sanhua Decoction, a Classic Herbal Prescription, Exerts Neuroprotection Through Regulating Phosphorylated Tau Level and Promoting Adult Endogenous Neurogenesis After Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury.

Background: Ischemia stroke is the leading cause of death and long-term disability. Sanhua Decoction (SHD), a classic Chinese herbal prescription, has been used for ischemic stroke for about thousands of years. Here, we aim to investigate the neuroprotective effects of SHD on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (CIR) injury rat models. Methods: The male Sprague-Dawley rats (body weight, 250-280 g; age, 7-8 weeks) were randomly divided into sham group, CIR group, and SHD group and were further divided into subgroups according to different time points at 6 h, 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 d, respectively. The SHD group received intragastric administration of SHD at 10 g kg-1 d-1. The focal CIR models were induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion according to Longa's method, while sham group had the same operation without suture insertion. Neurological deficit score (NDS) was evaluated using the Longa's scale. BrdU, doublecortin (DCX), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were used to label proliferation, migration, and differentiation of nerve cells before being observed by immunofluorescence. The expression of reelin, total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) were evaluated by western blot and RT-qPCR. Results: SHD can significantly improve NDS at 1, 3, 7, and 14 d (p < 0.05), increase the number of BrdU positive and BrdU/DCX positive cells in subventricular zone at 3, 7, and 14 d (p < 0.05), upregulate BrdU/GFAP positive cells in the ischemic penumbra at 28 d after CIR (p < 0.05), and reduce p-tau level at 1, 3, 7, and 14 d (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference on reelin and t-tau level between three groups at each time points after CIR. Conclusions: SHD exerts neuroprotection probably by regulating p-tau level and promoting the proliferation, migration, and differentiation of endogenous neural stem cells, accompanying with neurobehavioral recovery.

Effects of different treatment strategies on clinical outcomes in coronary heart disease patients aged over 75 years with coronary fractional flow reserve in the grey zone / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective:To study the effects of conservative treatment versus percutaneous interventional treatment(PCI)on symptoms and prognosis of chronic coronary syndrome patients aged over 75 years with fractional flow reserve(FFR)in the grey zone(0.75≤FFR≤0.80).Methods:A total of 96 coronary heart disease(CHD)patients aged over 75 years undergone FFR examination in our hospital from January 2011 to December 2017 were retrospectively selected.All patients showed stenosis of 50%-90% in at least one main coronary artery and had FFR values within the range of 0.75-0.80(0.75≤FFR≤0.80). According to the treatment, patients were divided into the optimized medication group(OMT group, n=35)and the PCI group(n=61). The degree of angina alleviation assessed by the Seattle Angina Questionnaire(SAQ)and the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular endpoints(death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and repeated revascularization)were recorded during the one-year follow-up after treatment.Results:There was no significant difference in baseline data including age, gender and comorbidities between the OMT and PCI groups( P>0.05). The incidence of previous myocardial infarction, and the basal level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)were higher in the PCI group than in the OMT group( P<0.05). One-year follow-up showed that there was no significant difference between the OMT and PCI groups in the score of SAQ(77.6 ± 19.5 vs. 83.1 ± 22.8, P>0.05)and the incidence of composite MACEs(11.4% or 4 / 35 vs. 9.8% or 6/61, P>0.05). However, the incidence of repeated target vessel revascularization was lower in the PCI group than in the OMT group(1.6% or 1 case vs. 5.8% or 2 cases, P<0.05). Conclusions:In elderly CHD patients aged over 75 years with FFR values between 0.75-0.8 in the grey zone, optimal medication treatment has similar effects as the PCI on symptom alleviation, and no significant increase in composite MACEs is found at one-year follow-up.

Plasma protein products for the treatment of rare diseases / 国际药学研究杂志

Plasma protein products are also called blood products. At present, more than 30 kinds of blood prod-ucts have been issued worldwide. Because of their particular source of raw materials as well as the safety, reliability and irreplaceability in the treatment of some diseases, many blood products are in short supply in the market. Rare diseases are usually caused by genetic deficiency, autoimmunity, allergy and so on, which imposes a huge burden on patients and their families. Orphan drugs generally include the products of diagnostic reagents, vaccines, medicines and medical devices used for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases and rare conditions. Since the adoption of the Orphan Drug Act(ODA)in the United States in 1983, many countries or regions have passed the relevant laws aiming to encourage enterprises to develop orphan drugs by means of the research funding, tax relief, priority approval and market monopoly. The pass of ODA has greatly promoted the development of related blood product enterprises. This paper sum-marizes the plasma protein products approved by the pharmaceutical regulatory departments of the United States, the Eu-ropean Union, Japan and Australia as orphans, including four categories and 18 varieties, accounting for 56% of all plas-ma protein products in the world. At present, China has not yet enacted legislation to define rare diseases and orphan drugs, which has restricted to a certain extent the development of domestic blood product enterprises. The policy divi-dends from ODA will help the development of domestic blood product enterprises and narrow the gap between the domes-tic enterprises and the international blood product giants.

Efficacy of arthroscopy combined with fibular osteotomy in treatment of medial knee osteoarthritis / 局解手术学杂志

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of arthroscopy and fibula osteotomy in the treatment of medial knee osteoarthritis.Methods Thirty-six patients with medial knee osteoarthritis treated in our hospital from September 2014 to September 2016 were divided into two groups according to the acceptable surgical protocol.The control group was treated by fibula osteotomy,and the observation group received arthroscopy combined with fibula osteotomy.The clinical signs and symptoms,VAS and ISOA scores were evaluated and compared between the two groups.Results The control group of 18 cases,clinical recovery in 0 cases,markedly effective in 7 cases,effective in 8 cases,3 cases with no effect,the effective rate was 38.9％;observation group of 18 cases,3 cases clinically cured,effective in 10 cases,effective in 5 cases,the effective rate was 72.2％.The effective rate of observation group was better than that of the control group,the difference was signicant (P ＜ 0.05).VAS and ISOA in both groups were significantly improved after operation,the difference was signicant (P ＜ 0.05);VAS improvement in observation group was better than that in control group,the difference was signicant(P ＜ 0.05),ISOA score in observation group was significantly better than that in control group,the difference was signicant(P ＜0.01).The clinical signs and symptoms(pain and numbness,walking,living and working abilities,tenderness,straight leg raising test,knee and Achilles reflex,total score) in two groups were improved respectively compared with those before treatment,and the differences were statistically significant(P ＜ 0.05).The pain and numbness,walking,tenderness,straight leg raising test and total score in the observation group were significantly different from those in the control group(P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The arthroscopy and fibula osteotomy is safe and feasible to treat patients of medial knee osteoarthritis with less traumatic,more effective and better functional recovery.

Low-Dose Unfractionated Heparin with Sequential Enoxaparin in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus and Complex Coronary Artery Disease during Elective Percutaneous Coronary Intervention / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>Background</b>Despite its limitations, unfractionated heparin (UFH) has been the standard anticoagulant used during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study compared the safety of low-dose UFH with sequential enoxaparin with that of UFH in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and complex coronary artery disease receiving elective PCI.</p><p><b>Methods</b>In this retrospective study, 514 consecutive patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases and type 2 DM were admitted to the hospital and received selective PCI, from January 2013 to December 2015. All patients with PCI received low-dose UFH with enoxaparin (intraductal 50 U/kg UFH and 0.75 mg/kg enoxaparin, n = 254; UFH-Enox group) or UFH only (intraductal 100 U/kg UFH, n = 260; UFH group). The study endpoints were major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), namely death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, target-vessel immediate revascularization (TVR), and thrombolysis in MI (TIMI) major bleeding, within 30 days and 1 year after PCI. Any catheter thrombosis during the procedure was recorded.</p><p><b>Results</b>Only one patient had an intraductal thrombus in the UFH group. At the 30-day follow-up, no MACE occurred in any group; seven and five cases of recurrent angina and/or rehospitalization were reported in the UFH-Enox and UFH groups, respectively; there was no significant difference between the two groups (χ = 0.11, P = 0.77). There was no TIMI major bleeding in the groups. With respect to the 1-year endpoint, two cases of recurrent MI and two of TVRs were reported in the UFH-Enox group, whereas in the UFH group, one case of recurrent MI and three of TVRs were reported; no significant difference existed between the two groups (χ = 0, P = 0.99). There were 30 and 25 recurrent angina and/or rehospitalizations in the UFH-Enox and UFH groups, respectively; there was no significant difference between the two groups (χ = 0.37, P = 0.57).</p><p><b>Conclusion</b>In elective PCI, low-dose UFH with sequential enoxaparin has similar effects and safety to the UFH-only method.</p>

Treatment of Recalcitrant Plantar Warts with 5-aminolevulinic Acid Photodynamic Therapy(ALA-PDT)after Preconditioning with Superpulse Carbon Dioxide Laser / 中山大学学报(医学科学版)

[Objective]To investigate the efficacy and safety of ALA-PDT following CO2laser preconditioning for recal-citrant plantar warts.[Methods]Patients with recalcitrant plantar warts were enrolled in this study,and received ALA-PDT treatment following CO2laser preconditioning. Cure rate and side effects were observed.[Results]Twenty patients were en-rolled and 85%(17/20)showed complete clearance of plantar warts after one to three times of ALA-PDT. PDT treatment time was once in two patients(10%),twice in five patients(25%)while three times in 10 patients(50%).No infection or scar tissue was observed.Five(25%)patients were infected with one type of HPV,while 15(75%)patients with two or mul-tiple types of HPV. No difference was observed in complete clearance rate between patients with single or multiple HPV gen-otypes infection.[Conclusions]Superpulse carbon dioxide laser pretreatment enhanced the efficacy of ALA-PDT treatment on recalcitrant plantar warts.Further study is needed to determine the association of HPV genotype with outcome of recalci-trant plantar warts.

The relationship between fragmented QRS complexes and severity of coronary artery lesion in elder patients with complex coronary artery lesions / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective To investigate the relationship between fragmented QRS (fQRS) complexes and the severity of coronary artery lesions in elder patients with complex coronary artery lesions.Methods Two-hundred and one elder patients with complex coronary lesions undergone coronary angiography in Beijing Anzhen Hospital from January 2013 to July 2016 were enrolled.Based on the coronary lesions,patients were divided into the complex coronary lesions group and the simple coronary lesions group.The clinical features and coronary scores were compared between groups.Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors of complex coronary lesions.Results Compared with simple coronary lesions group,the complex coronary lesions group was associated with higher rate of fQRS (31.3％ vs.17.2％,x2 =9.68,P＜0.01),more number of fQRS leads [(1.0±1.5) vs.(0.5±0.8),t=-4.04,P＜0.01],longer duration of QRS [(87.2±10.7) ms vs.(84.1±8.9) ms,t=-3.09,P＜0.01].Moreover,patients with fQRS had a lower level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) [M(Q25,Q75),0.9 (0.8,1.1) mmol/L vs.1.0 (0.9,1.2) mmol/L,t=-2.84,P＜0.01] and a higher Gensini score [40 (8-76) vs.22 (16-2),t=8.63,P＜0.01] compared with those without fQRS.Furthermore,Logistic regression analysis showed that HDL C (OR=0.346,95％CI:0.163 0.674,P＜0.05),fQRS (OR=2.215,95％ CI:1.381-3.725,P＜0.05) and the number of fQRS leads (OR=4.613,95％ CI:2.412-9.578,P＜0.05) were independent risk factors for patients with high Gensini score,and there was a positive correlation between fQRS and Gensini scores (=0.624,P＜0.01).Conclusions fQRS might be a noninvasive indicator of severity of coronary artery lesions for elder patients with complex coronary lesions.

Therapeutic Observation of ZHENG's Hot-tonifying Needling for Stomachache Due to Deficient Cold in Spleen-stomach / 上海针灸杂志

Objective To discuss the clinical efficacy of hot-tonifying needling in treating stomachache due to deficient cold in spleen-stomach.Method Forty patients with stomachache due to deficient cold in spleen-stomach were divided into a treatment group and a control group by using random number table method according to registration order, 20 cases in each group. The control group was intervened by twisting tonifying method, while the treatment group was intervened by hot tonifying needling method. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was observed before and after the treatment, and the clinical efficacies were compared.Result The VAS scores were significantly changed after the treatment in both groups (P<0.05); there was a significant difference in comparing the VAS score between the two groups after the treatment (P<0.05); the difference in the change of VAS score between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 95.0％ in the treatment group, versus 60.0％ in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05), and there were significant differences in comparing the clinical efficacy and relapse rate between the two groups (P<0.05).Conclusion Hot-tonifying needling is effective in treating stomachache due to deficient cold in spleen-stomach, with less adverse effects and lower relapse rate.

Therapeutic Observation of ZHENG's Hot-tonifying Needling for Stomachache Due to Deficient Cold in Spleen-stomach / 上海针灸杂志

Objective To discuss the clinical efficacy of hot-tonifying needling in treating stomachache due to deficient cold in spleen-stomach.Method Forty patients with stomachache due to deficient cold in spleen-stomach were divided into a treatment group and a control group by using random number table method according to registration order, 20 cases in each group. The control group was intervened by twisting tonifying method, while the treatment group was intervened by hot tonifying needling method. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was observed before and after the treatment, and the clinical efficacies were compared.Result The VAS scores were significantly changed after the treatment in both groups (P<0.05); there was a significant difference in comparing the VAS score between the two groups after the treatment (P<0.05); the difference in the change of VAS score between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 95.0％ in the treatment group, versus 60.0％ in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05), and there were significant differences in comparing the clinical efficacy and relapse rate between the two groups (P<0.05).Conclusion Hot-tonifying needling is effective in treating stomachache due to deficient cold in spleen-stomach, with less adverse effects and lower relapse rate.

The efficiency of Ivabradine therapy in heart failure in elderly patients / 中华老年医学杂志

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of administering Ivabradine in the elder patients with chronic heart failure(HF).Methods Totally 52 outpatients with chronic stable HF in Fuwai Hospital and Anzhen Hospital from August 2015 to February 2016,with heart rates (HR)of ＞70 bpmafter optimized medical therapy were selected and administrated Ivabradine for 3 months(Ivabradine group).50 patients who received optimized medical therapy except Ivabradine for economic or other reasons were recruited as control group during the same period.Initial dose of Ivabradine was 2.5 mg two times a day,up to a maximum of 7.5 mg two times a day,adjusting the dose according to HR.Resting HR of the patients was maintained around 60 beats/min and not lower than 55 beats/min.HR,N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP),6-minute walk distance,Minnesota heart failure quality of life(MLHFQ),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) and adverse effects were recorded.Results At baseline,no significant differences were found in HR,NT-proBNP,the scores of MLHFQ,6-minute walk distance (all P＞ 0.05) between Ivabradine group and control group.After 3 months of treatment,compared with control group,Ivabradine group showed significantly decreased levels of HR,the scores of MLHFQ and NT-proBNP(allP＜0.01),and significantly increased 6-minute walk distance and LVEF(all P＜0.01).Compared with baseline data,Ivabradine treatment showed the decreased levels of HR [(69.5 ± 10.2)bpm vs.(80.2 ± 7.8)bpm,P＜0.05],the scores of MLHFQ [(14.9±4.3)scores vs.(23.5±6.2)scores(P＜0.05)]and NT-proBNP [1 682 ng/L (212-3 628) vs.2 450 (254-5 344) ng/L,P ＜ 0.05] significantly,and showed the significantly increased levels of 6-minute walk distance [(386.4 ± 101.8)m vs.(282.9 ± 86.3)m,P＜ 0.05]and LVEF [(40.0±6.0)％vs.(31.0±7.0)％ (P＜0.05)].Few adverse effects were recorded.Conclusions In elderly outpatients with stable HF,Ivabradine treatment is effective and safe.

Bioactive components of Chinese herbal medicine enhance endogenous neurogenesis in animal models of ischemic stroke: A systematic analysis.

BACKGROUND: Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used to treat stroke for thousands of years. The objective of the study is to assess the current evidence for bioactive components of CHM as neurogenesis agent in animal models of ischemic stroke. METHODS: We searched PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Database, and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals published from the inception up to November 2015. The primary measured outcome was one of neurogenesis biomarker, including Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), Nestin, doublecortin (DCX), polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). RESULTS: Thirty eligible studies were identified. The score of quality assessment ranged from 2 of 10 to 7 of 10. Compared with controls, 10 studies conducting neurobehavioral evaluation showed significant effects on bioactive components of CHM for improving neurological deficits score after ischemic insults (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05); 6 studies in Morris water-maze test showed bioactive components of CHM significantly decreased escape latency and increased residence time (P < 0.05); 5 studies demonstrated that bioactive components of CHM significantly reduced infarct volume after ischemic stroke (P < 0.05); 25 of 26 studies showed that bioactive components of CHM significantly increased the expression of BrdU and/or Nestin markers in rats/mice brain after ischemic injury (P < 0.05, or P < 0.01); 4 of 5 studies for promoting the expression of PSA-NCAM or DCX biomarker (P < 0.05); 5 studies for improving the expression of NeuN biomarker (P < 0.05); 6 of 7 studies for promoting the expression of GFAP biomarker in brain after ischemic stroke (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that bioactive components of CHM may improve neurological function, reduce infarct volume, and promote endogenous neurogenesis, including proliferation, migration, and differentiation of neural stem cells after ischemic stroke. However, evidences are supported but limited because only a few studies were available for each descriptive analysis. Further rigor study is still needed.

Dihuang Yinzi, a Classical Chinese Herbal Prescription, for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A 12-Year Follow-up Case Report.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating progressive neurodegenerative disease with no effective treatment and death within 2 to 5 years after symptom onset. Here, we reported a case of ALS patient using modified Dihuang Yinzi (DHYZ), a classical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription, who has survived 12 years with significant improvement in bulbar paralysis.A 41-year-old Chinese Han nationality woman was admitted to the hospital with complaints of weakened bilateral grip, slurred speech, stumbling, and muscle twitching for 3 years. The electromyography showed neurogenic injury in bilateral upper limbs and tongue. She was diagnosed with ALS according to the revised El escorial criteria. The patient was orally administrated with Riluzole 100 mg daily for 10 months and then stopped. Subsequently, she resorted to TCM. Based on the TCM theory, the patient was diagnosed with Yinfei syndrome because of kidney deficiency. DHYZ was chosen because it has the function of replenishing kidney essence to treat Yinfei syndrome. Up to now, she has been using modified DHYZ continuously for 12 years. The patient survived with ALS and did not require permanent continuous ventilator. In addition, the symptoms of choking on liquids are improved, and the utility of 30 mL water swallow test was improved with grade 2. The symptoms of muscle fibrillations of limbs are also reduced. However, muscle strength worsened slowly. The repeated electromyography showed motor conduction amplitude reducing gradually and velocity not changing more when compared with the initial electromyography.Our findings suggested that DHYZ can be potentially used in ALS patients because of its multi-targeted neuroprotection and general safety, although ALS does not have a cure. In addition, we identified the area that is worthy of further study and DHYZ as a promising candidate for further clinical application and ALS trials. Rigorous randomized controlled trials are needed in the future.