Roles of natural products on myokine expression and secretion in skeletal muscle atrophy.

Skeletal muscles serve both in movement and as endocrine organs. Myokines secreted by skeletal muscles activate biological functions within muscles and throughout the body via autocrine, paracrine, and/or endocrine pathways. Skeletal muscle atrophy can influence myokine expression and secretion, while myokines can impact the structure and function of skeletal muscles. Regulating the expression and secretion of myokines through the pharmacological approach is a strategy for alleviating skeletal muscle atrophy. Natural products possess complex structures and chemical properties. Previous studies have demonstrated that various natural products exert beneficial effects on skeletal muscle atrophy. This article reviewed the regulatory effects of natural products on myokines and summarized the research progress on skeletal muscle atrophy associated with myokine regulation. The focus is on how small-molecule natural products affect the regulation of interleukin 6 (IL-6), irisin, myostatin, IGF-1, and FGF-21 expression. We contend that the development of small-molecule natural products targeting the regulation of myokines holds promise in combating skeletal muscle atrophy.

Comparison between an SGLT2 inhibitor and insulin in tumor-to-tissue contrasts in 18F-FDG PET imaging of diabetic mice.

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) has been widely utilized for tumor diagnosis. Hyperglycemia affects the 18F-FDG uptake and reduces tumor-to-tissue contrasts, however, ideal hypoglycemic drugs are lacking. This study compared the role of insulin with the novel widely used hypoglycemic drug, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, on 18F-FDG PET imaging in diabetic conditions. The streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic C57BL/6N mice were inoculated with B16 (mouse melanoma) cells to establish the xenograft tumor model. After the mice had been administrated with dapagliflozin (30 mg/kg, IG) or insulin (0.75 U/kg, IP) for one hour, 9.25 MBq/10 g 18F-FDG was injected. Biodistributions were detected by gamma counting and microPET imaging. The results showed dapagliflozin did not significantly affect the 18F-FDG uptake in tumors but reduced uptake in reference tissues, resulting in a significant increase in the tumor-to-skeletal muscle ratio. Conversely, insulin increased 18F-FDG uptake in tumors without significant reduction in uptake in reference tissues; Although there was an observable improvement in tumor imaging, it did not reach significantly statistical differences. This study suggests that insulin and SGLT2 inhibitor yield comparable effects on the quality of 18F-FDG PET imaging in diabetic patients. Nevertheless, SGLT2 inhibitors would be more suitable when skeletal muscle is used as reference tissue.

Research advances in pharmacotherapy for autoimmune hepatitis / 临床肝胆病杂志

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory liver disease. At present, standard treatment is effective in most AIH patients, and second- or third-line pharmacotherapy can be selected for patients who have suboptimal response to standard treatment or cannot tolerate the side-effects of the drugs. Novel therapies are undergoing clinical trials with the further exploration of the pathogenesis of AIH. This article reviews the current research advances in pharmacotherapy for AIH.

The mediating effect of self-esteem between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior in patients with major depressive disorder / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective:To explore the relationship between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior in patients with major depressive disorder(MDD), and the mediating role of self-esteem in childhood trauma and aggression.Methods:A total of 241 MDD patients with childhood trauma were investigated by Chinese version of the Buss & Perry aggression questionnaire(AQ-CV) and self-esteem scale (SES). Data were analyzed by SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 24.0.Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation of childhood trauma, aggressive behavior and self-esteem.The Bootstrap method was applied to test the mediating effect of self-esteem between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior.Results:The total score of attack questionnaire, self-esteem and childhood trauma were (48.81±18.81), (24.91±5.29)and(53.87±10.43), respectively. Self-esteem of MDD patients was negatively correlated with aggressive behavior and childhood trauma ( r=-0.45, -0.24, P<0.01). Childhood trauma was positively correlated with aggressive behavior ( r=0.42, P<0.01). The direct effect of childhood trauma on aggressive behavior was 0.438(95% CI: 0.305, 0.579). Self-esteem played a partly mediating effect between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior, and the mediating effect value was 0.161 (95% CI: 0.080, 0.256), accounted for 26.9% of the total effect. Conclusion:Self-esteem plays a partly mediating role between childhood trauma and aggressive behavior.Childhood trauma can directly and through the part of mediating role of self-esteem affect aggressive behavior.

Association of cardiovascular disease risk factors with fat mass percentage and waist circumference in children and adolescents in Yinchuan City / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To analyze the association between fat mass percentage (FMP) and waist circumference (WC) with cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents in Yinchuan City, and to provide a reference for preventing and contyolling the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases among children and adolescents.@*Methods@#A questionnaire survey, physical examination, body composition determination and biochemical tests were conducted among 1 043 children aged 12-18 years in Yinchuan selected through a convenient cluster sampling method.@*Results@#Among boys and girls, both FMP and WC were associated with high rate of high blood pressure and high TG in children and adolescents(P<0.01). The increased risk of metabolic abnormalities by FMP and WC were 1.14-2.36 times and 1.32-2.09 times, respectively. About 4.9%-22.1% of cardiovascular disease risk was explained by the combination of FMP and WC, which was significantly higher than separate interpretation of FMP or WC (3.5%-22.0%). Standardized regression coefficient for TC and LDL-C (0.25 and 0.22) was greater than WC (0.17 and 0.14) by FMP, and the absolute value of the standardized regression coefficient for SBP, DBP, TG, HDL-C was less than WC by FMP. The predictive risk for high blood pressure, high TG, high TC, low HDL-C and high LDL-C by combination of FMP and WC was 3.67(95%CI=2.42-556), 3.09(95%CI=2.04-4.69), 3.37(95%CI=1.38-8.28), 2.00(95%CI=1.35-2.98) and 4.73(95%CI=2.15-10.44) times higher than different combinations risk groups(P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#The ability of fat mass percentage and waist circumference to predict the risk of cardiovascular risk factors is similar. It might be used as a predictor of cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents. It is recommended to combine FMP with WC to predict the risk of cardiovascular disease among children and adolescents.

High-throughput screening of single Chinese plant extracts on specific anti-hepatoma drugs / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of single traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) herb extracts on hepatoma and normal fibroblast cells using high-throughput screening in order to obtain extracts with specific anti-hepatoma effect. METHODS 242 commonly used TCM herbs were extracted by petroleum ether,ethanol and water,respectively. The total number of TCM extracts was 554. The cyto?toxicity of samples was evaluated by MTT in human hepatoma cells Bel7402 and mice normal fibroblasts NIH3T3. RESULTS 7.4%of the total extracts had an inhibitory effect greater than 50%for Bel7402,but 14.8% for fibroblasts NIH3T3 cells. Extracts with an inhibitory effect above 50% on both Bel7402 and NIH3T3 cells accounted for 4.4%of the total extracts. Our results showed that the sample DF173 had preferable cytotoxicity effect on hepatoma carcinoma cells in a good dose-effect relationship. DF173 is an ethanol extract from Stephania tetrandra,which is a commonly used herb in TCM. The cytotoxic IC50 of DF173 against Bel7402 was 8.27 mg·L-1,and 19.48 mg·L-1 on NIH3T3. CONCLUSION The components of TCM herbs are highly complicated. The combination of tumor cells with normal fibroblast cells to evaluate the cytotoxicity effect during anti-tumor drug screening will contribute much to the discovery of TCM drugs with high anti-tumor efficiency and lower toxicity.

The difference of adolescent's problematic internet use between boys and girls / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

Objective To investigate how internet using (both time and activities)and effortful control would contribute to the sex difference of problematic internet use (PIU).Methods A total of 844 adolescents aged 9-20 years old were selected from Chinese Academy of Sciences twin-sample by simple random sampling,with boys accounting for 45.6％ and girls accounting for 54.4％.The internet using and effortful control were measured using self-report questionnaires in the first time(T1),the problematic internet use were measured after one and half years (T2).The difference and relation of Internet using,effortful control and problematic internet use between boys and girls were measured with Chi-square test,t test and correlation analysis.The moderating effect of sex between internet using and PIU were explored by utilizing regression analysis.The mediation effect of effortful control between sex and PIU were explored with Sobel test.Results The anverage internet time of working day and weekend in boys were 1.52 h and 2.12 h respectively.The average internet time of working day and weekend in girls were 1.49 b and 2.05 h respectively.Significant difference between boys and girls is not existed in the internet time (t=0.541,0.907,P＞0.05).And the boy was inclined to game(x2 =47.669,P＜0.01).The effortful control of boys and girls were 54.09 and 55.76 respectively.The score of boys' and girls' PIU were 22.48 and 20.72 respectively.Boys' effortful control was significantly lower than that of girls (t=-2.879,P＜0.01).The score of boys' PIU was significantly higher than that of girls' (t=3.612,P＜0.01).Adolescents' PIU were significantly correlated with the time,entertainment and social activities (r=0.249,0.175,0.140,P＜0.01).The moderating effect of sex was significant in the relation between internet time and PIU.Significant mediation effect of effortful control existed in the PIU difference between boys and girls(Z=-2.54,P＜0.05).Conclusion Significant mediation effect of effortful control exists in gender and PIU.

Research progress of salvianolic acid A / 中国中药杂志

Salvianolic acid A is a water-soluble component from Danshen, which is frequently used in traditional Chinese medicine. High performance liquid chromatography was often used to analyze content of salvianolic acid A. The yield of salvianolic acid A increased by the technological improvement of extraction and separation. Salvianolic acid A possessed multiple pharmacological activities, including antioxidants, myocardial ischemic protection, antithrombatic, neuroprotection, anti fibrosis, prevention of diabetes and complications. Recently, preliminary pharmacokinetics characteristics of salvianolic acid A were clarified. Based on the research literature and study work from author's laboratory, this review will focus on recent developments concerning the chemistry, pharmacology and pharmacokinetic of salvianolic acid A, and prospect further research.

Effect of metformin on the formation of hepatic fibrosis in type 2 diabetic rats / 药学学报

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the metformin on the formation of hepatic fibrosis in type 2 diabetic rats and discuss its mechanism of liver-protecting activity. After SD rats were fed with high-fat and high-sucrose diet for four weeks, low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) was injected intraperitoneally to make the animal mode of type 2 diabetes. Then, all diabetic rats was fed with the high-fat diet and metformin (ig, 100 mg x kg(-1)) was given orally to metformin group for four months. After the last administration, fasting blood glucose was determined. The livers were removed to calculate the hepatic coefficient and to make HE and Picro acid-Sirius red staining, immunohistochemistry (alpha-SMA and TGFbeta1) and TUNEL staining in order to evaluate the effect of metformin on the hepatic fibrosis. The animal model of type 2 diabetes with hepatic fibrosis was successfully made. Metformin can significantly alleviate the lesions of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis, markedly reduce the expressions of alpha-SMA and TGFbeta1 in liver tissue of type 2 diabetic rats. However, TUNEL staining result suggested that metformin could not reduce apoptosis of hepatocytes. The results suggest that metformin can inhibit the formation of hepatic fibrosis in type 2 diabetes.

Expression and implication of CD44 and nm23-H1 proteins in laryngeal carcinoma / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To study the expression of CD44 and nm23-H1 gene proteins and their clinical significance in laryngeal carcinoma.@*METHOD@#The expression of CD44 and nm23-H1 proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry method in 40 cases with laryngeal carcinoma, 20 adjacent carcinoma tissues and 12 cases normal laryngeal mucosa tissues.@*RESULT@#The expression of CD44 and nm23-H1 proteins in laryngeal carcinoma were much higher than that in normal laryngeal mucosa. The expression of CD44 protein in laryngeal carcinoma with metastatic lymph node was higher than that in laryngeal carcinoma without metastatic lymph node, but nm23-H1 protein lower. The expression of CD44 protein was positively correlated with the metastasis, clinical staging and pathological classification but not correlated with T classification of laryngeal carcinoma. The expression of nm23-H1 protein was negative correlation with the metastasis and clinical staging of laryngeal carcinoma.@*CONCLUSION@#CD44 and nm23-H1 gene proteins play an important coordinated regulation role in the carcinogenesis, development and metastasis of laryngeal carcinoma and will probably become the key biological marks in the judging and evaluating prognosis of laryngeal carcinoma.

Percutaneous Placement of Metallic Stent for Palliation of Malignant Biliary Obstruction:A Report of 53 Cases / 介入放射学杂志

Purpose:To study the clinical value of percutaneous placement of biliary stents tbr treatment of malignant biliary obstruction.Materials and methods:A total of 58 stents were placed pereutaneously in 53 patients for palliative of malignant biliary obstruction. Results:The success rate of stent implantation was 98.1%(52/53).The difference between post-and pre-operation in the serum total bilirubin level of 52 patients was 182?67 ? mol/L,P

Pharmacol dynamic Study of Compound Black Ant Capsules for treating Rheumatic Arthritis / 中成药

Objective: To study the pharmacologic effects of Compound Black Ant Capsules. Methods: The adjuvant arthritis model of rats (AA rats), delayed hypersensitivity (DTH) model and the pain model induced by acetic acid in mice were used. Results: Compound Black Ant Capsules could significanty inhibit the primary and secondary inflammation of rats induced by the complete Freund's adjuvant, inhibit the ear edema induced by DNCB in mouse and decrease the number of writhes of mouse caused by acetic acid.Conclusion: Compound Black Ant Capsules have the anti inflammatory effect on DTH arthritis and analgesic effect, and inhibit mouse DTH reaction induced by DNCB.