Short Chain Fatty Acids: Essential Weapons of Traditional Medicine in Treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and recurrent intestinal inflammatory disease, mainly including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). In recent years, the incidence and prevalence of IBD have been on the rise worldwide and have become a significant concern of health and a huge economic burden on patients. The occurrence and development of IBD involve a variety of pathogenic factors. The changes in short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are considered to be an important pathogenic mechanism of this disease. SCFAs are important metabolites in the intestinal microbial environment, which are closely involved in regulating immune, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory activities. Changes in metabolite levels can reflect the homeostasis of the intestinal microflora. Recent studies have shown that SCFAs provide energy for host cells and intestinal microflora, shape the intestinal environment, and regulate the immune system, thereby regulating intestinal physiology. SCFAs can effectively reduce the incidence of enteritis, cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, obesity, and diabetes, and also play an important role in maintaining the balance of energy metabolism (mainly glucose metabolism) and improving insulin tolerance. In recent years, many studies have shown that numerous decoctions and natural compounds of traditional Chinese medicine have shown promising therapeutic activities in multiple animal models of colitis and thus attracted increasing attention from scientists in the study of IBD treatment. Some of these traditional Chinese medicines or compounds can effectively alleviate colonic inflammation and clinical symptoms by regulating the generation of SCFAs. This study reviews the effects of various traditional Chinese medicines or bioactive substances on the production of SCFAs and their potential impacts on the severity of colonic inflammation. On this basis, we discussed the mechanism of SCFAs in regulating IBD-associated inflammation, as well as the related regulatory factors and signaling pathways. In addition, we provide our understanding of the limitations of current research and the prospects for future studies on the development of new IBD therapies by targeting SCFAs. This review may widen our understanding of the effect of traditional medicine from the view of SCFAs and their role in alleviating IBD animal models, thus contributing to the studies of IBD researchers.

A retrospective analysis of data from illicit drug abuse cases in Beijing between 2018 and 2020.

The overall number of drug abuse cases has been on the rise around the world, causing it a disaster in many countries. In this retrospective study, we analyzed the characteristics of 11,903 drug abuse cases in Beijing, the capital of China, in the perspective of age, gender, nationality, region, season, type of specimens and various drugs, respectively. The case information was collected by the national-level forensic toxicology laboratory, which belongs to the China University of Political Science and Law. It was shown that the overall number of drug abuse cases had increased sharply from 2018 to 2019 and had a decrease of 25% in 2020. The incidence of drug abuse cases involving men was much higher than that of the cases involving women. The adolescents and young adults accounted for the largest share of drug abusers in our study. Haidian, as a national center of scientific and technological innovation with global influence, had the largest percentage of toxic substance-related cases, and the change was more pronounced than other districts during the 3-year-period. Chaoyang was second to Haidian in the number toxic substance-related cases. As a key window of economic, Chaoyang had the highest number of foreigner drug cases. June to August had the highest number of drug abuse cases, while amphetamines, opioids, cannabis and cocaine were the most common toxic substances involved in the cases we detected. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide an overall analysis of drug abuse cases in Beijing, China. The study indicated the presence of a wide number of drug abuse cases in the capital city and confirmed the threat for the public safety and health. Such forensic information can assist the government to devise intelligence-based preventive and repressive measures and policies.

Development and Psychometric Properties of the Synthetic Drug Dependence Scale in a Chinese Sample.

Objective: In contrast to the drug situation in the rest of the world, synthetic drugs, rather than traditional drugs, have been the dominant abused drugs in China since 2019. However, the public misconception that synthetic drugs are not as addictive as traditional drugs, such as opioids and the scarcity of specific measurement instruments, have hindered the clinical diagnosis and treatment of synthetic drug abusers, thus the development of a localized instrument to evaluate dependence on synthetic drugs is in urgently needed. Method: Using a sample of 618 Chinese synthetic drug abusers (Mean age = 34.69 years; 44.17% female), the present study developed and examined the psychometric properties of a self-reporting instrument, the Synthetic Drug Dependence Scale (SDDS), which consists of four subscales: physical dependence, psychological dependence, health injury, and social function injury. Results: The SDDS revealed a three-factor model structure (weighted root mean square residual (WRMR) = 0.876, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.965, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.953, and Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.070), with good internal consistency (composite reliability = 0.912, alfa = 0.801) and convergent validity. Elevated scores on the SDDS were associated with a higher level of reward sensitivity, punishment sensitivity, and stronger impulsivity. Interestingly, psychological dependence was the only significant predictor (p < 0.05) of criterion variables compared with the other three subscales, implying the important role of psychological factors in synthetic drugs dependence. Adequate measurement equivalence across sex, age (18-30 and 31-57 years old), and employment group (employed and unemployed) was also established. Conclusion: The SDDS appears to be an effective and reliable instrument that could be used to further investigate the characteristics of synthetic and traditional drug dependence, promoting a deeper understanding of the physical and psychological roles in drug dependence.

Comparison of risk for HIV, syphilis and HCV infection between club drug users and traditional drug users in TaizhouCity / 上海预防医学

Objective To compare the risk for HIV, syphilis and HCV infection between club drug users and traditional drug users in Taizhou City of Zhejiang Province, in order to provide evidence for further behavioral intervention. Methods Drug users in Taizhou were surveyed with the questionnaires for national HIV sentinel surveillance during 2016-2019.Blood samples were collected for detection of HIV, syphilis and HCV antibodies. Results A total of 1 612 drug users were surveyed, in which club drug users accounted for 78.7% and traditional drug users 21.3%.Significant differences were observed in gender, age, educational level, ethnic background, and household registration between these two groups (P < 0.05).Among club drug users, injecting drug users accounted for 7.1%, lower than traditional drug users (P < 0.001).Among the injecting drug users, those who shared needles with others accounted for 8.9%, similar to the traditional drug users (P>0.05).In the past year, the proportion of having sex after drug abuse among club drug users was 77.9%, higher than traditional drug users (P=0.002).The proportion of condom use during sex were nearly 30.0% for both club drug users and traditional drug users.Of the club drug users, 0.2% were infected with HIV, which was not significantly different from that in traditional drug users (P>0.05).The prevalence of syphilis among club drug users was 12.6%, higher than traditional drug users (P < 0.05);whereas the HCV prevalence (10.4%) was lower among club drug users (P < 0.001). Conclusion The threats of blood-borne transmission and sexual transmission of diseases are common among club drug users, suggesting the need of targeted intervention measures.

Study on Distribution and Trend of Innovation Technology of World Traditional Drugs Based on Patent Analysis / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To analyze the distribution and tends of innovation technology of traditional drugs around the world. Methods Relevant patent literature about world traditional drugs in Innography patent database was retrieved by IPC class numbers combined with keywords. The patents of traditional drugs from January 1st, 2006 to December 31st, 2016 were under statistical analysis. Frequency statistics was used for trend analysis and hot spot distribution; text clustering and correlation analysis were used for hot spot analysis; patent database was used for strength analysis, to analyze the strength of drug distribution of world traditional patent; visual charts were used to display results such as trend charts, bubble charts, tree diagrams, text clustering rings, etc.. Results In the recent years, the number of patent applications of traditional drugs has been increasing year by year. China, South Korea, Japan and the United States were the main patent applications / authorized countries. Technology innovation is mainly concentrated in the medicinal compositions, crude drugs, extracts, chemical composition and health care, etc. Digestive system diseases, pain/fever/inflammation, infection, skin diseases and so on are the hot spots of traditional drug therapy. In addition to the use of clinical treatment, traditional drugs have been widely developed as cosmetics, dietary supplements, health products, beverages and other new uses. Conclusion The number of traditional drugs patents is increasing around the world. China and the United States are the leading countries of technology innovation. Chronic and intractable diseases are the hot spots of traditional drug therapy. A variety of new uses of traditional drugs have been developed.

Actual situation on the World about policy, registration and management regulation of traditional drugs

In East Mediterranean countries, in Oman islamic country up to the year 1995, in Saudi Arabia there are some regulations for traditional medicaments. From November 1993, in Argentina, regulation concerning the registration and the trade of traditional medicines were promulgated, pursuant this, the traditional preparations must be registered within 180 days. In Canada, medicinal herbal, as medicines must be in compliance of the rules of labeling and other rules of the Law of Foods and Drugs. American Law regulates the labeling as for food additives – WHO survey noted on the administration of traditional medicine only in Mali, Mauritania and South Africa