Traditional Chinese medicine decoctions and Chinese patent medicines for the treatment of depression: Efficacies and mechanisms.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Depression is a major mental disorder and it is currently recognized as the second-leading cause of disability worldwide. However, the therapeutic effect of antidepressants remains unsatisfactory. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used for centuries, including commonly-used complementary and alternative medical therapies for depression. Recent clinical trials have been carried out to assess the efficacy and safety of TCM, and to explore the mechanisms of action in relation to the treatment of depression. AIM OF THE STUDY: To summarize frequently used TCM decoctions and Chinese patent medicines (CPM) for treating depression, review their clinical therapeutic effects in treating depressive disorders, consider their possible mechanisms, and characterize the relationships between their efficacy and mechanisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a computerized literature search using the electronic databases such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang databases, with the keywords "depression", "traditional Chinese medicine decoction", "Chinese patent medicine", "application", "mechanism", and their combinations, from January 1, 2000 to August 8, 2022 (inclusive). RESULTS: A total of 51 papers were identified. We reviewed studies on six each TCM decoctions and CPMs, which demonstrated their significant clinical efficacy for treating depression and examined their mechanisms of action. The anti-depressive effects were related to: 1) increased monoamine neurotransmitter levels, 2) inhibiting hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, 3) regulating hippocampal neurons and neurotrophic factors, 4) regulating immune cytokines, 5) counteracting excitatory amino acid toxicity, and 6) regulating microbe-gut-brain axis function. CONCLUSION: TCM plays an increasingly important role in the management of depression by enhancing the therapeutic effects and alleviating the side effects of antidepressant chemicals.

Nonlinear optical properties of aluminum nitride nanotubes doped by excess electron: a first principle study.

Aluminum nitride nanotubes (AlNNTs) doped by the excess electron, e@AlNNT and M@N-AlNNT (M = Li, Na, K), have been designed and their geometrical, electronic, and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties have been explored theoretically. The results showed that the excess electron narrows the energy gap between HOMO and LUMO values (EH-L) of the doped systems in the range of 3.42-5.37 eV, which is due to a new energy level HOMO formed for the doped excess electron, with higher energy than the original HOMO of AlNNT. Importantly, the doped excess electron considerably increases the first hyperpolarizability (ß0) from 130 a.u. of the undoped AlNNT to 646 a.u. for e@AlNNT, 2606 a.u. for Li@N-AlNNT, while 1.14 × 105 a.u. for Na@N-AlNNT, and 1.37 × 106 a.u. for K@N-AlNNT. The enormous ß0 values for Na@N-AlNNT and K@N-AlNNT are attributed to the low transition energy. These results demonstrate that AlNNTs are a promising material in high-performance NLO nanomaterials for electronic devices.

Response of phytohormones and correlation of SAR signal pathway genes to the different resistance levels of grapevine against Plasmopara viticola infection.

Phytohormones play an important role in the process of disease resistance in plants. Here, we investigated which among salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and abscisic acid performs a key role in plant defense after Plasmopara viticola infection in grapevine. We used grapevines possessing different resistance levels against P. viticola infection to study the relationship between the expression of key genes in the related resistance signaling pathways and the level of resistance. We performed high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to estimate the phytohormone contents in grape leaves at different time points after the infection. Furthermore, we performed quantitative analyses of key genes such as EDS1, PAD4, ICS2, PAL, NPR1, TGA1, and PR1 in the systemic acquired resistance pathway by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The results showed an increased variation in the SA content, which was maintained at high levels, after P. viticola infection in plant species exhibiting stronger resistance to the pathogen; this finding highlights the importance of SA in plant defense mechanisms. Moreover, EDS1 and PAD4 expression did not show a positive correlation with disease resistance in grape; however, higher expression of other genes that were analyzed was observed in highly resistant grape varieties. Our results provide insights into the role of phytohormone regulation in the induction and maintenance of plant defense response to pathogens.

The effects of hyaluronic acid vaginal gel on the vaginal epithelium of ovariectomized rats.

OBJECTIVE: Hyaluronic acid is one of the best materials of water retention which can be used in vaginal atrophy. This study is to evaluate the role and mechanism of the hyaluronic acid vaginal gel (Hyalofemme) in the vaginal epithelium of ovariectomized rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into control group (Sham ovariectomy, Sham-OVX), tendency group (ovariectomy, OVX), and experiment group (ovariectomy+Hyalofemme, OVX+Hyalofemme). The hyaluronic acid vaginal gel was administered local vaginal therapy to the experiment group with cytologicaly confirmed vaginal atrophy. The doses were adjusted by animal weight according to human dosage. After daily treatment for 14 days, VEGF and P-AKT activations were detected by Western blot in the experiment group. RESULTS: The hyaluronic acid vaginal gel proved to be very effective in the cytological reversal of vaginal atrophy but did not increase uterine weight. Vaginal microecosystem indicators were negative in the control group and the experiment group. By contrast, the indicators were positive in the tendency group. CONCLUSION: Hyaluronic acid vaginal gel is effective in the reversal of vaginal atrophy and is beneficial for improving vaginal microecosystem in the postmenopausal rat model. The hyaluronic acid vaginal gel can also improve the repair capacity of the vaginal epithelium.