Identifying the effective combination of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicinal herbs for postmenopausal osteoporosis therapy through studies of their molecular regulation of bone homeostasis.

Worldwide, as the population age, osteoporosis is becoming increasingly common, and osteoporotic fractures have a significant economic burden. Postmenopausal women are the most susceptible to developing osteoporosis and the most critical time to prevent it is during the perimenopausal and early menopausal years. In this regard, we hypothesize rational combination of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the form of herbal extract could prevent osteoporosis in women. Estrogen deficiency during menopause causes low-level inflammation that stimulates the formation of osteoclasts, the bone-resorbing cells, and simultaneously inhibits the viability and function of osteoblasts, the bone-forming cells. The most potent inflammatory cytokine in skeletal homeostasis is the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL) that stimulates osteoclast function. Conversely, the canonical Wnt pathway is essential for osteoblastogenesis and bone formation, and estrogen deficiency leads to diminished functioning of this pathway. TCM and acupuncture could target the RANKL and the Wnt pathway in favorable ways to prevent the accelerated bone loss experienced during the early menopausal stage and promote the gain in bone mass in postmenopausal women. In this review, we propose a rational combination of specific TCM and acupuncture targeting those signaling molecules/pathways by the drugs that are in clinical use for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Our rational approach revealed that Danshen (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae) could exert a synergistic effect with acupuncture. We then propose a translational path for developing the putative combination in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis to curtail the risk of osteoporotic fractures.

A combined evaluation of the characteristics and antibiotic resistance induction potential of antibiotic wastewater during the treatment process.

Antibiotic wastewater contains a variety of pollutant stressors that can induce and promote antibiotic resistance (AR) when released into the environment. Although these substances are mostly in concentrations lower than those known to induce AR individually, it is possible that antibiotic wastewater discharge might still promote the AR transmission risk via additive or synergistic effects. However, the comprehensive effect of antibiotic wastewater on AR development has rarely been evaluated, and its treatment efficiency remains unknown. Here, samples were collected from different stages of a cephalosporin production wastewater treatment plant, and the potential AR induction effect of their chemical mixtures was explored through the exposure of the antibiotic-sensitive Escherichia coli K12 strain. Incubation with raw cephalosporin production wastewater significantly promoted mutation rates (3.6 × 103-9.3 × 103-fold) and minimum inhibition concentrations (6.0-6.7-fold) of E. coli against ampicillin and chloramphenicol. This may be attributed to the inhibition effect and oxidative stress of cephalosporin wastewater on E. coli. The AR induction effect of cephalosporin wastewater decreased after the coagulation sedimentation treatment and was completely removed after the full treatment process. A Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the reduction in the AR induction effect had a strong positive correlation with the removal of organics and biological toxicity. This indicates that the antibiotic wastewater treatment had a collaborative processing effect of conventional pollutants, toxicity, and the AR induction effect. This study illustrates the potential AR transmission risk of antibiotic wastewater and highlights the need for its adequate treatment.

A biological strategy for sulfide control in sewers: Removing sulfide by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria.

Sulfide produced from sewers is considered one of the dominant threats to public health and sewer lifespan due to its toxicity and corrosiveness. In this study, we developed an environmentally friendly strategy for gaseous sulfide control by enriching indigenous sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) from sewer sediment. Ceramics acted as bio-carriers for immobilizing SOB for practical use in a lab-scale sewer reactor. 16 S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the SOB consortium was successfully enriched, with Thiobacillus, Pseudomonas, and Alcaligenes occupying a dominant abundance of 64.7% in the microbial community. Metabolic pathway analysis in different acclimatization stages indicates that microorganisms could convert thiosulfate and sulfide into elemental sulfur after enrichment and immobilization. A continuous experiment in lab-scale sewer reactors confirmed an efficient result for sulfide removal with hydrogen sulfide reduction of 43.9% and 85.1% under high-sulfur load and low-sulfur load conditions, respectively. This study shed light on the promising application for sewer sulfide control by biological sulfur oxidation strategy.

Naturally aged polylactic acid microplastics stunted pakchoi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) growth with cadmium in soil.

Biodegradable microplastics (BMPs) and cadmium (Cd) are posing threats to agro-systems especially to plants and current studies mostly used virgin BMPs to explore their ecological effects. However, effects of naturally aged BMPs and their combined effects with Cd on pakchoi are yet to be unraveled. Therefore, this study incubated naturally aged polylactic acid (PLA) MPs through soil aging process and investigated the single and combined effects of Cd and PLA MPs (virgin and aged) on pakchoi (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) morphology, antioxidant systems and soil microbial activities. Our results found that after being deposited in soil for six months, aged PLA (PLAa) MPs formed with a fractured surface, demonstrating more detrimental effects on pakchoi than virgin ones. PLA/PLAa MPs and Cd stunted pakchoi growth, caused oxidative stress and altered the biophysical environment in soil, separately. Moreover, co-existence of PLA/PLAa MPs and Cd caused greater damages to pakchoi than applied alone. The co-presence of PLAa MPs and Cd inhibited pakchoi biomass accumulation rate by 92.2 % compared with the no-addition group. The results unraveled here emphasized BMPs, especially aged BMPs, could trigger negative effects on agro-systems with heavy metals. These findings will give reference to future holistic assessments of BMPs' ecological effects.

"Four Common Characteristics" of Liver and Eyes and Research Ideas Inspired by "Liver Opens at Eyes" / 中国实验方剂学杂志

The theory of "liver opens at the eyes" was first seen in Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon of Medicine， which is the ancient people's summary of the connection between the liver and the eyes. The theory of "liver opens at the eyes" suggests the characteristic of "co-damage and co-recover of liver and eyes". It has been found in clinical practice that liver diseases and eye diseases often occur together， and "liver and eyes co-recover" is an ideal choice. The key to achieving "liver and eyes co-recover" is to analyze its pharmacological material basis and mechanism. With the development of modern medicine， more and more evidence indicates that the liver and eyes have complex and close relationships in physiological and pathological aspects. In a pathological state， there is a phenomenon of "liver and eyes co-damage"， and after the intervention of traditional Chinese medicine， "liver and eyes co-recover" occurs. "Liver and eyes co-damage and co-recover" can be explained through the "co-material basis and co-action mechanism". On this basis， the research group tentatively proposed that the liver and eyes had "four common characteristics" （4CCs）， namely "co-damage， co-recover， co-material basis， and co-action mechanism" from the theoretical connotation of traditional Chinese medicine， clinical practice， and molecular biology. Additionally， the group also took the intervention of Prunella vulgaris， traditional Chinese medicine， for removing liver fire and improving eyesight on immune liver injury （ILI） and allergic conjunctivitis （AC） as examples to analyze 4CCs. This project aims to deeply analyze the scientific connotation of the theory of "liver opens at the eyes"， reveal the common characteristics and biological essence of liver and eyes， explore a new research paradigm of "liver and eyes co-recover"， and provide a reference for the study of common problems of multi-organ associated diseases.

Analysis of clinicopathological characteristics of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease / 中华病理学杂志

Objective: To investigate the clinical and pathologic characteristics of obese adults with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to aid the diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Methods: A total of 262 patients eligible for inclusion who received volume reduction metabolism surgery and liver biopsy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from June 2018 to September 2019 were selected. HE staining, reticular fiber staining and Masson staining were performed. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20.0. Results: The patients ranged in age from 18 to 66 years. Among the 262 cases, 65 cases (65/262, 24.8%) were male and 197 cases (197/262, 75.2%) were female. Sixty-one cases (61/262, 23.3%) were non-NAFLD, 201 cases (201/262, 76.7%) were NAFLD including 27 cases (27/201, 13.4%) of nonalcoholic fatty live (NAFL) and 174 cases (174/201, 86.6%) of NASH. The main lesions of NAFLD were in hepatic acinus zone 3. There were significant differences in age, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (AST), body mass index (BMI), fasting blood-glucose (FPG) and apolipoprotein A (APOA) levels among the non-NAFLD group, NAFL group and NASH group (P<0.05). Patients with BMI≥35 m/kg2 combined with type 2 diabetes had a higher prevalence of NASH. Multiple logistic regression showed that ALT and APOA were independent predictors of NASH (P<0.001, OR=1.05, 95%CI: 1.020-1.082; P=0.027, OR=0.916, 95%CI: 0.878-0.941). Total cholesterol (CHO) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were independent predictors of lobular inflammation (P=0.043, 95%CI: 0.010-0.634; P=0.024, 95%CI:-3.068--0.216). AST and HDL were independent predictors of fibrosis stage (P=0.029, 95%CI: 0.001-0.021; P<0.001, 95%CI:-2.670--0.645). Conclusions: Biochemical indicators of NAFLD are closely related to its pathology. The histological lesions of NAFLD are mainly present in hepatic acinar area 3. The diagnosis of NASH is supported by extensive steatosis and high levels of CHO, ALT, AST and BMI, low levels of HDL and ApoA in biochemical markers, but pathological examination is still the gold standard for it.

Correlation of platelet recovery after complete remission of induction chemotherapy with minimal residual disease and clinical characteristics in acute myeloid leukemia / 白血病·淋巴瘤

Objective:To investigate the correlation of excessive platelet (Plt) recovery at the first time of achieving morphologic complete remission (CR) after induction chemotherapy with minimal residual disease (MRD) and the clinical features of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).Methods:The clinical data of newly-treated 57 AML patients (except for acute promyelocytic leukemia) who achieved CR after induction chemotherapy in Jinjiang People's Hospital from January 2016 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 57 newly diagnosed adult AML patients were divided into excessive Plt recovery group (Plt recovery>350×10 9/L) and normal Plt recovery group [Plt recovery: (100-350)×10 9/L] according to the Plt recovery. Meanwhile, the MRD was analyzed by using multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) in patients achieving CR after receiving 1 course of standard treatment regimen or 1-2 courses of demethylation drugs combined with pre-conditioning regimen. The clinical features and negative rate of MRD between the two groups were compared. Results:Among 57 CR patients, 31 (54.4%) patients had CR with excessive Plt recovery and MFC-MRD negative rate was 67.7% (21/31); 26 (45.6%) had CR with normal Plt recovery and MFC-MRD negative rate was 38.5% (10/26); and the difference in the proportion of MRD negative patients between the both groups was statistically significant ( χ2 = 4.89, P = 0.027). There were no statistically differences in the proportions of patients with different gender, age, WBC at initial diagnosis, Plt, chemotherapy regimen and risk degree classification between the two groups (all P > 0.05). Conclusions:In AML patients, excessive Plt recovery at the first time of achieving morphologic CR after induction chemotherapy is associated with negative MRD, which has a certain value in the judgement of therapeutic effect.

Comparison of clinical efficacy and treatment costs in different regimens for patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia / 白血病·淋巴瘤

Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy and treatment costs of different regimens for newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).Methods:The clinical data of 37 newly diagnosed APL patients admitted to Jingjiang People's Hospital from January 2011 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. They received different induction therapy regimens and consolidation therapy after achieving complete remission (CR). Among them, 11 patients received induction chemo therapy with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) combined with anthracycline, which was consolidated with ATRA combined with chemotherapy after CR (ATRA+chemotherapy group); 13 patients were treated with ATRA combined with arsenite acid (ATO) and anthracycline, which was consolidated with ATRA combined with chemotherapy after CR(ATRA+ATO+ chemotherapy group). The other 13 patients received double induction therapy of ATRA combined with ATO, which was consolidated with ATRA combined with ATO after CR (ATRA+ATO double induction group). The clinical efficacy and treatment costs of newly diagnosed APL patients in 3 groups were analyzed.Results:There were 10, 12, 12 patients with newly diagnosed APL achieving CR, respectively in ATRA+chemotherapy group, ATRA+ATO+chemotherapy group, ATRA+ATO double induction group, and the difference was statistically significant ( P > 0.05). The differences of hematological, cardiac, gastrointestinal adverse reactions and infection incidence in the 3 groups were not statistically significant (all P > 0.05). The costs of induction therapy in ATRA+chemotherapy group, ATRA+ATO+chemotherapy group and ATRA+ATO double induction group were (73 755±4 820) yuan, (74 101±5 097) yuan, (52 944±4 099) yuan, respectively; the costs of consolidation treatment were (26 366±2 497) yuan, (25 801±2 528) yuan, (19 674±1 940) yuan, and the treatment time was (41±4) d, (39±4) d, (34±3) d, respectively; and the differences were statistically significant ( F value was 84.77, 31.90, 9.62, all P < 0.001). Conclusion:The chemotherapy-free therapy regimen of induction and consolidation with ATRA and ATO has the advantage of high cost-effectiveness with no significant difference in clinical efficacy.

Effect of Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo Prescription on Ovarian Function in Rats with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Based on NLRP3 Inflammatory Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription in the improvement of ovarian function in polycystic ovary syndrome （PCOS）. MethodSeventy female SD rats in SPF grade were randomly divided into 6 groups， 15 in the blank group and 15 in the model group， 10 in the metformin group （0.1 g·kg-1·d-1）， and 10 in the low （1.275 g·kg-1·d-1）， medium （2.55 g·kg-1·d-1）， and high-dose （5.10 g·kg-1·d-1） Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription groups. The blank group was given normal saline （10 mL·kg-1·d-1） by gavage and ordinary feed， and the other groups were given letrozole （1 mg·kg-1·d-1） by gavage combined with high-fat feed for 21 days to induce the model of PCOS. After modeling， the blank group and model group were given equal volume normal saline by gavage， and each drug group was given the corresponding dose of the drug by gavage for 30 days. The changes in body mass and fasting blood glucose （FPG） of rats before and after modeling were compared. Hematoxylin eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the morphological change in the ovaries of rats in each group. The serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， testosterone （T）， anti-Mullerian hormone （AMH）， and estradiol （E2） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）， and the LH/FSH ratio was calculated. Immunohistochemical staining （IHC） and Western blot were used to detect the protein expression levels of nucleoside binding oligomerization domain protein like receptor 3 （NALP3）， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein （ASC）， cysteine protease-1 （Caspase-1）， nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-18 （IL-18）， and interleukin-6 （IL-6） in the rat ovaries. ResultAs compared with the blank group， large follicles with polycystic expansion were found in the ovaries of the model group， no dominant follicles were found， the granular layer of follicles decreased and arranged loosely， and the number of corpus luteum decreased significantly. Serum T， LH， AMH and LH/FSH increased in the model group （P<0.05， P<0.01）， while FSH and E2 decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. The relative protein expression levels of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-1β， IL-18， and IL-6 increased （P<0.05， P<0.01） in the ovaries of the model group. Compared with the model group， the low， medium， and high-dose Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription groups and the metformin group showed growing follicles and corpus luteum at all levels， the number of cystic expanding follicles decreased， the thickness of follicular granular layer increased， the number of follicular fluid increased， mature follicles were visible， and the local morphology of oocytes was complete. Serum T， LH， AMH， and LH/FSH in these groups decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）， while E2 and FSH increased （P<0.05）. The relative protein expressions of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-1β， IL-18， and IL-6 in the ovaries of these groups decreased （P<0.05， P<0.01）. There was no significant difference among the treatment groups. ConclusionBy inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome， Jianpi Yishen Huazhuo prescription reduces the release of NALP3， ASC， Caspase-1， NF-κB， IL-18， IL-1β， and IL-6 inflammatory factors in ovarian tissues， regulates endocrine level， and effectively reduces PCOS inflammatory statu， so as to play a role in improving ovarian function.

The transcriptional study of tetramethylpyrazine against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in diabetic rats / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate the protective effect of tetramethylpyrazine ( TMP ) on cerebral ischemia/reper¬fusion ( I/R) injury in diabetes mellitus ( DM ) rats based on full-length transcriptome sequencing tech¬nique and the underlying mechanism. Methods The rat model of DM was induced by intraperitoneal injec- tion of streptozotocin (STZ,50 mg • kg" ) . The global cerebral I/R model of rats was established by double vessel occlusion (2-VO) for 10 min and reperfusion for 16 h. TMP (40 mg • kg ) was injected intraperitone-ally every day. Brain water content detection, HE stai¬ning, Nissl staining and TUNEL staining were used to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of TMP on cerebral I/R injury in DM rats. The differentially expressed genes were screened by full-length transcriptome se¬quencing. The possible candidate genes and metabolic pathways of TMP for cerebral ischemia protection in DM rats were screened by functional annotation and metabolic pathway enrichment analysis, and verified by RT-qPCR and Western blot. Results TMP treatment could reduce the degree of brain edema, increase the number of Nissl bodies and neurons, and significantly reduce cell necrosis and apoptosis after cerebral I/R in DM rats. GO enrichment analysis showed that the dif¬ferentially expressed genes after TMP treatment were mainly enriched in biological functions such as inflam¬matory response, transcription factor complex, growth factor activity and so on. KEGG pathway analysis showed that it was mainly concentrated in apoptosis, Toll-like receptor and other signaling pathways. Among them TMP down-regulated genes included TLR2, MyD88, IL-lp, Caspase-3, etc. The results of RT-qPCR and Western blot confirmed that TMP could down-regulate TLR2, MyD88, NF-KB, IL-10, IL-6 and Caspase-3 , and up-regulate the mRNA and protein expression of Bcl-2. Conclusions TMP may amelio¬rate neuronal apoptosis by inhibiting inflammatory re¬sponse, which improves cerebral I/R injury in DM rats, and the pathway may be TLR2/MyD88/NF-KB signaling pathway.

Metformin improves polycystic ovary syndrome and activates female germline stem cells in mice / 生理学报

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disease caused by complex endocrine and metabolic abnormalities in women of childbearing age. Metformin is the most widely used oral hypoglycemic drug in clinic. In recent years, metformin has been used in the treatment of PCOS, but its mechanism is not clear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of metformin on PCOS and its mechanism through PCOS mouse model. Female C57BL/6J mice aged 4-5 weeks were intragastrically given letrozole (1 mg/kg daily) combined with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 21 days to establish the PCOS model. After modeling, metformin (200 mg/kg daily) was intragastrically administered. One month later, the body weight and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were measured. Hematoxylin eosin (H&E) staining was used to detect the pathological changes of ovary. The serum levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), E2 and testosterone (T) were measured by ELISA. The expression of DDX4/MVH was detected by immunohistochemistry. DDX4/MVH and PCNA were co-labeled by immunofluorescence. The protein levels of DDX4/MVH, PCNA, cyclin D2, AMPK and mTOR were detected by Western blot. The results showed that after metformin treatment, the body weights of PCOS mice were gradually returned to normal, glucose tolerance was significantly improved, serum E2 levels were increased, while AMH, LH, T levels and LH/FSH ratio were decreased. Ovarian polycystic lesions were reduced with reduced atresia follicles. Furthermore, the number of proliferative female germline stem cells (FGSCs) and levels of proliferation related proteins (PCNA, cyclin D2) were significantly increased, and the p-mTOR and p-AMPK levels were markedly up-regulated. These results suggest that metformin treatment not only improves hyperandrogenemia, glucose intolerance and polycystic ovarian lesions in PCOS, but also activates the function of FGSCs. The underlying mechanism may be related to the phosphorylation of AMPK and mTOR. These findings provide new evidence to use metformin in the treatment of PCOS and follicular development disorder.

[Correlation Analysis among Environmental Antibiotic Resistance Genes Abundance, Antibiotics Concentrations, and Heavy Metals Concentrations Based on Web of Science Searches].

Antibiotics and heavy metals are both important environmental pollutants and selective stressors for antibiotic resistance. However, the impact of their environmental concentrations on antibiotic resistance levels is still unclear. In this paper, research published before 2019 reporting the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs), antibiotics concentrations, or heavy metal concentrations were extracted from the Web of Science database, and then statistical regression was used to investigate their correlative association. The results show that antibiotic selection pressure has a statistically significant effect on the increase in the abundance of ARGs in environmental media such as surface water, sediment, and soil, even at very low antibiotic concentrations(P<0.05). Different classes of antibiotics show different potential to select and enrich ARGs. Heavy metals and the interaction between antibiotics and heavy metals also have significant effects on ARG transmission(P<0.05). Multivariate statistical regression models can better explain the variance of ARG abundance, with R2 values for the water phase and solid phase environmental samples of 0.482 and 0.707 respectively, which are much higher than those achieved using univariate regression models. However, additional environmental factors not included may also affect ARG abundance. The results of this work provide a basis for the evaluation and control of environmental antibiotic resistance.

Effect of High Suspension and Low Incision Surgery Based on Traditional Ligation of Chinese Medicine in Treatment of Mixed Haemorrhoids: A Multi-centre, Randomized, Single-Blind, Non-inferiority Clinical Trial / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the clinical effect of high suspension and low incision (HSLI) surgery on mixed haemorrhoids, compared with Milligan-Morgan haemorrhoidectomy.@*METHODS@#A multi-centre, randomized, single-blind, non-inferiority clinical trial was performed. Participants with mixed haemorrhoids from Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing Rectum Hospital, Air Force Medical Center of People's Liberation Army of China, and Puyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were enrolled from September 2016 to March 2018. By using a blocked randomization scheme, participants were assigned to two groups. The experimental group was treated with HSLI, while the control group was treated with Milligan-Morgan haemorrhoidectomy. The primary outcome was the clinical effect evaluated at 12 weeks after operation. The secondary outcomes included the number of haemorrhoids treated during the operation, pain scores, use of analgesics, postoperative oedema, wound healing, incidence of anal stenosis, anorectal manometry after operation, as well as surgical duration, length of stay and total hospitalization expenses. A safety evaluation was also conducted.@*RESULTS@#In total, 246 eligible participants were enrolled, with 123 cases in each group. There was no significant difference in the clinical effect between the two groups (100.00% vs. 99.19%, P>0.05). Compared with the control group, the number of external haemorrhoids treated during the operation and the pain scores after operation were significantly reduced in the experimental group (P0.05). The surgical duration and length of stay in the experimental group were significantly longer than those in the control group, and the total hospitalization expense was significantly higher than that in the control group (all P<0.05). No adverse events were reported in either group during the whole trial or follow-up period.@*CONCLUSION@#HSLI had the advantages of preserving the skin of anal canal completely, alleviating postsurgical pain and promoting rapid recovery after operation. (Registration No. ChiCTR1900022883).

Changes of Inflammasome in Children with Immune Thrombocytopenia before and after Treatment / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To clarify the significance of inflammasome NLRP3 in children with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) by detecting its changes before and after treatment.@*METHODS@#Twenty children with ITP diagnosed and treated in Xuzhou Children's Hospital were enrolled as observation group, and 10 healthy children as control group. The mRNA levels of NLRP3, ASC, and Caspase-1 were measured by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), the serum levels of IL-18, IL-1β, and high mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1) were detected by ELISA, and the protein level of NLRP3 was detected by Western blot.@*RESULTS@#In newly diagnosed ITP children, the serum levels of IL-18, IL-1β and HMGB1 significantly decreased after treatment (P<0.05). After treatment, NLRP3, ASC, and Caspase-1 mRNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.05). NLRP3 protein expression decreased significantly after treatment.@*CONCLUSION@#Expression of NLRP3 inflammasome and downstream inflammatory factors are decrease after treatment in children with ITP, which may be used as effective prognostic markers.

Research Progress of Different Components of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treatment of Blood Stasis Syndrome / 中国实验方剂学杂志

To a certain extent, put forward the concept of " component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)" simplifies the complexity of multi-component and multi-target of TCM, which provides a possibility for the clarification of the material basis of the efficacy of TCM, and also provides a new direction for promoting the modernization and industrialization of TCM, promots the high quality development of TCM. The correlation between prescription and disease syndrome has made rapid progress, both basic research and clinical application are fruitful. However, the correlation between components and disease syndrome still needs to be further studied. The syndrome of blood stasis is a common syndrome of TCM science, and it is more common in various diseases, especially cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, kidney disease, diabetes and hyperlipoidemia. A large number of studies have shown that some specific components contained in TCM or TCM compound can improve the related indexes of patients or experimental animal model with blood stasis syndrome. It is manifested in reducing blood viscosity, inhibiting platelet activation and adhesion aggregation, changing erythrocyte deformability index, inhibiting thrombosis and so on. Blood stasis is not only the pathogenic factor of many diseases, but also the pathological product of many kinds of diseases, which involves a wide range of diseases. Therefore, this study will study the progress of different components of TCM in the prevention and treatment of blood stasis syndrome, focusing on saponins, flavonoids, organic acids, polysaccharides, alkaloids and other active components in improving hemorheological abnormalities, hypercoagulability, platelet activation and adhesion aggregation, thrombosis. Based on the thought of component-disease syndrome, this paper searches the relevant literature in recent 20 years, classifies and summarizes the achievements of different components in the prevention and treatment of blood stasis syndrome, and hopes to provide some ideas for the further study of the pharmacological action of TCM components, the study of compatibility of TCM components and the research of TCM components.

Determination of the content of Gd3+ in gadoteric acid meglumine salt injection by ICP-MS method / 药学实践杂志

Objective To establish a method for determining the content of Gd3+ in gadoteric acid meglumine salt injection. Methods ICP-MS was used. The separation column was a metal chelate column (1-ml Chelating Sepharose column), column temperature was normal temperature. Flow rate was 1 ml/min. Injection volume was 500 μl. Atoms were measured by ICP-MS with a molecular weight of 157 (The molecular weight of Gd was 157). The carrier gas was argon. Results The linear range of Gd3+ mass concentration was 0-500 ng/ml (r=1.000); The precision, stability and repeatability of the sample recovery test were all in accordance with the requirements. Conclusion The method was simple in operation, accurate in results and good in repeatability, which could be used to determine the content of Gd3+ in gadoteric acid meglumine salt injection.

Sulfadiazine degradation in soils: Dynamics, functional gene, antibiotic resistance genes and microbial community.

Sulfonamides and their corresponding antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are widespread in the environment, which leads to a major threat to global health crisis. Biodegradation plays a major role in sulfonamides removal in soil ecosystem, but the degradation dynamics and the associated functional bacteria in situ remain unclear. In this study, aerobic degradation of sulfadiazine (SDZ) at two dosages (1 and 10 mg/kg) was explored for up to 70 days in two different agricultural soils. The removal of SDZ in all treatments followed first-order multi-compartment model with half-life times of 0.96-2.57 days, and DT50 prolonged with the increase of initial dosage. A total of seven bacterial genera, namely Gaiella, Clostrium_sensu_stricto_1, Tumebacillus, Roseiflexus, Variocorax, Nocardioide and Bacillus, were proposed as the potential SDZ-degraders. sadA gene was for the first time detected in soil samples, but other functional genes might also participate in SDZ degradation. The enrichment of sulfonamide resistance genes was found after 70 days' incubation, which might result in the spread of ARGs in soil. This study can add some new insights towards SDZ degradation in soil ecosystem and provide a potential resource for the bioremediation of SDZ-contaminated soil.

Study on determination and pharmacokinetics of garlic saponins PIEB in the rat plasma by LC-MS/MS / 药学实践杂志

Objective To establish a method for concentration determination of garlic saponins PIEB in the rat plasma and study the pharmacokinetics of PIEB.Methods The separation was performed on a reverse phase Athena C18-WP (50mm×2.1mm, 3μm), with the mobile phase consisted of elution of acetonitrile-water (contain 0.05％formic acid) at a flow rate of 0.3ml/min.After intravenous and gavage administration, the blood samples of rats were collected in different time, and measured by LC-MS/MS.The pharmacokinetics parameters were calculated by Inna Phase Kinetica2000TMpharmacokinetics software.Results There was a good linearity of the calibration curves over the concentration range of 10-2 430ng/ml (r=0.999 1), and the investigation of methodology all accorded with the demands.After intravenous administration of 50mg/kg PIEB in rats, the maximum concentration of PIEB was achieved immediately.The t1/2of PIEB was about 322minutes and the MRT was 270minutes.After oral administration of low, medium and high concentrations of garlic saponin, the AUC and cmaxincreased with the increasing of dosage, which were consistent with the features of linear pharmacokinetics.Conclusion The established method was simple, accurate and sensitive, which could be suitable for the contents determination of garlic saponins PIEB in the rat plasma.

Role of Inflammasome in Children's Immune Thrombocytopenia / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the role and the mechanism of NLRP3 inflammasome in children's immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).@*METHODS@#Twenty-one children suffered from ITP were enrolled in ITP group, 10 healthy children were selected in control group. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) were isolated from ITP children and healthy controls. The mRNA levels of NLRP3, ASC, and Caspase-1 in PBMNCs were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Moreover, the protein level of NLRP3 in PBMNCs was detected by Western blot. The plasma IL-18 level was detected by ELISA.@*RESULTS@#The expression level of NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1 mRNA in newly-diagnosed ITP children was dramatically higher than that in control. The plasma IL-18 level was higher than that in healthy control. Furthermore, the level of NLRP3 protein was up-regulated in ITP children.@*CONCLUSION@#The NLRP3 inflammasome and up-regulated level of IL-18 have been found in newlydiagnosed ITP patients, and they may involve in the pathogenesis of ITP.

Comparison of wide-angle digital retinal imaging system and binocular indirect ophthalmoscope in retinopathy of prematurity screening / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

·AIM:To compare the application effect on patients with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screened by wide-angle digital retinal imaging system (RetCam) and binocular indirect ophthalmoscope (BIO). ·METHODS:Totally 1624 cases(3248 eyes) of premature infants were detected by RetCam and BIO in our hospital from May 2014 to May 2017. The screening results of ROP and occurrence of adverse events were compared between two checking methods. ·RESULTS: In the 1 624 cases (3248 eyes) of premature infants,196 cases (392 eyes) of premature infants were detected by RetCam and 189 cases (378 eyes) of premature infants were detected by BIO, there was no statistical significance on staging results and partition pathological results between RetCam and BIO (P>0.05). Taking inspection result of BIO as standard, the sensibility, specificity, false positive rate and positive predictive value was 100. 00%, 99. 51%, 3. 57% and 96.43%, respectively. The adverse event rate of RetCam and BIO was 0.18% and 0.22%, respectively, there was no statistical significance (P>0.05). ·CONCLUSION:RetCam and BIO have similar application efficacy for screening ROP, and RetCam could take the place of BIO as the screening method of ROP.