Fitting Degrees of Cathartic Colon Animal Models with Disease Characteristics of Western Medicine and Syndrome Characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Cathartic colon （CC） is a common and refractory digestive system disease， with the pathogenesis not fully clarified. The effective therapies other than laxatives and surgery remain to be developed for CC. Therefore， establishing the CC animal models that fit the disease characteristics of western medicine and syndrome characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） is an important link to promote the research on this disease. The fitting degree of animal models with the latest Chinese and western medical diagnostic criteria is an indicator to assess the effectiveness of the animal models in simulating the disease characteristics of western medicine and syndrome characteristics of TCM. The literature review showed that the model animals， drugs and their dosage forms， doses， administration methods， and modeling period of CC varied in different studies， and the available CC animal models presented different fitting degrees with the disease characteristics of western medicine and syndrome characteristics of TCM. Rats were the preferred animals for the modeling of CC. Rhei Radix et Rhizoma preparations were commonly used for model inducing， which， however， may cause water electrolyte disorders， decreased immunity， and even death of animals at the late stage of modeling. The animals were modeled by gradually increasing the starting dose， while the starting dose and increasing dose varied. The maintenance dose was determined based on 50% of the animals having loose stools， and the end for a cycle was determined as the time when loose stools disappeared in 80% of animals. The modeling always lasted for 2-3 cycles， approximately 2-4 months. The CC models established with Rhei Radix et Rhizoma granules and rhein had high fitting degrees with the disease and syndrome characteristics. In addition， the CC animal models of TCM syndromes were still in the exploration stage. There were only the animal models of four TCM syndromes： liver depression and spleen deficiency， both Qi and Yin deficiency， Qi stagnation and blood stasis， and spleen and kidney deficiency. Efforts should be made to establish the animal models that meet the characteristics of disease of western medicine and syndromes of TCM， so as to facilitate the research on CC mechanism and drug development.

Therapeutic effect of Qinghuayin against chronic atrophic gastritis through the inhibition of toll or interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor inducing interferon-ß signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the efficacy of Qinghuayin (, QHY) in rat chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) models and explored the molecular mechanism of QHY in treating CAG. METHODS: In total, 65 Wistar rats were randomly divided into the control (= 10) and CAG groups ( = 55). CAG model rats were further divided into five groups: model ( = 10), vitacoenzyme ( = 10), low-dose QHY ( = 10), medium-dose QHY ( = 10), and high-dose QHY groups ( = 10). We analyzed histopathological changes using hematoxylin and eosin staining and measured interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 levels in serum using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Boster Bio, Pleasanton, USA). In addition, gastrin (GAS), pepsinogen I (PGI), and PGII expressions were evaluated using ELISA. The protein and mRNA expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and toll or interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor inducing interferon-ß (TRIF) was detected by Western blotting and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. RESULTS: Our results revealed that histopathological changes in CAG model rates could be restored by low-, medium-, and high-dose QHY. The changes in GAS and PGI/II expression demonstrated that QHY improved CAG. Serum IL-6 and IL-levels were decreased by QHY administration. TLR4 and TRIF were upregulated at the mRNA and protein levels in the model group but downregulated by QHY administration. CONCLUSION: We concluded that QHY could effectively improve the histopathological changes of the gastric mucosa induced by CAG in rats. The therapeutic mechanism of QHY may be related to inhibition of the inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-8 and suppression of TLR4/TRIF mRNA and protein expression.

Alteration of lipid profile and value of lipids in the prediction of the length of hospital stay in COVID-19 pneumonia patients.

To observe lipid profiles and their alterations in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (NCP) and evaluate the value of lipids for the prediction of the length of hospital stay (LOS), a total of 248 patients aged 18 years or older were enrolled in this retrospective study. At admission, the median levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in all patients were 1.11, 4.00, 0.89, and 2.11 mmol/L, respectively. Compared with common cases (n = 174), severe cases (n = 74) exhibited higher TG and HDL-C, and lower LDL-C. Levels of TC and LDL-C were negatively correlated with LOS. In 68 severe cases, serum lipids were followed up during hospitalization, and the median LOS was 29 days. The average levels of serum lipids were lowest at admission and gradually increased during hospitalization. Compared with the LOS ≤ 29 days group, serum levels of TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C were significantly lower in the LOS > 29 days group at admission; this lower trend was found in the subsequent tests for TC and LDL-C but not for HDL-C or TG. Multiple-variant COX regression showed that levels of TC or LDL-C at admission were independent risk of LOS prolongation. Together, these findings suggest that in patients with NCP, levels of TC and LDL-C at admission were negatively correlated with LOS. In severe cases, the gradual increase in TC, LDL-C, and HDL-C during hospitalization might indicate gradual recovery. TC < 3.75 mmol/L or LDL-C < 1.7 mmol/L at admission may act as an independent predictor of prolonged LOS.

Effect of Baduanjin Combined with Biofeedback on Functional Defecation Disorders and Brain-gut Peptide / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of Baduanjin combined with biofeedback on functional defecation disorders and the effect on serum brain-gut peptide.Methods From June, 2017 to February, 2018, 68 patients were randomly divided into control group (n=34) and observation group (n=34). Both groups received biofeedback therapy, and the observation group took the training of Baduanjin in addition, for twelve weeks. Then, their overall clinical efficacy, main syndrome score of constipation, the score of Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life (PAC-QOL) and Brain-gut peptide level were compared before and after intervention.Results The total clinical efficacy was higher in the observation group than in the control group (Z=-2.065, P=0.039) without shedding cases. After treatment, the main symptoms of constipation significantly improved (t>2.162, P<0.05) in both groups, while the defecation inactivity, defecation time and abdominal distension score were significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (t>2.837, P<0.01), as well as the defecation strain (t=-2.070, P<0.05); the score of PAC-QOL decreased (t>2.085, P<0.05) in both groups, and was lower (t=-2.243, P<0.05) in the observation group than in the control group; the level of serum 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), nitric oxide (NO) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) decreased (t>2.420, P<0.05), while the level of serum substance P (SP) increased (t>6.780, P<0.001), the level of serum 5-HT, serum NO and serum VIP was lower (t>2.039, P<0.05), and the level of serum SP was higher (t=3.500, P<0.001) in the observation group than in the control group.Conclusion Baduanjin combined with biofeedback can improve the clinical efficacy of patients with functional defecation disorders, and its mechanism is closely related to the regulation of abnormal secretion and the expression of brain-gut peptide.

Effects of Jianpi Qinghua Chinese herbal compound on TLR4-MyD88-dependent pathway protein expression and TNF-αin animal model of chronic atrophic gastritis(CAG) in rats / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate Jianpi Qinghua Chinese herbal compound( JQCC) on the expressions of the rel-evant proteins of TLR4 and its downstream MyD88-de-pendent pathways, and on the inflammatory factor TNF-α in the animal model of chronic atrophic gastritis ( CAG) in rats, so as to discuss the molecular mecha-nism of JQCC in the treatment of CAG. Methods 53 Wistar rats were randomly divided into the blank con-trol group(n=8) and the CAG model group(n=45), and the animal model of CAG in rats was replicated by the “ammonia + sodium deoxycholic acid + ethanol”method. After the successful modeling was confirmed, the rest of the 40 CAG rats in the CAG model group were divided into the model group, the vitacoenzyme-tablet group, the low dose of JQCC group, the medium dose of JQCC group, the high dose of JQCC group ( each group n =8 ) . The experimental animals of all the groups were given intragastric administration of medication continuously for 30 days. Then the patho-logical histological changes were observed by HE stai-ning. The protein expressions of TLR4, MyD88, NF-КB and COX-2 were tested by Western-blot assay. And the serum TNF-α level was measured by ELISA. Results The protein expressions of TLR4 , MyD88 , NF-КB and COX-2 and the serum TNF-α level in the rats in the model group were increased evidently ( P<0. 01). Compared with the model group, the gastric mucosa lesions were improved in the low dose of JQCC group, the medium dose of JQCC group, the high dose of JQCC group, together with significant decreases of the protein expressions of TLR4 , MyD88 , NF-κB and COX-2 and the serum TNF-α level ( P <0. 05 or P <0. 01 ) . Conclusion JQCC could effectively improve the pathological and histological changes in the gastric mucosa in CAG rats, and the therapeutic mechanism might be related to the expressions of the relevant pro-teins of TLR4-MyD88-dependent pathways and the ex-pressions of anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Clinical Research on Reversion of Precancerous Lesions of Gastric Carcinoma by Compound Gastritis Mixture / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To discuss the clinical efficacy of compound gastritis mixture (CGM) in treating precancerous lesions of gastric carcinoma (PLGC).Methods Totally 85 PLGC patients were randomly divided into treatment group and control group. The treatment group took CGM and the control group took Vitacoenzyme tablets. One therapeutic course was three months, and the treatment lasted for two courses. The clinical symptoms, electronic gastroscopy presentation, and pathological tissues before and after treatment were observed, the clinical efficacy was evaluated.Results There was statistical significance in TCM syndrome between the two groups (P<0.05), and the effective rate in the treatment group was more obvious than that in the control group (P<0.01). The symptoms of the two groups were significantly improved (P<0.05,P<0.01), but the improvements of the main symptoms in the treatment group were superior to those in the control group (P<0.05,P<0.01). The total effective rate of electronic gastroscopy presentation was 80.0% (36/45) in the treatment group, which was better than that of the control group (P<0.05). Pathological curative effects of chronic atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia in the treatment group were also better than those in the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion CGM has definite clinical efficacy in treating PLGC.