Therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine against neuroendocrinological diseases especially related to hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis.

This is a systemic review of plants used traditionally for neuroendocrinological diseases related to hypothalamus-pitutary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamus-pitutary-gland (HPG) axis. By searching from PubMed literature search system (1950-2013), Medline (1950-2013) and CNKI (China Journals of Full-text database; 1989-2013), 105 papers met the inclusion criteria were displayed in this review. 96 herbal drugs were classified into two parts which include hormones mainly related to HPA and HPG axis. The full scientific name of each herbal medicine, dose ranges and routes, models or diseases, affect on hormones and pertinent references are presented via synoptic tables. Herbal remedies that have demonstrable the activities of hormones have provided a potential to various diseases related to neunoendocrine and deserve increased attention in future studies. This review provides a basis for herbs use in neuroendocrinological diseases. The data collected here will benefit to further research associated to herbal medicines and hormones.

The impact of renaming schizophrenia on destigmatization: The Asian experience.

The term "schizophrenia" can indeed carry stigmatizing connotations. Proposals to rename schizophrenia have emerged as a potential strategy to alleviate this stigma, but the impact of such a change is not yet fully understood. In several Asian countries that have adopted a new name for schizophrenia, there is evidence that renaming is associated with improved attitudes towards individuals with schizophrenia and an increased willingness to disclose diagnoses. However, the portrayal of schizophrenia in the media seems unaffected by these name changes. In other countries where "schizophrenia" is still the standard term, alternative names have been suggested, but research on their effectiveness in reducing stigma shows mixed results. Mental health professionals frequently support a name change, recognizing the term's negative implications. However, it is crucial to recognize that a mere semantic revision, devoid of substantial conceptual alterations, may only offer a temporary decrease in stigma. Thus, renaming schizophrenia, coupled with a re-conceptualization of the disorder, may be a constructive step toward reducing its stigmatization.

Creating hot spots within air for better sensitivity through design of oblique-wire-bundle metamaterial perfect absorbers.

Better sensitivity of a biosensor could boost up the detection limit of analytes, thus a must in the fields of bio-sensing and bio-detection. To further enhance the sensitivity of a biosensor, in this work, we design an oblique-flat-sheet metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA) to concentrate the hot spots within air between the oblique flat sheet and the continuous ground metal, thus enabling fully interaction between analytes and hot spots. The corresponding field distributions in simulation corroborated our assumption and its sensitivity could be up to 1049 nm/RIU. Then, we fabricated the sample by e-beam lithography process for a seed layer and simply tilting the sample during deposition to obtain oblique flat sheets. When considering the stochastic nature of the deposited multiple oblique flat sheets, we modified the metallic upper resonator of the MPA from the single oblique-flat-sheet into randomly distributed oblique-wire-bundle (OWB) and in simulation, its sensitivity is boosted up to 3319 nm/RIU. In experiments, the measured sensitivity is 1329 nm/RIU under different concentrations of glucose solutions that is four times larger than the 330 nm/RIU of the planar MPA. The higher sensitivity was attributed to that the OWB MPA could provide hot spots within air not only between OWB and grounded metal but also among wires. Moreover, the OWB could also trap and concentrate the analytes locally.

Renaming Schizophrenia and Stigma Reduction: A Cross-Sectional Study of Nursing Students in Taiwan.

Schizophrenia is one of the most stigmatized mental disorders. In 2014, schizophrenia was renamed in Mandarin in Taiwan, from the old name of "mind-splitting disease" to new name "disorder with dysfunction of thought and perception", in an attempt to reduce the stigmatization of schizophrenia. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the effects of renaming schizophrenia on its stigma in nursing students. We examined the public stigma, self-stigma, and social distance associated with schizophrenia and compared them before and after the renaming. Basic demographic data and previous contact experience were collected, and participants completed a modified Attribution Questionnaire, the Perceived Psychiatric Stigma Scale, and modified Social Distance Scale. The final sample comprised 99 participants. Assessment revealed that the renaming significantly reduced public stigma, self-stigma, and social distance. Regarding the old and new names for schizophrenia, the fourth-year nursing students scored significantly higher on public stigma and self-stigma than did the first-year students. Personal exposure to individuals diagnosed with mental disorders reduced public stigma toward schizophrenia. The study findings suggest that the renaming of schizophrenia reduced its associated stigma. Providing accurate information, instruction by qualified tutors, as well as exposure to patients in acute exacerbation in hospital settings and recovered patients in the community are important. Further studies with longitudinal design, participants from diverse backgrounds, and larger sample sizes to investigate the effect of renaming on the stigma toward schizophrenia are warranted.

Effects of Renaming Schizophrenia on Destigmatization among Medical Students in One Taiwan University.

The stigma associated with serious mental illnesses causes a huge burden on patients, their families, and society. In October 2012, in Taiwan, schizophrenia was renamed to reduce the stigma associated with this disease. The aim of this study was to compare the differences of public stigma, self-stigma, and social distance associated with schizophrenia between old and new name of schizophrenia in medical students. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 180 medical students of Taipei Medical University from October 2014 to February 2015. In total, 123 complete questionnaires were included in this study. Participants completed the modified attribution questionnaire, the perceived psychiatric stigma scale, and modified social distance scale to assess public stigma, self-stigma, and social distance, respectively. We also collected basic demographic data and previous experience of contact with people with mental illness. In total, 52 and 71 of the first- and fourth-year medical students, respectively, participated in the study. Among them, there were 51 females and 72 males. A significant difference in age was observed between the first- and fourth-year groups (20.2 ± 1.7 years vs. 22.7 ± 0.9 years, p < 0.001). After renaming schizophrenia, we noted significant differences in the scores in the modified attribution questionnaire, the perceived psychiatric stigma scale, and the modified social distance scale in all participants and the fourth-year students, respectively. Female gender (Beta = 0.230, p = 0.018) was significantly associated with the difference in the score of the modified attribution questionnaire after name change. The difference in the score of the perceived psychiatric stigma scale after the name change (Beta = 0.277, p = 0.004) and age (Beta = -0.186, p = 0.049) were significantly associated with the difference in the score of the modified social distance scale after name change. In conclusion, renaming was associated with the changes in the scores of the modified attribution questionnaire, the perceived psychiatric stigma scale, and the modified social distance scale toward individuals with schizophrenia in medical students of one Taiwan university. Further studies with large sample sizes, diverse participant backgrounds, and that monitor the subsequent behavioral changes are warranted.

Achieving broad absorption band and high incident angles by stochastically-distributed oblique-flat-sheet metamaterial perfect absorbers.

In this work, we integrated a periodic seed layer and oblique deposition method to fabricate a stochastically-distributed oblique-flat-sheet metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA). Such design could increase its absorption bandwidth and tolerance to high angle-incidence due to the fact that various oblique flat sheets offer different resonance conditions while even a single oblique flat sheet could provide different optical paths for resonance. On the other hand, a seed layer could reduce uncertainty regarding to direct oblique deposition and provide abilities to manipulate the bandwidth of the MPA. We also setup a simulation model in the aids of Visual Basic Application and examined the absorption behavior of the MPA under TM and TE oblique incidence that could achieve high absorbance under 80° and 60° incidence, respectively. Finally, in measurement, the fabricated sample owns 65% absorbance within 80-250 THz and over 90% absorbance within 250-320 THz at x-polarization normal incidence; as for the y-polarization normal incidence, we could achieve overall 70% absorbance within 80-300 THz. The measured results reveal similar tendency compared to the simulated ones.

New C21-steroidal aglycones from the roots of Cynanchum otophyllum and their anticancer activity.

Naturally occurring C21-steroidal aglycones from Cynanchum exhibit significant antitumor effects. To expand the chemical diversity and get large scale C21-steroidal aglycones, the extracts of the roots of Cynanchum otophyllum were treated with 5% HCl in aqueous and the resulting hydrolysate was investigated. Nine new C21-steroidal aglycones (1-9) namely cynotogenins A-I, along with seventeen known analogous (10-26), were isolated from the hydrolysate. The structures of compounds 1-9 were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis (IR, HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR) and comparison of observed spectroscopic data with those of reported in the literature. Aglycones 2-5 with rare cis-cinnamoyl group as well as 8 and 9 with 5ß,6ß-epoxy group were found from the genus of Cynanchum for the first time. The cytotoxicities of compounds 1-26 toward human cancer HeLa, H1299, HepG2, and MCF-7 cells were evaluated and preliminary structure-activity relationship (SAR) was discussed. Moreover, compound 20 inhibits HepG2 cell apoptosis and induces of G0/G1 phase arrest in a dose dependent manner.

[The efficacy of open-wedge high tibial osteotomy for varus knee].

OBJECTIVE: To introduce the biplanar opening high tibial osteotomy with rigid fixation for adult varus knee. METHODS: Twelve patients with varus knee and degeneration of medial compartment received the biplanar opening high tibial osteotomy between June 2001 and July 2008. The pre-operative deformity was about 11.5 degrees without osteoarthritis changes in other compartments. The average range of motion was more than 90 degrees . One of the patients had ruptures of LCL and ACL, who received osteotomy after reconstruction of the ligaments. The main symptom before the operation was pain in medial compartment. The range of motion, Lysholm score and subjective satisfactory examinations were assessed before and after the osteotomy. RESULTS: All of the osteotomy sites were healed at twelve to sixteen weeks after operation. No complications such as plate broken or injury of nerve or blood vessel had occurred. The mean correct angle was 9.5 degrees . No degenerative changes had developed in other compartments of the knee. The mechanical axis of the lower extremities was maintained during the follow-up. The overall satisfactory rate was 83.3%. Statistically significant changes exist in the Lysholm score and varus degree. CONCLUSION: The open-wedge high tibial osteotomy is suitable for the symptomatic genu varum in younger patients with good short-term and mid-term results.

[Repair full-thickness meniscal defects with injectable tissue engineering technique].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of injectable tissue engineering to repair full-thickness meniscal defects. METHODS: From June 2008 to February 2009 full-thickness of meniscal defects were created in the anterior corner of goats, which with no blood supply, in a diameter of 2 mm. Then bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) was mixed with injectable calcium alginate gel to fill the defects. Other groups include the calcium alginate gel and empty group were served as control groups. At different time points, the animals were sacrificed and macroscopy, microscopy determination, electroscopy and MRI detection were performed to assess the outcomes of repairing. RESULTS: The meniscal defects had been filled thoroughly in 16 weeks after operation with white, tough and elastic repair tissue similar to normal meniscal fibrocartilage in the tissue engineering groups. The repair tissue was mainly fibrochondrocytes in line with the calcium alginate fiber. Thick matrix secreted by the cells crammed the space between fibers. The view under electroscopy demonstrated that the microstructure of the repair tissue was normal and cells were in a fibrocartilage phenotype. CONCLUSION: The full-thickness meniscal defects in regions without blood supply can be reconstructed effectively with injectable tissue engineering.

Are aquatic exercises efficacious in postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

INTRODUCTION: To assess the effects of aquatic exercise in postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis using an up-to-date meta-analysis. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), VIP and Wanfang database were searched systematically for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published until July 2018. The RCTs included comparing the efficacy of aquatic exercise vs. control in postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis, the primary outcomes were assessed by the Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Six RCTs comprising 432 participants. This meta-analysis revealed that aquatic exercise could significantly relieve the symptom of postmenopausal women with knee osteoarthritis. But there was no significant difference between aquatic exercise program and control group for the improvement of pain, stiffness, function outcomes, sport, activities of daily living and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to prior reviews, our analysis demonstrated that aquatic exercise has no positive impact on pain physical function, stiffness, activities of daily living, sport and quality of life in elderly women with knee osteoarthritis. However, aquatic exercise could improve the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. Further investigation is needed because of limited available data.

Effects of interfering RNA of α-1,3-galactosyltransferase and nuclear factor-kappa B on cardiac xenotransplantation.

BACKGROUND: Both α1,3-galactosyltransferase (α1,3GT) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) play an important role in the immune response of xenotransplantation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of RNAi of α1,3GT and NF-κB on xenotransplantation. METHODS: Lentiviral vectors with shRNA focusing on α1, 3GT and RelA were constructed. The effect of RNAi on α1, 3GT and RelA was examined in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, we established a mouse-to-rat heterotopic cardiac xenotransplantatic model (donor hearts transplanted to the right side of the neck in rat) using a modified cuff technique. The survival time of donor hearts in each group was monitored. The expressions of α1, 3GT and RelA mRNA, Galα1,3Gal antigen, and RelA protein were detected by RT-PCR, immunofluorescence, and Western blot respectively. The expressions of C3, IgM, IgG, NK, macrophages, ICAM-1 on donor hearts were examined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: High titer lentiviral vectors carrying α1, 3GT and RelA shRNA plasmids had a high and stable transfection rate on EOMA in vitro. In vivo, heart tissue showed a much stronger GFP expression and significant decrease in target gene mRNA expression and protein expression in shRNA interfering groups (p < 0.01). The survival time of α1,3GTi-3 and dual lentiviral vector groups was significantly longer than other groups. The mRNA expression levels of α1,3GT and RelA, as well as Galα(1,3)Gal and RelA proteins, in α1,3GTi-3, RelAi-3, and dual lentiviral vector groups were downregulated and compared to other groups (p < 0.01). The depositions of C3, IgM, IgG in α1,3GTi-3 group and dual lentiviral vector group were less than other groups (p < 0.01). The infiltration of NK, macrophages and ICAM-1 in α1,3GTi-3 group and dual lentiviral vector group was more than other groups (p < 0.01), but the infiltration of NK, macrophages and ICAM-1 in dual lentiviral vector group was less than α1,3GTi-3 group (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that RNAi technology with lentiviral vectors is an effective method to transmit exogenous genes into living bodies and stably inhibit the expression of target genes. Moreover, siRNA targeting the α1,3GT gene was found to control the immune process and obviously prolong the survival time of donors, whereas knocking down NF-κB alone showed no differences. However, the RNAi of NF-κB can make the infiltration of macrophages and natural killer cells decrease, and the expression of ICAM-1 in the xenografts also decreases, contributing to the restraining of AVR.

A preliminary study on correlations of triple-phase multi-slice CT scan with histological differentiation and intratumoral microvascular/lymphatic invasion in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have shown that cancer cell differentiation and microvascular invasion play a principle role in cancer progression and metastasis, and non-invasive imaging techniques such as CT, MRI and US assessing the differentiation and the surgical resectibility and the prognosis of cancers are now of great importance. This study aimed to explore the correlation of triple-phase multi-slice CT scan with the histological differentiation and intratumor microvascular/lymphatic invasion of progressive gastric cancer. METHODS: The present study included 64 patients with gastric cancer, all of whom underwent routinal and dual-phase contrast enhancement multi-slice CT examinations of the upper abdomen before surgery. The post-operative specimens were used for determination of histological differentiation, cancer cell invasion of intratumoral microvascular/lymphatic vessel identified by CD34 and D2-40 expression. Correlations between contrast enhancement ratio (CER) of triple-phase multi-slice CT scan in gastric cancer and histological differentiation as well as intratumoral microvascular/lymphatic invasion were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between CER of triple-phase CT scan in gastric cancer and tumor histological differentiation (P < 0.05). CER of the arterial phase in gastric cancer with intratumoral microvascular invasion was significantly higher than that without invasion (0.61 ± 0.28 vs. 0.46 ± 0.14, P < 0.05); CER of the arterial-parenchymal phase was significantly lower in gastric cancer with intratumoral microvascular invasion than that without invasion (1.81 ± 0.39 vs. 2.28 ± 0.80, P < 0.05). However, CER of the parenchymal phase in gastric cancer with intratumoral lymphatic invasion was significantly higher than that without invasion (1.25 ± 0.57 vs. 1.00 ± 0.35, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CER of triple-phase multi-slice CT scan in gastric cancer is closely correlated with intratumoral microvascular and lymphatic invasion, and also could be used as a marker for histological differentiation.

[Preliminary study on the safety and pharmacodynamic action of low dose L-asparaginase].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety and therapeutic effect of low dose (1000 U/m(2)) L-asparaginase (L-Asp) in the treatment of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). METHODS: Six patients were treated with low dose L-Asp after previously suffered severe side effects from standard dose L-Asp (5000 - 10,000 U/m(2)). Twenty-eight blood samples were obtained randomly from 5 of them. Plasma asparagine concentration was detected by reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). RESULTS: All the patients treated with low dose L-Asp showed no any toxic symptoms. The plasma asparagine levels in the patients were all above 5 micromol/L except case 4 (4.91 micromol/L) before receiving L-Asp, and were all decreased below 0.5 micromol/L five days after receiving low dose L-Asp, except case 3 (3.70 micromol/L), the results being like that of receiving standard dose L-Asp. CONCLUSION: Low dose L-Asp has definite efficacy for childhood ALL, while avoids serious side effects from standard dose L-Asp.

[Research on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of L-asparaginase during its treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes in the activity of Escherichia coli asparaginase (L-asp) and the concentration of asparagines (ASN) in the plasma of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) children receiving L-asp containing chemotherapeutic protocol to explore more reasonable usage of L-asp in the treatment of childhood ALL. METHODS: L-asp containing hemotherapy regimen of VDLP was used, in which L-asp (10,000 U/m(2)) was administered intravenously every other day for 10 doses in 15 children with ALL. A total of 340 peripheral blood samples were collected at scheduled time points during the therapy and plasma L-asp activity (by spectrophotometric assay) and asparagines concentration (by RP-HPLC) were measured. RESULTS: During the administration of L-asp, the plasma L-asp activity was increasing gradually peaked after eight doses and then decreased gradually, while the plasma concentration of asparagines maintained in complete or nearly complete depletion status. After the therapy courses finished, a plasma L-asp activity above 100 U/L with asparagines almost complete depletion status was lasting for about seven days. CONCLUSION: The current L-asp containing chemotherapeutic protocols in which L-asp was administered in a dose of 10 000/m(2) intravenously every other day, are efficient enough for the depletion of plasma ASN.