Functional gastrointestinal disease is a group of clinical syndrome of non-organic disease. Its various clinical symptoms have a certain specificity and overlap phenomenon, and the mechanism is not clear. TCM believes thatphychological factorsare an important cause. Emotion failurecan effect spleen and stomach functionthrough liver and heart directly or indirectly.At present, the phychological factors and the relationship between functional gastrointestinal disease are getting attentiongradually. It is recognized that the mechanism of phychological factorsmay be related to brain axis dysfunction, mast cell activation, intestinal flora and so on. This article expounded the above-mentioned mechanism and reviewed the detailed TCM intervention measures to functional gastrointestinal disease in recent years.

Irritable bowel syndrome( IBS)is a common functional gastrointestinal disease,relevant investigations on pathogenesis of IBS mainly focus on genetic susceptibility, social psychological stress, visceral hypersensitivity, dysregulation of brain-gut axis,dysbiosis of intestinal flora,and dysimmunity of intestinal mucosa. This article reviewed the correlation between dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota and dysregulation of brain-gut axis in IBS.

Objective This study aims to test the hypothesis that low density granulocytes (LDGs) is involved in the pathogenesis of DM associated-Interstitial lung disease (ILD).Methods Forty eight DM patients (28 with ILD) and 19 age-and sex-matched healthy Chinese volunteers were recruited to this study.LDGs percentage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was tested by flow cytometry.Neutrophilrelated genes (LL-37,MPO and MMP-8) expressions in PBMCs were tested by quantitative RT-PCR.Myositis disease activity assessment visual analogue scales (MYOACT) was used to assess the disease activity.Percentages of LDGs were compared in patients with ILD and without by using unpaired t test with Welch's correction,the correlations between LDGs and clinical parameters were further analyzed by linear correlation analysis.The expressions of neutrophil-related mRNA and proteins in PBMCs were compared by using MannWhitney U test.Results LDGs percentage in PBMCs was 7.1-fold higher in DM patients than healthy controls [(9.1±11.5)％ vs (1.3±0.7)％,t=4.664,P＜0.01].LDGs percentage in PBMCs was 2.7-fold higher in DM patients with ILD than DM patients without ILD [(12.3±14.1)％ vs (4.5±2.6)％,t=2.835,P=0.008 3].The mRNA expression level of LL-37,MPO and MMP-8 and LL-37 protein levels in the DM group were significantly higher than those in the control group.LDGs percentage positively correlated with MYOACT lung disease activity scores (r=0.439,P=0.010).Conclusion Percentage of LDGs in PBMCs is significantly increased in DM patients with ILD and positively correlated with MYOACT lung disease activity scores,suggesting that abnormall increasing of LDGs is a potential contributor to the pathogenesis of DM-associated ILD.

Objective To investigate the serum levels of soluble human leukocyte antigen (sHLA)-G in patients with polymyositis (PM) or dermatomyositis (DM),and to analyze its association with clinical features and possible role in the pathogenesis of PM/DM.Methods Serum sHLA-G levels of 26 patients with PM,70 patients with DM and 35 matched healthy controls were measured by ELISA.The relationship between the sHLA-G levels and clinical features or seroimmunological data in the patients with PM/DM was analyzed.Results Serum levels of sHLA-G in PM/DM patients were significantly higher compared to healthy controls [(44±70) U/ml vs (4±5) U/ml,P＜0.01].There was statistically significant difference between DM patients and PM patients [(54±81) U/ml vs (27±41) U/ml,P=0.004].The incidence of dysphagia was significantly higher in sHLA-G elevated group than those in sHLA-G normal group (P=0.001).Additionally,Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the serum sHLA-G levels were positively correlated with serum C3 (r=0.284,P=0.021),but negatively correlated with CD3+ T cells (r=-0.233,P=0.047) and CD4+ T cells (r=-0.287,P=0.015) in the peripheral blood in patients with PM/DM.Serum levels of sHLA-G in non-treated PM/DM patients were significantly higher compared to treated patients [(77±99) U/ml vs (34±52) U/ml,P=0.021].No relationship between serum sHLA-G levels and PM/DM disease activity,or different drug therapy was found.Conclusion Serum levels of sHLA-G are increased in PM/DM patients.The increased production of sHLA-G,paralleled with higher incidence of dysphagia and lower level of CD3+ T cells and CD4+ T cells,indicates that sHLA-G may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PM/DM.

Objective To explore the association between waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and dyslipidemia in Chinese adults and to find out an optimal threshold of WHtR for predicting dyslipidemia.Methods A total of 221 270 adults from 4 health checkup centers nationwide were selected by using cluster random sampling method.Height,body weight,waist circumference (WC),total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride (TG),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C) were measured.Body mass index (BMI) and WHtR were then calculated.The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC) was analyzed and optimal cutoffs were estimated by maximizing the sums of sensitivity and specificity.Results WHtR showed the largest AUCs in the participants with higher TC,TG and LDL-C,followed by increased WC and BMI.In male and female,the optimal thresholds of WHtR,WC and BMI for predicting dyslipidemia were 0.49-0.50 and 0.47-0.49,83-85and 73-76 cm,and 24-25 and 22-23 kg/m2,respectively.Conclusion WHtR may be superior to WC and BMI for predicting dyslipidemia,and an unisex cutoff of 0.5 should be recommended.

Aim To investigate the effect of simvastatin on the FKN expression in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells(HUVEC)up-regulated by interleukine-18(IL-18),and the effect on adhesion of FKN to monocyte THP-1.Methods FKN expression in HUVEC was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the adhesion was checked by in vitro Flow chamber.Results Incubation of HUVECs with IL-18 upregulated FKN mRNA expression(P

Objective To investigate the effects of NE on hepatic stellate cells(HSCs)apoptosis.Methods After NE and the antagonists of adrenoceptor subtypes were administered to HSCs,MTT method was used to evaluate cell proliferation.TUNEL assay and flow cytometry(FCM)were used to identify cell apoptosis.Results(1)Compared with control group,NE at concentrations of 1、10 and 100 ?mol/L induced HSCs proliferation in a time-dependent manner;The action of NE at concentrations of 10 ?mol/L reached the peak(0.262?0.085 vs 0.048?0.055,P

In order to discover the mechanism of Xuebijing oral effervescent tablet (XBJOET) to treat infectious diseases, the effect of XBJOET on endotoxin induced rabbit fever and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was investigated. Auricle microcirculation in rabbit was detected by laser speckle blood perfusion imager system; coagulation function was measured by coagulation analyzer, fibrinolytic system was quantified by Elisa assay and micro thrombosis in tissues was observed with HE staining under light microscope. The results demonstrated that the body temperature of rabbit decreased significantly at 1-3 h after administration with 4.8, 2.4 and 1.2 g x kg(-1) XBJOET to endotoxin induced DIC rabbit model, the auricle microcirculation blood flow in model group (54.45 +/- 14.53) PU was lower than that in control group (77.18 +/- 12.32) PU. The auricle microcirculation blood flow increased markedly and there was significant difference between model group and 1.2 g x kg(-1) XBJOET group. There was significant difference between model group and control group in the content of PAI1 and FIB. The PAI1 levels in model and control groups were (30.48 +/- 2.46) ng x mL(-1) and (20.93 +/- 3.25) ng x mL(-1), respectively. The FIB levels in model and control group were (3.34 +/- 1.09) g x L(-1) and (4.84 +/- 1.10) g x L(-1), respectively. The content of PAI1 in rabbit plasma decreased notably, there were significant differences between model group and 4.8, 2.4 g x kg(-1) XBJOET groups. On the contrary the content of FIB increased. XBJOET possessed pharmacological activities of curing infectious fever and DIC, the mechanism of which is related to amelioration of microcirculation disturbance, inhibition of fibrinolytic system activation and coagulation and micro thrombosis elimination.

Objective This study was focused on the association between neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with dermatomyositis (DM).Methods Thirty six patients who satisfied the Bohan & Peter criteria for DM were recruited to this study,among whom 19 were complicated with ILD.Forty seven age and sex matched healthy Chinese volunteers were selected to be control subjects.The plasma samples of these patients were tested for the formation and degradation of NETs.Results DM plasma induced more NETs formation than control plasma did [(246±93) RFUs vs (192±53) RFUs,P=0.002].Compared to control,DM plasma exhibited a signficantry decreased ability to degrade NETs.Further mere,compared with DM patients without ILD (DMNL),DM patients with ILD (DML) could not degrade NETs completely [(83±13)％ vs (59±21)％,P＜0.01].All four DM patients with subacute ILD exhibited a significantly lower ability to degrade NETs than patients with chronic or asymptomatic ILD [(36±14)％ vs (65±19)％,P=0.0139].Conclusion These data show that more NETs formation is induced by plasma and DML fails to completely degrade NETs.These suggest that NETs may play a role in the pathogenesis of DM and DM-associated ILD.

Objective To investigate the effects of over-expression of wild-type PTEN gene and its mutant (G129E) on apoptosis and proliferation of activated hepatic stellate cells (HSC) in vitro and its potential mechanisms. Methods The activated HSC cells were cultured in vitro and transfected with PTEN gene and G129E gene via adenoviral vector. The apoptosis of HSC was measured by MTT , and its proliferation was assessed by TUNEL and flow cytometry (FCM) . Western blotting and real-time fluorescent quantitation PCR were used to detect expression of PTEN in HSC. And the changes of Bcl-2 and Bax expression were tested by Western blotting. Results The wild type PTEN gene and G129E gene were successfully transducted into HSC, which resuted in elevated expression of Bax and reduced expression of Bcl-2 (P<0.01). After transduction, HSC proliferation was markedly inhibited with inhibitory rates of 14.03% and 23.12% at 48 and 72 hours in Ad-PTEN ,respectively, as well as 9.52% and 12.63% in Ad-G129E, respectively. Apoptotic rate of HSC exposed to Ad-PTEN or Ad-G129E for 72 hours increased significantly (P<0.01). Furthermore, wild type PTEN was more powerful than G129E for above-mentioned effects. Conclusions Over-expression of wild type PTEN and its mutant G129E can inhibit the proliferation of activated HSC, and induce HSC apoptosis through the Bcl-2/Bax pathway. In addition, the effect of wild type PTEN is more powerful than that of G129E.