Objective To investigate the incidence and the related factors of the depression in Parkinson's disease. Methods 52 cases with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were included in this study. Such scales as Hamilton depression scale-24 item (HAMD-24), Non Motor Symptoms Scale for Parkinson's disease (NMSS), 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS), revised Hoehn-Yahr rating scale (H-Y), revised Schwab and English daily life event scale (S-E), Minimum Mental State Examination (MMSE), etc. were applied and underwent Spearman correlation analysis. Results Thirty-six patients with Parkinson's disease (69.23%) met the criteria for depression. The spearman rank correlation analysis showed that MMSE (r=-0.294, P=0.036) and S-E (r=-0.506, P<0.001) had negative correlation with depression in Parkinson's disease, and the course of the disease (r=0.274, P=0.049), UPDRS (r=0.485, P<0.001), H-Y (r = 0.459, P = 0.001), NMSE (r = 0.729, P < 0.001) and PDQ-39 (r = 0.619, P < 0.001) had positive correlation with depression in Parkinson's disease. Conclusions The patients with Parkinson's disease had high incidence of depression. The depression in Parkinson's disease is associated with many factors and affected the quality of life of the patients.

Objective To compare the serum levels of interleukin(IL)-6,IL-18 and tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α)in patients with DPD,PD,depression disorder and healthy controls and to analyze the correlations of serum inflammatory factors in DPD patients. Methods Serum levels of IL-6,IL-18 and TNF-αwere measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) kits. Several scales were performedin DPD patients. Results DPD,PD and depression disorder patients had significant lower baseline levels of IL-6 and TNF-αwhen compared to healthy controls(P < 0.05). The levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in DPD patients were significantly increased after 4 weeks of anti-depression treatment(P < 0.05). No difference of cytokines levels in gender and in severity of DPD patients was detected Serum levels of these inflammatory cytokines were not significantly correlated with the UP-DRS Ⅲ,H & Y,MMSE and HAMD scores in DPD patients. Conclusions Serum inflammatory factors(IL-6, TNF-α)were altered in patients with DPD in the earlier course of disease. However ,the role of IL-18 remained unknownin the occurrence of DPD disease.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe pathophysiological condition characterized by pulmonary artery remodeling and continuous increases in pulmonary artery pressure, which may eventually develop to right heart failure and death. Although newly discovered and incredible treatment strategies in recent years have improved the prognosis of PH, limited types of effective and economical drugs for PH still makes it as a life-threatening disease. Some drugs from Chinese materia medica (CMM) have been traditionally applied in the treatment of lung diseases. Accumulating evidence suggests active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) derived from those medicines brings promising future for the prevention and treatment of PH. In this review, we summarized the pharmacological effects of APIs derived from CMM which are potent in treating PH, so as to provide new thoughts for initial drug discovery and identification of potential therapeutic strategies in alternative medicine for PH.
China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary/drug therapy* ; Materia Medica ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional