Objective To understand the sonographic feature of skin and skin nerves in the patients of herpes zoster. Methods High frequency sonography was used to examine 37 cases of herpes zoster patients with 77 pathological changes, 7 cases of sequence of neuralgia with 17 pathological changes. Compared with the healthy side of the same patient, thickness and echo feature of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, the width and echo feature of the skin nerves were recorded. Results The skin and subcutaneous tissue of the herpes zoster patients thickened (P 0.05),but the involved skin nerves widened significantly(P

BACKGROUND:Tripterygium wilfordi and its certain monomers have exact clinical effects on rheumatoid arthritis. However, there are few studies about a systematic discussion on pharmacodynamic material basis and molecular mechanism of Tripterygium wilfordi. OBJECTIVE:To explore the pharmacodynamic material basis and molecular mechanism ofTripterygium wilfordi in treating rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS: Based on the platform of Discovery Studio 4.0, the molecular set of Tripterygium wilfordiwas built and compared with the rheumatoid arthritis drug set from Therapeutic Target Database in chemical space. After that, network pharmacology was used to explore the interactions ofTripterygium wilfordi and therapeutic targets related to rheumatoid arthritis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The molecular sets ofTripterygium wilfordi and drugs for treating rheumatoid arthritis had similar chemical space. The pharmacodynamic material basis ofTripterygium wilfordi had 46 compounds, such as celacinnine, epigalocatechin, euonine, triptolide. They could mediate inflammation, regulate immune response, inhibit cartilage and bone destruction, improve blood stasis-type rheumatoid arthritis by acting on 10 targets, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, JAK-1, matrix metaloproteinase-1, matrix metaloproteinase-3, matrix metaloproteinase-9. Computer simulation could intuitively trace out the multi-ingredient, multi-target and multi-pathway effects of Tripterygium wilfordi.

AIM:To investigate the anti-tumor effects of Chinese medicine Fuzhengyiliufufang(FZYLFF) and its mechanism.METHODS:Molecular docking was apllied to simulate the interactions between Chinese medicine small molecules and TNF-?,IL-2 receptors respectively,with the aid of ligand-fit module in the software package Cerius2 4.10 of Accelrys company,to predict the effects of FZYLFF on anti-tumor.RESULTS:According to the dockscore of original ligand and the receptor as threshold value,thirty-seven molecules were predicted to have good interactions with TNF-? and ten molecules with IL-2.CONCLUSION:FZYLFF is a promising Chinese medicine for tumor therapy.Its mechanism is possibly attributed to indirect inhibition by interfering inflammatory cell factors and enhancing immunoregulation.

BACKGROUND:Tougu Xiaotong Capsule (TGXTC) is a clinical prescription for the treatment of osteoarthritis;however, its mechanism has not been ful y elucidated. Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) system participating in the degradation of the extracel ular matrix of articular cartilage and hyperplasia of joint synovium plays an important role in the pathological process of osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects of TGXTC medicated serum on the expression of uPA, uPA receptor (uPAR), plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAIs), matrix metal oproteinase-3 (MMP-3), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) in osteoarthritis synovial cel s of rats and to discuss the mechanism by TGXTC medicated serum prevents and cures osteoarthritis. METHODS:Rat models with knee osteoarthritis were established by injecting 4%papain into the knee joint cavity. Primary synoviocytes and osteoarthritis synoviocytes were cultured with col agenase digestion method. The cultured synoviocytes were divided into normal group, model group and TGXTC group. The western blot method was adopted to detect uPA, uPAR, PAI, MMP-3, IL-1βand TNF-αprotein expression of synoviocytes after acting by TGXTC medicated serum for 72 hours. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The expression of uPA, uPAR, MMP-3, IL-1βand TNF-αwere decreased, while PAI was increased in the TGXTC group, and there were significant differences when compared with model group. In a word, TGXTC can significantly inhibit the expression of uPA, uPAR, MMP-3, IL-1β, TNF-α, and improve PAI expression in synoviocytes, which may partly explain the mechanism of the treatment of Tougu Xiaotong Capsule on osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND:Tougu Xiaotong Capsule has pretty good clinical therapeutic effect on osteoarthritis of early and middle periods. However, the mechanism of Tougu Xiaotong Capsule is not ful y clarified. The RhoA GTPases can regulate chondrocyte apoptosis and hypertrophy.
OBJECTIVE:To observe the Tougu Xiaotong Capsule on the expression of Rac1and Cdc42 in tumor necrosis factor-α-induced in vitro cultured rat articular chondrocytes, and to explore its mechanism of action for combating osteoarthritis.
METHODS:Knee cartilage of the 4-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats was used to stably establish in vitro culture system of chondrocytes. Passage 3 chondrocytes were identified by toluidine blue staining. Chondrocyte apoptosis was successful y induced by 20μg/L tumor necrosis factor-αand then Tougu Xiaotong Capsule at different dosage (500, 100, 20 mg/L) was given after 24-hour incubation. MTT assay was used to detect cellsurvival, flow cytrometry to measure mitochondrial membrane potential, and western blot assay to determine the protein expression of Rac1, Cdc42, Bax and Bcl-2.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Tougu Xiaotong Capsule could reduce tumor necrosis factor-α-induced apoptosis of chondrocytes to improve the survival rate of the cells, and at the same time, could down-regulate the protein expression of Rac1, Cdc42 and Bax and increase the protein expression of Bcl-2 significantly (P<0.05). Tougu Xiaotong Capsule possibly plays a therapeutic efficacy on osteoarthritis by reducing promote apoptosis Rac1, Cdc42 and Bax expression and increasing apoptosis inhibiting gene Bcl-2 expression, thereby to inhibit apoptosis of chondrocytes.

BACKGROUND:Tougu Xiaotong capsule is the clinical prescription for the treatment of osteoarthritis, however, its mechanism has not been fuly elucidated. Urokinase type plasminogen activator system which participated in the degradation of the extracelular matrix of articular cartilage and hyperplasia of joint synovium plays an important role in the pathological process of osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect ofTougu Xiaotong capsule on urokinase-type plasminogen activator system in knee cartilage tissues of knee osteoarthritis rats. METHODS: Of 144 Sprague-Dawley rats, 120 rats were randomly made into models of knee osteoarthritisvia intra-articular injection of papain, and randomly assigned to model group,Zhuanggu Guanjie Wan group [1.2 g/(kg?d)], low-doseTougu Xiaotong capsule group [0.092 g/(kg?d)], moderate-doseTougu Xiaotong capsule group [0.184 g/(kg?d)] and high-doseTougu Xiaotong capsule group [0.368 g/(kg?d)]. Each group contained 24 rats. Every 2 weeks was considered as a course, with a 2-day interval, totaly 4 courses. The remaining 24 normal rats were included in the blank group. After every two courses, a batch of experimental animals was sacrificed. The pathological changes were observed folowing staining with hematoxylin and eosin. The positive cels of urokinase-type plasminogen activator, urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor and plasminogen activator inhibitor were measured by immunohistochemistry. The protein levels of urokinase-type plasminogen activator, urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor and plasminogen activator inhibitor were measured by western blot assay. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Mankin’s score was significantly lower in theTougu Xiaotong capsule group and Zhuanggu Guanjie Wan group compared with the model group (P < 0.01), in a time-dependent manner. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that the positive cels of urokinase-type plasminogen activator and urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor were significantly decreased, but plasminogen activator inhibitor was significantly increased in theTougu Xiaotong capsule group andZhuanggu Guanjie Wangroup in a time-dependent manner. Western blot assay results had an identical trend to immunohistochemistry. These indicated thatTougu Xiaotong capsule showed preventive and therapeutic effects on osteoarthritis by regulating urokinase-type plasminogen activator system.

BACKGROUND:Previous studies have found that electroacupuncture can delay articular cartilage degeneration mediated by JAK-STAT signaling pathway through upregulating the expression level of transforming growth factor β1 as well as mRNA expression levels of STAT3, Smad3 and LepR. In the meanwhile, electroacupuncture can inhibit the mRNA expression of p38 and Fas mRNA mediated by MAPK signaling pathways, further inhibiting the apoptosis of chondrocytes. OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of electroacupuncture on the degeneration of articular cartilage in rats with knee osteoarthritis based on Ras-Raf-MEK1/2-ERK1/2 signaling pathway. METHODS:120 male healthy Sprague-Dawley rats aged 2 months olds were selected and randomly divided into normal, model, 15-minite electroacupuncture and 30-minute electroacupuncture groups (n=30 per group). The rats in the latter three groups received the intra-articular injection of 4% papain bilaterally, and the remaining rats received no intervention. At 2 weeks after modeling, the latter two groups were respectively given 15- and 30-minute electroacupuncture, five times weekly for consecutive 12 weeks. The morphology of the cartilage was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining, the expression level of interleukin-1β in the synovium was detected by ELISA assay, and the protein expression levels of Ras, Raf, MEK1/2, ERK1/2, C-MYC, C-FOS, and C-JUN were detected by western blot analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that: in the model group, the cartilage surface was rough, the cartilage layer became thinner, and the cartilage structure was damaged with incomplete tidal line; in the 15- and 30-minute electroacupuncture groups, the cartilage structure was complete with clear layers and complete tidal line. ELISA showed that the expression level of interleukin-1β in the model group was significantly higher than that in the normal group (P< 0.01), and the level in the 15- and 30-minute electroacupuncture groups was significantly lower than that in the model group (P < 0.05). Western blot assay found that compared with the normal group, the protein expression levels of Ras, Raf, MEK1/2, ERK1/2, C-MYC, C-FOS, and C-JUN were increased in the model group. However, all above protein levels except ERK1/2 in the 15- and 30-minute electroacupuncture groups were significantly lower than those in the model group (P < 0.01,P < 0.05). To conclude, electroacupuncture inhibits the degeneration of articular cartilage in osteoarthritisvia Ras-Raf-MEK1/2-ERK1/2 signaling pathway and downregulating the expression level of interleukin-1β.