The purpose of this study is to evaluate the embryotoxicity of alkaloids in Senecionis Scandentis Hebra on in vitro cultured mouse embryos. Mouse whole embryo culture (WEC) was applied in this study. Post-implantation (8.5 d) mouse embryos were isolated from their mothers, and cultured in medium of immediately centrifuged serum (ICS) with different concentrations of seneciphylline (target concentrations were 100, 50, 25 and 12.5 μg x mL(-1)) or senkirkine (target concentrations were 50, 25 and 12.5 μg x mL(-1)) for 48 h. After culturing completed, the development and organic morphodifferentiation of the cultured embryos were evaluated microscopically. Treatment with seneciphylline and senkirkine had adverse effects on the development and organic morphodifferentiation of embryos. The effect also had clear dose-response. Alkaloidals in Senecionis Scandentis Hebra had embryotoxicity on cultured embryos, which indicated that pregnant people exposed to Senecionis Scandentis Hebra may get potential risk on fetus.

OBJECTIVE: The most existing research has predominantly focused on city rather than township hospitals. This study aimed to explore depressive symptoms and its associated factors among general practitioners and nurses in Chinese township hospitals.METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Liaoning, China in 2016. 2,000 general practitioners and nurses in Chinese township hospitals were recruited and 1,736 of them became final subjects (effective response rate: 86.8%). Data on depressive symptoms, workplace violence (WPV), psychological capital (PsyCap), and demographic factors were collected through questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to explore the factors related to depressive symptoms. Asymptotic and resampling strategies were applied to examine the potential mediating effect of PsyCap.RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms among the participants was 49.9%. Workplace violence was positively associated with depressive symptoms, whereas psychological capital and its components of hope, optimism and resilience were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Psychological capital and its components of hope, optimism and resilience all played partial mediating roles between workplace violence and depressive symptoms.CONCLUSION: Nearly half of general practitioners and nurses surveyed suffered from depressive symptoms. Reduction of workplace violence and development of psychological capital can be targeted for interventions to combat depressive symptoms.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Demography ; Depression ; General Practitioners ; Hope ; Humans ; Negotiating ; Optimism ; Prevalence ; Workplace Violence

Reproductive toxicity research takes an important place in traditional Chinese medicine pre-clinical safety evaluation. Modern reproductive toxicity experiment includes drug-related miscarriage, fetal death, teratism, and adverse effects on fertility, genital system, embryonic development and fetus, which is different from contraindicated in pregnancy in traditional Chinese medicine theory. Now the three-phases reproductive toxicity study is the method mainly applied in traditional Chinese medicine reproductive toxicity evaluation. Besides that, alternative methods of whole embryos culture and embryonic stem cell test are also used in traditional Chinese medicine embryo toxicity evaluation. This article reviews research progress and pre-clinical evaluation on reproductive toxicity of traditional Chinese medicine.

Background: To date, consistent data have not been reported on the association between serum amyloid A (SAA) levels and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The purpose of this study was to systematically summarize their relationship. Methods: Databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, and MEDLINE were searched until August 2021. Cross-sectional and case-control studies were included. Results: Twenty-one studies with 1,780 cases and 2,070 controls were identified. SAA levels were significantly higher in T2DM patients than in healthy groups (standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39 to 0.98). A subgroup analysis showed that the mean age of participants and the continent that participants were from were related to differences in SAA levels between cases and controls. Furthermore, in T2DM patients, SAA levels were positively associated with body mass index (r=0.34; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.66), triglycerides (r=0.12; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.24), fasting plasma glucose (r=0.26; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.45), hemoglobin A1c (r=0.24; 95% CI, 0.16 to 0.33), homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (r=0.22; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.34), C-reactive protein (r=0.77; 95% CI, 0.62 to 0.91), and interleukin-6 (r=0.42; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.54), but negatively linked with highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (r=–0.23; 95% CI, –0.44 to –0.03). Conclusion The meta-analysis suggests that high SAA levels may be associated with the presence of T2DM, as well as lipid metabolism homeostasis and the inflammatory response.

Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine in treatment of high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.Methods:The data of 47 newly treated MDS patients who had high-risk or above scores according to revised international prognostic scoring system (IPSS-R) in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January 2016 to September 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine group (15 cases) and decitabine group (32 cases). The clinical efficacy and adverse reactions in two groups were compared.Results:After 4 courses of treatment, the bone marrow remission rate, partial remission rate and hematologic remission rate was 20.0% (3/15), 6.7% (1/15), and 13.3% (2/15), respectively in decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine group, and was 28.1% (9/32), 3.1% (1/32), and 9.4% (3/32), respectively in decitabine group, and there were no statistically differences of both groups (both P > 0.05). The overall response rate in decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine group was higher than that in decitabine group [93.3% (14/15) vs. 62.5% (20/32), P = 0.037], and the complete remission rate in decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine group was higher than that in decitabine group [53.3% (8/15) vs. 21.9% (7/32), P = 0.046]. The 1-year overall survival (OS) rate of decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine group was 86%; and the median OS time of decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine group was 24 months (95% CI 15.5-32.5 months), which was higher than that of decitabine group (20 months), but there was no statistically significant difference ( χ2 = 0.058, P = 0.810). The incidence of grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ bone marrow suppression and infection in decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine group was higher than that in decitabine group, but there were no statistically significant differences of both groups (both P > 0.05). Grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ bone marrow suppression and infection were commonly found within the first 2 courses of treatment in decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine group, and the adverse reactions gradually decreased in the subsequent treatment. Conclusions:Decitabine combined with low-dose cytarabine can achieve better remission rate and prolong survival time for MDS patients with high-risk and above. There is no significant increase in the incidence of grade Ⅲ-Ⅳ bone marrow suppression and infection. For high-risk MDS patients who are not suitable or unable to receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, it can be the preferred option.

ObjectiveTo observe the architectural parameter changes of the muscles around the knee in middle-aged and elderly women with early knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by musculoskeletal ultrasound, and to clarify the indicators of muscles that affect early KOA. MethodsFrom January to August, 2022, 20 healthy middle-aged and elderly healthy women (controls) and 20 middle-aged and elderly women with unilateral early KOA (KOA group) were recruited through Beijing Bo'ai Hospital, to measure muscle thickness of the popliteus muscle, the muscle thickness and the pennation angle of the quadriceps, as rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis longus and vastus medialis oblique. ResultsCompared with the healthy limb of KOA group, and the controls, the muscle thickness of vastus medialis longus, vastus medialis oblique and popliteus muscle of the affected limb of KOA group became thinner (t > 2.133, P < 0.05); the proportion of thickness of vastus medialis oblique to thickness of vastus lateralis became smaller (t > 3.660, P < 0.05). The pennation angle was smaller in the affected limb of KOA group than in the matched dominant side of the controls (t = 3.101, P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the muscle thickness of vastus medialis oblique (OR = 0.235, 95%CI 0.068 to 0.805, P = 0.021) and popliteus muscle (OR = 0.387, 95%CI 0.152 to 0.980, P = 0.045) were related to the onset of early KOA. ConclusionThe thickness of vastus medialis longus, vastus medialis oblique and popliteus muscle decrease, and the balance of the strength of vastus medialis oblique and vastus lateralis weakens in the affected limbs of the middle-aged and elderly women with early KOA. The thickness of vastus medialis oblique and popliteus muscle are protective factors for onset of KOA.

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Chenpi Huoxiangtang against diarrhea based on network pharmacology and experimental verification. MethodThe active components and targets of Chenpi Huoxiangtang were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform （TCMSP）， and targets related to diarrhea from GeneCards and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man （OMIM）. Thereby， the common targets were screened out. The component-target-disease network and protein-protein interaction （PPI） network were constructed with Cytoscape 3.7.1 and STRING. Bioconductor and R language were employed for gene ontology （GO） term enrichment and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes （KEGG） pathway enrichment of core targets， and AutoDockTools 1.5.6 and AutoDockVina 1.1.2 for molecular docking. Finally， animal experiment was carried out for verification. ResultA total of 51 active components 226 targets of Chenpi Huoxiangtang and 37 common targets of the medicine and the disease were screened out. The core targets were involved in 1 249 GO terms （P<0.05） and 110 KEGG pathways （P<0.05）， mainly the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）， Janus kinase （JAK）/signal transducer and activator of transcription （STAT）， hypoxia inducible factor （HIF）-1， and mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK） pathways. Molecular docking suggested that hesperidin and Akt1 showed the highest binding affinity. Animal experiment demonstrated that Chenpi Huoxiangtang significantly alleviated the diarrhea symptoms. The diarrhea index on the first day of administration decreased to 0.92， which was statistically different from that （1.24） of the model group （P<0.05）. The intestinal ink propulsion rate was 70.36%， higher than that （58.20%） in the model group （P<0.01）. Moreover， intestinal peristalsis was improved by the decoction. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） indicated the decrease in the levels of interleukin-6 （IL-6） and interleukin-1β （IL-1β） （P<0.05） and increase in the levels of Akt1， epidermal growth factor （EGF）， and epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR） （P<0.05）. ConclusionThe active components of Chenpi Huoxiangtang mainly regulate PI3K/Akt， MAPK， and other signaling pathways through Akt1， IL-6， IL-1β， EGF， EGFR， and other core targets， thereby relieving diarrhea. This study is expected to lay a basis for the research on the pharmacological mechanism of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium-Pogostemonis Herba combination and the scientific connotation of their compatibility.