Different subtypes of chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection occurred clinically because of the status of virus’s interaction with immune system. In patients with immune tolerance,high level of HBV DNA was found,serum hepatitis B e antigen(HBeAg)was positive,and serum level of alanine aminotransferase(ALT)was normal with only mild or no inflammation in liver tissue. However,not all the patients with normal ALT were in immune tolerance status,the disease could progress insidiously and develop into liver cirrhosis. Whether these patients need anti-viral therapy has always been a hotspot of study. This article reviewed the correlation between immune status and HBV infection,the identification of patients with normal ALT but not in immune tolerance status,and the indication of anti-viral therapy for these patients.

It has been nearly 20 years from the discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV)and clinical diagnosis of hepatitis C to antiviral therapy with interferon,and significant progress has been made.Substantial changes have taken place in both the concept and strategy for antiviral treatment of hepatitis C,with more and more direct-acting antiviral agents emerging in recent years;these changes are as follows:from the control of HCV to clinical cure,from a sustained virologic response (SVR)rate around 30%with conventional interferon therapy to an SVR rate of 70%-80% with standard therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin,and from evaluating the difficulty of treatment based on genotypes and viral load to determining the treatment strategy according to host IL28B genotypes and response patterns (rapid virologic re-sponse and complete early virologic response).The progress in antiviral therapy strategies for hepatitis C is systematically reviewed for re-understanding of refractory hepatitis C.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; therapy ; Catheter Ablation ; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; therapy ; Liver Transplantation

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for content determination of schisandrin and schisandrin B in compound wurenchun capsule by RP-HPLC.METHODS:Column lichrosphere C18 was used,mobile phase of water and MeOH(gradient elution)was set up,the flow rate was 1.0mL?min-1,the column temperature was 30℃and the detection wavelength was 254nm.RESULTS:The linear ranges of schizandrin and schisandrin B were within 0.182 4～1.641 6?g(r=1.000 3)and 0.189 6～ 1.706 4?g(r=0 .999 9),respectively.The average recoveries were 98.32%(RSD=1.02%)and 97.22 %(RSD=0.94%),respectively.CONCLUSION:The established method is convenient,accurate and highly specific,and it can be used for the quality control of compound wurenchun capsule.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is an active chalcone compound isolated from licorice. It possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities. In our previous study, we uncovered a great potential of ISL in treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, this study aims to reveal the mechanism underlying the alleviatory effects of ISL on T2DM-induced glycolipid metabolism disorder. High-fat-high-sugar diet (HFD) combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) were used to establish T2DM mice model. All animal experiments were carried out with approval of the Committee of Ethics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. HepG2 cells were used in in vitro experiments, and sodium palmitate (SP) was applied to establish insulin resistance (IR) model cells. The effects of ISL on body weight, fasting blood glucose levels, and pathological changes in the livers of mice were examined. Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) were applied to detect the regulatory effects of ISL on key targets involved in glucolipid metabolism. Additionally, molecular docking and analytical dynamics simulation methods were used to analyze the interaction between ISL and key target protein. The results indicate that ISL significantly downregulates the transcriptional levels and inhibits the activities of key enzymes involved in gluconeogenesis, including pyruvate carboxylase (PC), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase (FBP). It also downregulates the transcriptional and protein levels of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), the two transcriptional factors involved in gluconeogenesis. Thus, ISL inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis in T2DM mice. In addition, ISL reduces total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels in the livers of T2DM mice. Moreover, ISL downregulates the mRNA levels of lipogenesis genes and upregulates those of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation, lipid uptake, and lipid export. In conclusion, ISL suppresses hepatic gluconeogenesis, promotes lipolysis, and restrains lipogenesis in T2DM mice, thereby improving the abnormal glycolipid metabolism caused by T2DM.

Isoliquiritigenin (ISL) is a flavonoid compound isolated from licorice. It possesses excellent antioxidant and anti-diabetic activities. This study aims to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the alleviatory effect of ISL on energy metabolism imbalance caused by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were used in in vivo experiments. The high-fat-high-glucose diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin was applied to establish T2DM animal model. All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the Institutional Guidelines of Laboratory Animal Administration issued by the Committee of Ethics at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. HepG2 cells were used in in vitro experiments. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) were used to examine the protein and mRNA levels of mitochondrial function-related targets. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in HepG2 cells were measured by the flow cytometry. Additionally, the molecular docking of ISL and key target proteins was analyzed. It was found that ISL significantly inhibited the activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I and increased the protein levels of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) in the livers of mice and HepG2 cells. It also obviously decreased the ROS levels and increased the MMP levels in cultured HepG2 cells. In addition, ISL promoted mitochondrial biogenesis by activating proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1α (PGC-1α) and enhanced mitophagy by upregulating Parkin. It also improved mitochondrial fusion by increasing the mRNA and protein levels of mitofusin 2 (MFN2). In conclusion, ISL alleviates energy metabolism imbalance caused by T2DM through suppression of excessive mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and promotion of mitochondrial biogenesis, mitophagy, and fusion.

Background: Radiation pneumonitis is one of the most common complications during radiotherapy of thoracic tumors. It impacts the quality of life of the patients and has life-threatening danger. However, there is a lack of drugs for prevention and treatment of this disease. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of Liangxue Jiedu Huoxue Decoction, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, in prevention of radiation pneumonitis. Design, setting, participants and interventions: A prospective randomized clinical study was conducted. A total of 100 patients diagnosed with lung cancer from Department of Radiotherapy, Chinese PLA General Hospital, who were planning to receive radiotherapy, were randomly assigned into treatment group and control group, with 50 patients in each group. In the treatment group 3 cases were lost to follow-up and one case was excluded, while in the control group 6 cases were lost to follow-up and 2 cases were excluded. Patients in the treatment group were treated with Liangxue Jiedu Huoxue Decoction in addition to radiotherapy, while patients in the control group were treated with radiotherapy alone. Main outcome measures: The incidence rates of radiation pneumonitis in the two groups were calculated. Acute radiation injury scoring criteria by Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), clinical-radiographic-physiologic (CRP) score system, and Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (KPS) were used to evaluate the status of the patients. Results: The incidence rate of radiation pneumonitis was lower in the treatment group than in the control group (13.04% versus 33.33%, P<0.05). According to the RTOG scale, the extent of lung injury was improved in the treatment group as compared with that in the control group (P<0.05). The CRP score in the treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). The KPS score in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Liangxue Jiedu Huoxue Decoction can decrease the incidence rate of radiation pneumonitis, reduce the extent of the lung injury, alleviate the symptoms of radiation pneumonitis, and improve life quality of the patients.

AIM: To illuminate the therapeutic basis of Compound Wurenchun Capsules in combination with serum pharmacology,the lignans of this preparation migrating to blood of rats after oral administration having been accomplished. METHODS: By UPLC-MS/MS method, lignans migrating to blood were affirmed by comparing the extracted ion chromatography (EIC) of the serum containing drug with the ones of Compound Wurenchun Capsules, the control serum and control articles, correlated ion peak in mass-spectrogram were analyzed at the same time. RESULTS: Five lignans migrating to blood have been found, they are schisandrin, schisandrol B, schisantherin, deoxyschizandrin and schisandrin B. CONCLUSION: Five lignans above mentioned are likely the effective substances of Compound Wurenchun Capsules in human body. More study by means of combining with serum pharmacology will illuminate the therapeutic basis of this preparation.

Objective To identify the drug-induced constituents in rat serum containing drug of Compound Wurenchun Capsula and determine the content of these constituents. Methods Identification of the drug-induced constituents in serum has been carried out by combinative method of HPLC-DAD and UPLC-MS/MS. The content of four lignans in serum has been detected by HPLC-UV. Results Seven of eight original form compounds in serum have been identified as schisandrin,gomisin J,schisandrol B,deoxyschizandrin,gomisin N,schisandrin B,and schisandrin C. The UV spectrogram of five metabolites showed the absorption character of dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans. Eight lignans were identified by UPLC-MS/MS,besides schisantherin,there are seven lignan-like ones detected by HPLC-DAD. The content of schisandrin,schisandrol B,deoxyschizandrin,and schisandrin B in serum was (8.145 3?1.020 2),(6.604 5?1.341 4),(0.560 1?0.137 5),and (5.933 0?0.966 6) ?g/mL,respectively. ConclusionLignans and their metabolites are composed of the main drug-induced constituents in rat serum.

Objective To determine schisandrin,schisandrol B,deoxyschizandrin,and schisandrin B in serum containing drug of Compound Wurenchun Capsula.Methods An HPLC method was set up.Li-chrosphere C18 column(250 mm ?4.6 mm,5 ?m) and Phenomenex Description C18(4.0 mm?3.0 mm)protective column were used.Acetonitrile-water was used as gradient mobile phase.The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min.The column temperature was 30 ℃ and the detection wavelength was 210 nm.Results The linear ranges of schisandrin,schisandrol B,deoxyschizandrin,and schisandrin B were within 0.051 2-0.768 0 ?g(r=0.999 5),0.054 0-0.810 0 ?g(r=0.999 6),0.012 3-0.184 5 ?g(r=0.999 8),and 0.039 8-0.597 0 ?g(r=0.999 6),respectively.The average concentration of these four lignans in serum containing drug were 8.021 1,6.231 0,0.530 8,and 5.851 0 ?g/mL,respectively.Conclusion This method is easy,sensitive,specific,and accurate for the assaying of the four lignans in serum containing drug of Compound Wurenchun Capsula.