This study aims to explore the mechanism of lung and gut protection by Tanreqing Capsules on the mice infected with influenza virus based on "the lung-gut axis". A total of 110 C57BL/6J mice were randomized into control group, model group, oseltamivir group, and low-and high-dose Tanreqing Capsules groups. Ten mice in each group underwent body weight protection experiments, and the remaining 12 mice underwent experiments for mechanism exploration. Mice were infected with influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/08/1934(PR8) via nasal inhalation for the modeling. The lung tissue was collected on day 3 after gavage, and the lung tissue, colon tissue, and feces were collected on day 7 after gavage for subsequent testing. The results showed that Tanreqing Capsules alleviated the body weight reduction and increased the survival rate caused by PR8 infection. Compared with model group, Tanreqing Capsules can alleviate the lung injury by reducing the lung index, alleviating inflammation and edema in the lung tissue, down-regulating viral gene expression at the late stage of infection, reducing the percentage of neutrophils, and increasing the percentage of T cells. Tanreqing Capsules relieved the gut injury by restoring the colon length, increasing intestinal lumen mucin secretion, alleviating intestinal inflammation, and reducing goblet cell destruction. The gut microbiota analysis showed that Tanreqing Capsules increased species diversity compared with model group. At the phylum level, Tanreqing Capsules significantly increased the abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, while reducing the abundance of Bacteroidota and Proteobacteria to maintain gut microbiota balance. At the genus level, Tanreqing Capsules significantly increased the abundance of unclassified＿f＿Lachnospiraceae while reducing the abundance of Bacteroides, Eubacterium, and Phocaeicola to maintain gut microbiota balance. In conclusion, Tanreqing Capsules can alleviate mouse lung and gut injury caused by influenza virus infection and restore the balance of gut microbiota. Treating influenza from the lung and gut can provide new ideas for clinical practice.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Mice ; Lung/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Capsules ; Orthomyxoviridae Infections/virology* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects* ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; Influenza A virus/physiology* ; Influenza, Human/virology*

Intracellular overexpression of cytoglobin (Cygb) has been shown to reduce extracellular matrix deposition and promote liver fibrosis recovery, but its mechanism is not yet clear. This study constructed and expressed a fusion protein (TAT-Cygb) of cell penetrating peptide TAT and Cygb, to investigate the effect of fusion protein TAT-Cygb on regulating hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) ferroptosis. Cultured human hepatic stellate cells line (LX2) were treated with TAT-Cygb and erastin in vitro, respectively. The effects of ferroptosis phenotype in LX2 cells induced by TAT-Cygb, including cell viability, cell morphology, iron ion (Fe²⁺) content, lipid peroxidation product levels, and antioxidant system indicators, were investigated using trypan blue staining, transmission electron microscopy, Prussian blue staining, and reagent kits detection. After co-treatment with TAT-Cygb and ferrostain-1, the levels of Fe²⁺, reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and glutathione (GSH) were measured by reagent kits. The protein expression levels of alpha smooth actin (α-SMA), collagen I and fibronectin were detected by Western blot, and the protein expression level of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and desmin relevant to fibrosis were observed by immunofluorescence. The results showed that TAT-Cygb could significantly reduce the viability of LX2 cells and trigger events relevant to ferroptosis, including promoting intracellular Fe²⁺ accumulation, and inducing mitochondrial morphological changes, and intensifying lipid peroxidation products accumulation, and decreasing the level of antioxidant indexes, which played a similar role as erastin; Fer-1 significantly weakened the increase in Fe²⁺, ROS, MDA, 4-HNE levels induced by TAT-Cygb, as well as the decrease in NADPH and GSH levels, while also weakening the TAT-Cygb-induced over-expression levels of α-SMA, collagen I and fibronectin, and TAT-Cygb-induced under-expression levels of EGFR and desmin. This cellular level study indicated that TAT-Cygb can induce ferroptosis of activated HSCs. This study revealed the potential mechanism of TAT-Cygb anti-liver fibrosis, and provided the experimental basis for further research on the molecular mechanism of TAT-Cygb realizing biological function by regulating the ferroptosis pathway.

Child ; Humans ; Infant ; Esophagus ; Electric Power Supplies ; Eating ; Foreign Bodies

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and complications of esophageal foreign bodies of button battery ingestion in children. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study included 83 children who were hospitalized in our hospital on account of button battery ingestion from January 2011 to December 2021. There were 50 males (60.2%) and 33 females (39.8%). The age ranged from 7.6 months to one month off 10 years, with a median age of 18 months. The data of patient demographics and time from ingestion to admission, location, symptoms, management, complications, and follow-up outcome were recorded. SPSS17.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: Seventy-two children (86.7%) were younger than 3 years old. The time from ingestion to admission ranged from 1 h to 2 months, with a median time of 8 h. Among the 63 children who were first diagnosed in our hospital, the most common clinical symptoms were nausea and vomiting (32 cases, 50.8%), dysphagia (31 cases, 49.2%), salivation (11 cases, 17.5%) and fever (10 cases, 15.9%). Seventy-three of 83 cases had complete preoperative diagnostic tests, and 55 cases (75.3%) were diagnosed by X-ray. In 56 cases (76.7%), the foreign badies were impacted in the upper third of esophagus. In 72 cases (86.7%), the foreign badies were removed by rigid esophagoscopy. 23 (27.7%) had serious complications, including tracheoesophageal fistula in 15 cases(TEF;65.2%), vocal cord paralysis (VCP;34.8%) in 8 cases, esophageal perforation in 3 cases (EP;13.0%), hemorrhage in 3 cases(13.0%), mediastinitis in 3 cases (13%), and periesophageal abscess in 1 case (4.3%). There were significant differences in the exposure time of foreign bodies and unwitnessed ingestion by guardians in the complications group (P<0.05). 2 cases died (2.4%)respectively due to arterial esophageal fistula bleeding and respiratory failure caused by stent displacement during the treatment of tracheoesophageal fistula. Conclusion: Accidental button battery ingestion can be life-threatening. and it mostly happens in children under 3 years old. Serious complications may happen cause of non-specific clinical manifestations and unwitnessed ingestions. Anterior and lateral chest X-ray is the first examination choice. Tracheoesophageal fistula is the most common serious complication.
Male ; Female ; Child ; Humans ; Infant ; Child, Preschool ; Tracheoesophageal Fistula/etiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Foreign Bodies/diagnosis* ; Eating

Colon cancer-related anemia (CCRA) is mainly caused by systemic inflammation, intestinal bleeding, iron deficiency and chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression in colon cancer. However, the best therapeutic schedule and related mechanism on CCRA were still uncertain. Studies on blood enrichment and anti-tumor effects of combined Danggui Buxue Decoction (DBD), Fe and rhEPO based on CCRA and gut microbiota modulation were conducted in this paper. Here, CCRA model was successfully induced by subcutaneous inoculation of CT-26 and i.p. oxaliplatin, rhEPO + DBD high dosage + Fe (EDF) and rhEPO + DBD high dosage (ED) groups had the best blood enrichment effect. Attractively, EDF group also showed antitumor activity. The sequencing results of gut microbiota showed that compared to P group, the relative abundances of Lachnospiraceae and opportunistic pathogen (Odoribacter) in ED and EDF groups were decreased. Interestingly, EDF also decreased the relative abundances of cancer-related bacteria (Helicobacter, Lactococcus, Alloprevotella) and imbalance-inducing bacteria (Escherichia-Shigella and Parabacteroides) and increased the relative abundances of butyrate-producing bacteria (Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014), however, ED showed the opposite effects to EDF, this might be the reason of the smaller tumor volume in EDF group. Our findings proposed the best treatment combination of DBD, rhEPO and Fe in CCRA and provided theoretical basis and literature reference for CCRA-induced intestinal flora disorder and the regulatory mechanism of EDF.

The systematic treatment based on gemcitabine plus cisplatin is recommended as the current standard chemotherapy for unresectable or metastatic biliary tract cancers.However,the exact benefits from the recognized regime are still dismal.We thus elicit this study in an attempt to analyze whether targeted therapy coupled with various chemotherapy could produce improvement of survival benefits.The clinical trials were searched electronically from databases till July 2016 published in English and Chinese.Nine hundred and sixty-four patients from 7 trials were identified in our analysis.The overall analysis achieved a significantly higher overall response rate (ORR) among the patients treated with targeted drugs plus chemotherapy than chemotherapy alone (OR=1.87;95％ CI:1.37-2.57;P=0.000),but failed in the overall progression-free survival (PFS) [mean difference (MD)=0.63;95％ CI:-0.45-1.72;P=0.26] and overall survival (OS) (MD=-0.67;95％ CI:-2.54-1.20;P=0.49).In the sub analysis,better ORR was obtained with the addition of EGFR (OR=1.75;95％ CI:1.20-2.56;P=0.004) and VEGFR (OR=2.5;95％ CI:1.28-4.87;P=0.007) targeted therapy.Furthermore,the sub analysis of EGFR target showed an significant improvement on PFS (MD=l.36;95％ CI:0.29-2.43;P=0.01).No significant differences were observed in the incidences ofneutropenia (OR=1.37;95％ CI:0.89-2.12),thrombocytopenia (OR=l.40;95％ CI:0.83-2.39),anemia (OR=l.21;95％ CI:0.62-2.38),peripheral neuropathy (OR=1.52;95％ CI:0.81-2.88),increased AST/ALT (OR=l.40;95％ CI:0.82-2.39) as well as fatigue (OR=1.65;95％ CI:0.96-2.84) in either of the treatment groups.In conclusion,better ORR associated with chemotherapy combined with targeted therapy (both targeting EGFR and VEGF) is found in the present mcta-analysis without the cost of increased unacceptable toxicities,but regretfully not for the OS.The sub-analysis of targeting EGFR instead of VEGF obtains a superior PFS.Otherwise,there is no statistically significant difference in the overall PFS between the combination regime and chemotherapy alone.Given the paucity of favorable data,we need further studies to characterize optimal targeted agents to confirm the potential value to biliary tract cancer.

OBJECTIVE To characterize the molecular weight of Radix Isatidis protein(RIP)and optimize the extraction process of protein from Radix Isatidis.METHODS Response surface methodology(RSM)was applied to optimize the extrac-tion of protein from Radix Isatidis.Extraction time,liquid-to-solid ratio and pH value were set as the investigated factors with respect to the protein yield.In addition,Design Expert software was used for data analysis.The RIP was characterized for composition using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE).Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)analysis was performed to observe microstructure of the Radix Isatidis powder before and after ultrasound-assisted ex-traction(UAE).RESULTS Based on the RSM analysis,optimum conditions were determined as follows:twice ultrasonic ex-traction in 50 mmol/L Tris-HCl buffer solution,pH at 7.8,liquid-to-solid ratio at 80:1 and extraction for 65 min each time.Under the optimized conditions,the experimental values were 0.705％,which is in close agreement with values predicted by the model.The characterization of the RIP demonstrated that it contained five major groups of protein bands,namely bands of 19.2 kDa,21.5 kDa,24.8 kDa,34～43 kDa and >170 kDa respectively.CONCLUSION RSM can be applied for the optimi-zation of extraction process of RIP,which is effective,stable and feasible.

Various chromatographic techniques, including silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20, preparative thin-layer chromatography, and preparative HPLC, were employed to isolate the chemical constituents from callus cultures of Dysosma versipellis. Structures of the compounds were elucidated based on UV, IR, MS and NMR spectroscopic data analysis. Totally, seven flavonoid glycosides were isolated from the 95% ethanol extract of the callus cultures and identified as kaempferol-3-O-[6″-(3″'-methoxy)-malonyl]-β-D-glucopyranoside(1), kaempferol-3-O-(6″-O-acetyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside(2), kaempferide-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(3), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(4), isoquercitrin(5), quercetin-4'-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(6) and kaempferol-3-(6″-malonyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside(7), respectively.All these compounds were isolated from callus cultures of D. versipellis for the first time.Compounds 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 were firstly obtained from plant materials of D. versipellis, and compound 1 was a new compound.

Seven meroterpenoids and five small-molecular precursors were isolated from Penicillium sp., an endophytic fungus from Dysosma versipellis. The structures of new compounds, 11beta-acetoxyisoaustinone (1) and isoberkedienolactone (2) were elucidated based on analysis of the spectral data, and the absolute configuration of 2 was established by TDDFT ECD calculation with satisfactory match to its experimental ECD data. Meroterpenoids originated tetraketide and pentaketide precursors, resepectively, were found to be simultaneously produced in specific fungus of Penicillium species. These compounds showed weak cytotoxicity in vitro against HCT-116, HepG2, BGC-823, NCI-H1650, and A2780 cell lines with IC 50 > 10 micromol x L(-1).
Berberidaceae ; microbiology ; Cell Line ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Lactones ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Monoterpenes ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Penicillium ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo develop the national neglect norms for urban primary school students in China.

METHODSAccording to multi-stage stratified cluster sampling principle, 24 cities of 13 provinces (municipalities) in China were selected during December 1 to 31, 2008. A total of 1491 students in grade 1 - 3 and 2236 students in grade 4 - 6 were selected. Questionnaire was designed by authors and the final norms were determined through several statistical analysis methods, such as item analysis method, factor analysis method, reliability analysis method. The reliability analysis and validity analysis were used to test the stability and reliability of the norms. The evaluation criteria of the scale was determined by the percentile method, then the initial development of the norm was completed.

RESULTSThe two questionnaires of grade 1 - 3 and grade 4 - 6 students consisted of 55 and 57 items, respectively, whose item loadings were ranged from 0.301 to 0.687 and 0.321 to 0.730, which met the statistical requirements. For grade 1 - 3 students, the scale's total Cronbach α coefficients was 0.914, the total split-half reliability coefficients was 0.896, the Cronbach α coefficients of four level was above 0.737 except medical and social neglect, split-half reliability was ranged from 0.461 to 0.757; for grade 4-6 students, the scale's total Cronbach α coefficients was 0.916, split-half reliability was 0.883, except social neglect, the Cronbach α coefficients of other level was ranged 0.457 to 0.856, split-half reliability was ranged from 0.500 to 0.798. The total neglect cut-off score of the two scales grade 1-3 and 4-6 were 125 and 155, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe structure of two norms was reasonable. The scales have good stability and reliability.

Child ; Child Abuse ; prevention & control ; statistics & numerical data ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Reproducibility of Results ; Schools ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires