The article reviewed the research progress of ligustilide in recent years and elaborated its pharmacological functions and mechanisms in detail,especially in ischemic brain injury.Its mechanism includes reducing cerebral infarct volumes and improving neurobehavioral deficits,anti-oxidant and anti-apoptosis,antithrombotic activity,calcium channel blockers function,and effect on erythropoietin.Other pharmacological effects of ligustilide including inhibiting vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation,anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects,effects on LPS-induced endotoxic shock,inhibiting constriction effect,suppression of the central nervous system,and ameliorating the memory impairment induced by scopolamine and so on,are also introduced.Ligustilide has potential pharmacological value,which provides a reference for its further research and development.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors for patients with chronic periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) combined with sinus tract.Methods:The patients with PJI following hip and knee arthroplasty from July 2014 to January 2020 in our institution were retrospectively reviewed. There were 96 males and 101 females, aged from 26 to 86 years with mean age of 62.02±13.54 years. There were 95 hip PJI patients (48.2%, 95/197), 102 knee PJI patients (51.8%, 102/197), 68 patients (34.5%, 68/197) with sinus tract, 129 patients (65.5%, 129/197) without sinus tract, 162 patients (82.2%, 162/197) with positive culture results and 35 patients (17.8%, 35/197) with negative culture results. The patients were divided into two groups according to the sinus tract formation. The diagnosis of PJI was based on the 2011 Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) criteria. All of the included patients underwent serological laboratory tests (white blood cell count, neutrophil percentage, lymphocyte percentage, hemoglobin, platelet count, mean platelet volume, urea, creatinine, albumin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein) and pathogen isolation. The influence of sinus tract on the above test and the effects of complications on sinus tract formation were analyzed. We further investigated the relationship between sinus tract formation and the features of pathogen. In addition, the risk factors for sinus tract formation were analyzed.Results:The mean values of all serological tests were without statistical difference between the groups with and without sinus tract ( P>0.05). The presence of complications had no effect on the occurrence of sinus tract ( P>0.05). The incidence of sinus tract with highly virulent pathogen infection group (52.1%, 25/48) was significantly higher than that in low virulence pathogen group (27.5%, 19/69), in culture negative patients (40.0%, 14/35) and in other cases (22.2%, 10/45; χ 2=11.519, P=0.009). There was no statistical difference between groups based on the Gram staining, antibiotic resistance and polymicrobial infection. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed positive associations of extra joint infections ( OR=4.426, 95% CI: 1.095, 17.884) and high virulent pathogen infections ( OR=2.633, 95% CI: 1.171, 5.918) and negative association of age ≥70 ( OR=0.436, 95% CI: 0.205, 0.927) with the risk of sinus tract formation. Conclusion:The presence of sinus tract has no effect on the routine serum tests in patients with chronic PJI. There is only virulence factor which might affect sinus tract formation. For patients with the extra joint infections and high virulence pathogen infections, the formation of sinus tract should be vigilant during treatment.

Objective : To investigate the mechanism of miRNAs in glycyrrhizic acid treatment of alcohol⁃induced liver injury in rats . Methods : 45 male SD rats were randomly divided into glycyrrhizin group , model group and control group . The rats in glycyrrhizin group were given 56% liquor and glycyrrhizin , the rats in model group were given 56% liquor , and the rats in control group were given distilled water for 8 weeks . The blood was collected and the serum was separated by centrifugation to detect the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) . RNA were extracted from liver tissues , miRNAs were detected by rat miRNA microarray , and their expression levels were analyzed . The miRNA target genes of differential miRNA were predicted . Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG Pathway enrichment analysis were used to understand the function of differential miRNA , and the differential miRNA⁃mRNA⁃Pathway regulatory network was constructed using Cytoscape to further screen the regulatory key miRNA and key pathways . qRT⁃PCR was used to verify the expression of selected miRNA . Results : Compared with the model group , the glycyrrhizin group could significantly improve the liver tissue lesions , and reduce the liver serum AST and ALT levels (P < 0. 05) . Compared the microarray data of glycyrrhizin group and model group , a total of 13 differentially expressed miRNA were screened ( P < 0. 05 , fold change ≥ 1 . 5) , of which 10 were up⁃regulated and 3 were down⁃regulated . The GO classification annotation of differential miRNA target genes showed that differential miRNA were related to cell adhesion , antioxidant activity , metabolic process , biological process regulation , cell killing , immune system and other functions . The KEGG Pathway analyling pathway , Hippo signaling pathway , PI3K⁃Akt signaling pathway , wnt signaling pathway , apoptosis and other signaling pathways might play an important regulatory role in the improvement of alcoholic liver injury by glycyrrhic acid . Conclusion This study established the miRNA expression profile of glycyrrhizin in the treatment of alcoholic liver injury in rats , suggested that miR⁃615 , miR⁃107 ⁃3p and miR⁃292⁃5p might play an important role in the treatment of alcoholic liver injury by glycyrrhizin .

Pentostatin is a nucleoside antibiotics with a strong inhibitory effect on adenosine deaminase, and is widely used in the clinical treatment of malignant tumors. However, the high cost hampers its application. In the past 10 years, the biosynthesis of pentostatin were focused on strain breeding, optimization of medium composition and fermentation process. To date, there are no reviews summarizing the elucidated biosynthetic mechanism of pentostatin. This review starts by introducing the various chemical route for production of pentostatin, followed by summarizing the mechanisms of pentostatin biosynthesis in different microorganisms. Finally, challenges for biosynthesis of pentostatin were discussed, and strategies for regulating and improving the microbial synthesis of pentostatin were proposed.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Pentostatin