Huoluo Xiaoling Dan is a classical prescription commonly used for blood circulation and pain relief in clinic with obvious effects. To make it directly treat lesion and improve the effect, this research optimized the preparation process of Huoluo Xiaoling gel paste and further evaluated its in vitro transdermal absorption performance, so as to provide a scientific basis for its development and utilization. Using primary viscosity, holding viscosity, and sensory score as evaluation indexes, the matrix amount of gel paste was determined by the single factor test and Box-Behnken response surface method. The ultra-performance liquid chromatography(UPLC) method was established to determine the content of eight active ingredients, including Danshensu, ferulic acid, salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A, ligustilide, tanshinone Ⅱ_A, 11-keto-β-boswellic(KBA), and 3-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid(AKBA). A mo-dified Franz diffusion cell method was used to evaluate and compare the absorption properties of the gel paste without volatile oil and with volatile oil microemulsion. The results showed that the optimal prescription for Huoluo Xiaoling gel paste matrix was NP700(1.35 g), glycerol(7.00 g), micropowder silica gel(1.25 g), sodium carboxymethyl cellulose(0.20 g), tartaric acid(0.06 g), and glyceryl aluminum(0.04 g). The mass fractions of eight active ingredients in the paste were successively 0.48, 0.014, 0.95, 0.39, 0.57, 0.055, 0.35, and 0.97 mg·g~(-1). The results of the in vitro transdermal absorption test showed that the addition of the volatile oil or the volatile oil microemulsion promoted the transdermal absorption of the active ingredients, and the law of drug penetration conformed to the zero equation or the Higuchi equation. The gel paste prepared by the optimal prescription has good appearance and adhesion, with no residue, and has the characteristics of skeletal slow-release preparation, which is easy to reduce the number of administration, la-ying a foundation for the development of new external dosage forms of Huoluo Xiaoling Dan.
Administration, Cutaneous ; Skin Absorption ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Oils, Volatile ; Viscosity

Herbal pair is formed based on the experience summary of doctors' deep understanding and perception of the medicinal nature in long-term clinical practice. It gradually becomes the exquisite structural unit for preparing traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) prescriptions, and often plays a core bridge role in the prescription combination. Frankincense and myrrh are raw resin materials of incense abroad, which are subsequently included as Chinese medicinal herbs and endowed with rich medicinal connotation. With the functions of relaxing Zang-fu organs, activating blood and relieving pain, they have definite clinical efficacy. From the perspective of herbal description and clinical application, this study systematically analyzed the combination of frankincense and myrrh as well as their combination proportion, efficacy characterization, diseases and syndromes, effective components and action mechanism. On this basis, the focus of in-depth research of frankincense-myrrh and the application prospects were proposed, in order to further reveal the potential meditation law of this herbal pair, thus contributing to clinical practice and drug innovation of traditional Chinese medicine, and providing reference for understanding of TCM medicinal nature and research of herbal pairs.
Humans ; Frankincense/chemistry* ; Commiphora ; Resins, Plant/chemistry* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*

In recent years, great progress has been made in the treatment of Stanford type B aortic dissection, especially endovascular repair technology has become the main treatment. However, it is only used to repair the primary tear, the residual tears and false lumen are often left at the distal end, which causes adverse events such as distal aortic dilatation or even rupture. At present, there are many studies on the influencing factors of aortic remodeling, which provide some references for the prognosis of patients.The aorta carries the transportation of blood flow, and various factors affecting hemodynamics also affect the remodeling of aorta. Some researchers reported several factors related to negative remodeling and added auxiliary techniques, and achieved gratifying results. However, because of the different conditions of each patient, the specific treatment method is still unclear, the factors affecting the aortic remodeling effect also have not been thoroughly studied. Clarifying the influencing factors of negative remodeling is helpful to screen high-risk patients, optimize the treatment plan and improve the prognosis.
Humans ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic/surgery* ; Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation/adverse effects* ; Endovascular Procedures/methods* ; Treatment Outcome ; Aorta ; Risk Factors ; Retrospective Studies

The standardization of pediatric Tuina is beneficial to pediatric Tuina practitioners in a norm practices. The paper collects the content from teaching textbooks, TCM ancient books and database literature, and tries to develop the technical specifications of pediatric Tuina by four rounds Delphi surveys and expert consensus. This specification covers the manipulation of pediatric Tuina, the position of acupoints, the effects of acupoints and the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric Tuina, including indications, contraindications, cautious use, operation steps and methods.

Background/Aims: Accumulating evidence indicates that L-carnitine (LC) protects against multiorgan damage through its antioxidant properties and preservation of the mitochondria. Little information is available about the effects of LC on renal fibrosis. This study examined whether LC treatment would provide renoprotection in a rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) and in vitro. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats that underwent UUO were treated daily with LC for 7 or 14 days. The influence of LC on renal injury caused by UUO was evaluated by histopathology, and analysis of gene expression, oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, programmed cell death, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/ AKT/forkhead box protein O 1a (FoxO1a) signaling. In addition, H2O2-exposed human kidney cells (HK-2) were treated with LC. Results: LC treatment inhibited expression of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines, and was followed by a significant attenuation of tubulointerstitial inflammation and fibrosis. The increased oxidative stress caused by UUO was associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and excessive apoptosis and autophagy via PI3K/AKT/FoxO1a-dependent signaling, and this was abrogated by administration of LC. In H2O2-exposed HK-2 cells, LC decreased intracellular production of reactive oxygen species, and suppressed expression of profibrotic cytokines and reduced the number of apoptotic cells. Conclusions LC protects against the progression of tubulointerstitial fibrosis in an obstructed kidney.

Objective:To explore the change of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and prediction for outcome of acute ischemic stroke in emergency. Methods:From October, 2017 to September, 2019, 224 patients with acute ischemic stroke in emergency and 240 healthy controls were detected serum 25(OH)D within 24 hours after enrollment. The patients were assessed with National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002), and measured biochemics within 24 hours after admission. They were assessed with modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 180 days after stroke, and divided into favourable group (mRS ≤ 2, n = 106) and unfavourable group (mRS > 2, n = 118). The factors related with the outcome were analyzed with Logistic regression, and the prediction of 25(OH)D for the outcome were analyzed with receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve. Results:Serum 25(OH)D was less in the patients than in the controls (Z = 4.296, P < 0.001), and less in the unfavourable group than in the favourable group (Z = 5.876, P < 0.001). Serum 25(OH)D (OR = 0.925, P < 0.05) was related with the outcome even controlling the impacts of age, sex, nutritional risk, infarct volume, scores of NIHSS, etc. The area under curve for serum 25(OH)D predicting outcome was 0.795 (P < 0.001). The cut-off point of prediction was 13.17 ng/ml, with the Yoden index of 0.548, which yielded a sensitivity of 0.746 and a specificity of 0.802. Conclusion:Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D may predict the outcome 180 days after acute ischemic stroke, which may help for risk stratification in emergency.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of post stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). Method:Seven databases, including CNKI, WanFang, VIP, CBM, PubMed, The Cochrane library and ClinicalTrials.gov, were electronically searched for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of TCM in the treatment of PSCI. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies, descriptive analysis was carried out on the included studies, and the Meta quantitative analysis was carried out with RevMan 5.3 software. Result:A total of 16 RCTs were included with 1 296 participants, and they were assigned to the intervention group (n=649) and the control group (n=647). The results showed that TCM combined with western medicine group and TCM group were better than western medicine group in improving the scores of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE), Barthel Index (BI), Activity of Daily Living (ADL), Chinese stroke scale (CSS) and National Institutes of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) of PSCI patients, and no serious adverse events were observed. Conclusion:TCM has potential advantages in improving the cognitive function of patients with PSCI, and it also has certain efficacy in improving the daily living ability and neurological impairment symptoms, and no serious adverse events have been observed. Due to the low quality of methodology included in the studies, in order to provide reliable basis for clinical decision-making, high-quality of RCTs are still needed to study the efficacy and safety of TCM for PSCI.