Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect of acupuncture plus herbal medicine on vascular dementia (VD). Methods: Thirty cases of vascular dementia were treated by acupuncture plus Chinese herbal medicine for 2 months, in comparison with western medication (Nimodipine) in the control group, to observe the evaluation value of Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS) before and after the treatments between the two groups, the clinical therapeutic effect and changes of plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) before and after the treatments between the two groups. Results and Conclusion: There were significant differences in intelligence and therapeutic effect between the two groups (P＜0.01) before and after the treatment, but the therapeutic effect was better in the acupuncture plus medicine group than in the western medication group. Judging from content of atrial natriuretic peptide, there was no significant difference between VD patients and normal adults before the treatment (P＞0.05). Plasma ANP significantly increased in the acupuncture plus medicine group and western medicine group after the treatment (P＜0.01), more remarkably in the acupuncture plus medicine group (P＜0.01).

Objective To evaluate the performance of transfection with a complex plasmid encoding green fluorescent protein tagged CatD (GFP-CatD)in researches on chronic photodamaged fibroblasts. Methods Human dermal fibroblasts (HSFs)were irradiated with ultraviolet A (UVA)at 25 J/cm2 once a day for 21 consecutive days to establish a chronic photodamaged cell model. A plasmid encoding GFP-CatD was constructed and transfected into some chronic photodamaged fibroblasts (experimental group). The photodamaged HSFs receiving no treatment served as the blank control group, and those transfected with the negative plasmid encoding GFP only as the negative control group. After additional culture, fluorescence microscopy and Western-blot analysis were performed to observe and measure the expression of GFP-CatD in HSFs respectively, flow cytometry and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT)assay to evaluate the apoptosis and proliferation of chronic photodamaged fibroblasts respectively. Results Fluorescence microscopy showed the expression of GFP-CatD in cytoplasm of chronic photodamaged fibroblasts at 96 hours after transfection with the GFP-CatD-encoding plasmid. Western-blot analysis revealed that the expression of CatD in the experimental group was 1.28 times that in the blank control group. There were no significant differences in the apoptosis rate(4.29% ± 1.30%vs. 3.03% ± 1.70% , P > 0.05)or proliferative rate (45.20% ± 4.70% vs. 43.60 ± 3.90% , P > 0.05)between the experimental group and blank control group. Conclusion CatD could be traced in chronic photodamaged fibroblasts with no changes in biological activity or cell cycle after transfection with the GFP-CatD-encoding complex plasmid.

Severe liver disease during pregnancy is uncommon in clinical practice. The most common cause of liver disease during pregnancy is liver dysfunction, with an overall prevalence rate of approximately 3%. Liver disease during pregnancy is classified into the liver diseases directly caused by pregnancy and those co-existing with pregnancy, i.e., pre-existing liver disease or occasional liver disease during pregnancy. A differential diagnosis of pre-existing and co-existing liver diseases may help to improve maternal and fetal outcome. During clinical diagnosis and selection of treatment and intervention measures, priority should be given to the potential impact on mother and fetus. This article introduces the latest research advances in the general information, pathogenesis, treatment, and pregnancy outcome of major liver diseases during pregnancy and elaborates on the risk of pregnancy and related coping measures for patients with pre-existing liver disease, so as to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment and patient management.

Objective: Network pharmacology combines drug and disease targets with biological information networks based on the integrity and systematicness of the interactions between drugs and disease targets. This study aims to explore the molecular basis of Hanshi Zufei formula for treatment of COVID-19 based on network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. Methods: Using TCMSP, the chemical constituents and molecular targets of Atractylodis Rhizoma, Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex, Pogostemonis Herba, Tsaoko Fructus, Ephedrae Herba, Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix, Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens, and Arecae Semen were investigated. The predicted targets of novel coronavirus were screened using the NCBI and GeneCards databases. To further screen the drug-disease core targets network, the corresponding target proteins were queried using multiple databases (Biogrid, DIP, and HPRD), a protein interaction network graph was constructed, and the network topology was analyzed. The molecular docking studies were also performed between the network's top 15 compounds and the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) 3CL hydrolytic enzyme and angiotensin conversion enzyme II (ACE2). Results: The herb-active ingredient-target network contained nine drugs, 86 compounds, and 49 drug-disease targets. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis resulted in 1566 GO items (P < 0.05), among which 1438 were biological process items, 35 were cell composition items, and 93 were molecular function items. Fourteen signal pathways were obtained by enrichment screening of the KEGG pathway database (P < 0.05). The molecular docking results showed that the affinity of the core active compounds with the SARS-CoV-2 3CL hydrolase was better than for the other compounds. Conclusion: Several core compounds can regulate multiple signaling pathways by binding with 3CL hydrolase and ACE2, which might contribute to the treatment of COVID-19.