Aim To explore he preventive and therapeutic effects of Tongbu-fangchan prescription on aceylcholine-calcium chloride (Ach-CaCl

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of Fuzheng Huayu recipe and Huangqi tang on DMN-induced experimental liver cirrhosis in rats and explore the therapeutic characteristics of Buxu herbals on liver cirrhosis.

METHODLiver cirrhosis in rats was induced by intraperitoneally injection of DMN for 4 weeks. Cirrhotic rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: model group, and Fuzheng Huayu recipe group, Huangqi tang group, Fuzheng Huayu recipe combined with Huangqi Tang group. The rats in treatment groups were orally administered with Fuzheng Huayu recipe, Huangqi tang, Fuzheng Huayu recipe combined with Huangqi tang (1:1), respectively. Normal and model control rats were given the equivalent normal saline. The body weight, liver weight and spleen weight were observed when rats were sacrificed. Liver histology was examined by HE staining and Sirius red staining. The liver function parameters including ALT, T. Bil and Alb were determined. The SOD activity and MDA content in liver tissues were also measured. Hepatic hydroxyproline (Hyp) content was determined by Jamall's method. The expression of alpha-SMA was determined by both immunohistochemistry staining and western blot method.

RESULTCompared with normal rats, the serum ALT and T. Bil levels in model rats increased obviously, by contrast, the serum Alb level decreased. There was a significant decline of SOD activity in model rat liver tissue, while the content of MDA and Hyp increased remarkably. A severe deterioration of liver architecture, infiltration of inflammatory cells and deposition of collagen were observed in model rat liver tissue. The expression of alpha-SMA also increased significantly. Compared with model rats, the liver function, lipid peroxidation parameters, Hyp content and liver histology were all improved in the 3 treatment groups. The combined group is better than any single-use group in decreasing collagen deposition and expression of alpha-SMA.

CONCLUSIONFuzheng Huayu recipe, Huangqi tang, Fuzheng Huayu recipe combined with Huangqi tang can attenuate liver fibrosis in DMN induced rats. Fuzheng Huayu recipe combined with Huangqi tang is better than that using alone in decreasing collagen deposition. The mechanism is partially due to the better effect of Fuzheng Huayu recipe combined with Huangqi tang on inhibiting activated HSC.

Animals ; Body Weight ; drug effects ; Dimethylnitrosamine ; adverse effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Liver ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; physiopathology ; Organ Size ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE To explore the key mechanism of Bazi Bushen capsule(BZBS)in delaying the senescence of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs)through network pharmacology and in vitro experiments.METHODS Network phar-macology was used to predict the mechanism targets of BZBS in delaying MSCs senescence.A MSCs senescence model induced by D-galac-tose(D-gal)was used to investigate the effect and mechanism of BZBS on MSCs senescence in vitro.RESULTS Network pharmacology analy-sis showed that BZSB could delay MSCs senes-cence.The experiment showed that BZBS could significantly improve the survival activity of the aged MSCs.It significantly reduced the positive rate of β-galactosidase staining and p16,p21 expression in aged MSCs,enhanced the ability of adipogenic differentiation and osteogenic differ-entiation,and increased expression of Nanog,OCT4 and SOX2 in senescent MSCs.CONCLU-SIONS Network pharmacology and in vitro cell experiments verified that BZBS could delay MSCs senescence.

Along with increasing degree of population aging globally， senility， good health and long life have become the focus of the world. Guided by Qiluo doctrine， an essence， Qi and spirit theory is proposed as below， essence is the origin of life， Qi is the impetus of life and spirit is the embodiment of life. Based on holistic view of kidney deficiency involving the five internal organs and injuries of the five internal organs definitely affecting the kidney， a mechanism of aging is proposed as below， deficiency of kidney essence is the foundation of aging， deficiency of promordial Qi is the key of aging and physical and spiritual loss is the manifestation of aging. It provides a theoretical guidance for anti-aging study of rejuvenating the elderly and making the strong person stronger. By virtue of the experiences in kidney-tonifying medication accumulated for more than two thousand years， Bazi Bushen capsules has been developed， which has anti-aging efficacy， including tonifying kidney， replenishing essence， coordinating Yin and Yang， supplementing primordial Qi and nourishing body and spirit. Experimental researches have demonstrated that Bazi Bushen capsules can improve overall aging and systemic aging， as well as prevent and treat aging related diseases. Preliminary clinical studies demonstrate that this capsules can enhance athletic ability and improve sexual function， and is expected to become a representative Chinese patent medicine of anti-aging. This paper addresses aging and anti-aging on the basis of Qiluo doctrine， in the hope of helping prevention and treatment of aging related diseases.

Objective:To investigate the changes in gray matter volume (GMV) and abnormalities in structural covariant network (SCN) patterns in patients with chronic pontine infarction (PI).Methods:Patients with unilateral chronic PI (case group) with the first onset admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from October 2014 to June 2021 were prospectively included. At the same time, healthy subjects matched with age, gender and education years (normal control group) were included. High-resolution three-dimensional T 1 structural MRI images and behavioral scores of the subjects were collected. The voxel-based morphometry and two-sample t test were used to explore the differences in GMV between the groups. Using GMV differential brain regions as seed points, SCN was constructed to explore the abnormality of structural covariant patterns in patients with PI. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between GMV in differential brain regions and behavioral scores. Results:A total of 60 patients with PI were enrolled, including 33 left PI and 27 right PI, while 34 healthy controls were also enrolled. Compared with the normal control group, the GMV in bilateral posterior cerebellar lobe decreased significantly in the left PI group, and the GMV in left anterior and posterior cerebellar lobes and the right posterior cerebellar lobe decreased significantly in the right PI group (Gaussian random field correction with voxel level P<0.001 and cluster level P<0.05, cluster voxel >20), and there was a significant correlation between GMV values in the left anterior and posterior cerebellar lobes and the right posterior cerebellar lobe and the motor function score ( P<0.05). In addition, compared with the normal control group, the right PI group had broader covariate brain regions and a significant increase in the number of structural connections between covariate brain regions (family-wise error correction with voxel level P<0.05, cluster voxel >20). Conclusions:The GMV in bilateral posterior cerebellar lobe decreases significantly in patients with chronic PI, and were secondary to broader covariate brain regions and structural connections. This may be the neural mechanism of impaired behavioral function in patients with PI.

The decline of body function and senile diseases caused by aging seriously affect human health and life span， which is an important topic in the field of life science. Bazi Bushen capsules is a representative Chinese patent medicine for tonifying essence， invigorating Qi and anti-aging， guided by Qiluo doctrine， and essence， Qi and spirit theory. Previous pharmacological and clinical studies have confirmed that this preparation has the comprehensive advantages of anti-aging， and prevention and treatment of aging-related diseases. Among them， pharmacological studies showed that Bazi Bushen capsules had the effect of improving the appearance status of mice， improving the level of sex hormones， inhibiting the formation of atherosclerosis， improving cardiac function， improving learning and memory cognitive ability， improving neurological function， improving osteoporosis and muscle function， improving sperm count and quality. The mechanism was related to the up-regulation of the recombinant sirtuin （SIRT6） level， down-regulation of the levels of aging-related proteins p53 and p16， up-regulation of telomerase reverse transcriptase level， and alleviation of inflammation and oxidative response. Clinical studies have proved that it can improve the symptoms of patients with kidney essence deficiency， improve exercise ability， and improve the sexual function of impotence patients. Anti-aging research of Bazi Bushen capsules based on Qiluo doctrine fully embodies the new mode of academic innovation and transformation of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） with the combination of "theory-new drug-experiment-clinic"， which has made a demonstration for the anti-aging research of TCM.

Objective To explore the serum level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) of the patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) in diabetics for providing evidence for screening the patients with PAD early. Methods Selected the study population including diabetics without PAD(90 cases),diabetics with asymptomatic PAD patients(93 cases)and diabetics with symptomatic PAD patients(92 cases). The level of serum VEGF was measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and analyzed in the three groups. The varia-tion of serum VEGF was further analyzed in the three groups excluding the diabetic retinopathy in the stratified analysis. Results The serum level of VEGF with asymptomatic and symptomatic PAD in diabetics were increased,compared with the diabetics without PAD (P<0.05). Excluding the patients with diabetic retinopathy, the serum level of VEGF of the patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic PAD in diabet ics was still increased, compared with the dia betics without PAD (P<0.05). The serum level of VEGF level was significantly positively associated with HbA1c in the pa-tients with asymptomatic and symptomatic PAD in diabetics (r=0.267, 0.352, P all<0.05). Conclusion The level of serum VEGF in the patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic PAD in diabetics had been significantly increased.

BACKGROUND: It is not clear whether sacubitril/valsartan is beneficial for patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and low systolic blood pressure (SBP). This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of sacubitril/valsartan in HFrEF patients with SBP < 100 mmHg. METHODS & RESULTS: An observational study was conducted on 117 patients, 40.2% of whom had SBP < 100 mmHg without symptomatic hypotension, and 59.8% of whom had SBP ≥ 100 mmHg in an optimized HF follow-up management system. At the 6-month follow-up, 52.4% of patients with SBP < 100 mmHg and 70.0% of those with SBP ≥ 100 mmHg successfully reached the target dosages of sacubitril/valsartan. A reduction in the concentration of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide was similar between patients with SBP < 100 mmHg and SBP ≥ 100 mmHg (1627.5 pg/mL and 1340.1 pg/mL, respectively; P = 0.75). The effect of sacubitril/valsartan on left ventricular ejection fraction was observed in both SBP categories, with a 10.8% increase in patients with SBP < 100 mmHg (P < 0.001) and a 14.0% increase in patients with SBP ≥ 100 mmHg (P < 0.001). The effects of sacubitril/valsartan on SBP were statistically significant and inverse across both SBP categories (P = 0.001), with an increase of 7.5 mmHg in patients with SBP < 100 mmHg and a decrease of 11.5 mmHg in patients with SBP ≥ 100 mmHg. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the occurrence of symptomatic hypotension, deteriorating renal function, hyperkalemia, angioedema, or stroke. CONCLUSIONS Within an optimized HF follow-up management system, sacubitril/valsartan exhibited excellent tolerability and prompted left ventricular reverse remodeling in patients with HFrEF who presented asymptomatic hypotension.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingke granule （LH granule）in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019（COVID-19）. Method:A randomized controlled method was used in this clinical study. The subjects were confirmed COVID-19 patients over 18 years old with cough symptoms，and the diagnosis is based on Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for COVID-19 （Trial Version 6）. The subjects were randomized to usual treatment （control group） or in combination with LH granule （1 bag，thrice daily） for 14 days. The primary endpoint was the rate of cough recovery. Result:57 subjects were included in this study， including 25 in the control group and 32 in the observation group. The recovery rate of cough in observation group was 90.6%（29/32）， which was significantly higher than 64.0%（16/25）in the control group （P<0.05）. The effective time of cough treatment was significantly earlier than that of the control group （P<0.05）， the median time to cough recovery was markedly shorter in treatment group （P<0.05）. The recovery rate of expectoration in observation group was 94.7% （18/19）， which was significantly higher than 57.1%（8/14）in the control group （P<0.05）. The effective time of expectoration treatment was significantly earlier than that of the control group （P<0.05）， and the median time to expectoration recovery was markedly shorter in treatment group （P<0.05）. The improvement rate of CT in the observation group was 96.9% （31/32）， which was significantly higher than 72% （18/25） in the control group （P<0.05）. After treatment， the oxygenation index of the two groups increased in varying degrees， and the increase rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group （P<0.05）. There was no significant difference in the recovery rate of fever， fatigue， dry pharynx and sore throat between the observation group and the control group， and it showed that LH had a better improvement trend on the basis of usual treatment. Conclusion:On the basis of routine treatment，LH can significantly improve the symptoms of cough and expectoration of COVID-19 patients， shorten the duration of cough and expectoration symptoms， reduce lung pathological damage， improve respiratory function， and improve the symptoms of fever， fatigue， dry pharynx and sore throat.