Diterpenes, Abietane ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Genital Neoplasms, Female ; drug therapy ; Humans

The present study identified chemical constituents of Honghua Xiaoyao Tablet (HXT) and explored its biological connotation and characteristics on the premenstrual syndrome (PMS) treatment from the "disease-syndrome-symptom" association network. UHPLC-Q Exactive Orbitrap HRMS technology was applied to analyze the chemical constituents in HXT. According to the composition principles, the compatible herbs of HXT were divided into the Shugan Jieyu group, Huoxue Tiaojing group and Yiqi Jianpi group. The candidate targets of the corresponding prescriptions of HXT efficacy groups were collected from the Pharmmapper database and Integrative Pharmacology-based Research Platform of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCMIP) v2.0. The gene set related to the clinical symptoms included in Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine diagnosis and treatment standards were obtained from SoFDA, GeneCards, DisGeNET, MalaCards and literature published. The "HXT candidate targets-PMS (liver depression, Qi stagnation, and blood stasis syndrome) genes" network was constructed based on the gene interaction information, and further, the core network targets were screened out by topological characteristics of calculating network, and the functional exploration was carried out based on Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) for exploring the therapeutic advantages in PMS treatment of HXT efficacy groups, which were further verified experimentally in vitro. A total of 109 components from HXT were identified, including 20 components from Shugan Jieyu group enriched in the neurological system, estrogen regulation, and "immune-inflammation" related pathways, 77 components from Huoxue Tiaojing group enriched in the blood-circulation system, "immune-inflammation" and estrogen regulation related pathways and 30 components from Yiqi Jianpi group regulating immune inflammation, digestive system, and hormone levels. The biochemical indicator detection demonstrated that both the levels of 5-HT and DA in the hypothalamus tissues and the levels of E₂, NO, VEGF and RLN in the uterine tissues of PMS model rats were lower than those in controls, which the levels of OT, PROG, IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α in the uterine tissues were increased in PMS group, which were all reversed by the administration of HXT, indicating that this prescription may regulate the synthesis and secretion of estrogen, intervene in neurotransmitter synthesis and signal transduction, reverse the imbalance of "immune-inflammation", and regulate digestive system function through various biological pathways, exerting the liver-smoothing, Qi-regulating, blood-activating and spleen-tonifying comprehensive effects, leading to alleviating the "neuroendocrine-endocrine-immune" system and blood-circulation disorders. The relevant results may provide a reference for clarifying the advantages and efficacy of HXT in treating PMS with liver stagnation, Qi stagnation, and blood stasis syndrome, and exploring its therapeutic advantages. The animal experiment of this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (approval number: 2023B248).

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of Qiling Decoction (QD) combined highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) on expression levels of peripheral blood Th17 and Treg cells in HIV/AIDS patients.

METHODSTotally 55 HIV/AIDS patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group (28 cases) and the combination group (27 cases). Besides, 21 HIV negative patients were recruited as the healthy control group. Those in the treatment group received HARRT alone, while those in the combination group received HAART combined QD. The observation lasted for 24 weeks. Meanwhile, according to peripheral blood CD4+ T cell counts before treatment, HIV/AIDS patients were assigned to three subgroups. For patients in subgroup 1, 1 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 100 cells/microL; For patients in subgroup 2, 101 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 200 cells/lL; For patients in subgroup 3, 201 cells/microL < CD4+ T cell counts < or = 350 cells/microL. Expression of peripheral blood Th17 and Treg cells, and number of CD4+ T cell counts were detected using flow cytometry (FCM)in HIV/AIDS patients at the pre-treatment baseline, week 4, 12, and 24, as well as those in the healthy control group.

RESULTSCompared with the healthy control group, CD4+ T cell counts and the baseline expression level of Th17 cells in the peripheral blood of HIV/AIDS patients significantly decreased, the expression level of Treg cells significantly increased P < 0.01). Compared with before treatment in the same group, CD4+ T cell counts all increased at week 4, 12, and 24 in the two treatment groups, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). There was no statistical difference in the effective rate at various CD4+ T cell levels between the two groups (P > 0.05). There was no statistical difference in expression levels of Th17 and Treg cells between the combination group and the treatment group at any time point (all P >0.05). The Th17/Treg ration significantly increased in the combination group after 24 weeks of treatment, showing statistical difference when compared with the treatment group (U = 2.135, P = 0.038).

CONCLUSIONQD could improve the immune balance of Th17/Treg cells, which might be one of its mechanisms for improving HIV/AIDS patients' immunity.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Adult ; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active ; CD4 Lymphocyte Count ; Case-Control Studies ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; HIV Infections ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; cytology ; Th17 Cells ; cytology

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; prevention & control ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Phytotherapy ; Qi ; Spleen

Background: In China, most patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are diagnosed at a late stage and con-sequently have a poor prognosis. This study aimed to investigate potential factors associated with the clinical stage of NPC at diagnosis. Methods: Data were obtained from 118 patients with early-stage NPC and 274 with late-stage NPC who were treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between August 2014 and July 2015. Patients were individually matched by age, sex, and residence, and a conditional logistic regression model was applied to assess the associa-tions of clinical stage at diagnosis with socioeconomic status indicators, knowledge of NPC, physical examinations, patient interval, and risk factors for NPC. Results: Although knowledge of early NPC symptoms, smoking cessation, and patient interval were important fac-tors, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, motorbike ownership, and physical examination exhibited the strong-est associations with the clinical stage of NPC at diagnosis. Compared with smoking fewer than ten cigarettes a day, smoking 10–30 cigarettes [odds ratio (OR) 4.03; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11–14.68] or more than 30 cigarettes (OR 11.46; 95% CI 1.26–103.91) was associated with an increased risk of late diagnosis. Compared with not owning a motorbike, owning a motorbike (OR 0.38; 95% CI 0.23–0.64) was associated with early diagnosis. Subjects who under-went physical examinations were less likely to receive a late diagnosis than those who did not undergo examinations (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.28–0.89). However, indicators of wealth were not significant factors. Conclusions: Initiatives to improve NPC patient prognosis should aim to promote knowledge about early symptoms and detection, health awareness, and accessibility to health facilities among all patients, regardless of socioeconomic status.

To study the varieties of adhesives in gels on the basis of previous studies, dosage of adhesives required for forming of gels by using the single factor design, as well as the drug loading capacity of gels with the adhesiveness and stickiness as the scoring indicators, in order to determine the forming method of analgesic micro-emulsion gel. Subsequently, the improved Franz diffusing cell method was adopted to study the release of water-soluble components and liposoluble components in analgesic gels, with imperatorin and ferulic acid as index components. The results showed that analgesic micro-emulsion gel could promote the release of imperatorin and ferulic acid. Finally, HPLC was used to detect that the loss amount of volatile components in analgesic micro-emulsion gel was 23.13% lower than that in the original analgesic gel. In the experiment, we finally prepared finished products of micro-emulsion gel, discovered that the micro-emulsion technology is helpful to improve the synchronous release of water-soluble components and liposoluble components in prescriptions and can reduce the loss of volatile components.
Adhesiveness ; Analgesics ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Emulsions ; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions ; Mice ; Ointments ; Pain ; drug therapy

Objective To assess the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and osteoporosis. Methods 2202 women aged 50-73 years were included in this cross-sectional study from the communities in Guangzhou, from July 2008 to January 2010. Cardiovascular risk factors including age, years since menopause, physical activity, anthropometrics, body composition, blood pressure, fasting serum lipids, glucose and uric acid, intima-media thickness(IMT) of carotid artery were assessed. Ultrasonic bone density (speed of sound) at the radius and tibia were determined. Osteoporosis was defined as T-score≤-2.5. Common factors for the cardiovascular risk factors were extracted using the factor analysis method. Results Eight common factors representing obesity, lean mass, blood triglycerides and uric acid, cholesterol, age, blood pressure, IMT and physical activity were extracted. Data from the Multivariate logistic regression showed a dose-dependent association of greater scores of age and IMT factors and lower score of lean mass factor with the increased risk of osteoporosis at the radius and tibia. As compared with the bottom quartile, the OR (95%CI) of radius and tibia osteoporosis were 0.62 (0.44-0.88) and 0.62 (0.48-0.80) for lean mass factor, 4.02 (2.72-5.94) and 3.68(2.81-4.82) for age factor, 1.41 (1.00-2.00) and 1.54 (1.19-2.00) for IMT factors, respectively. Moreover, greater blood pressure score was associated with higher risk of radius osteoporosis while the higher obese score, was correlated with the increased risk of tibia osteoporosis. Conclusion The cardiovascular-related risk factors of greater IMT, obesity, blood pressure and lower lean mass scores were associated with increased osteoporosis risks while called for more concern among the Chinese women.

AIMBLT1 and BLT2 were both recently cloned and identified as two subtypes of leukotrine B4 (LTB4) receptors. With the usage of U-75302 and LY255283, the specific antagonists of BLT1 and BLT2 respectively, the involvement of BLT1 and BLT2 in the inflammatory and immunological responses was in vitro explored.

METHODS(1) To investigate inhibition of U-75302 and LY255283 on the proliferation of rat synovial cells, 3H-TdR incorporation into the cells was quantified. (2) Flow cytometric assay for interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukine 4 (IL-4) profiles in CD4+ T lymphocytes from rat spleen was carried out to determine the ratio of Th1/Th2.

RESULTS(1) For inhibition on rat synovial cells proliferation, U-75302 exerted its effect only at a high concentration of 10 micromol/L and LY255283 at the concentrations of 10 micromol/L-10 micromol/L. (2) Both U-75302 and LY255283 could elevate the percentage of Th2, but could not influence that of Th1.

CONCLUSIONBLT1 and BLT2 were involved in the synovial cells proliferation change the ratio of Th1/Th2. Their meaning served as targets for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases should be emphasized.

Animals ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Fatty Alcohols ; pharmacology ; Glycols ; pharmacology ; Inflammation ; immunology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptors, Leukotriene B4 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology ; Synovial Membrane ; cytology ; immunology ; Tetrazoles ; pharmacology ; Th1-Th2 Balance

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of these alternant indexes by compare the results of routine blood test of early herpes zoster(HZ),acute cholecystitis and acute myocardial infarction patients.Methods According to some inclu-sion and exclusion criteria,78 HZ patients,59 acute cholecystitis and 51 acute myocardial infarction patients from October 2013 to March 2017 were included.The receiver operator characteristics(ROC)were used to evaluate the diagnostic value of the blood corpuscle indexes.Results White blood cell count(WBC),blood platelet count(PLT)and neutrophilic granulo-cyte percentage(NE%)of HZ patients were lower than the acute cholecystitis and acute myocardial infarction patients(P<0.001).Lymphocyte percentage(LYM%)and monocyte percentage(MO%)were higher than the others'.The NE% index had a certain diagnostic value(AUC=0.848,95%CI:0.792~0.905).There was a highest specificity in LYM% index(spe-cificity=0.963).Conclusion There were some clinical significance of routine blood cell count results on the early HZ diag-nosis,which can reduce the missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis rate of an early diagnosis herpes zoster.

Polymorphisms in DNA repair genes may alter DNA repair capacity and, consequently, lead to genetic instability and carcinogenesis. Several studies have investigated the association of the Asp312Asn and Lys751Gln polymorphisms in the xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group D (XPD) gene with the risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), but the conclusions have been inconsistent. Therefore, we performed this meta-analysis to more precisely estimate these relationships. A systematic literature search was performed using the PubMed, Embase, and Chinese Biomedical (CBM) databases. Ultimately, 6 studies of Asp312Asn, comprising 3,095 cases and 3,306 controls, and 7 studies of Lys751Gln, consisting of 3,249 cases and 3,676 controls, were included. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95%confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of each association. Overal , no association was observed between the Asp312Asn polymorphism and NHL risk (homozygous:OR=1.11, 95%CI=0.94-1.32;heterozygous:OR=1.00, 95%CI=0.89-1.11;recessive:OR=1.12, 95%CI=0.95-1.31;dominant:OR=1.02, 95%CI=0.92-1.13;and al ele comparison:OR=1.04, 95%CI=0.96-1.12) or between the Lys751Gln polymorphism and NHL risk (homozygous:OR=0.97, 95%CI=0.83-1.15;heterozygous:OR=0.96, 95%CI=0.86-1.06;recessive:OR=1.00, 95%CI=0.86-1.16;dominant:OR=0.96, 95%CI=0.87-1.06;and al ele comparison:OR=0.98, 95%CI=0.91-1.05). Furthermore, subgroup analyses did not reveal any association between these polymorphisms and ethnicity, the source of the controls, or the NHL subtype. These results indicated that neither the Asp312Asn nor Lys751Gln XPD polymorphism was related to NHL risk. Large and well-designed prospective studies are required to confirm this finding.