Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects and mechanism of anti-radiation pneumonia decoction(ARPD) on radiation induced lung fibrosis in rats.Methods One hundred and five male SD rats in a SPF grade were divided into Chinese medicine group,single radiation group and control group by random digits table method,with 35 in each group.After anesthetization,rats in Chinese medicine and single radiation groups were exposed to 6 MV X-rays at the dose of 15Gy.Rats in Chinese medicine group were treated with ARPD at the dosage of 10 ml·kg-1 ·d-1 once a day,but rats in single radiation group did not receive ARPD treatment.Rats in control group were treated with neither irradiation nor drugs.Five rats of each group were killed and the lung tissues and blood samples were collected at 15,30,60,75,90,105 and 140 d.The pathological changes of lung tissues were observed and the tissue protein and gene expressions of TGF-β1,PAI-1 and collagen type Ⅲ(C Ⅲ) were assayed by Western blot and RT-PCR.ELISA was used to detect serum TGF-β1 and plasma PAI-1.Tissue and serum HYP were determined by acid hydrolysis and alkaline hydrolysis methods respectively.Results Inflammation was found in the lung tissues of all the exposed rats.Obvious pathological lung fibrosis was found at 60 d,the inflammation and the fibrosis in treated group were slighter than those in single radiation group.In Chinese medicine group,the protein and gene expression levels of TGF-β1,PAI-1,C Ⅲ 30 d(Protein:t =2.49-3.74,t =2.63-4.57 and t =2.76-3.83;Gene:t =2.59-4.33,t =2.83-4.62 and t =2.83-3.96,P＜0.05),serum TGF-β1 and plasma PAI-1 15 dlater (t =2.85-6.27 and t =3.69-5.27,P＜0.05),and the levels of tissue and serum HYP60 dlater (t=3.65-4.40 and t =6.56-3.75,P＜0.05),all of them were lower than those in single radiation groups.There were significant positive correlations between tissue TGF-β1 and PAI-1 as well as C Ⅲ (Protein expression:r =0.604,0.759,P ＜0.05;Gene expression:r=0.519,0.816,P＜0.05).Conclusions ARPD may inhibit the pulmonary fibrosis by decreasing the levels of TGF-β1,PAI-1 and C Ⅲ.

Objective: To investigate the role of piperine on the transformation of endothelial cells into fibroblasts. Methods: Cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs, 4-6 passage) were used for the main experiments. The transformation models of endothelial cells into fibroblasts were induced by transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) stimulation. HUVECs were divided into 6 groups: control group, TGF-β group and 4 groups treated with various concentrations of piperine (1, 5, 10, 20 μmol/L). CKK-8 was used to detect cell proliferation. The CD31/α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression level was detected by fluorescent staining. The vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin)/vimentin expression was detected by immunofluorescence staining. RT-PCR was used detect the mRNA expressions of transformation markers. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of snail and twist. Results: TGF-β increased HUVECs proliferation (P<0.05), which could be significantly inhibited by 10 and 20 μmol/L of piperine, but not by 1 and 5 μmol/L of piperine. Immunofluorescence results demonstrated that TGF-β increased HUVECs transformation to fibroblasts as shown by downregulated expression of endothelial markers CD31, VE-cadherin, and upregulated expression of α-SMA and vimentin, again, these effects could be attenuated by 10 and 20 μmol/L piperine. The expression levels of collagen type Ⅰ and type Ⅲ were significantly higher in TGF-β group than in control group (P<0.05), significantly lower in TGF-β+10 μmol/L piperine group and TGF-β+20 μmol/L piperine group than in TGF-β group (P<0.05).In addition, RT-PCR results showed that TGF-β increased mRNA expression of transformation markers (snail1, snail2, twist1, twist2), while 10 and 20 μmol/L of piperine could significantly downregulated the mRNA expressions of these markers. The protein expression levels of snail and twist were significantly higher in TGF-β group than in control group (both P<0.05), which was significantly lower in TGF-β+20 μmol/L piperine group than in TGF-β group (both P<0.05). Conclusions Piperine can inhibit the transformation of endothelial cells into fibroblasts. This effect might be viewed as one of the potential mechanisms of reduced myocardial fibrosis post piperine treatment.

Ischemia-reperfusion (I / R) is a complex hemodynamic process that can cause tissue damage through oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammatory reactions. It is an important factor leading to poor prognosis in patients, and the exploration of effective prevention and treatment measures is of significant clinical significance. As an endogenous hormone with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, Melatonin plays an important role in reducing cell death and improving tissue I / R injury. Therefore, this article reviews the relationship between Melatonin and organ I/R injury in order to provide a theoretical basis for the clinical application of melatonin to alleviate organ I/R injury.

Pyroptosis is a newly discovered programmed cell death that can lead to inflammatory response, its occurrence depends on the sequential activation of inflammatory bodies and caspase, and then the pore-forming generated by the fragmentation of gasdermin D and its cell membrane polymerization. Pyroptosis is mainly comprised of the pathway that depends on caspase-1 activated by flammasomes and the non-classical pathway that depends on caspase-4/5/11 activated by cytoplasmic lipopolysaccharide. As an important mechanism mediating the inflammatory response of the body, pyroptosis plays an irreplaceable role in the body's response to noxious stimuli, which is closely related to many diseases such as nervous system diseases, cardiovascular system diseases and tumors. Recent studies have found that pyroptosis also plays a key role in the occurrence of intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (II/RI). This paper reviews the molecular characteristics, mechanism of pyroptosis and its relationship with II/RI in recent years, in order to provide theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of II/RI.

ObjectiveBased on the experience of traditional quality evaluation， the quality of Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma（AMR） with different production methods such as direct seeding， transplanting after seedling raising， topping and non-topping， and difference in growth years was compared. MethodVernier caliper was used to measure the trait data of AMR in different production methods. Paraffin sections of AMR with different production methods were made by saffron solid green staining， and the microstructure was observed. The contents of water-soluble and alcohol-soluble extracts in AMR with different production methods were determined according to the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The content of water-soluble total polysaccharides in AMR with different production methods was detected by sulfuric acid-anthrone method. Fiber analyzer was used to detect the content of fiber components in AMR with different production methods. The contents of monosaccharides， oligosaccharides and some secondary metabolites in AMR with different production methods were detected by ultra performance liquid chromatography（UPLC）， and the differences of chemical components were compared by multivariate statistical analysis methods such as principal component analysis（PCA） and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA）. ResultIn terms of traits， the 3-year-old AMR with direct seeding and without topping was close to the high-quality AMR with "phoenix-head and crane-neck， strong sweetness and clear aroma" recorded in ancient materia medica， followed by the 3-year-old AMR with topping after transplanting， while the 2-year-old AMR with topping after transplanting with high market circulation rate was generally fat and strong with mild odor. In the microscopic aspect， the arrangement of xylem vessels and fiber bundles in the 3-year-old samples formed two obvious rings. Compared with the 2-year-old samples cultivated in Bozhou and Zhejiang， the 3-year-old samples without topping after transplanting had more wood fibers. In terms of chemical composition， the contents of 70% ethanol extract， fructose， glucose， sucrose， 1-kestose， atractylenolide Ⅰ， chlorogenic acid， neochlorogenic acid， cryptochlorogenic acid and other components in 3-year-old AMR with direct seeding and without topping were significantly higher than those in the other three samples（P<0.05）. The contents of cellulose， 70% ethanol extract， sucrose， atractylenolide Ⅰ， atractylone and other components in 3-year-old AMR with topping after transplanting were significantly higher than those in the 2-year-old AMR with high market circulation rate（P<0.05）， while the contents of water-soluble extract and water-soluble total polysaccharides in 2-year-old samples with topping after transplanting were significantly higher than those in the 3-year-old AMR with topping after transplanting， direct seeding and without topping（P<0.05）. ConclusionUnder the current mainstream production mode， too much manual intervention makes AMR heavily enriched in polysaccharides and increased the yield， but the accumulation of sweet substances， fragrant substances and fiber substances is insufficient， which affects its quality. The current quality standard of AMR has some shortcomings in guiding the high quality production of it， it is suggested to revise the quality standard of AMR， supplement the quantitative analysis of secondary metabolites， and strengthen the production of imitation wild AMR.