Diabetic cardiomyopathy （DCM） is one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus and is a major threat to global health. As a key mechanism in the occurrence and progression of DCM， the inflammatory response persists throughout the entire course of the DCM. The Gaozhuo theory suggests that the basic pathogenesis of inflammatory injury in DCM is the Qi deficiency of spleen and kidney and Gaozhuo invasion， and divides the pathological process into three phases： Gaozhuo invasion， turbid heat damage to the channels， and turbid blood stasis and heat junction. Among them， the Qi deficiency of spleen and kidney and the endogenous formation of Gaozhuo represent the process of inflammatory factor formation induced by glucose metabolism disorders. Turbid heat damage to the channels refers to the process of myocardial inflammatory injury mediated by inflammatory factors， and turbid blood stasis and heat junction are the process of myocardial injury developing toward myocardial fibrosis and ventricular remodeling. As the disease continues to progress， it eventually develops into a depletion of the heart Yang， leading to the ultimate regression of heart failure. According to the theory of Gaozhuo， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） should regulate inflammatory injury in DCM by strengthening the spleen and tonifying the kidney to address the root cause， and resolving dampness and lowering turbidity to treat the symptoms. If the turbidity has been stored for a long time and turns into heat， strengthening the spleen and tonifying the kidney， and clearing heat and resolving turbidity should be the therapy. If the turbidity， stasis， and heat are knotted in the heart and collaterals， strengthening the spleen and tonifying the kidney， and resolving stasis and lowering turbidity should be the therapy. TCM compounds and monomers can regulate the inflammatory response in DCM. TCM compounds can be divided into the categories for benefiting Qi to resolve turbidity， benefiting Qi and clearing heat to resolve turbidity， and benefiting Qi and activating blood to reduce turbidity. The compounds can inhibit upstream signals of inflammation and expression of inflammatory factors， improve the inflammatory damage to myocardium and blood vessels， myocardial fibrosis， and cardiac systole and diastole， and thus slow down the onset and progression of DCM.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease （NAFLD） is one of the most common complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM）， and hepatic stellate cell （HSC） activation is the key link in the progression of NAFLD to liver fibrosis. According to the theory of "Gaozhuo"， spleen deficiency and Qi stagnation， along with Gaozhuo invasion， are the causes of NAFLD progression to liver fibrosis， which reveals the pathogenesis essence of HSC activation in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. Among them， spleen deficiency and Qi stagnation are the root causes of the endogenous formation of Gaozhuo. Spleen deficiency indicates the insulin sensitivity decrease and glucose metabolism disorders， and Qi stagnation means the dysregulation of hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism， which creates the preconditions for HSC activation. Gaozhuo invasion is the direct cause of HSC activation， including three stages： Internal retention of Gaozhuo， turbidity and stasis stagnation， and toxic stasis and consolidation. Internal retention of Gaozhuo refers to the abnormal metabolism and deposition of hepatic lipids， as well as the microcirculatory disorders. Turbidity and stasis stagnation is the process by which lipotoxicity stimulates the transformation of HSC into myofibroblast （MFB）， and toxic stasis and consolidation represent the secretion of a large amount of extracellular matrix （ECM） by MFB to promote the fibrosis. According to the theory of Gaozhuo and the activation process of HSC， syndromes for T2DM combined with NAFLD can be classified into spleen deficiency and Qi stagnation with internal retention of Gaozhuo， spleen Qi deficiency with turbidity and stasis stagnation， and spleen Qi deficiency with toxic stasis and consolidation. Clinically， the treatment principle is to strengthen the spleen and promote Qi， resolve turbidity， and eliminate blood stasis. Both TCM compounds and monomers can effectively inhibit the HSC activation. TCM compounds can be classified into categories for regulating spleen and harmonizing liver， resolving turbidity and removing stasis， and detoxifying and removing stasis. They mainly work by improving lipid metabolism， reducing lipid accumulation in the liver， alleviating inflammatory and oxidative stress responses， inhibiting the activation and proliferation of HSC， and reducing ECM deposition， thereby delaying the progression of liver fibrosis.

Toxoplasma gondii(T.gondii or Tg),is an obligatory intracellular parasite with humans as its intermediate hosts.In recent years,significant correlations between T.gondii infection and schizophrenia have been reported,including the possible mediating mechanisms.Currently,mechanisms and hypotheses focus on central neurotransmitters,immunity,neuroinflammation,and epigenetics;however,the exact underlying mechanisms remain unclear.In this article,we review the studies related to T.gondii infection and schizophrenia,particularly the latest research progress.Research on dopamine(DA)and other neurotransmitters,the blood-brain barrier,inflammatory factors,disease heterogeneity,and other confounders is also discussed.In addition,we also summarized the results of some new epidemiological investigations.

ObjectiveTo investigate the potential active ingredients and targets of Baihu Jia Renshentang（BHJRST） for the treatment of obesity combined with type 2 diabetes mellitus（T2DM） by network pharmacology and in vivo experiments. MethodUltra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/electrostatic field orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry（UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS） was used to analyze and identify the material basis of BHJRST. Subsequently， potential targets for the action of the active ingredients were queried in databases such as ChEMBL， Therapeutic Target Database（TTD）， YaTCM， DisGeNET and Traditional Chinese Medicine on Immuno-Oncology（TCMIO）， and the shared targets were identified by taking the intersection of these targets with disease targets. The shared targets were imported into the STRING database to construct a protein-protein interaction（PPI） network， the hub genes were identified by cytoHubba plug-in， and molecular docking was used to validate the binding energy of the hub genes to the bioactive ingredients in BHJRST. Meanwhile， the shared targets were imported into the DAVID platform for gene ontology（GO） functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis. The predicted results were subsequently verified by animal experiments. Eighteen 8-week-old male skeletal muscle insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor dysfunction（MKR） mice were induced by a high-fat diet for 12 weeks in order to prepare a mouse model of obesity combined with T2DM. The mice were randomly divided into the model group， metformin group（0.2 g·kg^-1） and BHJRST group（27 g·kg^-1 in raw material）， and another 6 male FVB mice of the same age as the normal group. The mice in each group were were given the corresponding drugs by gavage， and the normal and model groups were given the same amount of distilled water by gavage， 1 time/d for 6 consecutive weeks. At the end of administration， the body mass， Lee's index， fasting blood glucose（FBG）， oral glucose tolerance test（OGTT） of mice in each group were examined， and the pathological morphology of the white adipose tissue of the epididymis was observed， and the expression of the mRNA of the hub genes in the white adipose tissue of the epididymis was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction（Real-time PCR）. ResultA total of 200 bioactive components of BHJRST were identified， of which 64 bioactive components were reverse-matched to 384 targets， and a total of 308 targets were associated with obesity combined with T2DM. Hub genes included mitogen-activated protein kinase 1（MAPK1）， signal transducer and activator of transcription 3（STAT3）， MAPK3， interleukin（IL）-2， Janus kinase 1（JAK1）， nuclear transcription factor-κB p65（RELA）， estrogen receptor 1（ESR1）， transcription factor AP-1（JUN）， MAPK14 and lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase（LCK）. GO functional annotation showed that it was mainly enriched in cytoplasm， cell membrane and nucleus， and was closely related to important biological processes such as peptide serine phosphorylation， protein phosphorylation and inflammation. In KEGG enrichment analysis， metabolic pathway， lipid and atherosclerosis， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase（PI3K）/protein kinase B（Akt） and MAPK signal pathways were significantly enriched. The molecular docking results showed that the hub genes had a stable binding relationship with 10 bioactive components， including quercetin， isoliquiritigenin， and morin， in BHJRST. The results of animal experiments showed that BHJRST could significantly reduce body mass， Lee's index and FBG levels（P<0.01） in mice with obesity combined with T2DM， improve the pathological changes of white adipose tissue， and down-regulate the the mRNA expression of the hub genes in white adipose tissue of the epididymis（P<0.01）. ConclusionIn this study， 10 potentially active components such as quercetin， isoliquiritigenin， and morin in BHJRST are identified through network pharmacology and animal experiments， and it is possible to treat obesity combined with T2DM by regulating lipid and atherosclerosis， phosphatidylinositol PI3K/Akt and MAPK signal pathways， which provides important clues and theoretical basis for the study of its mechanism and clinical application.

Objective:To document any effect of environmental enrichment on nerve regeneration in a mouse model of sciatic nerve compression and explore its mechanism.Methods:A crushed sciatic nerve model was successfully established in 22 C57BL/6 mice, and they were then randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group. The mice of the intervention group were raised in a cage with an enriched environment, while those of the control group were kept in a standard cage. Two weeks later, both groups′ gait was analyzed and the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) of the sciatic nerve was measured. The proportion of myelinated sciatic nerve fibers was examined using toluidine blue staining, and the expression of myelin basic protein (MBP), growth associated protein-43 (GAP43) and p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75 NTR) was measured using immunofluorescence intensity. Results:①The latency of the CMAP [(1.05±0.04)ms] was significantly shortened in the intervention group compared with the control group and the amplitude was significantly higher. ②Gait analysis showed a significant increase in the average contact intensity, stride length and stride rate of the intervention group compared with the control group. However, the step axis angle of the intervention group was significantly smaller than in the control group on average. ③The stained nerve fibers in the intervention group were orderly and dense, and the average number of myelinated fibers was significantly greater than in the control group. ④Quantitative analysis of the immunofluorescence showed that the levels of MBP, GAP43 and p75 NTR in the sciatic nerves of the intervention group were, on average, significantly higher than in the control group. Conclusion:An enriched environmental can promote the regeneration and functional recovery of crushed sciatic nerves by promoting the proliferation and myelination of Schwann cells.

Objective:To analyze the urine of normal healthy left-behind children under 1 year old and left-behind children with zinc deficiency under 1 year old in Zunyi area using hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1HNMR), thus providing a new biomarker for the early diagnosis of zinc deficiency. Methods:From January to August 2018, a total of 40 normal healthy left-behind children under 1 year old in Zunyi area(healthy control group)[22 males and 18 females, average age of (7.78±3.62) months, average height of (65.01±2.67) cm and average body mass of (7.15±1.59) kg] and 40 age-matched left-behind children with zinc deficiency in the same region(zinc deficiency group)[19 males and 21 females, average age of (7.89±3.57) months, average height of (64.25±2.95) cm and average body mass of (7.02±1.68) kg] were included for a cross-sectional study by stratified sampling.The urine 1HNMR spectra of children in the 2 groups were measured, and the age, height, body mass and serum zinc content of children in the 2 groups were compared.The metabolites of the 2 groups were compared by metabono-mics technology combined with multivariate statistical analysis, and the differential metabolites of children with zinc deficiency were screened out. Results:There were no significant differences in age, height and body mass between the 2 groups (all P>0.05). The serum zinc level of healthy control group was significantly higher than that of zinc deficiency group [(54.3±3.06) mmol/L vs.(39.2±3.77) mmol/L, t=22.65, P<0.05]. Urine 1HNMR spectrogram results showed that compared with healthy controls, 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid, phenyl acetyl glycine, and hippuric acid salt water were significantly lower in zinc deficiency group ( r=-0.620, -0.689, and -0.721, respectively, all | r|>0.602, all P<0.05). Conclusions:Zinc deficiency in left-behind children under 1 year old in Zunyi area is mainly manifested by decreased metabolites of 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid, phenylacetyl glycine and horse-urate, suggesting metabolic disorder of intestinal flora.Differentially expressed metabolites have a potential application value in the early diagnosis of zinc deficiency.

Objective:Explore the hydrogen-nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1H-NMR) application potential of metabolomics in early screening of vitamin A deficiency(VAD). Methods:From January to June 2019, 40 cases of left-behind children with confirmed VAD <1 year old were enrolled in Zunyi area as VAD group, and 40 healthy children were selected as healthy control group.Urine from the 2 groups of children was collected and 1H-NMR spectrum was measured.By combining metabonomics technology and multivariate statistical analysis, the 2 groups of metabolites were compared, and the differential metabolites of children with VAD were screened out. Results:Compared with VAD group [(0.56±0.10)μmol/L], the difference in the serum retinol concentration of healthy control group [(1.35±0.18)μmol/L] was statistically significant ( t=23.93, P<0.001). Compared with healthy group, VAD group showed higher level of methylmalonate, 2-ketoisovalerat, N-acetyl glycoprotein signal, dimethylglycine and betaine, with statistically significant differences (| r|>0.602, all P<0.05). The level of Isovalerylglycine, 2-hydroxyisobutyrate, creatine, phosphate choline/glycerophosphocholine, 4-PY and Hippurate were significantly decreased, with statistically significant differences (| r|>0.602, all P<0.05). Conclusions:Compared with healthy children, children with VAD have differences in urine Metabolites.Differential metabolites are closely correlated with intestinal microecological ba-lance, digestive system diseases, respiratory system diseases, immune-related diseases, energy metabolism, growth and development.Urine 1H-NMR metabolomics analysis has potential application value in the early screening of VAD.

Objective To investigate the overweight status of military officers and soldiers and to analyze the risks of the induction of chronic diseases. Methods Questionnaires and biochemical analysis were used to randomly survey the living and training status of 485 officers and soldiers in a military unit. Blood and urine samples were collected and analyzed using blood biochemical analysis methods and conventional dry chemical methods. Statistical analysis was performed through EXCEL 2007 and SPASS 12.0 software. Results The survey results showed that the proportion of BMI abnormal people in the officers and soldiers was high. Compared to the normal population, the officers and soldiers with abnormal BMI had more bad daily life habits such as smoking and drinking, while their diet balance was relatively poor, and their frequency of daily exercise was significantly less. Biochemical tests showed that the proportion of the officers and soldiers with hyperuricemia and hyperbilirubinemia was high, but there was no significant difference in the officers and soldiers with different BMI. Urine analysis showed that the number of urinary protein and occult blood in the officers and soldiers increased significantly after military training, and the BMI abnormal population was more significant than the normal population. Conclusion There was a relatively low correlation between different BMI and chronic metabolic diseases in military officers and soldiers, but those with abnormal BMI were at high risk for exercise-induced kidney injury. Military officers and soldiers should strengthen health management and actively control the acquired factors that cause BMI abnormalities, to effectively prevent and reduce the BMI abnormality and lower the risk of induced early chronic kidney injury disease, promoting the overall health level.

Objective: To explore the characteristic changes in urinary metabolites in left-behind children with vitamin D deficiency under 1 year old in Zunyi area by metabolomic nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in order to provide new biomarkers for early diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency. Methods: From January to August 2018, blood tests and urine collection were carried out on the left-behind children under 1 year old in Fenggang county, Bozhou district and Zheng′an county under Zunyi city by stratified sampling.Forty children diagnosed as a vitamin D deficiency were selected as a vitamin D deficiency group, and 40 children with normal urine test were selected as a healthy control group.For urine sampling, SIMCA-P+ software was applied to analyze the integral value of hydrogen spectrogram by principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to distinguish the difference in urine metabolites between two groups of the left-behind children.Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used to screen different metabolites. Results: The serum level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D[25-(OH)D][(32.0±3.6) nmol/L ] in the healthy control group was higher than that in the vitamin D deficiency group[(15.8±2.3) nmol/L], and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). PCA and PLS-DA analysis showed significant differences in urine metabolites between the healthy control group and the vitamin D deficiency group (P<0.05). OPLS-DA indicated R²X=0.365, Q²=0.978, which further verified the difference of metabolites.Compared with the healthy control group, the urine of methyl malonic acid, 3-hydroxy butyrate, N-acetyl glycoprotein signal, glutamic acid, dimethyl glycine, 2-ketone glutaric acid, taurine, fumaric acid salt level increased significantly in the vitamin D deficiency group, and the differences were statistically significant (|r|>0.602, all P<0.05, df=39). However, the levels of ethyl malonic acid, creatine, choline, glycerophosphalocholine and equine were significantly decreased, and the differences were statistically significant (|r|>0.602, all P<0.05, df=39). Conclusions The left-behind children under 1 year old with vitamin D deficiency in Zunyi region are mainly characterized by disorder in energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism and intestinal microbial meta-bolism disorders, and their differential metabolites have potential application value in early diagnosis and pathogenesis of vitamin D deficiency.

The thalamostriatal pathway is implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD); however, PD-related changes in the relationship between oscillatory activity in the centromedian-parafascicular complex (CM/Pf, or the Pf in rodents) and the dorsal striatum (DS) remain unclear. Therefore, we simultaneously recorded local field potentials (LFPs) in both the Pf and DS of hemiparkinsonian and control rats during epochs of rest or treadmill walking. The dopamine-lesioned rats showed increased LFP power in the beta band (12 Hz-35 Hz) in the Pf and DS during both epochs, but decreased LFP power in the delta (0.5 Hz-3 Hz) band in the Pf during rest epochs and in the DS during both epochs, compared to control rats. In addition, exaggerated low gamma (35 Hz-70 Hz) oscillations after dopamine loss were restricted to the Pf regardless of the behavioral state. Furthermore, enhanced synchronization of LFP oscillations was found between the Pf and DS after the dopamine lesion. Significant increases occurred in the mean coherence in both theta (3 Hz-7 Hz) and beta bands, and a significant increase was also noted in the phase coherence in the beta band between the Pf and DS during rest epochs. During the treadmill walking epochs, significant increases were found in both the alpha (7 Hz-12 Hz) and beta bands for two coherence measures. Collectively, dramatic changes in the relative LFP power and coherence in the thalamostriatal pathway may underlie the dysfunction of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical network circuits in PD, contributing to some of the motor and non-motor symptoms of the disease.
Animals ; Brain Waves ; physiology ; Corpus Striatum ; physiopathology ; Cortical Synchronization ; physiology ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; physiology ; Electrocorticography ; Male ; Neural Pathways ; physiopathology ; Oxidopamine ; Parkinsonian Disorders ; physiopathology ; Rats, Wistar ; Thalamic Nuclei ; physiopathology ; Walking ; physiology