Objectives To investigate the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and risk factors in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods The biochemical indices, blood pressure and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) in pa-tients with CKD were retrospectively analyzed. The risk factors of LVH were analyzed using Logistic regression. Results In 125 CKD patients, 32.00%were at 4th stage and 68.00%were at 5th stage. The estimate glomerular ifltration rate (eGFR) and hemo-globin (Hb) level were signiifcantly higher in CKD patients at 4th stage than in those at 5th stage. The intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), serum phosphorus and LVMI were signiifcantly lower in CKD patients at 4th stage than in those at 5th stage (P<0.01). LVH was detected in 33.60%CKD patients. The eGFR and Hb level were signiifcantly lower in CKD patients with LVH than in those without LVH. The iPTH, serum phosphorus, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were signiifcantly higher in CKD patients with LVH than in those without LVH (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that only hypertension, hyperphosphatemia, moderate and severe anemia were the risk factors of LVH. Conclusion Control of hypertension, hyperphos-phatemia and anemia is the key to prevent LVH in CKD patients.

Although current synthetic anti-gout drugs have significant therapeutic effects in reducing serum uric acid levels, they have serious side effects such as allergic reactions and liver and kidney damage. Natural products with a wide range of uric acid-lowering and high safety have played a critical role in anti-gout drug discovery and development. This paper reviews the natural products with uric acid-lowering or anti-gout pharmacological effects and the investigation on their mechanisms of action, to provide information for drug discovery and development.

OBJECTIVETo seek effective drugs for anti-hepatitis C virus by screening 20 Chinese herbs often used for clearing heat and dissipating toxin with nude mice model of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection.

METHODSAfter the model mice had been treated with selected drug for 3 months, transmission electron microscope was used to observe whether the HCV-like particles in human fetal hepatocytes (HFH) transplanted into mice spleen still existed, and quantitative RT-PRC technique was used to detect the serum content of HCV-RNA before and after treatment.

RESULTS(1)HCV-like particles existed in all the model mice after treatment. (2) Serum content of HCV-RNA decreased after treated with Radix Gentianae, Radix Scutellariae, Radix Sophorae tonkinensis, Fructus Gardeniae and Fructus Sophorae flavoscentis, but unchanged after treatment with other drugs.

CONCLUSIONAll the 20 herbs screened has not effect in directly eradicating HCV, but Radix Gentianae, Radix Scutellariae, Radix Sophorae tonkinensis, Fructus Gardeniae and Fructus Sophorae flavoscentis could significantly inhibit the replication of HCV-RNA.

Animals ; Antiviral Agents ; pharmacology ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Female ; Gentiana ; chemistry ; Hepacivirus ; drug effects ; Hepatitis C ; virology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Phytotherapy ; Scutellaria baicalensis ; chemistry ; Sophora ; chemistry ; Virus Replication ; drug effects

ObjectiveTo investigate the therapeutic effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-paracrine substance on fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) rat, and to study the effect on liver function and hepatocyte proliferation. MethodsMesenchymal stem cells(MSCs)were separated from human umbilical cord, and surface makers of cells were detected by flow cytometry. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells-conditioned medium(MSC-CM) was prepared. FHF rat model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactosamine and they were randomly diveded into three groups: MSC-CM group, NS group, PHGF group. 24 h later, 1 ml MSC-CM, 1 ml 0. 9% NaCl solution and lml PHGF solution was injected into the tail vein of MSC-CM, NS, and PHGF rats, respectively. In each group (n=8 per group), blood samples were collected at 12, 24, 36, and 60 h after treatment from inner canthus for analysis of blood ALT and TBIL levels. We used five rats per group for tissue collection after sacrifice at 36 h after treatment and 10 animals per group for survival analysis. PCNA immunohistochemical staining was used in the sections of liver tissue to detect hepatocyte proliferation. Results24 h after treatment, the levels of ALT and TBIL in the MSC-CM and PHGF groups were lower than those in the NS group(P＜0. 05), but there was no significant difference between the MSC-CM and PHGF groups. There were more PCNA-positive hepatocytes in the MSC-CM and PHGF groups than in the NS group(P＜0.01), but there was no significant difference between MSC-CM and PHGF group. Survival analysis found that the survival rate of rats in the MSC-CM and PHGF groups was higher than that of rats in the NS group (P=0. 049), but there was no significant difference between the MSC-CM and PHGF group. ConclusionsThe paracrine substance of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells can stimulate hepatocyte proliferation and improve liver function of FHF rats, potentially creating a new avenue for the treatment of FHF.

Objective To investigate the effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell paracrine substance on proliferation and apoptosis of liver cells in vitro. Methods Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC)were separated from human umbilical cord with type Ⅳ collagenase and trypsogen digestion method and cultured in vitro. The human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells-conditioned medium(MSC-CM) which contain paracrine substance of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (HUCMSC) was prepared. Hepatocytes were isolated from SD rats by low concentration collagenase perfusion procedure. There were three groups in the experiment, control group, 2% MSC-CM group and 8% MSC-CM group. The proliferation of normal hepatocytes were assayed with MTT method. We detected the urea and albumin level in culture supernatant to assay the hepatocyte function under different concentration MSC-CM. Hepatocytes were induced for apoptosis by Actinomycin D and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α),and the apoptosis effect of different concentration MSC-CM was assayed with LIVE/DEAD Viability/Cytotoxicity Kit. Results The MTT assay showed that the absorbance of 2% MSC-CM group was significantly increased (P＜0. 01), and the urea and albumin levels of 2 % MSC-CM group were also significantly increased when compared with control group(P＜0. 01).LIVE/DEAD Viability/Cytotoxicity Kit revealed that hepatocyte survival rate of 2 % MSC-CM group was increased when compared with control group(P＜0. 05), there were no significant differences in above-mentioned experiments when 8% MSC-CM group compared with control group. Conclusion The low concentration MSC-CM could stimulate normal hepatocyte proliferation, inhibit impaired hepatocyte apoptosis and improve hepatocyte function.

Objective To establish the long-term culture system for fetal skin fibroblast by performing long time in vitro cultivation of the cells,and study the potential of its differentiation to hepatocytes.Methods Fibroblast was isolated from human fetus skin tissue.Surface phenotypes of cells were detected by ICC and FCM,and biological characteristics were analyzed by the karyotype analysis and soft agar colony formation observation.ALB、CK18、CK19 were detected by ICC,glycogen stain by PAS,AFP and ALB mRNA by RT-PCR after P3～30cells were induced differentiation by cytokines of HGF,FGF4 and OSM.Results CD29,CD49f,HLA- Ⅰ and CD 105 were highly expressed while CD90 hardly in skin fibroblast.The rate of induced differentiation of fibroblast into hepatocyte-like cells was approximately 5％.The cells could be cultured in vitro for almost 50 passages with normal karyotype and no oncogenic and immortalized characteristics.Conclsion The skin fibroblast possesses the characteristic of mesenchymal stem cell and can be induced into hepatocyte-like cell in vitro.

Objective: To evaluate the value of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in predicting the efficacy of foam sclerotherapy and selecting sclerosants for endovascular sclerosis of venous malformations. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted for 56 patients with venous malformations who underwent intravascular sclerotherapy and DCE-MRI examination from January 2018 to June 2019 in Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. All the patients were firstly treated with foam sclerotherapy. During the surgery, the surgeons determined whether to subsequently use ethanol, depending on the immediate therapeutic effect of foam sclerotherapy. Among them the 40 cases were treated with foam sclerotherapy only (foam sclerotherapy group) and the other 16 cases (ethanol group) with subsequent ethanol. The basic characteristics and DCE-MRI parameters of the two groups were compared. Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of selecting different sclerosing agents, and the receiver operator characteristic curve was applied to assess the efficacy of these risk factors. Results: There were no significant differences in the gender, age, lesion location, pre-treatment volume and presence or absence of phleboliths between foam sclerotherapy group and ethanol group. The lesion classification, maximum intensity time ratio (MITR) and peak enhancement percentage showed significant differences between the two groups. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the lesion classification and MITR were two independent factors for the selection of sclerosing agents. The area under curve (AUC) of MITR was 0.947, while the AUC of lesion classification was 0.844. After the combination of these two parameters, the AUC was 0.969 with the sensitivity of 93.8% and the specificity of 90.0%. Conclusion: DCE-MRI can be helpful for clinical selection of appropriate sclerosing agents to improve the effectiveness of venous malformations treatment.

Currently, clinically used drugs for the treatment of gout inflammation, such as colchicine, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and glucocorticoids, can only relieve the pain of joint inflammation and have severe hepatorenal toxicity and multiple organ adverse reactions. The NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a key complex that induces the onset of gout inflammation and has become a crucial target in the development of anti-gout drugs. This article reviews the research progress of anti-gout small molecules targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome and their bioactivity evaluation methods in the past five years, in order to provide information for the development of specific drugs for the treatment of gout inflammation.

The urate transporter 1 (URAT1) which controls urate reabsorption is a membrane transporter in the apical membrane of human renal proximal tubule epithelial cells. It was found that about 90% of patients suffer from hyperuricemia due to insufficient uric acid excretion. Therefore, the development of URAT1 inhibitors that can reduce the level of serum uric acid in vivo by enhancing renal urate excretion has been a hot spot in seeking anti-gout drugs in recent years. In this article, the representative URAT1 inhibitors with uric acid-lowering or anti-gout effects are reviewed, and related medicinal chemical strategies are analyzed, hoping to provide valuable insights into the discovery of new URAT1 inhibitors.

In order to develop characteristic folk medicine resources in Jiangxi, a pharmacognostical study was systematically performed for four different origin plants of Sikuaiwa, the result of study provides the microscopic features of powder and tissue of the crude drug. The research provided reference for the identification of Sikuaiwa, as well as a theoretical basis for the further development and the formulation of quality standards.
Magnoliopsida ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Medicine, Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal ; anatomy & histology ; chemistry ; growth & development