Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal compound modified Huanglian Wendan Decoction in the treatment of hypertension complicated with sleep disorders of phlegm-heat harassing the interior type.Methods A total of 70 patients with hypertension complicated with sleep disorders of phlegm-heat harassing the interior type were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group,35 cases in each group.The patients in the control group were treated with conventional western medicine,and the patients in the observation group were treated with modified Huanglian Wendan Decoction on the basis of treatment for the control group.The course of treatment covered four weeks.The Clinical Global Impression(CGI)score,traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome score,Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI)score,blood pressure,and serum levels of homocysteine(Hey),interleukin 6(IL-6),interleukin 10(IL-10)and interleukin 8(IL-8)levels in the two groups were observed before and after treatment.Moreover,the safety of medication was evaluated in the two groups.Results(1)After four weeks of treatment,the CGI score of the observation group was(1.63±0.60)points,which was significantly lower than that of the control group[(2.74±0.82)points],and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.01).(2)After treatment,the TCM syndrome score,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure and PSQI score of the two groups were significantly decreased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.01),and the decrease of TCM syndrome score,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure and PSQI score in the observation group was significantly superior to that in the control group(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).(3)After treatment,the levels of serum Hcy,IL-6 and IL-8 in the two groups were significantly decreased compared with those before treatment(P＜0.01),and the serum IL-10 level was significantly increased compared with that before treatment(P＜0.01).The decrease of serum Hcy,IL-6 and IL-8 levels and the increase of serum IL-10 level in the observation group were significantly superior to those in the control group(P＜0.01).(4)During the treatment,no treatment-related adverse reactions or complications occurred in the two groups.Conclusion Modified Huanglian Wendan Decoction has certain efficacy on patients with hypertension complicated with sleep disorders of phlegm-heat harassing the interior type.The decoction can not only reduce the blood pressure and serum Hcy level of the patients,but also regulate the level of inflammatory factors with high safety.

Objective:To analyze the multimodal ultrasound characteristics of primary breast cancer and sentinel lymph node (SLN) and to establish a nomogram model for predicting SLN metastasis in invasive breast cancer, thereby providing reference for precise clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods:A total of 329 patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine from June 2018 to October 2023 were retrospectively enrolled. They were randomly divided into a training cohort ( n=230) and a validation cohort ( n=99) in a ratio of 7 to 3. In the training cohort, ultrasound findings and clinical parameters were analyzed, univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to identify independent predictive factors for SLN metastasis, and a nomogram model was constructed based on these factors. The ROC curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were plotted between the training and validation cohorts to assess the discrimination, calibration, and clinical applicability of the nomogram model. Results:Regression analysis identified 3 independent risk factors for establishing the nomogram prediction model: ratio of the long diameter to the short diameter of SLN ( P=0.020), lymphatic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (LCEUS) enhancement pattern ( P<0.001) and intravenous contrast-enhanced ultrasound (ICEUS) enhancement mode ( P=0.002). The area under the curve (AUC) of the training cohort was 0.888, the accuracy was 0.865; the AUC of the validation cohort was 0.870, the accuracy was 0.859, demonstrating good predictive performance of the model in both cohorts. The calibration curve demonstrated that the nomogram has a strong concordance between predicted and actual probability. DCA demonstrated that the nomogram could increase net benefit within a certain probability threshold range. Conclusions:The nomogram based on ratio of the long diameter to the short diameter of SLN, LCEUS enhancement pattern and ICEUS enhancement mode can effectively predict SLN status in patients with invasive breast cancer, facilitating precise diagnosis and treatment.

Objective To investigate the current situation and risk factors of falls in the rural community elderly aged 65 years and above in Chongqing City, and to provide references for developing preventive measures. Methods The multistage cluster random sampling method was used to select several rural communities in Chongqing City from September to December, 2019, and then the elderly aged 65 years and above who lived in the communities for one year were chosen to serve as the surveyed subjects. A self designed questionnaire (sociodemographic factors, exercise status, illness and medication status and fall to related information) was used to collect the data regarding falls occurring in the last year. The chi-square test and multi factor multi-variant logistic regression analysis were utilized to analyze the data, the used software was SPSS 25.0. Results A total of 801 rural community elderly people in Chongqing City were surveyed．The average age was (71.64±5.85) years old. 7.12% of elderly need cane or walker. 6.87% of them self-reported their health was poor. 42.57% of elderly seldom have the habit of exercise. The prevalence of heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, cataract, deafness self-reported was 8.99%、8.11%、17.48%、25.97%、13.73% and 6.24% respectively. Totally 104 elderly people experienced 128 falls in the past 12 months, and the incidence rates of falls and falling times were 12.84% and 15.98% respectively．The multi-variant logistic regression analysis showed that poor heath status self-reported（OR=4.04，95% , CI：1.71-9.52）, diabetes （OR=2.68，95% CI： 1.41-5.12）, osteoporosis （OR=1.91 , 95% CI：1.16-3.15）, arthritis （OR=2.60 , 95% CI：1.65-4.11） and non self-care（OR=2.44，95% CI：1.16-5.16） were the risk factors for falls in the rural community elderly. Conclusions The incidence rate of falls in the rural community elderly aged 65 years and above in Chongqing City was low．It is necessary to formulate comprehensive intervention measures for the risk factors of fall so as to reduce the incidence rate of falls in the elderly.

Male ; Humans ; Germ-Line Mutation ; Prostatic Neoplasms/genetics* ; BRCA2 Protein/genetics* ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) is an important pathophysiological feature of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but its molecular mechanism is still unclear. We aim to investigate the role of endogenous competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network in the development of IH in OSA rats. An intermittent hypoxic rat model of OSA was constructed by hypoxic and reoxygenation cycles. CircRNAs and mRNAs were detected in rat bronchial tissues, and 230 up-regulated and 181 down-regulated circRNAs and 1238 up-regulated and 608 down-regulated mRNAs were analyzed and screened. The results of Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of the differential circRNAs and mRNAs suggested that they were mainly associated with metabolic pathways and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. The key circRNAs (the top six circRNAs with the largest differences) were further validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), chr9:52042693| 52047844 and chr4: 64889575|64899587 were expressed in bronchial tissues consistent with the sequencing results, which were used to further construct the ceRNA regulatory network. Four potential ceRNA regulatory networks were identified by TargetScan and miRanda database, combined with the results of differential circRNA and mRNA. The expression of molecules in the four potential ceRNA regulatory networks was detected by qRT-PCR in bronchial and lung tissues, and the results suggested that the expression of this regulatory network, chr9:52042693|52047844-miR-351-5p-Pten, was consistent with the sequencing results. The findings indicate that chr9:52042693 | 52047844-miR-351-5p-Pten may be involved in the development and progression of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome through a ceRNA mechanism.

This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of IR-61, a novel mitochondrial heptamethine cyanine dye with antioxidant effects, on diabetes mellitus-induced erectile dysfunction (DMED). Eight-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin (STZ) to induce type 1 diabetes. Eight weeks after STZ injection, all rats were divided into three groups: the control group, DM group, and DM + IR-61 group. In the DM + IR-61 group, the rats were administered IR-61 (1.6 mg kg

Objective: The formulation of co-loaded docetaxel(DTX) and gambogic acid(GA) albumin nanoparticles(DTX-GA-BSA NPs) was optimized by central composite design-response surface methodology to prepare DTX-GA-BSA NPs, and its quality was evaluated. The optimal synergistic ratio of DTX and GA was screened by coefficient of drug interaction(CDI). Method: Nab^TM method was used to prepare DTX-GA-BSA NPs with bovine serum albumin(BSA) as the carrier material. Design-Expert 8.0.6 software was used to design the experiment and process the data, overall desirability(OD) of particle size and polydispersity index(PDI), encapsulation rate were taken as indexes. The particle size and Zeta potential of the nanoparticles were measured. Individual and synergistic inhibitory effects of DTX and GA on the proliferation of MGC-803 and HGC-27 cells were determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT) assay, respectively. Result: The optimum prescription of DTX-GA-BSA NPs was as follows:BSA concentration of 5 g·L^-1, water-oil phase volume ratio of 1:17, drug-loading ratio(mass ration of drug to carrier) of 1:10.The average particle size of DTX-GA-BSA NPs was 135.8 nm and PDI was 0.09, Zeta potential was -21.4 mV. The deviation between the predicted value and the observed value of the model was small, the model had good predictability. For MGC-803 cell, when the concentrations of DTX and GA were 0.004, 0.12 μmol·L^-1, respectively(mass ratio of DTX to GA was 1:23), the CDI value was the smallest and the synergistic proliferation inhibition was the most significant. For HGC-27 cell, when the concentrations of DTX and GA were 0.004, 1 μmol·L^-1, respectively(mass ratio of DTX to GA was 1:195), the synergistic proliferation inhibition was the most significant. Conclusion: The optimized formulation of DTX-GA-BSA NPs is stable and reliable. The established mathematical model has good predictive ability and practicability. DTX combined with GA has synergistic effect on MGC-803 and HGC-27 cells without concentration dependence.

Objective To explore the effect of meteorological factors on the incidence of hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Jiangyin City. Methods The distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used to estimate the delayed and cumulative effects of meteorological factors on incidence of HFMD in Jiangyin from 2012 to 2017. Results A total of 21 791 HFMD cases were reported in Jiangyin City during 2012-2017. We observed significant correlations between the daily incidence of HFMD and daily mean temperature (rs=0.402, P<0.001), daily mean pressure (rs=-0.453, P<0.001), and daily mean relative humidity (rs=0.075, P<0.001), respectively. It was indicated that the maximum cumulative effect of daily mean temperature on the incidence of HFMD was 11 ℃ (RR=1.473, 95% CI: 1.99-1.974), and the impact on the onset of HFMD was acute and hightest at the first day (RR=1.090, 95% CI: 1.045-1.136). The cumulative effect on incidence of HFMD was highest at 85% daily relative humidity (RR=1.346, 95% CI: 1.154-1.571), and the impact on HFMD peaked on the 6th day (RR=1.023，95% CI: 1.015-1.031); The maximum cumulative effect of daily mean pressure with the incidence of HFMD was 1010.0 hpa (RR=1.221, 95% CI: 1.020-1.463), but no lag effect was observed at this level. Conclusions Meteorological factors have significant impact on the incidence of HFMD in Jiangyin City, and the effects of temperature and humidity are lagged.

Emerging evidence indicates that aldosterone and mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) are associated with the pathogenesis of erectile dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, freshly isolated penile corpus cavernosum tissue from rats was treated with aldosterone, with or without MRs inhibitors. Nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B (NF-κB) activity was evaluated by real-time quantitative PCR, luciferase assay, and immunoblot. The results demonstrated that mRNA levels of the NF-κB target genes, including inhibitor of NF-κB alpha (IκB-α), NF-κB1, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin 6 (IL-6), were higher after aldosterone treatment. Accordingly, phosphorylation of p65/RelA, IκB-α, and inhibitor of NF-κB kinase-β was markedly increased by aldosterone. Furthermore, knockdown of MRs prevented activation of the NF-κB canonical pathway by aldosterone. Consistent with this finding, ectopic overexpression of MRs enhanced the transcriptional activation of NF-κB by aldosterone. More importantly, the MRs antagonist, spironolactone blocked aldosterone-mediated activation of the canonical NF-κB pathway. In conclusion, aldosterone has an inflammatory effect in the corpus cavernosum penis, inducing NF-κB activation via an MRs-dependent pathway, which may be prevented by selective MRs antagonists. These data reveal the possible role of aldosterone in erectile dysfunction as well as its potential as a novel pharmacologic target for treatment.
Aldosterone/pharmacology* ; Animals ; Cytokines/biosynthesis* ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; I-kappa B Kinase/antagonists & inhibitors* ; Interleukin-6/genetics* ; Male ; Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists/pharmacology* ; NF-kappa B/genetics* ; Penis/metabolism* ; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors* ; RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis* ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred WKY ; Receptors, Mineralocorticoid/genetics* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Spironolactone/pharmacology* ; Transcriptional Activation ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/biosynthesis* ; NF-kappaB-Inducing Kinase

AIM To prepare nanosuspensions of flavonoids from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and to determine the in vitro dissolution rate.METHODS Precipitation-high pressure homogenization method was adopted in the preparation of nanosuspensions.With mean particle size and polydispersity index (PDI) as evaluation indices,concentrations of flavonoids,povidone K30 (PVP K30) and polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400) as influencing factors,central composite design-response surface method was applied to optimizing the preparation.For the freedried powder prepared by freeze-drying method,the optimal kind and ratio of lyoprotectant were screened.Then the in vitro dissolution rates of freeze-dried powder and physical mixture were compared.RESULTS The optimal conditions were determined to be 10.00 mg/mL for flavonoids' concentration,and 2.30 mg/mL for both PVP K30 and PEG 400 concentrations,the mean particle size and PDI were (172.3 ± 1.2) nm and 0.175 ± 0.004,respectively.The optimal lyoprotectant was 5％ mannitol-lactose (3 ∶ 2),the mean particle size and PDI after redissolution were (239.7 ±2.1) nm and 0.193 ±0.032,respectively.The in vitro dissolution rate of lyoprotectant reached 87.7％ within 60 min,which was much higher than that of physical mixture (less than 30％).CONCLUSION Nanosuspension can effectively improve the in vitro dissolution rate of flavonoids from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma.