The study aimed to explore the effects of inoculation of Rhizophagus intraradices on the biomass, effective component content, and endogenous hormone content of Salvia miltiorrhiza through pot experiments. The number of leaves, plant height, dry weight of aboveground and underground parts, branch number, root number, root length, root diameter, and other biomass were mea-sured by weighing and counting methods. The content of salvianolic acid B, caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, tanshinone Ⅰ, tanshinone Ⅱ_A, cryptotanshinone, and other effective components was determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography. The content of ABA and GA_3 was determined by triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The correlations between biomass and effective components and between effective components and plant hormones ABA and GA_3 were analyzed. The results showed that R. intraradices significan-tly increased the aboveground dry weight, leaf number, and root number of S. miltiorrhiza by 0.24-0.65 times, respectively. The content of salvianolic acid B and rosmarinic acid in the aboveground part and the content of salvianolic acid B, caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, tanshinone Ⅰ, and tanshinone Ⅱ_A in the underground part were significantly increased by 0.44-1.78 times, respectively. R. intraradices infection significantly increased the GA_3/ABA values of aboveground and underground parts by 3.82 and 76.47 times, respectively. The correlation analysis showed that caffeic acid, the effective component of the aboveground part, was significantly positively correlated with plant height, tanshinone Ⅱ_A, the effective component of the underground part, was significantly positively correlated with biomass root number, cryptotanshinone, and dry weight, while rosmarinic acid was significantly negatively correlated with dry weight. There were significant positive correlations between cryptotanshinone and ABA, tanshinone Ⅱ_A and ABA and GA_3, and caffeic acid and GA_3. In conclusion, R. intraradices can promote the accumulation of biomass and secondary metabolites of S. miltiorrhiza and regulate the balance between plant hormones ABA and GA_3, thereby promoting the growth of S. miltiorrhiza.
Salvia miltiorrhiza/chemistry* ; Plant Growth Regulators/analysis* ; Plant Roots/chemistry*

Objective: To analyze the clinical epidemiological characteristics including composition of pathogens , clinical characteristics, and disease prognosis acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) in Chinese children. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical and laboratory data of 1 610 children <15 years of age with ABM in 33 tertiary hospitals in China from January 2019 to December 2020. Patients were divided into different groups according to age,<28 days group, 28 days to <3 months group, 3 months to <1 year group, 1-<5 years of age group, 5-<15 years of age group; etiology confirmed group and clinically diagnosed group according to etiology diagnosis. Non-numeric variables were analyzed with the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, while non-normal distrituction numeric variables were compared with nonparametric test. Results: Among 1 610 children with ABM, 955 were male and 650 were female (5 cases were not provided with gender information), and the age of onset was 1.5 (0.5, 5.5) months. There were 588 cases age from <28 days, 462 cases age from 28 days to <3 months, 302 cases age from 3 months to <1 year of age group, 156 cases in the 1-<5 years of age and 101 cases in the 5-<15 years of age. The detection rates were 38.8% (95/245) and 31.5% (70/222) of Escherichia coli and 27.8% (68/245) and 35.1% (78/222) of Streptococcus agalactiae in infants younger than 28 days of age and 28 days to 3 months of age; the detection rates of Streptococcus pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus agalactiae were 34.3% (61/178), 14.0% (25/178) and 13.5% (24/178) in the 3 months of age to <1 year of age group; the dominant pathogens were Streptococcus pneumoniae and the detection rate were 67.9% (74/109) and 44.4% (16/36) in the 1-<5 years of age and 5-<15 years of age . There were 9.7% (19/195) strains of Escherichia coli producing ultra-broad-spectrum β-lactamases. The positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture and blood culture were 32.2% (515/1 598) and 25.0% (400/1 598), while 38.2% (126/330)and 25.3% (21/83) in CSF metagenomics next generation sequencing and Streptococcus pneumoniae antigen detection. There were 4.3% (32/790) cases of which CSF white blood cell counts were normal in etiology confirmed group. Among 1 610 children with ABM, main intracranial imaging complications were subdural effusion and (or) empyema in 349 cases (21.7%), hydrocephalus in 233 cases (14.5%), brain abscess in 178 cases (11.1%), and other cerebrovascular diseases, including encephalomalacia, cerebral infarction, and encephalatrophy, in 174 cases (10.8%). Among the 166 cases (10.3%) with unfavorable outcome, 32 cases (2.0%) died among whom 24 cases died before 1 year of age, and 37 cases (2.3%) had recurrence among whom 25 cases had recurrence within 3 weeks. The incidences of subdural effusion and (or) empyema, brain abscess and ependymitis in the etiology confirmed group were significantly higher than those in the clinically diagnosed group (26.2% (207/790) vs. 17.3% (142/820), 13.0% (103/790) vs. 9.1% (75/820), 4.6% (36/790) vs. 2.7% (22/820), χ²=18.71, 6.20, 4.07, all P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the unfavorable outcomes, mortility, and recurrence between these 2 groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions: The onset age of ABM in children is usually within 1 year of age, especially <3 months. The common pathogens in infants <3 months of age are Escherichia coli and Streptococcus agalactiae, and the dominant pathogen in infant ≥3 months is Streptococcus pneumoniae. Subdural effusion and (or) empyema and hydrocephalus are common complications. ABM should not be excluded even if CSF white blood cell counts is within normal range. Standardized bacteriological examination should be paid more attention to increase the pathogenic detection rate. Non-culture CSF detection methods may facilitate the pathogenic diagnosis.
Adolescent ; Brain Abscess ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Escherichia coli ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Meningitis, Bacterial/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Streptococcus agalactiae ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; Subdural Effusion ; beta-Lactamases

We conducted a randomized, open-label, parallel-controlled, multicenter trial on the use of Shuanghuanglian (SHL), a traditional Chinese patent medicine, in treating cases of COVID-19. A total of 176 patients received SHL by three doses (56 in low dose, 61 in middle dose, and 59 in high dose) in addition to standard care. The control group was composed of 59 patients who received standard therapy alone. Treatment with SHL was not associated with a difference from standard care in the time to disease recovery. Patients with 14-day SHL treatment had significantly higher rate in negative conversion of SARS-CoV-2 in nucleic acid swab tests than the patients from the control group (93.4% vs. 73.9%, P = 0.006). Analysis of chest computed tomography images showed that treatment with high-dose SHL significantly promoted absorption of inflammatory focus of pneumonia, which was evaluated by density reduction of inflammatory focus from baseline, at day 7 (mean difference (95% CI), -46.39 (-86.83 to -5.94) HU; P = 0.025) and day 14 (mean difference (95% CI), -74.21 (-133.35 to -15.08) HU; P = 0.014). No serious adverse events occurred in the SHL groups. This study illustrated that SHL in combination with standard care was safe and partially effective for the treatment of COVID-19.
COVID-19 ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Treatment Outcome

Objective:To explore the effects of diverse exogenous substances at different concentrations on the growth of Polyporus umbellatus mycelium and polysaccharide content and screen out the optimal growth condition for P. umbellatus mycelium， so as to provide a reference for its large-scale artificial cultivation. Method:P. umbellatus mycelium was cultured in media containing different exogenous substances using the method for fungal culturing in plate. The growth rate of the mycelium was judged by the colony diameter and the polysaccharide content was determined by the phenol-sulfuric acid method. Result:The high-dose cyclic adenosine monophosphate， 6-benzyl aminopurine （6-BA）， gibberellic acid （GA）， 2，4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid （2，4-D）， vitamin （V） B₁， VB₃， VB₆， VB₉， and VB₁₂ all promoted the growth of P. umbellatus mycelium and elevated polysaccharides content. By contrast， indole acetic acid （IAA）， VC， and VB₂ inhibited its growth， with the most obvious inhibition detected in the high-dose VC group. IAA and VB₂ both reduced the polysaccharide content， whereas the high-dose VC significantly increased the polysaccharide content. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate， 6-BA， GA， 2，4-D， VB₁， VB₃， VB₆， VB₉， and VB₁₂ at the concentrations of 2 mmol·L^-1， 6 mg·L^-1， 15 mg·L^-1， 2 mg·L^-1， 4 mg·L^-1， 2 mg·L^-1， 4 mg·L^-1， 6 mg·L^-1， and 10 mg·L^-1， respectively， contributed to the growth of P. umbellatus mycelium and polysaccharide accumulation. Conclusion:The growth of P. umbellatus mycelium and polysaccharide accumulation can be regulated by adding exogenous substances to the culture medium.

Huangpu Tongqiao Capsules(HPTQC), with the functions of invigorating Qi and kidney, eliminating phlegm and removing blood stasis, have the effect of treating Alzheimer's disease(AD), but its mechanism needs further exploration. To explore the relationship between the therapeutic mechanism of HPTQC on Alzheimer's disease and EGFR-PLCγ signal pathway, 40 healthy male SD rats were selected and divided into 4 groups randomly: sham operation group(sham), model group(model), HPTQC group(HPTQC), and nimodipine group(NMP). AD rat model was established by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactose combined with an intracerebral injection of amyloid-β peptide(25-35). After 28 days of administration, Morris water maze test and HE staining showed that the learning and memory ability of AD rats were significantly decreased(P<0.01), and hippocampal neurons were obviously da-maged. However, HPTQC could improve the learning and memory ability of AD rats(P<0.05) and reduce the damage of hippocampal neurons. Immunofluorescence test results showed that the expression levels of EGFR and p-Tau in hippocampal CA1 region of AD rats were significantly increased(P<0.01), and HPTQC could reduce the expression of EGFR and p-Tau in hippocampus of AD rats(P<0.01). Western blot results showed that the protein expression levels of EGFR, PLCγ, IP3 R and p-Tau in hippocampus of AD rats were significantly increased(P<0.01), and HPTQC could reduce the protein expression of EGFR, PLCγ, IP3 R and p-Tau in AD rats(P<0.05). RT-PCR results showed that the mRNA levels of EGFR, PLCγ, IP3 R and Tau in hippocampus of AD rats were significantly increased(P<0.01), and HPTQC could reduce the mRNA levels of EGFR, PLCγ, IP3 R and Tau in AD rats(P<0.05). The results indicate that HPTQC can improve the learning and memory ability of AD rats, and its mechanism of action may be related to regulating EGFR-PLCγ signal pathway.
Alzheimer Disease ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; Animals ; Capsules ; Disease Models, Animal ; ErbB Receptors ; Hippocampus ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Signal Transduction

ObjectiveTo evaluate the two newly established nomograms for predicting lymph node metastasis in penile cancer based on the clinical data on a large cohort of patients.

METHODSWe retrospectively studied the clinical data on 93 patients with penile cancer treated in the Center for Tumor Prevention and Treatment. Using the two recently established nomograms (Bhagat nomogram and Zhu nomogram), we predicted lymph node metastasis in the patients, analyzed the differences between prediction and the results of postoperative pathology, and compared the accuracy of prediction between the two nomograms with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC).

RESULTSThe median age of the patients was 55 (27－82) years. Positive lymph nodes were found in 31 cases (33.3%) postoperatively and in 9 (21.9%) of the 41 clinically negative cases. The AUC of the Bhagat nomogram was 0.739 and that of Zhu nomogram was 0.808, both of which were similar to the prediction accuracy of internal verification and manifested a medium predictive ability.

CONCLUSIONSThe newly established Bhagat and Zhu nomograms can be used for predicting lymph node metastasis in penile cancer, but with a low precision, and therefore cannot be relied exclusively for the option of inguinal lymphadenectomy.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nomograms ; Penile Neoplasms ; pathology ; ROC Curve ; Retrospective Studies

Aim To investigate the effect of salvianolic acid B(Sal B) on the attenuation of rat hepatocyte in-jury induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation(H/R) and its possible molecular mechanism. Methods Rat hepato-cytes BRL-3A were cultured in vitro. H/R injury mod-el was established and then BRL-3A cells were pretrea-ted with Sal B. The viability of cells was measured by CCK-8 assay;the expression of ALT and AST was de-tected by microplate assay; the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β were determined by ELISA; the apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry;the protein and mRNA lev-els of SIRT1, NF-κB p65, p53, Bax and Bcl-2 were measured by Western blot and qPCR. Results H/R intervention decreased the viability and increased the apoptosis of cells;the production of ALT, AST, TNF-α and IL-1β was elevated;the protein and mRNA lev-els of SIRT1, Bcl-2 were reduced, but the levels of NF-κB p65, p53 and Bax increased. After pretreated with Sal B, the viability of cells increased while the apoptosis decreased; the expression of ALT, AST, TNF-α and IL-1β was inhibited;moreover,the protein and mRNA levels of SIRT1,Bcl-2 were enhanced,and the levels of NF-κB p65, p53 and Bax decreased sig-nificantly. Conclusion Sal B may attenuate rat hepa-tocyte injury induced by H/R via the SIRT1/NF-κB/p53 pathway.

This article summarized the clinical experience of Professor WANG Meng-yong in treating lupus nephritis from the symptoms and essence. Professor WANG Meng-yong believes that treatment for lupus nephritis should attach importance to clinical features of setting deficiency of liver, spleen and kidney as the essence and toxin and blood stasisas symptoms, in which the essence is deficient and the symptoms are excess and combination of external and internal pathogenesis. He flexibly uses methods of nourishing liver and kidney, tonifying spleen, and stomach, clearing heat and cooling blood, activating blood and promoting diuresis to alleviate water retention, which have obvious efficacy, effectively avoid adverse reactions and reduce the risk of recurrence, and improve patient prognosis.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effects of polyethylene oxide (PEO) on blood perfusion in hind limb skeletal muscles in a rat model of chronic hind limb ischemia.

METHDOSTwelve rat models of chronic hind limb ischemia established by unilateral femoral artery ligation were randomized into PEO and control groups (n=6) and treated with intravenous infusion of PEO and saline through the internal jugular vein every other day for 2 weeks. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was performed after the treatments to evaluate the blood flow in the skeletal muscles at different time points and blood flow reserve in the ischemic hind limbs on day 28.

RESULTSStarting from 7 days after femoral artery ligation, blood flow in the ischemic hind limb skeletal muscles was significantly higher in PEO group than in the control group (P<0.05). On day 28, blood flow reserve in the ischemic hind limb was significantly higher (P=0.012), and blood volume was significantly increased in PEO group as compared that in the control group (P=0.024).

CONCLUSIONSPEO can increase blood flow, blood flow reserve and vascular volume in the hind limb skeletal muscles in rats with chronic hind limb ischemia, suggesting that PEO can promote angiogenesis and arterial formation by increasing blood flow shear stress to improve blood supply of ischemic hind limbs.

Objective:To observe the curative effect of different surgical arthroscopy on treatment for the discoid meniscus injury in knee joint.Methods: The clinical data of 78 patients with discoid meniscus injury who received treatment of arthroscopic minimally invasive surgical were retrospectively studied. 42 patients were complete discoid meniscus injury, and 36 patients were incomplete discoid meniscus injury in the 78 cases. The 42 patients with discoid meniscus injury of complete type were divided into observation 1 group (22 cases) and observation 2 group (20 cases), and the 36 patients with discoid meniscus injury of incomplete type were divided into control 1 group (19 cases) and control 2 group(17 cases). The patients of observation 1 group and control 1 group were treated with complete resection operation, and the patients of observation 2 group and control 2 group were treated with partial resection arthroplasty. The knee physiological function of all patients before and after treatment were assessed by using Lysholm knee function score and the subjective assessment table of International Knee Joint Documentation Committee (IKDC) for knee, and the curative effects of each group was compared.Results: After treatment, the Lysholm and IKDC scores of 4 groups significantly increased than that of before treatment(P<0.05), and the Lysholm and IKDC scores of observation 1 group was significantly higher than that of observation 2 group (t=9.193,t=9.065,P<0.05). But there was no statistically significant difference between the control 1 group and control 2 group about Lysholm and IKDC scores (t=0.874, t=0.891,P>0.05). The excellent rate of the observation 2 group was significantly lower than that of observation 1 group(x2=5.292,P<0.05), while the difference of the excellent rate between the control 1 group and the control 2 group was no statistically significant (x2=0.734,P>0.05).Conclusion: All of patients with discoid meniscus injury of knee joint receives different surgical treatment under arthroscopy can obtain good effect, but the curative effect of patients with discoid meniscus injury of complete type who receives completely excision is significantly better than that of who receives partial resection arthroplasty.