OBJECTIVES: To explore the active components that mediate the therapeutic effect of Centella asiatica on psoriasis and their therapeutic mechanisms. METHODS: TCMSP, TCMIP, PharmMapper, Swiss Target Prediction, GeneCards, OMIM and TTD databases were searched for the compounds in Centella asiatica and their targets and the disease targets of psoriasis. A drug-active component-target network and the protein-protein interaction network were constructed, and DAVID database was used for pathway enrichment analysis. In a RAW264.7 macrophage model of LPS-induced inflammation, the anti-inflammatory effect of 7.5, 15, 30, and 60 μmol/L quercetin, asiaticoside, and asiatic acid, which were identified as the main active components in Centella asiatica, were tested by measuring cellular production of NO, TNF‑α and IL-6 using Griess method and ELISA and by detecting mRNA expressions of IL-23, IL-17A, TNF-α and IL-6 and protein expressions of p-STAT3 (Tyr705) and p-STAT3 (Ser727) with RT-qPCR and Western blotting. RESULTS: A total of 139 targets of Centella asiatica and 4604 targets of psoriasis were obtained, and among them CASP3, EGFR, PTGS2, and ESR1 were identified as the core targets. KEGG analysis suggested that quercetin, asiaticoside, and asiatic acid in Centella asiatica were involved in cancer and IL-17 and MAPK signaling pathways. In the RAW264.7 macrophage model of inflammation, treatment with quercetin significantly reduced cellular production of NO, TNF‑α and IL-6, and lowered mRNA expressions of IL-23, IL-17A, TNF‑α and IL-6 and protein expressions of p-STAT3 (Tyr705) and p-STAT3 (Ser727). CONCLUSIONS Quercetin, asiaticoside and asiatic acid are the main active components in Centella asiatica to mediate the therapeutic effect against psoriasis, and quercetin in particular is capable of suppressing cellular production of NO, TNF‑α and IL-6 and regulating the IL-23/IL-17A inflammatory axis by mediating STAT3 phosphorylation to inhibit inflammatory response.
Quercetin/pharmacology* ; Psoriasis/metabolism* ; STAT3 Transcription Factor/metabolism* ; Mice ; Animals ; Centella/chemistry* ; Triterpenes/pharmacology* ; Phosphorylation ; Interleukin-17/metabolism* ; Interleukin-23/metabolism* ; RAW 264.7 Cells ; Pentacyclic Triterpenes/pharmacology* ; Macrophages/drug effects* ; Signal Transduction ; Plant Extracts

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by persistent airflow obstruction caused by long-term airway inflammation or alveolar abnormalities, often manifested as chronic respiratory symptoms and decreased lung function. In recent years, experimental research has shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and repairing properties of lung epithelial cells, which can be used to treat various diseases including COPD. This article is mainly based on the main findings of in vitro and in vivo animal model experiments and clinical studies of MSC treatment for COPD. It summarizes and discusses the possible mechanisms of action of MSC as a new therapy, and provides new ideas for clinical treatment of COPD.

Innovation and entrepreneurship training through higher education sector is an important way to foster innovative talents and enhance their social adaptation abilities. We reformed and optimized the experimental teaching of human anatomy and animal physiology with the aim to promote the integration of students' theory learning with practice, to promote students' ability to apply anatomical and physiological knowledge to medicine, pharmacy, and life practice. Last but not least, students' innovative consciousness of applying scientific research to serve the society could also be enhanced. These practices would enhance the practical ability of the students through integrating the innovation education and professional education.
Animals ; Curriculum ; Humans ; Students

Institutions of higher learning undertake the important responsibility of personnel training. Teaching and scientific research are two indispensable functions of colleges and universities, and the relationship between them is unbalanced and low integration in the current education and teaching. According to the existing problems in the experimental course of human anatomy and animal physiology, we explored how to apply the ideological and political education of scientific research to improve students' cognitive ability, develop experimental projects combined with scientific research practice, and strengthen the combination of classroom teaching and scientific research practice, aiming to establish the basic concept of the integration of science and education. These are favorable for the realization of the training goal of high-quality innovative talents.
Animals ; Curriculum ; Humans ; Students ; Universities

Objective:To explore the efficacy of apatinib combined with S-1 capsule in the treatment of patients with advanced recurrent and metastatic esophageal cancer.Methods:A total of 140 patients with advanced esophageal cancer were selected as test subjects from January 2017 to January 2019 in Shandong Tai′an Cancer Prophylaction-Therapeutic Hospital. These patients were randomly divided into observation group (72 cases) and control group (68 cases) using random number table method. The patients in the observation group were treated with oral apatinib combined with S-1 chemotherapy, and the patients in the control group was only given S-1 chemotherapy. The short-term and long-term efficacy and adverse reactions of the two groups were observed.Results:The objective remission rates of the observation group was 38.9% (28/72), higher than that in the control group (22.1%, 15/68), with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=4.655, P=0.031). The disease control rate of the observation group was 88.9% (64/72), higher than that in the control group (61.8%, 42/68), and there was a significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=13.993, P<0.001). The median progression-free survival of the observation group and the control group was 5.9 months and 2.7 months respectively, the median overall survival was 14.8 months and 7.9 months respectively, and there were significant differences between the two groups ( χ2=5.477, P=0.026; χ2=6.083, P=0.014). The adverse reactions of the two groups were mild, grade 1-2, mainly including fatigue, leukopenia, hand-foot syndrome, hypertension and proteinuria, with incidences of 59.7% (43/72), 50.0% (36/72), 8.3% (6/72), 12.5% (9/72), 9.7% (7/72) in the observation group, and 51.5% (35/68), 57.4% (39/68), 17.6% (12/68), 4.4% (3/68), 4.4% (3/68) in the control group, there were no significant differences between the two groups ( χ2=0.965, P=0.326; χ2=0.760, P=0.383; χ2=2.708, P=0.100; χ2=2.919, P=0.088; χ2=0.794, P=0.373). Conclusion:Apatinib combined with S-1 is effective, safe and tolerable in the treatment of recurrent and metastatic esophageal cancer.

The JAK/STAT/SOCS signaling pathway can mediate a variety of cytokines involved in inflammation, tumor, and autoimmune diseases and it also plays an important role in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection-related liver diseases. This article briefly reviews the structure and signal pathway regulation of JAK-STAT and SOCS and elaborates on their role in the development and progression of HBV-related chronic hepatitis B, liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The final analysis shows that the JAK/STAT/SOCS signaling pathway is dysregulated in HBV-related liver disease and is involved in the development and progression of the disease, and it may even influence the treatment and prognosis of the disease.

Patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) often have immune-mediated liver injury, and it is considered that the interaction between viral infection and immune response is an important cause of disease progression. CHB can progress to liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This article reviews the discovery of T helper 17 (Th17) cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells, describes their own features, and elaborates on their role and mechanism of action in maintaining the stability of the immune system. This article also analyzes the role of Th17/Treg cell imbalance in CHB, liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, and HCC and points out that Th17/Treg cell imbalance may promote the aggravation of HBV-related liver diseases.

In recent years, the incidence of sleep disorders is increasing gradually, and sleep disorder has become a common and frequently-occurring disease in community. While drugs bring a series of side effects, non-pharmacological therapy has become a hotspot in sleep quality study field. It is found that"Gua sha" therapy has a significant effect in improving sleep quality as one of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) care techniques by literature review. This paper summarized the current situation and analyzed the deficiencies of "Gua sha" in sleep improvement basing on the theoretical foundation of Chinese medicine and biological mechanism, so as to provide references for future research and provide guidance for promoting the application of "Gua sha" therapy in community.

Objective To observe the effect of anti NRP-1 b1/b2 monoclonal antibody (NRP-1mAb) on migration and invasion of gastric cancer cell line BGC-823, and to explore the possible mechanism. Methods NRP-1mAb was prepared in the laboratory, and the purity of antibody was detected by flow cytometry. The different concentrations of NRP-1mAb were added into the culture medium of gastric cancer cell line BGC-823. The migration and invasion of cells after 12 hours was observed by using Transwell method. The phosphorylation of related signal proteins after NRP-1mAb was detected by Western blot analysis. Results When NRP-1mAb prepared by patented technology had the effects on BGC-823 cells after 12 hours, the number of migration and invasion of BGC-823 cells was reduced. The number of cells through the basement membrane in the control group (blank) and the administration group (NRP-1mAb 25, 100, 400 μg / ml) were 167 ± 9, 138 ± 5, 98 ± 5, 36 ± 4, respectively (F = 22.6, P< 0.01); the number of cells through the filtration membrane were 231 ± 40,224 ± 19,176 ± 26,124 ± 34,respectively(F=26.63,P<0.01). There were statistically significant differences between the administered group and the control group at 100 and 400 μg/ml (all P< 0.001). High concentration of NRP-1mAb (100 μg/ml) decreased the phosphorylation level of Akt after 10 minutes' function on gastric cancer cells. However, it was difficult to detect phosphorylated Akt after 30 minutes. Conclusion NRP-1mAb may inhibit the migration and invasion of gastric cancer cell line BGC-823 by decreasing the phosphorylation of Akt, which is positively correlated with the concentration.

Objective To observe the effects of mild hypothermia on the myocardial mitochondrial injury induced by oxidative stress after restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in rat of cardiac arrest model.Methods Eighteen male Wistar rats were randomly (raudom number) divided into normal temperature group and mild hypothermia group after ROSC.Ultrasound was used to measure the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF),shortening fraction (FS) and stroke volume (SV).The levels of glutathione (GSH),malondialdehyde (MDA) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in myocardium were detected.The ultramicroscopic structure of myocardial mitochondria was observed under transmission electron microscope at 4 h after ROSC.Results There were no significant differences in basic life support (BLS) time,dosage of epinephrine and number of defibrillation attempt between two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The concentrations of GSH and ATP in myocardium of rats in hypothermia group were significantly higher than those in normal temperature group,while the level of MDA was significantly lower in hypothermia group than that in normal temperature group.Echocardiographic findings showed that hypothermia could significantly improve the EF,FS and SV after ROSC.The hypothermia decreased the myocardial mitochondria injury rather than normothermia [mitochondrial injury score:(0.21-±0.04) vs.(0.42 ±0.08),P ＜ 0.05].Conclusions In this model,mild hypothermia can decrease myocardial oxidative stress injury,improving the cardiac function after ROSC.