Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of strengthening the spleen to nourish the lung in treating stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with lung and spleen qi deficiency complicated by sarcopenia. Methods:This study was designed as a prospective study. A total of 65 patients with stable COPD and sarcopenia who received treatment at Kunshan Hospital of Chinese Medicine from January 2021 to December 2021 were included in the study. They were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group using the random number table method. The control group ( n = 34) was treated with conventional therapy, while the observation group ( n = 31) was treated with Shenling Baizhu Powder, a traditional Chinese medication based on the principle of strengthening the spleen to nourish the lung, in addition to the conventional therapy given to the control group. Both groups were treated for 1 month. Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score, pulmonary function, grip strength, walking speed, albumin and prealbumin levels were compared between the two groups. Results:After treatment, the scores of all traditional Chinese medicine syndromes in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the levels of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV 1)[(1.51 ± 0.27) L vs. (1.32 ± 0.20) L, t = 3.11, P < 0.001 ] and FEV 1/forced vital capacity (FVC) [(57.20 ± 8.41)% vs. (52.89 ± 5.66)%, t = 2.30, P = 0.025] were significantly higher in the observation group. Compared with before treatment, gait speed [(1.07 ± 0.27) m/s vs. (0.90 ± 0.30) m/s, t = 7.66, P < 0.001], grip strength [(20.62 ± 5.07) kg vs. (19.42 ± 5.78) kg, t = 3.55, P < 0.001], albumin [(231.38 ± 49.40) g/L vs. (200.26 ± 65.87) g/L, t = 3.70, P < 0.001] and prealbumin [(39.53 ± 3.45) g/L vs. (35.81 ± 4.46) g/L, t = 4.08, P < 0.001] levels in the observation group were significantly increased after treatment. There were no significant differences in gait speed, grip strength, albumin, and prealbumin levels in the control group before and after treatment (all P > 0.05). Conclusions:The method of strengthening the spleen to nourish the lung shows good clinical efficacy in treating stable COPD with lung and spleen deficiency complicated by sarcopenia, and it has great potential for broader application.

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of strengthening the spleen to nourish the lung in treating stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with lung and spleen qi deficiency complicated by sarcopenia. Methods:This study was designed as a prospective study. A total of 65 patients with stable COPD and sarcopenia who received treatment at Kunshan Hospital of Chinese Medicine from January 2021 to December 2021 were included in the study. They were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group using the random number table method. The control group ( n = 34) was treated with conventional therapy, while the observation group ( n = 31) was treated with Shenling Baizhu Powder, a traditional Chinese medication based on the principle of strengthening the spleen to nourish the lung, in addition to the conventional therapy given to the control group. Both groups were treated for 1 month. Traditional Chinese medicine syndrome score, pulmonary function, grip strength, walking speed, albumin and prealbumin levels were compared between the two groups. Results:After treatment, the scores of all traditional Chinese medicine syndromes in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the levels of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV 1)[(1.51 ± 0.27) L vs. (1.32 ± 0.20) L, t = 3.11, P < 0.001 ] and FEV 1/forced vital capacity (FVC) [(57.20 ± 8.41)% vs. (52.89 ± 5.66)%, t = 2.30, P = 0.025] were significantly higher in the observation group. Compared with before treatment, gait speed [(1.07 ± 0.27) m/s vs. (0.90 ± 0.30) m/s, t = 7.66, P < 0.001], grip strength [(20.62 ± 5.07) kg vs. (19.42 ± 5.78) kg, t = 3.55, P < 0.001], albumin [(231.38 ± 49.40) g/L vs. (200.26 ± 65.87) g/L, t = 3.70, P < 0.001] and prealbumin [(39.53 ± 3.45) g/L vs. (35.81 ± 4.46) g/L, t = 4.08, P < 0.001] levels in the observation group were significantly increased after treatment. There were no significant differences in gait speed, grip strength, albumin, and prealbumin levels in the control group before and after treatment (all P > 0.05). Conclusions:The method of strengthening the spleen to nourish the lung shows good clinical efficacy in treating stable COPD with lung and spleen deficiency complicated by sarcopenia, and it has great potential for broader application.

Objective : To investigate the protective effect of melatonin (MT) on formaldehyde (FA) inhalation-in- duced acute lung injury (ALI) in rats and its mechanism through the regulation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway． Methods : Fifty female Wistar rats were randomly divided into Control group ，FA group，FA + MT 5 mg / kg group，FA + MT 10 mg / kg group and FA + MT 20 mg / kg group，with 10 rats in each group．Except for the Control group，all other groups inhaled 3 mg / m3 FA daily for 21 d consecutively to construct the tainted model，and then treated with different MT doses for 14 d．The tainting was continued during the MT treatment．Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the histopathological changes in lung tissue，lung water content and lung coefficient were weighed and measured，glutathione ( GSH) ，superoxide dismutase (SOD) and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine ( 8-OHdG) levels were measured by absorbance photometric method ，and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to measure the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) ，in- terleukin (IL) -6，and IL-1 β concentrations，Western blot to detect the protein expression levels of Nrf2，heme ox- ygenase-1 (HO-1) ，nuclear factor-κB ( NF-κB) ，and phosphorylated nuclear factor-κB ( p-NF-κB) in lung tis- sues，and quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR) to detect the Nrf2，HO-1，and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) mRNA expression levels. Results : Compared with the control group，lung injury was obvious in rats in the FA group ; lung tissue GSH and SOD levels were reduced ，and 8-OHdG levels were elevated ( P < 0. 05) ; alveolar lavage fluid TNF-α , IL-6，and IL-1 β levels were elevated (P＜0. 05) ; Nrf 2 and HO-1 protein expression levels were reduced in the lung tissue (P＜0. 05) ，and p-NF-κB protein expression levels were was ele- vated (P＜0. 05) ; the relative mRNA expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 in lung tissue was decreased，and the relative mRNA expression of Keap1 was elevated (P＜0. 05) ．Compared with the FA group，the lung injury of rats in the MT group was improved ; the levels of GSH and SOD in the lung tissue were increased (P＜0. 05) ，and the level of 8-OHdG was decreased (P＜0. 05) ; the levels of TNF-α , IL-6，and IL-1 β in the alveolar lavage fluid were de- creased (P＜0. 05) ; and the expression levels of the Nrf2 and HO-1 proteins in the lung tissue were increased (P ＜0. 05) ．p-NF-κB protein expression level was decreased (P ＜0. 05) ; the relative mRNA expression levels of Nrf2 and HO-1 in lung tissues were increased (P＜0. 05) ，and the relative mRNA expression level of Keap1 was decreased (P＜0. 05) in lung tissues，and all of them were in a dose-dependent manner． Conclusion MT can al- leviate oxidative stress and inflammatory responses and mitigate FA exposure-induced acute lung injury by regula- ting the Nrf2 / Keap1 / HO-1 signaling pathway.