Astragali Radix (AR), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy against various diseases, including cardiovascular conditions, over centuries of use. While doxorubicin serves as an effective chemotherapeutic agent against multiple cancers, its clinical application remains constrained by significant cardiotoxicity. Research has indicated that AR exhibits protective properties against doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy (DIC); however, the specific bioactive components and underlying mechanisms responsible for this therapeutic effect remain incompletely understood. This investigation seeks to identify the protective bioactive components in AR against DIC and elucidate their mechanisms of action. Through network medicine analysis, astragaloside IV (AsIV) and formononetin (FMT) were identified as potential cardioprotective agents from 129 AR components. In vitro experiments using H9c2 rat cardiomyocytes revealed that the AsIV-FMT combination (AFC) effectively reduced doxorubicin-induced cell death in a dose-dependent manner, with optimal efficacy at a 1∶2 ratio. In vivo, AFC enhanced survival rates and improved cardiac function in both acute and chronic DIC mouse models. Additionally, AFC demonstrated cardiac protection while maintaining doxorubicin's anti-cancer efficacy in a breast cancer mouse model. Lipidomic and metabolomics analyses revealed that AFC normalized doxorubicin-induced lipid profile alterations, particularly by reducing fatty acid accumulation. Gene knockdown studies and inhibitor experiments in H9c2 cells demonstrated that AsIV and FMT upregulated peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) and PPARα, respectively, two key proteins involved in fatty acid metabolism. This research establishes AFC as a promising therapeutic approach for DIC, highlighting the significance of multi-target therapies derived from natural herbals in contemporary medicine.
Animals ; Doxorubicin/adverse effects* ; Saponins/administration & dosage* ; Isoflavones/pharmacology* ; Rats ; Cardiomyopathies/prevention & control* ; Mice ; Fatty Acids/metabolism* ; Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism* ; Triterpenes/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Humans ; Cardiotonic Agents/administration & dosage* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Cell Line ; Astragalus Plant/chemistry* ; Astragalus propinquus

BACKGROUND:Nanocomposite hydrogel has great research prospects and application potential in the treatment of osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE:To review the research progress of nanocomposite hydrogel in osteoarthritis and cartilage repair. METHODS:Databases such as CNKI and PubMed were searched.The English key words were"nanocomposite hydrogel,nanogel,osteoarthritis,cartage,physical encapsulation,electrostatic interaction,covalent crosslinking",and the Chinese key words were"nanocomposite hydrogel,nanogel,osteoarthritis,cartage,physical encapsulation,physical encapsulation,electrostatic effect,covalent cross-linking".After an initial screening of all articles based on inclusion and exclusion criteria,71 articles with high correlation were retained for review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In cell or animal experiments,nanocomposite hydrogel has the effect of improving osteoarthritis.Nanocomposite hydrogel can promote cartilage repair,improve the internal environment of osteoarthritis,and achieve the therapeutic purpose of osteoarthritis by improving the mechanical environment between joints,carrying targeted drugs,and promoting the chondrogenesis of seed cells.At present,the research of nanocomposite hydrogel in osteoarthritis disease still has a huge space to play.It is expected to open up a new way for the clinical treatment of osteoarthritis by continuing to deepen the research of material preparation and actively carrying out cell and animal experiments.

Objective:To describe demographic,clinical and physiological characteristics,treatment between first-episode major depressive disorder(MDD)and relapse MDD,and to explore characteristics of relapse MDD.Methods:Totally 858 patients who met the diagnostic criteria for depression of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fifth Edition(DSM-5),were included by using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview(MINI),Clinician-Rated Dimensions of Psychosis Symptom Severity,and Hamilton Depression Scale etc.Among them,529(58.6％)were first-episode depression and 329(36.0％)were relapsed.The differences of demographic characteristics,clinical and physiological characteristics,treatment were compared byx2test and Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test.Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the characteristics of MDD recur-rence.Results:Compared to first-episode MDD,relapse MDD had more comorbidity(OR=2.11,95％CI:1.00-4.44),more days out of role(OR=1.26,95％CI:1.01-1.56),more history of using psychiatric drug more than one month(OR=1.41,95％CI:1.02-1.97)and electroconvulsive therapy(OR=3.23,95％CI:1.42-7.36),and higher waist-hip ratio(OR=33.88,95％CI:2.88-399.32).Conclusion:Relapse MDD has positive as-sociation with comorbidity of mental disorders,out of role,and higher waist-hip ratio.

Objective To evaluate the value of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) for genetic evaluation of fetal ultrasound abnormality. Methods A total of 180 pregnant women with fetal abnormality detected by prenatal ultrasound diagnosis in the first trimester during the period from January 2020 through May 2022 were enrolled as the study subjects. All prenatal fetal screening samples were subjected to G-band karyotyping and CMA. Results G-band karyotyping detected normal karyotypes in 168 samples (93.85%) and abnormal karyotypes in 11 samples (6.15%), and CMA detected 17 positive samples (9.44%) and 163 negative samples (90.56%). The seventeen positive samples included 11 pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) and 6 variants of unknown significance (VOUS), and there were 11 CMA-positive results consistent with G-band karyotyping, and 6 additional pathogenic CNVs mainly included microdeletion and microduplication syndromes. The detection rates of pathogenic CNVs were 11.11%, 2.63%, 2.78%, 4.00%, 0, 0, 11.11% and 0 among the fetuses with abnormal structure of the cardiovascular system, the lymphatic system, the nervous system, the digestive system, the cranial and face system, the skeletal system, the urinary system, and other system (χ² =8.188, P = 0.316). All eleven fetuses with pathogenic CNVs detected by CMA were all induced for abortion. Conclusion CMA improves the detection of genetic abnormality among fetuses with ultrasound abnormality in relative to G-band karyotyping, which is feasible for prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis among fetuses with ultrasound abnormality