The aim of this study was to systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of Tripterysium Glycosides Tablets( TGT) alone or in combination with methotrexate( MTX) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis( RA) based on the laboratory index criteria and to provide a basis for the clinical application of TGT against RA. Six databases including CNKI,Wan Fang,VIP,PubMed,EMbase and Cochrane were retrieved for randomized controlled trials( RCT) about TGT alone or combination with MTX in the treatment of RA.Then risk assessment tools were used for quality evaluation of the studies,and data extraction and analysis were conducted by using Rev Man 5.3 software for Meta-analysis. A total of 1 709 articles were retrieved,and finally 25 studies were included,with a total sample size of 2 507 cases. Meta-analysis results showed that between TGT alone and TGT alone,MDESR=-2. 66,95%CI[-8.17,2.86],P = 0.35; MDCRP=-2.38,95%CI[-9.01,4.24],P = 0.48; between TGT combined with MTX and MTX alone,MDESR= 8.74,95%CI[6.72,10.76],P<0.000 01; MDCRP= 5.37,95%CI[3.71,7.03],P<0.000 01; SMDRF= 1.05,95%CI[0.51,1.60],P = 0.000 1.The effect of TGT on decreasing CRP and ESR in RA patients was similar to the MTX. In addition,TGT combined with MTX were more effective in decreasing CRP,ESR,RF than MTX alone. However,due to the potential bias in the included studies,more and high-quality randomized controlled trials would be needed to improve the level of evidence.
Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Glycosides ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Tablets ; Treatment Outcome ; Tripterygium ; chemistry

Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) are the major components of Panax notoginseng, with multiple pharmacological activities but poor oral bioavailability. PNS could be metabolized by gut microbiota in vitro, while the exact role of gut microbiota of PNS metabolism in vivo remains poorly understood. In this study, pseudo germ-free rat models were constructed by using broad-spectrum antibiotics to validate the gut microbiota-mediated transformation of PNS in vivo. Moreover, a high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was developed for quantitative analysis of four metabolites of PNS, including ginsenoside F1 (GF1), ginsenoside Rh2 (GRh2), ginsenoside compound K (GCK) and protopanaxatriol (PPT). The results showed that the four metabolites could be detected in the control rat plasma, while they could not be determined in pseudo germ-free rat plasma. The results implied that PNS could not be biotransformed effectively when gut microbiota was disrupted. In conclusion, gut microbiota plays an important role in biotransformation of PNS into metabolites in vivo.
Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Biotransformation ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Feces ; microbiology ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; drug effects ; physiology ; Ginsenosides ; blood ; Male ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sapogenins ; blood ; Saponins ; administration & dosage ; metabolism ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Paeoniflorin (PAE), the major active compounds of Chinese herbs Radix Paeoniae Alba andChinese patent drug "Total Glucosides of Paeony Capsules", which is effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), exerted multi-pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, immune-regulatory, etc. However, its potential action mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, we predicted the putative targets of Radix Paeoniae Alba and constructed an interaction network of putative targets of Radix Paeoniae Alba and known RA-related genes. A list of key putative targets was identified by calculating their topological features (degree, node betweenness and closeness) in the above pharmacological network. Importantly, pathway enrichment analysis revealed that these key putative targets were significantly enriched in several RA-related pathways, including cartilage damage-related IL1B-TNF-TLR2-JUN-MMP1-MMP3 signaling pathway. Further molecular docking simulation showed that PAE, the major active compounds of Radix Paeoniae Alba, has strong binding affinity with MMP1 and MMP3 proteins. Next, in vivo experiments based on the adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) animal models showed that PAE significantly alleviated the disease severity and the syndromes of severe redness or swelling in hind limbs of AIA rats, including decreasing the arthritis score, the diameter of the limbs, and elevating body weight and pain thresholds (all P<0.05). ELISA assay indicated that PAE obviously suppressed the abnormal up-regulation of serum inflammatory factors including IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-17 and IFN-γ in AIA rats (all P<0.001). Western blot analysis found that PAE simultaneously modulated the abnormal up-regulation of MMP1 and MMP3 proteins in the ankle tissues of AIA rats (all P<0.001) (all procedures in the current study were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Center for Laboratory Animal Care, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences). In conclusion, PAE alleviated the cartilage damage and disease severity in the progressive process of RA via regulating the IL1B-TNF-TLR2-JUN-MMP1-MMP3 pathway. This study provided the theoretical basis of the PAE for its immune-regulatory effects, and as well provided references for the action mechanism study of extract compounds of Chinese herbs.

Objective:To investigate the effect of alcohol extract of Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex,alcohol extract of Polygalae Radix and their compatibility on fecal metabolites of rats,analyze its potential metabolic pathways,and provide experimental basis for exploring the possible mechanism of Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex relieving gastrointestinal motility disorders induced by Polygalae Radix. Method:Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into the normal group,alcohol extract of Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex group(3.50 g·kg^-1),alcohol extract of Polygalae Radix group(1.75 g·kg^-1) and compatibility group (3.5 g·kg^-1 of alcohol extract of Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex+1.75 g·kg^-1 of alcohol extract of Polygalae Radix).Fecal samples were collected within 24 h after continuous gavage for 3 days.The fecal metabolites in each group was detected by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS),mobile phase was acetonitrile-0.1%formic acid solution for gradient elution,data collection range was m/z 50-1 200 under positive and negative ion mode of electrospray ionization.The characteristic biomarkers and corresponding metabolic pathways were analyzed or screened by Progenesis QI v2.0,SIMCA-P 14.0,SPSS 20.0,MetaboAnalyst 4.0 and other softwares. Result:A total of 17 characteristic metabolic markers were screened out,including 5-formiminotetrahydrofolic acid,L-3-hydroxykynurenine,7,8-dihydropteroic acid,etc.The main related pathways included biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids,linoleic acid metabolism,vitamin B₆ metabolism,etc. Conclusion:The mechanism of Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex relieving gastrointestinal motility disorders induced by Polygalae Radix may be related to purine metabolism,folate biosynthesis,tryptophan metabolism and primary bile acid biosynthesis.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics, electrocardiography, electrophysiological features and the eff ectiveness of catheter ablation of ventricular arrhythmias originating from left ventricle posterior papillary muscles. Methods Clinical features and electrocardiography of 16 patients with ventricular arrhythmias arising from left ventricular posterior papillary muscles underwent catheter ablation were retrospectively analyzed. Activation mapping and/or pace mapping were performed to identify the site of origin and transthoracic echocardiography were used to demonstrate ablation catheter position and contact. The immediate success and recurrence rates were evaluated. Results During arrhythmias, QRS wave duration of 16 patients [5 men, mean age (45.0±18.2) years] was (155.1±9.0)ms. The prevalence of R>r' and r

Objective To investigate the characteristics of the colon polyp in a northwest district of China. Methods 112 cases of patients from 1~18 years old, diagnosed with polyps by means of colonoscopies reference centers were followed-up from January 2015 to December 2016. The clinical variables evaluated in this study included: gender, age, symptoms, age at onset of symptoms, age at identification of the polyp, interval of time between the onset of symptoms and the endoscopic diagnosis of colonic polyps, and family history of colon polyp and/or colorectal cancer. The characteristics of the polyps also included: number, morphological type, diameter, histology, and distribution. The case records of these patients were reviewed. The demographics, clinical course, laboratory results, endoscopic and histopathological features, treatments, and outcomes were analyzed. Results In the 112 patients, the median age was 6.9 years, of which 64.3% (72/112) were male. All the patient had the symptom of hematochezia and just a little of the patients have the symptoms of abdominal pain, prolapse of anal polyp and diarrhea. 9.8% (11/112) was mild anemia and the anemia patient all had the symptom of hematochezia of more than 6 months and have no connection with the polyp location. Juvenile polyps were identified in 91.9% (103/112) patients, inflammatory polyp were identified in 7.1% (8/112) and 0.9% (1/112) were identified with adenoma. 1.8% (2/112) of the patient had the family history of colorectal polyp. Conclusions The morbidity of colorectal polyp in children and adolescents in our region is high. The male was significantly more common seen than female. A little proportion of the patient had the family history of colorectal polyp. The hematochezia could be seen in all patients A little proportion of the patient was mild anemia and the anemia patient all had the symptom of hematochezia of more than 6 months. Mainly the polyp was located in the rectum and sigmoid. Juvenile polyps were the major pathologic type and then the inflammatory polyp and adenoma. The adenoma may located in other place than rectum and sigmoid.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the status and risk factors for the misdiagnosis of femoral head osteonecrosis, providing the basis for accurate diagnosis of osteonecrosis of femoral head.

METHODSThe data of 314 hospitalized patients were collected from March 2015 to March 2016, and the risk factors for osteonecrosis of femoral head were analyzed by Logistic regression model. Misdiagnosis was defined that the diagnosis given on the first time was different from that on the second time or that given by expert group with the same symptoms and signs. The general data, predisposing factors, time of onset, hospital visits, clinical manifestations, X-ray film of hip joint, MRI and other data were statistically analyzed.

RESULTSTotal 127 patients experienced misdiagnosis (up to 40.8%). Among them, the patients with osteonecrosis of femoral head misdiagnosed as other diseases accounted for 77.2% and the patients with other diseases misdiagnosed osteonecrosis of femoral head accounted for 22.8%. Statistical analysis showed that the predisposing factors, history of glucocorticoid and alcohol intake, diseased lower limb, pained lower limb, hidden disease attack, the level of first reception hospital and expert were significantly related with the misdiagnosis of femoral head osteonecrosis based on the logistic regression model (<0.05) . The relationship between misdiagnosis and gender, age, primary disease taking glucocorticoid, approach and time of glucocorticoid use, the type of alcohol, drinking time had no statistical significance(>0.05). The Logistic regression analysis showed that the hidden disease attack(OR=3.059) and level of first reception expert(OR=2.778) were the high risk factors associated with the misdiagnosis in which the femoral head necrosis was misdiagnosed as other diseases(<0.01), and glucocorticoid intake history was the low risk factors(OR=0.387)(<0.05). The Logistic regression analysis showed that the level of first reception expert (OR=3.573) was the high risk factor associated with the misdiagnosis in which the other diseases were misdiagnosed as necrosis of femoral head.

CONCLUSIONSMisdiagnosis rate of femoral head necrosis is high. Hidden disease attack and low level of first reception expert are the high risk factors associated with the misdiagnosis in which the femoral head necrosis was misdiagnosed as other diseases, however, glucocorticoid intake history is the protective factor of misdiagnosis. Low level of first reception expert is the high risk factor associated with the misdiagnosis in which other diseases were misdiagnosed as necrosis of femoral head.

The present situation and research progress of the single-particle focusing device and related technologies were introduced in foreign countries and China. The principles and advantages of different single-particle focusing devices were analyzed from the aspects of liquid and gas single-particle focusing, and it's pointed out that rapid detection of the particles such as bacteria could be realized by liquid and gas single-particle focusing measures. The two measures both had brilliant prospects providing the structure and design were optimized to ensure high detection precision and efficiency, which could be promoted for bio-agents detection and fulminating infectious diseases prevention and treatment.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical pathological characteristics of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) in children and adolescents. METHODS The clinical data of 30 children and adolescents with DTC were retrospectively reviewed. Meanwhile the clinical pathological characteristics of DTC were analyzed according to patients' age and gender. RESULTS Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) was found in 27 cases and follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) in 3 cases. The average diameter of tumors was (2.56±1.1) cm. In the group of children, the incidence of lymph node metastasis was 92.3% (12/13), pulmonary metastasis was 46.2% (6/13), and those in the group of adolescents was 88.2% (15/17) and 35.3% (6/17) respectively. Children group tended to present with more vascular invasion, thyroid capsule invasion, and invasion out of thyroid, and a higher rate of cervical lymph node metastasis (P=0.025, 0.007, 0.025, 0.033). CONCLUSION Thyroid carcinoma in childhood and adolescent has a stronger invasive feature. It is easy to local invasion, lymph node and distance metastasis.

OBJECTIVETo optimize a measuring method of osteonecrotic area by analyzing the average osteonecrotic areas and osteonecritic volume using multi layer MR images.

METHODSThe MRI images of 87 cases (120 hips) of ONFH(ARCO II) were collected retrospectively from January 2011 to January 2012 in Wangjing Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medicine Science. PHILIPS Achieval 1.5T MR was used to obtain coronal TSE T1 weighted (T1W) images. The scanning parameters were shown as follows:slice thickness, 3.5 mm; gap, 0.3 mm; images repetition time(TR), 500 ms;echo time(TE), 20 ms;field of view (FOV), 374 mm;total 12 layers. According to the distribution rule of osteonecrotic lesion, the layer of coronal T1-weighted imaging showing most of femoral neck was marked as layer 0(L0). The layers before L0 were marked in sequence L1, L2, L3, L4... , and the layers after L0 were marked in sequence L-1, L-2, L-3, L-4... . Auto CAD 2007 was used to measure the percentage of osteonecrotic area and calcu late the average data, and then decreased the layer from low to high layer successively based on frequency of osteonecrotic occurrences. First, the layer with lowest frequency of osteonecrotic occurrenoses L3 was removed, then calculated the average osteonecrotic area of the ramaining 8 layers. L5, L4, L-2, L-1, L3 layers were gradually removed, resulting in the calculation of avereage osteonecrotic areas in 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 layers. These areas were compared to the osteonecrotic volume in MR imagings, leading to the optimization of the fewest layer measuring method of osteonecrotic area using a statistical analysis.

RESULTSThe percentage of osteonecrotic volume in 120 hips was 0.333±0.151. The average osteonecrotic areas of 9 to 3 layers were 0.321±0.117, 0.317±0.136, 0.312±0.147, 0.333±0.153, 0.348±0.172, 0.365±0.174, 0.377±0.202 respectively. There were no statistical differences of the average osteonecrotic areas and osteonecrotic volume in 9 to 3 layers(>0.05), but when the osteonecrotic layers were reduced to 3, there were statistical differences(<0.05). Total 120 hips were grouped according to osteonecrotic volume based on ARCO staging criteria, among them, 12 hips were grade A, 43 were B, 65 were C. According to average osteonecrotic areas of 4 layers, 10 hips were A grade, 32 were B, 78 were C. There were no statistical differences between two methods(>0.05). There was a high degree of concordance among two methods.

CONCLUSIONSThe results of 4(L0, L1, L2, L3) layers measuring method and osteonecrotic volume measuring method are similar. The 4 layers measuring method is an accurate, convenient, valuable method measuring the esteonecrotic area with the fewest layers, which is worth to be popularized in clinical application.