AIM To explore the clinical effects of San'ao Decoction combined with salbutamol on patients with cough variant asthma.METHODS Eighty patients were randomly assigned into control group(40 cases)for 3-month administration of salbutamol,and observation group(40 cases)for 3-month administration of both San'ao Decoction and mifepristone.The changes in clinical efficacy,TCM syndrome scores,serum MMP-9,VEGF and sex hormones(E2,FSH,PRL)and incidence of adverse reactions were detected.The changes in clinical efficacy,EOS,SIgG4,TIgE,Eotaxin,NKA,LTD4,IL-27,SP,R5-R20,Fres,R5,Zrs,PEF diurnal variation rate,FEF25,PEF,ACT score,PAQLQ score,recurrence rate and incidence of adverse reactions were detected.RESULTS The observation group demonstrated higher total effective rate than the control group(P<0.05),along with lower recurrence rate(P<0.05).After the treatment,the two groups displayed decreased EOS,TIgE,Eotaxin,NKA,LTD4,SP,R5-R20,Fres,R5,Zrs and PEF diurnal variation rate(P<0.05),and increased SIgG4,IL-27,FEF25,PEF,ACT score,PAQLQ score(P<0.05),especially for the observation group(P<0.05).No significant difference in incidence of adverse reactions was found between the two groups(P>0.05).CONCLUSION For the patients with cough variant asthma,San'ao Decoction combined with salbutamol can improve EOS,TIgE,Eotaxin,SIgG4 levels and airway resistance indices,lung function indices,regulate neurogenic mediators,alleviate airway inflammation injury,enhance life quality,and reduce recurrence rate.

Objective:To investigate the biological essence of the content variation of differential primary and secondary metabolites in fresh roots of Scutellaria baicalensis under drought stress. Method:The changes of metabolites were analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass/mass （UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS）. Result:A total of 11 differential compounds were identified from the roots of S. baicalensis （VIP≥2）. Under drought stress， citric acid content increased and shikimic acid content decreased， indicating that the drought stress weakened the primary metabolism but strengthened secondary metabolism. Drought stress raised the content and regulated the proportion of various secondary metabolites by modulating the biosynthesis and biotransformation of them. To be specific， the content of free flavonoids with many phenolic hydroxyl groups and high biological activity and pharmacological activity， such as baicalin， wogonoside， baicalein， wogonin， chrysin， eriodictyol， 5，2'，6'-trihydroxy-7，8-dimethoxyflavone， 5，8-dihydroxy-6，7-dimethoxyflavone， and 3，5，7，2'，6'-pentahydroxyflavanone， was significantly increased. The massive compounds， like an intricate buffer， maintain metabolism stable as quickly and accurately as possible through biosynthesis and biotransformation， thus responding to the changing environment， which reveals how the quality of genuine regional drugs is influenced and why compounds in herbal medicine are complex. Conclusion:Secondary metabolites with low content but high activity are important influencing factors of medicinal material quality and metabolites with high content and high activity are evaluation indicators of genuine regional drug quality.

BACKGROUND: A deep learning model (DLM) that enables non-invasive hypokalemia screening from an electrocardiogram (ECG) may improve the detection of this life-threatening condition. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the performance of a DLM for the detection of hypokalemia from the ECGs of emergency patients. METHODS: We used a total of 9908 ECG data from emergency patients who were admitted at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi, China, from September 2017 to October 2020. The DLM was trained using 12 ECG leads (lead I, II, III, aVR, aVL, aVF, and V1-6) to detect patients with serum potassium concentrations <3.5 mmol/L and was validated using retrospective data from the Jiangling branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University. The blood draw was completed within 10 min before and after the ECG examination, and there was no new or ongoing infusion during this period. RESULTS: We used 6904 ECGs and 1726 ECGs as development and internal validation data sets, respectively. In addition, 1278 ECGs from the Jiangling branch of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University were used as external validation data sets. Using 12 ECG leads (leads I, II, III, aVR, aVL, aVF, and V1-6), the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the DLM was 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77-0.82) for the internal validation data set. Using an optimal operating point yielded a sensitivity of 71.4% and a specificity of 77.1%. Using the same 12 ECG leads, the external validation data set resulted in an AUC for the DLM of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.75-0.79). Using an optimal operating point yielded a sensitivity of 70.0% and a specificity of 69.1%. CONCLUSIONS In this study, using 12 ECG leads, a DLM detected hypokalemia in emergency patients with an AUC of 0.77 to 0.80. Artificial intelligence could be used to analyze an ECG to quickly screen for hypokalemia.
Artificial Intelligence ; Deep Learning ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Hypokalemia/diagnosis* ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) is one of the severe complications of ischemic stroke thrombolysis. Several prognostic scales have been developed to predict the risk of sICH. The performance of seven scales was compared in a single center cohort. Methods: Data of patients with consecutive ischemic stroke who received 0.9 mg/kg intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) thrombolysis within 4.5 h time window from stroke onset were collected. Seven scales that can provide an estimate of risk of sICH were identified and evaluated: Hemorrhage After Thrombolysis (HAT), blood Sugar, Early infarct signs, (hyper) Dense cerebral artery sign, Age, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stroke Scale (SEDAN), Stroke Prognostication using Age and NIH Stroke Scale (SPAN)-100, Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke (SITS), Total Health Risks In Vascular Events (THRIVE), Glucose at presentation, Race (Asia), Age, Sex (male), systolic blood Pressure at presentation, and Severity of stroke at presentation (NIH Stroke Scale; GRASPS) and Multicenter Stroke Survey (MSS). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was calculated and Logistic regression and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test were also performed. Results: The current study included 293 patients, of whom 7.85% (23/293) had sICH by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (SICH_NINDS), 5.46% (16/293) by Europe Cooperative Acute Stroke Study Ⅱ (SICH_ECASSⅡ) and 4.44% (13/293) by Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke (SICH_SITS) criteria. SEDAN had the highest AUROC for predicting sICH: sICH_NINDS: AUROC=0.843, OR=3.167, 95%CI 2.106-4.762, P<0.01; sICH_ECASSⅡ: AUROC=0.797, OR=2.509, 95%CI 1.652-3.812, P<0.01; sICH_SITS: AUROC=0.784, OR=2.172, 95%CI 1.405-3.357, P<0.01. And SPAN-100 had the lowest AUROC among all the seven scales and was only associated with risk of SICH_NINDS in regression analysis. Furthermore, when sub-grouped the cohort into anterior circulation infarction and posterior circulation infarction, regression analysis suggested that all the seven scales were however not associated with sICH risk in patients with posterior circulation infarction. Conclusions SEDAN constantly had the highest predictive power, SPAN-100 had the worst. The seven scales studied could not predict sICH in posterior circulation infarction.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of the oldest systems of medicine. More and more attention has been paid to TCM application, but the variable quality of clinical trials with TCM impedes its widespread acceptance. The Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) 2013 Statement has established guidelines for designing clinical trials to ensure that the trial results are accurate and reliable. However, there are difficulties when applying SPIRIT 2013 Statement to trials with TCM, due to the unique theory and the characteristic of TCM intervention. An Extension to the original SPIRIT was developed to ensure the quality of trial design with TCM. As Chinese herbal formulae, acupuncture and moxibustion are common and representative interventions in TCM practice, the executive working group determined that the SPIRIT-TCM Extension focus on these three interventions. Extension was developed through initiation, 3 rounds of Delphi consensus survey, and finalizing expert meeting. Seven items from the SPIRIT 2013 Statement were modified, namely, "title", "background and rationale", "objectives", "eligibility criteria", "interventions", "outcomes", and "data collection methods". The Extension includes the introduction of the concept of TCM pattern and 3 major TCM interventions, with examples and explanations. The SPIRIT-TCM Extension 2018 provides suggestion for investigators in designing high quality TCM clinical trials. It is expected that wide dissemination and application of this extension ensure continuous improvement of TCM trial quality throughout the world.
Clinical Protocols ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research Design

BACKGROUND: Syndrome is one of the most important concepts in Chinese medicine (CM) theory. However, it was not well accounted in most of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). OBJECTIVES: To determine whether CM syndrome differentiation affects the treatment results, functional constipation (FC) was selected as a target disease, and MaZiRenWan (, MZRW), a classic CM formula commonly used for constipation with excessive heat syndrome, was selected for study. METHODS: It is an 18-week prospective double-blinded, doubledummy RCT, including 2-week run-in, 8-week treatment and 8-week post treatment follow-up. A total of 120 FC patients diagnosed as excessive heat syndrome will be recruited from the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Baokang Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Patients will be randomly allocated into fixed MZRW (f_MZRW) granule group, modified MZRW (m_MZRW) granule group or bisacodyl group. For m_MZRW group, no more than two herbal granules can be added according to the syndrome differentiation for individual participants. The primary end point is the mean of complete spontaneous bowel movements (CSBMs) per week during the treatment period. Secondary end points include mean of CSBMs per week during follow-up, stool form, global symptom improvement, constipation and constipation-related symptoms assessment, CM syndrome change, and reported adverse events. DISCUSSION This trial is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of these three interventions for FC patients with the CM syndrome of excessive heat, and to determine the change of CM syndrome and the progress of disease during the treatment course. The results are important to explore whether syndrome differentiation is important for the therapeutic effect of a formula on a disease. [Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Reg No. ChiCTR-TRC-13003742); protocol version: MZRW/NSFC-81173363 (2015.05.04)].
Constipation ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Double-Blind Method ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Prospective Studies ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

With the introduction and development of evidence-based medicine in China, it has been spread rapidly in the area of integrative medicine (IM) and has become a new unique discipline. During almost 20 years, as one of the most important parts of evidence-based IM, systematic review (SR)/meta-analysis (MA) of IM have shown a good development momentum in the aspects of quantity, depth, breadth and influence, but also face the harsh situation of the uncontrolled quantity and quality, especially for SRs in Chinese. Therefore, how to supervise and standardize this area effectively becomes a problem to be solved. Based on the experience both at home and abroad, the authors put forward several kinds of solutions for laying the foundation for further development such as promoting the registration system of SR/MA of IM, effectively setting up the regulatory platform of quality and quantity, launching professional training for SR/MA reviewers, forming qualification registration, developing the data transfer and sharing platform to realize the transparency of evidence process.

As a modern dosage form drug with rapid effect, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) injection has been more and more used in clinical practice. Meanwhile the safety of TCM injection has attracted more and more attention. The retrospective analysis on 74 cases of adverse reaction of TCM injections collected from 2007 to 2016 in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine showed that the proportion of men and women with adverse reactions was 0.54:1; the average age was 62.5 years old; 21 kinds of TCM injections were involved. Among them, the most reported were blood-regulating agents. The top four kinds of TCM injections with highest adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were Tanreqing injection, Danhong Injection, Shuxuening Injection and Xuesaitong for injection. The top three clinical manifestations of adverse reactions were lesions of skin and its appendages, damage of circulatory system and damage of nervous system. The potential causes of the adverse reactions of TCM injections were analyzed, and it was believed that individual difference, medicine, pharmaceutical excipients, solvent and TCM syndrome differentiation may be the main five causes for the adverse reactions of TCM injections. In order to reduce the adverse reactions of TCM injections, it is suggested that the clinical pharmacists should participate in the application management of TCM injections in the hospital; the production enterprises shall strengthen the whole life cycle management of the drugs; and at the same time, the drug control and administration authorities should improve the drug management methods constantly and encourage the development of TCM injections to the high quality level.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Injections ; adverse effects ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; adverse effects ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

How to test the treatments of Chinese medicine (CM) and make them more widely accepted by practitioners of Western medicine and the international healthcare community is a major concern for practitioners and researchers of CM. For centuries, various approaches have been used to identify and measure the efficacy and safety of CM. However, the high-quality evidence related to CM that produced in China is still rare. Over the recent years, evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been increasingly applied to CM, strengthening its theoretical basis. This paper reviews the past and present state of CM, analyzes the status quo, challenges and opportunities of basic research, clinical trials, systematic reviews, clinical practice guidelines and clinical pathways and evidence-based education developed or conducted in China, pointing out how EBM can help to make CM more widely used and recognized worldwide.
Critical Pathways ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Objective To knockout the exon51 of DMD gene in HEK293T cells using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Methods Design the target sequences of sgRNA and clone them into plasmid PX459 respectively; transfer these plasmids into HEK293T cell and extract the total genome DNA; test the activity of sgRNAs with surveyor assay, choose the most efficient one in each end;construct plasmid PX459-2sgRNA and transfer it into HEK293T cells;check whether the exon51 has been knocked known with PCR and T vector sequencing. Results 50% of HEK293T cells' DMD gene exon51 were knocked out,showing a high gene editing efficiency. Conclusions We successfully establish a platform to target knockout the exon51 of DMD gene and provide an important experimental basis for the treatment of DMD and other genetic diseases.