AIM To study endophytic fungi from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi.and the enzyme inhibitory activities of their secondary metabolites.METHODS Six different media were used to isolate and purify endophytic fungi from S.baicalensis by tissue homogenate method.The activities of secondary metabolites were evaluated by targeting different enzymes.The highly active strains were identified by molecular biology combined with morphology,and the highly active chemical components were tracked and separated by modern chromatographic separation technology.RESULTS Sixty-four endophytic fungal strains were isolated from S.baicalensis,and one hundred and twenty-eight secondary metabolites were obtained by fermentation.The samples with certain inhibitory activities against adenosine deaminase(ADA),β-lactamase and tyrosinase(TYR)accounted for 14.06%,3.91%and 18.75%,respectively.Strain HTS-23-2 showed high TYR inhibitory activity,and 99%homology with Aspergillus flavus by molecular identification.One compound was isolated from the fermentation samples and identified as kojic acid.CONCLUSION S.baicalensis harbors a rich diversity of endophytic fungi,which serve as a valuable resource for active substances.

Objective To clarify the understanding of types of laboratories and manufacturers for GB 9706.1-2020 Medical electrical equipment-Part 1:General requirements for basic safety and essential performance by laboratory proficiency testing for creepage distance and electrical clearance test.Methods An operation guide was formed according to the testing program in GB 9706.1-2020,and the homogeneity and stability of the samples were evaluated according to CNAS-GL003:2018 Guidance on Evaluating the Homogenneity and Stability of Samples Used for Proficiency Testing.Robust statistic methods were used to assess the quantitative parameters of the test results of the participating laboratories according to the requirements in GB/T 28043-2019 Statistical methods for use in proficiency testing by interlaboratory comparison;the results reported by the expert laboratories were used as the specified values of the qualitative parameters.SPSS 25.0 statistical software was used for data analysis.Results All the results of the crreepage distance and electrical clearance tests met the requirements for homogeneity and stability.Of the 46 laboratories involved in,37 ones did have comprehensive satisfactory determinations while the remained 9 ones not.Conclusion Some laboratories don't behave well in understanding the standard,which have to be reformed accordingly to enhance their proficiencies.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(10):54-59]

ObjectiveTo explore the syndrome elements and evolving patterns of patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute on chronic liver failure （HBV-ACLF） at different stages. MethodsClinical information of 1,058 hospitalized HBV-ACLF patients， including 618 in the early stage， 355 in the middle stage， and 85 in the late stage， were collected from 18 clinical centers across 12 regions nationwide from January 1， 2012 to February 28， 2015. The “Hepatitis B-related Chronic and Acute Liver Failure Chinese Medicine Clinical Questionnaire” were designed to investigate the basic information of the patients， like the four diagnostic information （including symptoms， tongue， pulse） of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， and to count the frequency of the appearance of the four diagnostic information. Factor analysis and cluster analysis were employed to determine and statistically analyze the syndrome elements and patterns of HBV-ACLF patients at different stages. ResultsThere were 76 four diagnostic information from 1058 HBV-ACLF patients， and 53 four diagnostic information with a frequency of occurrence ≥ 5% were used as factor analysis entries， including 36 symptom information， 12 tongue information， and 5 pulse information. Four types of TCM patterns were identified in HBV-ACLF， which were liver-gallbladder damp-heat pattern， qi deficiency and blood stasis pattern， liver-kidney yin deficiency pattern， and spleen-kidney yang-deficiency pattern. In the early stage， heat （39.4%， 359/912） and dampness （27.5%， 251/912） were most common， and the pattern of the disease was dominated by liver-gallbladder damp-heat pattern （74.6%， 461/618）； in the middle stage， dampness （30.2%， 187/619） and blood stasis （20.7%， 128/619） were most common， and the patterns of the disease were dominated by liver-gallbladder damp-heat pattern （53.2%， 189/355）， and qi deficiency and blood stasis pattern （27.6%， 98/355）； and in the late stage， the pattern of the disease was dominated by qi deficiency （26.3%， 40/152） and yin deficiency （20.4%， 31/152）， and the patterns were dominated by qi deficiency and blood stasis pattern （36.5%， 31/85）， and liver-gallbladder damp-heat pattern （25.9%， 22/85）. ConclusionThere are significant differences in the distribution of syndrome elements and patterns at different stages of HBV-ACLF， presenting an overall trend of evolving patterns as "from excess to deficiency， transforming from excess to deficiency"， which is damp-heat → blood stasis → qi-blood yin-yang deficiency.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of Tripterygium wilfordii multiglycoside (TGW) in the treatment of psoriatic dermatitis from a cellular immunological perspective. METHODS: Mouse models of psoriatic dermatitis were established by imiquimod (IMQ). Twelve male BALB/c mice were assigned to IMQ or IMQ₊TGW groups according to a random number table. Histopathological changes in vivo were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Ratios of immune cells and cytokines in mice, as well as PAM212 cell proliferation in vitro were assessed by flow cytometry. Pro-inflammatory cytokine expression was determined using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: TGW significantly ameliorated the severity of IMQ-induced psoriasis-like mouse skin lesions and restrained the activation of CD45⁺ cells, neutrophils and T lymphocytes (all P<0.01). Moreover, TGW significantly attenuated keratinocytes (KCs) proliferation and downregulated the mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-23, tumor necrosis factor α, and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Furthermore, it reduced the number of γ δ T17 cells in skin lesion of mice and draining lymph nodes (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS TGW improved psoriasis-like inflammation by inhibiting KCs proliferation, as well as the associated immune cells and cytokine expression. It inhibited IL-17 secretion from γ δ T cells, which improved the immune-inflammatory microenvironment of psoriasis.
Male ; Animals ; Mice ; Tripterygium ; Psoriasis/drug therapy* ; Keratinocytes ; Skin Diseases/metabolism* ; Cytokines/metabolism* ; Imiquimod/metabolism* ; Dermatitis/pathology* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Skin/metabolism*

BACKGROUND:Cadmium is a common environmental pollutant,which can damage multiple organs and tissues,such as the kidney and bone,but its effect on annulus fibrosus cells in the intervertebral disc has been less reported. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of cadmium chloride on the senescence of annulus fibrosus cells and the role of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. METHODS:Annulus fibrosus cells from Sprague-Dawley rat intervertebral discs were harvested and passage 3 cells were intervened with different concentrations of cadmium chloride(0,1,5,10,20 μmol/L).Cell viability and proliferation were detected by cell counting kit-8 assay.Transcriptome sequencing and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes functional enrichment analysis were performed on annulus fibrosus cells with or without cadmium chloride addition.Passage 3 annulus fibrosus cells were divided into control group,cadmium chloride group and LY294002 group.Cell proliferation rate was detected by EdU method,positive cell rate was detected by senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining,and expressions of senescence-associated proteins(p16,p21 and p53)and p-Akt at protein and mRNA levels were measured by western blot,RT-PCR and immunofluorescence. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:5 μmol/L cadmium chloride could inhibit the proliferation of annulus fibrosus cells.Results from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes functional enrichment analysis showed that the main signal transduction pathways included PI3K/Akt,cell cycle and p53 signaling pathways,which were related to cell senescence and proliferation.PI3K/Akt signaling pathways with significant differential expression were selected for validation.Compared with the control group,the EdU-positive rate was significantly decreased in the cadmium chloride group(P<0.05),while the β-galactosidase-positive rate,the expression of senescence-associated proteins(p16,p21 and p53)and p-Akt significantly increased(P<0.05).Compared with the cadmium chloride group,the EdU-positive rate and p-Akt expression were significantly decreased in the LY294002 group(P<0.05),while the β-galactosidase-positive rate and the expression of senescence-associated proteins(p16,p21 and p53)significantly increased(P<0.05).To conclude,cadmium chloride can regulate the senescence of annulus fibrosus cells by activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway,thereby inducing the occurrence and progression of intervertebral disc degeneration.

Platycodonis Radix is the dry root of Platycodon grandiflorum of Campanulaceae, which has a variety of pharmacological effects and is a commonly used bulk Chinese medicine. In this study, the chloroplast genome sequences of six P. grandiflorum from different producing areas has been sequenced with Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform. The specific DNA barcodes were screened, and the germplasm resources and genetic diversity were analyzed according to the specific barcodes. The total length of the chloroplast genome of 6 P. grandiflorum samples was 172 260-172 275 bp, and all chloroplast genomes showed a typical circular tetrad structure and encoded 141 genes. The comparative genomics analysis and results of amplification efficiency demonstrated that trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF were the potential specific DNA barcodes for identification the germplasm resources of P. grandiflorum. A total of 305 P. grandiflorum samples were collected from 15 production areas in 9 provinces, for which the fragments of trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF were amplificated and the sequences were analyzed. The results showed that trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF have 5 and 11 mutation sites, respectively, and 5 and 7 haplotypes were identified, respectively. The combined analysis of the two sequences formed 13 haplotypes (named Hap1-Hap13), and Hap4 is the main genotype, followed by Hap1. The unique haplotypes possessed by the three producing areas can be used as DNA molecular tags in this area to distinguish from the germplasm resources of P. grandiflorum from other areas. The haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity and genetic distance were 0.94, 4.79×10^-3 and 0.000 0-0.020 3, respectively, suggesting that the genetic diversity was abundant and intraspecific kinship was relatively close. This study laid a foundation for the identification of P. grandiflorum, the protection and utilization of germplasm resources, and molecular breeding.

Osteoporotic proximal humeral fracture (OPHF) is one of the common osteoporotic fractures in the aged, with an incidence only lower than vertebral compression fracture, hip fracture, and distal radius fracture. OPHF, secondary to osteoporosis and characterized by poor bone quality, comminuted fracture pattern, slow healing, and severely impaired shoulder joint function, poses a big challenge to the current clinical diagnosis and treatment. In the field of diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of OPHF, traditional Chinese and Western medicine have accumulated rich experience and evidence from evidence-based medicine and achieved favorable outcomes. However, there is still a lack of guidance from a relevant consensus as to how to integrate the advantages of the two medical systems and achieve the integrated diagnosis and treatment. To promote the diagnosis and treatment of OPHF with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, relevant experts from Orthopedic Expert Committee of Geriatric Branch of Chinese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Youth Osteoporosis Group of Orthopedic Branch of Chinese Medical Association, Osteoporosis Group of Orthopedic Surgeon Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and Osteoporosis Committee of Shanghai Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine have been organized to formulate Expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporotic proximal humeral fracture with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine ( version 2024) by searching related literatures and based on the evidences from evidence-based medicine. This consensus consists of 13 recommendations about the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of OPHF with integrated traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, aimed at standardizing, systematizing, and personalizing the diagnosis and treatment of OPHF with integrated traditional Chinse and Western medicine to improve the patients ′ function.

ObjectiveTo observe the effectiveness and safety of the Chinese herbal medicine Mingshi Granules （明视方颗粒） for low myopia in children with heart yang insufficiency. MethodsA multicentre， prospective， double-blind randomised controlled study was conducted， in which 290 children with low myopia from 8 centres were randomly divided into 145 cases in the treatment group and 145 cases in the control group， and the treatment group was given education， dispensing glasses， and Chinese herbal medicine Mingshi Granules， while the control group was given education， dispensing glasses， and granules placebo. Both Mingshi Granules and placebo granules were taken orally， 1 bag each time， twice daily， 4 weeks of oral intake and 2 weeks of rest as 1 course of treatment， a total of 4 courses of treatment （24 weeks）. Equivalent spherical lenses， best naked-eye distance visual acuity， ocular axis， corneal curvature K1， adjustment amplitude， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） symptom scores， calculate the amount of progression of equivalent spherical lenses， were observed at the 12th and the 24th week of treatment， at the 36th week and 48th week of follow-up， resectively， the control rate of myopia progression was evaluated at the 24th week， and safety indexes were observed before treatment. ResultsThe amount of progression of equivalent spherical lenses was lower in the treatment group than in the control group at the 48-week follow-up （P＜0.05）. The control rate of myopia progression at 24 weeks after treatment in the treatment group was higher （57.60%， 72/125） than that in the control group （44.63%， 54/121） （P＜0.05）. The best naked-eye distance visual acuity at 36-week follow-up in the treatment group was higher than that in the control group （P＜0.05）. Equivalent spherical lenses were significantly lower in both groups at all observation time points compared with pre-treatment （P＜0.05）， and were higher in the treatment group than in the control group at the 48-week follow-up （P＜0.05）. The ocular axes of both groups were significantly higher at each observation time point after treatment and at follow-up compared with before treatment （P＜0.05）. The amount of eye axis growth in the treatment group was lower than that in the control group at 24 weeks after treatment and at the 48-week follow-up （P＜0.05）. Corneal curvature K1 was significantly lower in the treatment group at the 24th week of treatment compared to pre-treatment （P＜0.05）. The magnitude of adjustment in the treatment group was significantly higher at the 36-week follow-up and at the 48-week follow-up than before treatment （P＜0.05）. The scores of white/dark complexion， white coating thin pulse， fatigue and total TCM symptom scores of children in both groups at the 12th， 24th， 36th and 48th weeks of follow-up were significantly lower than those before treatment （P＜0.05）； the scores of blurred vision at the 24th and 36th weeks of follow-up were significantly lower than those before treatment （P＜0.05）； and the scores of blurred vision in the treatment group at the 48th week of follow-up were signi-ficantly lower than those before treatment （P＜0.05）. In the treatment group， the score of fatigue was higher than that of the control group at the 36-week follow-up， and the score of blurred vision was lower than that of the control group at the 48-week follow-up （P＜0.05）. No adverse reactions or obvious abnormalities of the safety indexes were observed of the two groups during the treatment. ConclusionChinese herbal medicine Mingshi Granules showed the effect of controlling the progression of low myopia， improving the best naked eye distance visual acuity， slowing down the growth of the eye axis， improving some of the TCM symptoms， with good safety.

This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of Morinda officinalis iridoid glycosides (MOIG) on bone loss of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats, and the mechanism of osteoclast function and activity induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). RA rats were established by injecting bovin type II collagen. The Bio-ethic Committee of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University approved all experimental protocols associated with this study (IACUC-20180410-03). The collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats were administered drug by gavage for 8 weeks; the femoral trabecular micro-structure changes were observed in CIA rats by micro-CT; the LPS-induced osteoclasts model further observed the effect and mechanism of anti-inflammatory osteoporosis in vitro. The results indicated that MOIG could markedly increase bone mineral density (BMD) in CIA rats, improve trabecular micro-structure. In vitro studies demonstrated that MOIG could significantly inhibit osteoclastogensis and differentiation, suppress tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity, F-actin ring formation, TNF receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6) recruitment, and inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-Bα (IκBα) degradation as well as p65 phosphorylation, thereby repressing nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling pathway activation. Subsequently, MOIG effectively inhibited osteoclast nuclear factor of activated T-cells c1 (NFATc1) and cellular oncogene Fos (c-Fos) expression, as well as bone resorption related protein activity including matrix metalloprotein 9 (MMP-9) and cathepsin K (CtsK). Meanwhile, MOIG also repressed the phosphorylation expression of Janus activating kinase 2 (JAK2) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), thereby inhibiting JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway activation. Moreover, further studies found that MOIG could suppress glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) activity, and GSK-3β gene silencing could markedly inhibit oetsoclast F-actin ring formation as well as the phosphorylation expression of p65 and STAT3. Of note, compared with GSK-3β gene silencing group, there was no significant difference in the group treated with both MOIG with GSK-3β gene silencing simultaneously. Thus, the results suggested that MOIG may inhibit NF-κB signaling pathway and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway activation via regulating GSK-3β, thereby alleviating bone destruction in RA.

ObjectiveTo explore the molecular mechanism implicated in the treatment of primary myelofibrosis （PMF） using Chinese medicinal herbs （CMH） by bioinformatics and molecular dynamics. MethodsData mining was performed to find the high-frequency CMH in treating PMF between the year of 1985 and 2024 by searching CNKI， Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database （CCD）， and China Academic Journal Database （CSPD）. TCMSP， SwissTargetPrediction and related reports were used to collect the main active ingredients of high-frequency CMH and their targets. The PMF datasets GSE44426 and GSE124281 were downloaded from GEO database， and R software was used for data normalization and differentially expressed genes （DEGs） screening. Key module hub genes were obtained by weighted gene co-expression network analysis （WGCNA） analysis. The common intersection genes of active ingredient targets， DEGs and key module hub genes of CMH were selected， and the target network was generated using Cytoscape 3.9.2 software. The core target network was generated by topological analysis， while key pathways were selected by GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis， and protein interaction relationships were obtained from the String database， so as to construct drug-ingredient-target network and protein interaction network （PPI） relationship diagrams. Discovery Studio 2020 software was used to perform molecular docking， and the GROMACS program was used to perform molecular dynamics simulation. ResultsA total of 21 prescriptions were collected involving 121 herbs. There were 9 herbs with a frequency ≥10 times， which were Danshen （Radix et Rhizoma Salviae Miltiorrhizae）， Huangqi （Radix Astragali）， Baizhu （Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae）， Danggui （Radix Angelicae Sinensis）， Dangshen （Radix Codonopsis）， Gancao （Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae）， Baishao （Radix Paeoniae Alba）， Fuling （Poria） and Shudihuang （Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata） from high- to low-frequency. A total of 98 active ingredients and 1125 potential targets were obtained from 9 high-frequency CMH. GSE44426 and GSE124281 data sets screened out 24 gene samples， including 14 of the healthy control group and 10 of the PMF group， and identified 319 DEGs between the two groups， including 122 up-regulated genes and 197 down-regulated genes. WGCNA screened out 24 co-expression module genes and found that the five modules closely related to the onset of PMF were MEpink， MEdarkred， MEblack， MEgrey， and MEturquoise， involving 7112 key module hub genes. The GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that lipids and the atherosclerosis pathways were mainly involved in the mechanism of above high-frequency CMH in treating PMF， which included six hub protein targets： HSP90AA1， HSP90AB1， SRC， MAPK1， IL1B and IL10. From the drug-ingredient-target network， seven active ingredients of CMH targeting at these six hub targets were found， including verbascoside， verbascos isoflavone， kaempferol， luteolin， naringenin， quercetin and pachymic acid. The molecular docking and molecular dynamics analyses showed that the key CMH were Shudihuang， Huangqi， Baishao， Danshen， Gancao and Fuling， and among the seven active ingredients， calycosin had the highest binding affinity with HSP90AB1. ConclusionThe main CMH for the treatment of PMF may be Shudihuang， Huangqi， Baishao， Danshen， Gancao and Fuling， and the active ingredients include verbascoside， verbascos isoflavones， kaempferol， luteolin， naringenin， quercetin and pachymic acid. The relevant targets are HSP90AA1， HSP90AB1， SRC， MAPK1， IL-10， and IL-1β， and the most critical pathways are lipid and atherosclerosis pathways.