The incidence rate of hepatic fibrosis remains at a high level， and there is still a lack of specific therapeutic drugs， posing a serious threat to human health. As a type of natural active components widely present in plants， flavonoids have multiple physiological functions such as antioxidant， anti-inflammatory， and anti-fibrotic activities， and a large number of studies have confirmed the anti-hepatic fibrosis effect of flavonoids. As for the mechanism of action， flavonoids can target the functions of hepatic stellate cells by inhibiting their proliferation and differentiation， promoting their apoptosis， regulating the level of autophagy， reducing the formation of extracellular matrix， and regulating iron metabolism in hepatic stellate cells， and meanwhile， they can inhibit chronic liver inflammatory response， improve oxidative stress status， regulate intestinal flora balance， and block epithelial-mesenchymal transition， thereby blocking the progression of fibrosis through multiple dimensions. At the level of signaling pathways， flavonoids mainly exert an anti-fibrotic effect by regulating the abnormal activation of the signaling pathways such as transforming growth factor-β1/Smad， Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription， nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2， nuclear factor-kappa B， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B， mitogen-activated protein kinase， Wnt/β-catenin， and adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase. This article summarizes the research advances in the anti-fibrotic effect of flavonoids， in order to provide a theoretical basis for further exploring their medicinal potential.

Tinnitus and anxiety disorder are common clinical symptoms. Comorbidity between tinnitus and anxiety state is increasing year by year. The relationship between tinnitus and anxiety state has always been a hot topic, and this paper reviews the literature on the relationship between chronic subjective tinnitus and anxiety state in recent years.
Humans ; Tinnitus/diagnosis* ; Anxiety ; Anxiety Disorders/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity

PURPOSE: Sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, is the standard therapy for patients with advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, resistance develops to the treatment, therefore, we tried to unravel the underlying mechanism in the resistance of HCC cells to sorafenib via the development of more effective therapeutic strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Various liver cancer cell lines were treated with either sorafenib only or with sorafenib after infection of adenovirus expressing short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and p38 activity was examined using western blotting. RESULTS: p38 MAP kinase activity was inhibited by low concentrations of sorafenib, which could potentially lead to sorafenib resistance in HCC cell lines. Subsequently, we used constitutive form of MKK3/6 (MKK3/6E) to confirm that massive cell death was induced by the activation of p38, and demonstrated the ability to activate p38 without any stimulation. In addition, sorafenib resistance was reduced by the activation of p38. Subsequently, we confirmed that TGF-β shRNA effectively recovered the phosphorylation of p38 inhibited by sorafenib, and increased the sensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib, thereby inducing cell death and overcoming the resistance of HCC cells to sorafenib. CONCLUSION: Our study provides a new therapeutic strategy for HCC that overcomes the resistance of HCC to sorafenib by down-regulation of TGF-β.
Adenoviridae ; Blotting, Western ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* ; Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Down-Regulation* ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Phosphorylation ; RNA, Small Interfering

Carcinoma, Medullary ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine ; Humans ; NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone) ; metabolism ; NADP ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Proteins ; metabolism ; Prognosis ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; metabolism

Purpose　The aim is to purify the peptide with antifu ngal activity from Aspergillus fumigatus culture fluid.Methods　 The pept ide was separated by ion exchange column chromatography and further purified by r everse phase HPLC,and the molecular weight was determined by tricine gel electro phoresis.Results　A kind of peptide(FIP) with antifungal activit y wa s separated. The molecular weight was about 8 000. The detection result by MTT method showed significant antifungal activity of the peptide to 5 kinds of fung i.Conclusion　 The study provided a reliable basis for developin g drug and antiseptic.