1.Regulatory Effect of Xiaoyaosan Combined with Pirfenidone on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and Depression in Rats Based on p38 MAPK/NF-κB Inflammatory Pathway
Zilong CUI ; Bitao ZHANG ; Peijian FAN ; Yuanyuan LI ; Shaoxian WANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(20):1-11
ObjectiveTo observe the mechanism of chronic psychological stress aggravating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in rats and the regulatory effect of Xiaoyaosan. MethodSixty SD rats were acclimatized for one week and then randomly divided into five groups: sham operation group, IPF group, IPF and depression model group, pirfenidone group, and pirfenidone + Xiaoyaosan group, with 12 rats in each group. The IPF group was induced by intratracheal instillation of bleomycin (5 mg·kg-1) and administered 0.9% sodium chloride solution intragastrically. The model group was induced with bleomycin (5 mg·kg-1) combined with chronic unpredictable mild stress to establish a rat model of IPF and depression and administered 0.9% sodium chloride solution intragastrically. Concurrently, the pirfenidone group was administered pirfenidone aqueous solution (50 mg·kg-1) intragastrically, and the pirfenidone + Xiaoyaosan group was administered pirfenidone aqueous solution (50 mg·kg-1) and Xiaoyaosan decoction (19.27 g·kg-1) intragastrically. The experiment lasted for four weeks. Various parameters, including body weight, food intake, sucrose consumption rate, open field behavior, lung function, lung coefficient, pathological changes in lung tissue, and hydroxyproline (HYP) content were compared among the groups. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure serum cortisol (CORT), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels, and serotonin (5-HT) levels in serum and hippocampus. The levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in serum and lung tissue were also measured. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) was employed to determine the mRNA expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), and nuclear transcription factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65) in lung tissue. Western blot was used to detect the expression of proteins related to the p38 MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway. ResultCompared with the normal group, IPF and depression model group showed slow weight gain, reduced food intake, decreased sucrose consumption rate, reduced total distance and average speed of movement in the open field test, weakened lung function, increased lung coefficient (P<0.01), significant inflammatory cell infiltration in lung tissue by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, collagen fiber deposition by Masson staining, and increased HYP content (P<0.01). There were elevated levels of serum CORT, CRH, and ACTH (P<0.05, P<0.01), increased protein and mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in serum and lung tissue, decreased 5-HT levels in serum and hippocampus, and increased relative expression of p-p38 MAPK and p-NF-κB p65 proteins in lung tissue (P<0.01). Compared with the IPF and depression model group, the depression and IPF of rats in the pirfenidone + Xiaoyaosan group were effectively ameliorated, as evidenced by faster weight gain, increased food intake and sucrose consumption rate, increased total distance and average speed of movement in the open field test, enhanced lung function, reduced lung coefficient (P<0.01), decreased inflammatory cell infiltration by HE staining, reduced collagen fiber deposition by Masson staining in lung tissue, and decreased HYP content (P<0.01). Decreased serum CORT, CRH, and ACTH levels (P<0.05, P<0.01), decreased protein and mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in serum and lung tissue (P<0.05, P<0.01), increased 5-HT levels in serum and hippocampus (P<0.05, P<0.01), and decreased relative expression of p-p38 MAPK and p-NF-κB p65 proteins in lung tissue were also noted (P<0.05, P<0.01), with the effects of Xiaoyaosan + pirfenidone being more significant. ConclusionChronic unpredictable stress exacerbates the progression of IPF in rats. The combination of Xiaoyaosan and pirfenidone not only improves depressive-like behavior but also alleviates pulmonary fibrosis, potentially through the regulation of the p38 MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway and inhibition of excessive expression of inflammatory factors.
2.Digestive System Injury Induced by Tripterygium wilfordii and How to Reduce Toxicity and Enhance Efficacy: A Review
Yuanyuan LI ; Bitao ZHANG ; Zilong CUI ; Honghong LI ; Shaoxian WANG ; Zhenbin LI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(2):203-211
Tripterygium wilfordii is widely used in the treatment of immune system disease and has a remarkable curative effect. Triptolide and Tripterygium glycosides are the most commonly used active ingredients in clinical practice, but their treatment window is narrow and there are many side effects. The damage involves the reproductive system, blood system, cardiovascular system, digestive system, etc. Based on clinical observations and literature summaries, the symptoms of adverse reactions mostly occur in the digestive system (liver and gastrointestinal tract). Relevant scholars have launched a lot of studies of the manifestations of liver injury induced by T. wilfordii and the mechanism of liver injury. The mechanism is mainly related to liver cell apoptosis, induction of oxidative stress, immune injury, excessive autophagy of liver cells, abnormal fatty acid metabolism, and abnormal enzyme metabolism in liver tissues. This article reviewed and summarized relevant literature on gastrointestinal injury caused by T. wilfordii, but there are few studies on the manifestations and mechanisms of adverse reactions, which still need further research by scholars. In addition, this article also summarized the research on how to reduce toxicity and enhance efficacy of prescriptions prepared from T. wilfordii in the digestive system, mainly involving compatibility with western medicines (Methotrexate, Leflunomide, Iguratimod, etc.), use along or combination with Chinese medicines (single Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine monomers, and Chinese medicine compounds), acupuncture and moxibustion (electroacupuncture and moxibustion), dosage form improvement (glycol plastid gel, self-dissolving microneedle, solid lipid nanoparticles, gastric floating sustained-release capsules, etc.), processing (steaming, stir-frying, radish seed processing, money grass processing, licorice processing, etc.), and other methods to reduce toxicity. To sum up, this article analyzed the manifestations, mechanisms, and methods of reducing toxicity and enhancing efficacy of T. wilfordii-induced liver injury and gastrointestinal injury by sorting out relevant literature, in order to provide a reference for the clinical application of T. wilfordii and some research ideas for the future in-depth study of T. wilfordii-induced digestive system injury.
3.Short term and long-term clinical effects of total hip arthroplasty and hemiarthroplasty on elderly patients with femoral neck fracture
Lixin FU ; Zhichao LIU ; Yanjiang CUI ; Keqiang YANG ; Wei MIAO ; Xin LI ; Zilong MA ; Shuqin ZHANG
Journal of Chinese Physician 2021;23(6):878-881
Objective:To investigate the clinical effect and short-term and long-term effect of total hip replacement (THA) and hemiarthroplasty of hip (HA) in elderly patients with femoral neck fracture (FNF).Methods:59 elderly patients with FNF in South District of Guang′anmen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine from March 2017 to January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The observation group ( n=29) was treated with THA; The control group ( n=30) was treated with HA. The operation related indexes, short-term and long-term clinical effect (average follow-up of 24.1 months), hip function improvement, pain and complications were compared between the two groups. Short term and long-term clinical effects: the short-term and long-term clinical effects of the two groups were observed by the Harris Hip Score (HHS) of the first month, the third month, the sixth month, the ninth month and the first year after operation. Results:Both THA and HA were effective on elderly FNF, but the effective rate of THA (96.6%) was significantly higher than that of HA (90.0%), with statistically significant difference ( P<0.05); in terms of operation related indicators, compared with the control group, the observation group had longer operation time [ (104.46±3.24)min vs (84.34±3.64)min], more amount of bleeding [(296.64±15.16)ml vs (281.44±12.16)ml], lower postoperative drainage volume [(101.24±4.15)ml vs (74.56±3.24)ml], while the functional recovery of the observation group was better than the control group by HHS ( P<0.05); the postoperative complications and HHS score of observation group were significantly lower than the control group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:THA has the advantages of low complication, fast functional recovery and better effect. The clinical decision should be based on the patient′s physical condition. THA should be used for elderly patients with good basic condition, good surgical tolerance and more daily activities. HA should be used for elderly patients with poor basic condition, low surgical tolerance and less daily activities.

Result Analysis
Print
Save
E-mail