Objective To screen biomarkers for forensic identification of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) by non-targeted metabolomic studies on changes of urine metabolites in rats with AMI.Methods The rat models of the sham surgery group,AMI group and hyperlipidemia+acute myocardial infarction (HAMI) group were established.Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) was used to analyze the changes of urine metabolic spectrometry in AMI rats.Principal compo-nent analysis,partial least squares-discriminant analysis,and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis were used to screen differential metabolites.The MetaboAnalyst database was used to analyze the metabolic pathway enrichment and access the predictive ability of differential metabolites.Results A total of 40 and 61 differential metabolites associated with AMI and HAMI were screened,respec-tively.Among them,22 metabolites were common in both rat models.These small metabolites were mainly concentrated in the niacin and nicotinamide metabolic pathways.Within the 95% confidence in-terval,the area under the curve (AUC) values of receiver operator characteristic curve for N8-acetyl-spermidine,3-methylhistamine,and thymine were greater than 0.95.Conclusion N8-acetylspermidine,3-methylhistamine,and thymine can be used as potential biomarkers for AMI diagnosis,and abnormal metabolism in niacin and nicotinamide may be the main causes of AMI.This study can provide reference for the mechanism and causes of AMI identification.

Objective To investigate the differences in blood pressure phenotypes,renal pathological changes,and related pathogenic pathways in genetically diverse hypertensive mice obtained from 13 strains.Methods The genotypes of Cckbr+/+,Cckbr+/-and Cckbr-/-were obtained by hybridization of 13 strains of genetically diverse mice with Cckbr-/-mice.Blood pressure was measured with a noninvasive blood pressure analysis system(BP-2000).The expression of CCKBR protein in mouse kidney tissue was detected by Western Blot,and the pathological changes in mouse kidney tissue were detected by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and immunohistochemistry(IHC).The pathogenic pathways related to essential hypertension were screened by RNA sequencing.Results In three specific mouse strains(A/J,LOT,and FIM),the systolic blood pressure(SBP)was significantly different between the Cckbr-/-and Cckbr+/+groups.HE staining and IHC showed that hypertension caused a certain degree of renal injury in the mice.Gene Ontology(GO)and pathway enrichment analysis showed that differentially expressed genes were enriched in metabolic processes and circadian rhythm regulation.Conclusions Genetically diverse mice can effectively simulate the genetic background of the population and provide a new resource for studying the pathogenic genes related to essential hypertension.

[Abstract] Objective To elucidate the important role of Nogo-A in climacteric neurodegeneration such as memory impairment by observing memory function and the expression of Nogo-A in hippocampus and striatum of rats under low estrogen condition. Methods Fouthy-five female SD rats were divided into sham operation group, ovariectomized group and ovariectomized estrogen treatment group with 15 rats in each group. Medication was given 2 weeks after ovariectomized. Estrogen treatment group was subcutaneously injected in groin with estrogen [25 μg/ (kg.d)] dissolved in sterile sesame oil. The sham operation group and the ovariectomized group were given the same amount of aseptic sesame oil. Samples were collected after 6 weeks of drug treatment. The difference of memory function of rats in three groups was observed by conditioned fear training experiment, and the expression of Nogo-A in hippocampus and striatum was observed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Results Compared with the sham and estrogen treatment group, memory function in ovariectomized group decreased significantly and the number of Nogo-A positive neurons in hippocampus and striatum of ovariectomized rats was significantly higher than that of sham operation group (P < 0. 05). There was no difference between the estrogen treatment group and the sham operation group with the memory function and the Nogo-A expression (P > 0. 05). The result of immunoblotting was consistent with the above-mentioned immunohistochemical result. Conclusion The increased expression of Nogo-A in hippocampus and striatum under low estrogen condition may be one of the key reasons for memory impairment in climacteric women.

To clarify the key quality attributes of substance benchmarks in Danggui Buxue Decoction(DBD), this study prepared 21 batches of DBD substance benchmarks, and established two methods for detecting their fingerprints, followed by the identification of peak attribution and similarity range as well as the determination of extract and transfer rate ranges and contents of index components ferulic acid, calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, and astragaloside Ⅳ. The mass fractions and transfer rates of DBD substance benchmarks from different batches were calculated as follows: ferulic acid(index component in Angelicae Sinensis Radix): 0.037%-0.084% and 31.41%-98.88%; astragaloside Ⅳ(index component in Astragali Radix): 0.021%-0.059% and 32.18%-118.57%; calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside: 0.002%-0.023% and 11.51%-45.65%, with the extract rate being 18.4%-36.1%. The similarity of fingerprints among 21 batches of DBD substance benchmarks was all higher than 0.9. The quality control method for DBD substance benchmarks was preliminarily established based on the HPLC fingerprint analysis and index component determination, which has provided a basis for the subsequent development of DBD and the quality control of novel related preparations.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/standards* ; Quality Control

Objective:To investigate the effects of ear holographic tongbian scraping on the constitution, related symptoms and immune function of the population with Qi-deficiency.Methods:From April 2020 to June 2020, 80 subjects judged as Qi-deficiency by the "Traditional Chinese Medicine constitution test" in Suzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine were recruited offline and online. They were divided into control group and experimental group by random number table method, with 40 cases in each group. On the basis of online health education, the control group received online health education, while the experimental group was given ear holographic tongbian scraping, once a week, 4 times as a course of treatment, a total of 3 courses. Related symptom scores, Qi-deficiency transformation scores, peripheral blood CD4 + proportion, CD8 + proportion, CD4 +/CD8 + ratio were compared between two groups. Results:Totally 38 cases were included in experimental group and 34 cases in control group. After intervention, symptom scores of fatigue, shortness of breath, easy to catch a cold, laziness to speak, low voice and Qi-deficiency transformation scores were 3.26 ± 0.76, 2.92 ± 0.82, 3.08 ± 0.82, 2.66 ± 0.97, 2.71 ± 0.80, 46.16 ± 17.96 in experimental group and 4.12 ± 0.41, 3.76 ± 0.55, 3.50 ± 0.56, 3.65 ± 0.65, 3.18 ± 0.67, 56.88 ± 10.80 in control group, the differences were statistically significant ( t values were -6.02 - -2.51, all P<0.05). Peripheral blood test results also showed that the proportion of CD8 + was 24.76(19.92, 28.23)% in experimental group and 27.19(24.39, 31.57)% in control group, the difference was statistically significant ( Z=-2.25, P<0.05). Conclusions:Ear holographic tongbian scraping can regulate the Qi-deficiency constitution and improve the immune function of people with Qi-deficiency.

Inflammasomes play an important role in the innate immunity of the liver; however, the excessive activation of inflammasomes can lead to liver inflammation and injury. The mechanism of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome-mediated liver injury has been extensively studied. Related studies have shown that the development of various liver diseases may be associated with the excessive activation of inflammasomes, especially NLRP3 inflammasome. This article reviews inflammasomes, the activation mechanism of NLRP3 inflammasome, and the role of NLRP3 inflammasome in different liver diseases, so as to provide a reference for the treatment targets of liver diseases from the perspective of NLRP3 inflammasome.

Aim To research the effect of PDG on bone metabolism in young rats. Methods The experimental rats were randomly divided into contro group, PDG-25 group and PDG-50 group. PDG-25 group and PDG-50 group were given PDG at the dose of 25 mg·kg

Advances in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) have fostered rapid developments in the field of microbiome research, and massive microbiome datasets are now being generated. However, the diversity of software tools and the complexity of analysis pipelines make it difficult to access this field. Here, we systematically summarize the advantages and limitations of microbiome methods. Then, we recommend specific pipelines for amplicon and metagenomic analyses, and describe commonly-used software and databases, to help researchers select the appropriate tools. Furthermore, we introduce statistical and visualization methods suitable for microbiome analysis, including alpha- and beta-diversity, taxonomic composition, difference comparisons, correlation, networks, machine learning, evolution, source tracing, and common visualization styles to help researchers make informed choices. Finally, a step-by-step reproducible analysis guide is introduced. We hope this review will allow researchers to carry out data analysis more effectively and to quickly select the appropriate tools in order to efficiently mine the biological significance behind the data.

The structure and diversity of the intestinal flora in rats exposed to high altitude hypoxia was investigated. Animal experiments strictly follow the regulations of Medical Laboratory Animal Ethics Committee of Qinghai University, School of Medicine. SD rats were randomly divided into a control group, a moderate altitude hypoxia group, and a high altitude hypoxia group. The pH value of the feces was measured and histopathological changes in the small intestine were determined by HE staining, and the intestinal flora were characterized by 16S rDNA high throughput sequencing technology on the 3rd, 7th, 15th, and 30th day of hypoxia exposure. Compared with the control group, the fecal pH value of rats in the moderate altitude hypoxia group and the high altitude hypoxia group was decreased significantly. The lamina propria and submucosa capillaries were slightly dilated and congested on the 3rd day in the moderate altitude hypoxia group. In the high altitude hypoxia group the submembrane capillaries were dilated and congested, the lamina propria of the mucosa showed mild edema, and the lymphatic vessels were dilated on the 7th day. The composition and diversity of intestinal flora in these rats changed significantly with prolonged exposure to the high altitude hypoxic environment. A total of 35 phyla, 87 classes, 205 orders, 337 families, 638 genera, and 256 species were annotated in the three groups of rats, including Firmicutes, Clostridia, Clostridiales, Ruminococcaceae, Akkermansia, and Lactobacillus_murinus. Compared with the control group, the intestinal flora of the hypoxic groups showed the most significant changes by the 15th day. There were 9 microbiota of gut microorganisms with relative abundance in the moderate altitude hypoxia group, of which Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group bacteria was the most common, there were 19 different microbiota of gut microorganisms with higher relative abundance in the high altitude hypoxia group, of which Ruminococcaceae bacteria was the most common. The results of this study indicate significant changes in the intestinal flora with high altitude hypoxia, and establish a foundation for further research on the initiation and development of diseases and drug metabolism in high altitude hypoxia.

Hepatic fibrosis refers to the pathological process of abnormal proliferation of intrahepatic connective tissue caused by various pathogenic factors, resulting in the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) in the liver and the formation of fibrous scar. Its continuous deterioration will gradually develop into liver cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer and other serious liver diseases. Because liver fibrosis and early liver cirrhosis can be reversed, it is very important to control the reversible process of liver fibrosis for the prevention and treatment of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. In recent years, it has been found that traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has the characteristics of multi-target, less toxic and side effects and good effect in the treatment of liver fibrosis. In this paper, the mechanism of anti-hepatic fibrosis of TCM and its compound was summarized. TCM can regulate transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and other growth factors to inhibit the activation of (HSCs) and induce the apoptosis of activated HSCs, promote the expression of adiponectin and inhibit the secretion of leptin, inhibit the inflammatory reaction of liver, resist oxidant stress, inhibit the capillarization of hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells, so as to effectively prevent the progress of liver fibrosis. Therefore, TCM can inhibit the development of liver fibrosis through multi-mechanism and multi-level, and is one of the important means to treat liver fibrosis.