Objective To explore the anti-atherosclerosis mechanism of Hirudo and its effect on autophagy in mice.Methods Forty healthy male ApoE-/-mice were randomly divided into model group,control group(3 × 10-3 g·kg-1·d-1 simvastatin)and experimental-L,experimental-M,experimental-H groups(0.45,0.9,1.8 g·kg-1· d-1,Maixuekang capsule).Eight healthy male C57BL/6J mice were divided into blank group.The mice were fed with common diet for 1 week.Then,except blank group,other groups were fed with high-fat diet.After 8 weeks of modeling,the atherosclerosis(AS)mice were given drugs orally once a day for 12 weeks,and fed with high-fat diet in the meantime.The levels of interleukin-6(IL-6),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)in serum were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The levels of Beclin-1,LC3 autophagy protein were detected by Western blot method.Results The IL-6 contents in the experimental-H,experimental-M,experimental-L,control,model and blank groups were(107.59±3.03),(99.31±5.12),(103.52±2.28),(98.68±4.68),(112.66±6.08),(93.98±3.43)pg·mL-1;the TNF-α contents were(538.41±30.26),(504.49±21.51),(538.51±19.05),(494.05±25.08),(578.53±26.32),(467.35±21.53)pg·mL-1.For the above indexes,the differences between model group and experimental-H group,experimental-M group,experimental-L group,control group,blank group were all statistically significant(all P＜0.05).The Beclin-1 protein expression levels in the experimental-H,experimental-M,experimental-L,control and model groups were 1.48±0.05,1.72±0.05,1.19±0.02,1.51±0.04,0.66±0.03;the LC3 Ⅱ protein expression levels were 1.53±0.01,1.83±0.02,1.16±0.01,1.90±0.01,0.49±0.01,and the differences between model group and experimental-H group,experimental-M group,experimental-L group,control group were all statistically significant(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Hirudo can significantly reduce the area of atherosclerotic plaque by regulating the level of autophagy.

Objective: To investigate the incidence and risk factors of systemic allergic reactions induced by subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) in patients undergoing SCIT injections in Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH). Methods: This is a single center retrospective cohort study. Using the outpatient information system of PUMCH, the demographic information and injection-related reaction data of patients undergoing SCIT injection in Allergy Department of PUMCH from December 2018 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed to count the incidence and risk factors of systemic allergic reactions caused by SCIT. Mann-Whitney nonparametric test or chi-square test was used for single-factor analysis, and multiple logistic regression was used for multiple-factor analysis. Results: A total of 2 897 patients received 18 070 SCIT injections in Allergy Department during the four years, and 40 systemic allergic reactions occurred, with the overall incidence rate of 0.22%. The incidence of systemic allergic reaction was 0.37% when using imported dust mite preparation and 0.15% when using domestic multi-component allergen preparation. The risk factors significantly related with SCIT-induced systemic allergic reactions in patients using imported dust mite preparation were age less than 18 years old (OR=3.186,95%CI: 1.255-8.085), highest injection concentration (OR value could not be calculated because all patients with systemic reactions were injected with highest concentration), and large local reaction in previous injection (OR=22.264,95%CI: 8.205-60.411). The risk factors for SCIT-induced systemic allergic reactions in patients using domestic allergen preparation were 5 or more types of allergens (OR=3.455,95%CI: 1.147-10.402), highest injection concentration (OR=3.794,95%CI: 1.226-11.740) and large local reaction in previous injection (OR=63.577,95%CI: 22.248-181.683). However, SCIT injection in pollen allergic patients during the pollen season did not show a correlation with systemic allergic reaction. Conclusion: The incidence of SCIT-induced systemic allergic reactions was low in the Chinese patient population of this study. Patients with one or more risk factors, such as multiple allergen injection, highest injection concentration, large local reaction in previous injection, should be given high attention and vigilance against systemic allergic reactions.
Humans ; Allergens ; Asian People ; Desensitization, Immunologic/adverse effects* ; Hypersensitivity/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: To investigate the incidence and risk factors of systemic allergic reactions induced by subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) in patients undergoing SCIT injections in Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH). Methods: This is a single center retrospective cohort study. Using the outpatient information system of PUMCH, the demographic information and injection-related reaction data of patients undergoing SCIT injection in Allergy Department of PUMCH from December 2018 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed to count the incidence and risk factors of systemic allergic reactions caused by SCIT. Mann-Whitney nonparametric test or chi-square test was used for single-factor analysis, and multiple logistic regression was used for multiple-factor analysis. Results: A total of 2 897 patients received 18 070 SCIT injections in Allergy Department during the four years, and 40 systemic allergic reactions occurred, with the overall incidence rate of 0.22%. The incidence of systemic allergic reaction was 0.37% when using imported dust mite preparation and 0.15% when using domestic multi-component allergen preparation. The risk factors significantly related with SCIT-induced systemic allergic reactions in patients using imported dust mite preparation were age less than 18 years old (OR=3.186,95%CI: 1.255-8.085), highest injection concentration (OR value could not be calculated because all patients with systemic reactions were injected with highest concentration), and large local reaction in previous injection (OR=22.264,95%CI: 8.205-60.411). The risk factors for SCIT-induced systemic allergic reactions in patients using domestic allergen preparation were 5 or more types of allergens (OR=3.455,95%CI: 1.147-10.402), highest injection concentration (OR=3.794,95%CI: 1.226-11.740) and large local reaction in previous injection (OR=63.577,95%CI: 22.248-181.683). However, SCIT injection in pollen allergic patients during the pollen season did not show a correlation with systemic allergic reaction. Conclusion: The incidence of SCIT-induced systemic allergic reactions was low in the Chinese patient population of this study. Patients with one or more risk factors, such as multiple allergen injection, highest injection concentration, large local reaction in previous injection, should be given high attention and vigilance against systemic allergic reactions.
Humans ; Allergens ; Asian People ; Desensitization, Immunologic/adverse effects* ; Hypersensitivity/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: Appraisal of treatment outcomes in integrative medicine is a challenge due to a gap between the concepts of Western medicine (WM) disease and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome. This study presents an approach for the appraisal of integrative medicine that is based on targeted metabolomics. We use non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with spleen deficiency syndrome as a test case. METHODS: A patient-reported outcome (PRO) scale was developed based on literature review, Delphi consensus survey, and reliability and validity test, to quantitatively evaluate spleen deficiency syndrome. Then, a metabonomic foundation for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with spleen deficiency syndrome was identified via a longitudinal interventional trial and targeted metabolomics. Finally, an integrated appraisal model was established by identifying metabolites that responded in the treatment of WM disease and TCM syndrome as positive outcomes and using other aspects of the metabonomic foundation as independent variables. RESULTS: Ten symptoms and signs were included in the spleen deficiency PRO scale. The internal reliability, content validity, discriminative validity and structural validity of the scale were all qualified. Based on treatment responses to treatments for WM disease (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance) or TCM syndrome (spleen deficiency PRO scale score) from a previous randomized controlled trial, two cohorts comprised of 30 participants each were established for targeted metabolomics detection. Twenty-five metabolites were found to be involved in successful treatment outcomes to both WM and TCM, following quantitative comparison and multivariate analysis. Finally, the model of the integrated appraisal system was exploratively established using binary logistic regression; it included 9 core metabolites and had the prediction probability of 83.3%. CONCLUSION This study presented a new and comprehensive research route for integrative appraisal of treatment outcomes for WM disease and TCM syndrome. Critical research techniques used in this research included the development of a TCM syndrome assessment tool, a longitudinal interventional trial with verified TCM treatment, identification of homogeneous metabolites, and statistical modeling.
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Integrative Medicine ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/therapy* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Spleen ; Syndrome ; Treatment Outcome ; Clinical Trials as Topic

Objective:To observe the effect of tuina exercise on simple obesity in college students.Methods:Fifty-seven college students with simple obesity were divided into two groups according to the stratified randomization method.Twenty-eight in the tuina exercise group were trained in tuina exercise;while 29 in the auricular acupoint sticking group were treated with acuricular acupoint sticking.The tuina exercise group was trained once every other day,and 10 times made one course.The auricular acupoint sticking was replaced once every 4 d,and 5 times made one course.After 2-course treatment,the total therapeutic effect,weight,body mass index (BMI),waist and hip circumferences,serum total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride (TG),high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were assessed.Results:The total therapeutic effect was 86.2％ in the auricular acupoint sticking group and 85.7％ in the tuina exercise group.There was no significant difference between the two groups (P＞0.05).After treatment,the weight,BMI,waist and hip circumferences were decreased and the differences were statistically significant (all P＜0.05).The waist and hip circumferences in the tuina exercise group were lower than those in the auricular acupoint sticking group,showing statistically significant differences (all P＜0.05).After treatment,there were no significant intra-group differences in TC,TG,HDL-C and LDL-C in the two groups (all P＞0.05),and the between-group differences were not significant (all P＞0.05).Conclusion:Tuina exercise has reliable effect in treating obesity.It can produce more significant improvements in waist and hip circumferences than auricular acupoint sticking.But no obvious effect is shown in blood lipid indicators.

AIM:To observe the effect of central prostaglandin E2(PGE2) on sympathetic activation in chronic heart failure (CHF) and to explore the underlying mechanism. METHODS:Male SD rats were subjected to coronary ar-tery ligation to induce heart failure (HF), and the intracerebroventricular infusion was performed by osmotic pump continu-ously. The rats in sham group and HF group were given artificial cerebrospinal fluid (0. 25 μL/h). The rats in HF plus treatment group was given celecoxib (CLB; 20 mg/h). After 4 weeks, the levels of PGE2 in cerebrospinal fluid ( CSF), the sympathetic nerve excitability and cardiac function were measured, and the changes of corticotropin-hormone releasing hormone ( CRH)-containing neurons activation and neurotransmitter contents in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus ( PVN) were also determined. RESULTS:Compared with the sham-operated rats, the HF rats had raised level of PGE2 in CSF, up-regulated renal sympathetic nerve activity and plasma norepinephrine, increased left ventricular end diastolic pres-sure, lung-to-body weight and right ventricular-to-body weight ratios, and decreased maximal increase and decreased rate of left ventricular pressure (P<0.05). In addition, the number of CRH positive neurons in PVN and the level of plasma ad-renocorticotropic hormone were higher in HF rats than those in sham-operated rats (P<0.05). After administration of CLB into the lateral ventricle of HF rats, the contents of PGE2 in CSF were significantly reduced, the number of activation CRH neurons in PVN was decreased, the excitability of sympathetic nerves was down-regulated and cardiac function was im-proved (P<0.05). Compared with the sham-operated rats, the content of glutamic acid in PVN of HF rats was increased, the content of γ-aminobutyric acid and the number of glutamate decarboxylase 67-positive neurons were decreased ( P<0.05). After the CLB was given, the above indexes were reversed (P<0.05). CONCLUSION:These findings indicate that in CHF, the increased central PGE2 may activate CRH-containing PVN neurons and contribute to the augmented sym-pathetic drive possibly by modulating the neurotransmitters within the PVN.

The Three-year Tough Action Plan for Endemic Diseases Control (2018–2020), which was formulated by 10 ministries of China, was issued on November 29, 2018. Schistosomiasis control is an important part of this plan, and the implementation of the plan provides an important basis for the health poverty alleviation and the fight against schistosomiasis in China. This paper describes the objective and principle of the plan and proposes "six actions" and supporting measures to implement the three-year tough action targeting schistosomiasis, with aims to guide the scientific implementation of the three-year tough action against schistosomiasis and facilitate the progress towards schistosomiasis elimination in China.

AIM: To investigate the role of chloride channels in the apoptosis of human poorly differentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma CNE-2Z cells induced by arsenic trioxide (As2O3).METHODS: The apoptotic rates of CNE-2Z cells induced by As2O3 for 24 h or 48 h were monitored by flow cytometry.The technique of whole-cell patch clamp was used to record the currents activated by As2O3 in the CNE-2Z cells.The inhibition of As2O3-induced apoptosis by chloride channel blocker DIDS in the CNE-2Z cells was analyzed by flow cytometry.RESULTS: As2O3 at 5 μmol/L induced apoptosis of CNE-2Z cells in time-dependent manner.The currents with outward rectification were activated when the cells were exposed to 5 μmol/L As2O3.No obvious time-and voltage-dependent inactivation of the currents was observed.The reverse potential of the currents was close to the equilibrium potential for chloride.The activated currents were inhibited by the chloride channel blockers NPPB and DIDS.The 47% hypertonic solution inhibited the activated currents completely.Chloride channel blocker DIDS inhibited the apoptosis of CNE-2Z cells induced by As2O3.CONCLUSION: As2O3 activates volume-sensitive chloride channels, and chloride channels may play an important role in the apoptosis of CNE-2Z cells induced by As2O3.

Objective: To explore the expressions of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and TRP ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and their action mechanisms in the rat model of orchialgia. METHODS: The models of orchialgia were established in male SD rats by injection of 2% acetic acid into the testis. Then the number of spontaneous pain responses and withdrawal latency in the model rats were recorded by behavioral tests and the expressions of TRPV1 and TRPA1 in T13－L1 DRGs determined by RT-qPCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS: Compared with the normal control rats, the orchialgia models showed a significant increase in the number of spontaneous pain responses (0.13 ± 0.35 vs 22.63 ± 3.42, P<0.01) and a decrease in the withdrawal latency at 4 hours after injection (［12.75 ± 1.50］ vs ［4.85 ± 1.00］ s, P<0.05). The mRNA expressions of both TRPV1 and TRPA1 were observed in the membrane of the neurons in the DRG, the former increased by 1.77 times and the latter by 1.75 times that of the control (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The expressions of TRPV1 and TRPA1 were up-regulated in the DRG of the rat models of orchialgia, which may be involved in the allodynia and hyperalgesia of the rats.
Acetic Acid ; Animals ; Ganglia, Spinal ; metabolism ; Hyperalgesia ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Male ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; Oxidoreductases ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; TRPA1 Cation Channel ; metabolism ; TRPV Cation Channels ; metabolism ; Testicular Diseases ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation

Objective: To investigate the mRNA and protein expressions of outer dense fiber 2 (ODF2) in the sperm of the asthenospermia patient and their differences from those in normal healthy men. METHODS: According to the WHO criteria, we collected semen samples from 45 asthenozoospermia patients and 15 normal healthy volunteers. Using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA), we divided the semen samples from the asthenospermia patients into a mild, a moderate and a severe group, and determined the mRNA and protein expressions of ODF2 in different groups by RT-PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with the normal healthy men, the expression of the ODF2 gene showed no statistically significant difference in the mild asthenospermia group (1.112 0 ± 0.525 5 vs 0.688 0 ± 0.372 0, P >0.05) but remarkably decreased in the moderate (0.483 3 ± 0.186 3, P <0.05) and severe asthenospermia patients (0.448 3 ± 0.340 8, P <0.01). The OD value (ODF2/β-actin) of the ODF2 protein in the normal men exhibited no statistically significant difference from that in the mild asthenospermia group (0.458 7 ± 0.052 1 vs 0.326 1 ± 0.071 4, P >0.05), but markedly lower than in the moderate (0.145 4 ± 0.053 6, P <0.05) and severe asthenospermia patients (0.122 7 ± 0.045 7, P <0.01), which was consistent with the results of RT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS Decreased mRNA and protein expressions of ODF2 in the sperm are positively correlated with declined sperm motility of the asthenospermia patient, which is suggestive of the involvement of the ODF2 gene in the regulation of sperm motility.
Asthenozoospermia ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Down-Regulation ; Heat-Shock Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Semen Analysis ; Sperm Motility ; Sperm Tail ; Spermatozoa ; metabolism