Ischemic stroke causes brain inflammation and multi-organ injury, which is closely associated with the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ) signaling pathway. Recent studies have indicated that ginsenoside Rb1 (GRb1) can protect the integrity of the blood-brain barrier after stroke. In the current study, a mouse model of middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) was established to determine whether GRb1 can ameliorate brain/lung/intestinal barrier damage via the PPARγ signaling pathway. Staining (2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride, hematoxylin, and eosin) and Doppler ultrasonography were employed to detect pathological changes. Endothelial breakdown was investigated with the leakage of Evans Blue dye and the expression of TJs (tight junctions) and AJs (adherent junctions). Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to determine the levels of cell junction proteins, PPARγ and NF-κB. Results showed that GRb1 significantly mitigated multi-organ injury and increased the expression of cerebral microvascular, pulmonary vascular, and intestinal epithelial connexins. In brain, lung, and intestinal tissues, GRb1 activated PPARγ, decreased the levels of phospho-NF-κB p65, and inhibited the production of proinflammatory cytokines, thereby maintaining barrier permeability. However, co-treatment with GRb1 and the PPARγ antagonist GW9662 reversed the barrier-protective effect of GRb1. These findings indicated that GRb1 can improve stroke-induced brain/lung/intestinal barrier damagevia the PPARγ pathway.
Animals ; Brain ; Brain Ischemia ; Ginsenosides ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; Lung ; Mice ; NF-kappa B ; Neuroprotective Agents ; PPAR gamma ; Reperfusion ; Reperfusion Injury ; Signal Transduction

In the context of the global pandemic of COVID-19, the epidemic intensity, epidemic characteristics and infection risk of influenza have presented new features. COVID-19 and influenza have simultaneously emerged in many regions of the world. COVID-19 and influenza are similar in terms of transmission mode, clinical symptoms and other aspects. There are also similarities in the mechanism of influenza virus and novel coronavirus on cells. At the same time, it is feasible and significant to do a good job in the prevention and control of COVID-19 and influenza. This paper discusses the relevant strategies and measures for the joint prevention and control of influenza and novel coronavirus from the aspects of influenza vaccination to prevent co-infection, simultaneous vaccination of influenza vaccine and novel coronavirus vaccine, etc., and puts forward corresponding thoughts and suggestions, in order to provide scientific support for the formulation of strategies on seasonal influenza vaccine and novel coronavirus vaccination.
Humans ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human/epidemiology* ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; COVID-19/prevention & control* ; Seasons ; Vaccination ; SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a new highly infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus. Recently, the number of new cases infected pneumonia in the world continues to increase, which has aroused great concern from the international community. At present, there are no small-molecule specific anti-viral drugs for the treatment. The high mortality rate seriously threatens human health. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a unique health resource in China. The combination of TCM and Western medicine has played a positive and important role in combating COVID-19 in China. In this review, through literature mining and analysis, it was found that TCM has the potential to prevent and treat the COVID-19. Then, the network pharmacological studies demonstrated that TCM played roles of anti-virus, anti-inflammation and immunoregulation in the management of COVID-19 via multiple components acting on multiple targets and multiple pathways. Finally, clinical researches also confirmed the beneficial effects of TCM on the treatment of patients. This review may provide meaningful and useful information on further drug development of COVID-19 and other viral infectious diseases.
Antiviral Agents/pharmacology* ; COVID-19/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/trends* ; SARS-CoV-2/drug effects*

Chronic heart failure(CHF), a serious and end stage of various heart diseases, is a common chronic cardiovascular disease in the 21 st century. Literature data show that the 5-year mortality rate of hospitalized patients with heart failure is as high as 50%. Nowadays, the development of drugs treating heart failure has become a hot spot, meanwhile, traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has shown the advantages in the treatment of chronic heart failure. In this article, four stages to develop traditional Chinese medicine for chronic heart failure were proposed. Firstly, discuss and screen ideas and methods with regard to the development of TCM and its prescriptions based on clinical needs. Secondly, study the preparation process and quality control method by referring to the existing clinical background of TCM prescriptions and analyzing the chemical compositions and pharmacological action characteristics of each herb in the prescription. Then, design non-clinical evaluation programs and carry out researches on pharmacodynamics and toxicology by combining the experience of clinical use of TCM prescriptions and future clinical positioning, and gradually adjust and improve the programs during implementation. Finally, conduct clinical trial application(IND) by submitting registration application data which are base on the clinical drug experience, preclinical research pharmacy, main pharmacodynamics, safety test results of the prescription, clinical positioning, and reasonable clinical trial plan designed by the theory of TCM. After passing the IND technical review, the clinical trial study shall be officially launched to achieve the desired results and obtain effective Chinese patent medicines for heart failure treatment.
Chronic Disease ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Quality Control

Cerebral hemorrhage, also known as hemorrhagic stroke, refers to non-traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Cerebral hemorrhage is a common and frequently-occurring disease in middle-aged and elderly people. It has the characteristics of high mortality and high disability rate. Most survivors have serious neurological deficits, which seriously threaten human health and quality of life.The pathological process of cerebral hemorrhage is more complicated, including the formation and expansion of hematoma, elevated intracranial pressure, destruction of blood-brain barrier, brain edema, neuronal apoptosis and neurological dysfunction.At present, the main methods for treating cerebral hemorrhage by western medicine include antiplatelet therapy, blood pressure reduction and hematoma surgery. However, it is usually accompanied by the risk of rebleeding caused by surgery, infection, nerve damage and insufficient effective perfusion pressure. Chinese medicine believes that blood stasis and endogenous fever are the most basic pathogenesis of acute cerebral hemorrhage. The previous studies found that many traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) can improve blood-brain barrier damage, brain edema, neuronal apoptosis and neurological dysfunction related to cerebral hemorrhage to reduce cerebral hemorrhage injury. Main signal transduction pathways regulated by TCM to treat cerebral hemorrhageinclude Aquaporin 4(AQP4)-related, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B(PI3K/Akt), nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB),suppressor protein 53/Bcl-2-associated X protein/Caspase-3(p53/Bax/Caspase-3)molecular pathways, etc.In this paper, based on the current Chinese medicine to improve the brain damage caused by cerebral hemorrhage and the molecular pathway of intervention, it reviews the research progress published in foreign journals in the past ten years, in order to provide clues and reference for the treatment of hemorrhagic stroke diseases and and the further development of new drugs.

Objective:To explore the characteristics of brain structure in patients with long-term withdrawal of methamphetamine-dependence.Methods:A total of 44 patients with withdrawal of methamphetamine-dependent for more than 14 months were recruited,who met the diagnostic criteria for substance dependence in the fifth edition of the American Mental Disorders Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-Ⅴ),and 40 healthy subjects were used as the control.In addition to the general scale of drug-relevant survey,the subjects received the 3.0T magnetic resonance high-resolution scan.The voxel-based morphometric measurements for the subject's brain gray volume were conducted.Results:There was no significant difference in age,education,smoking and alcohol consumption between the methamphetamine-dependent withdrawal group and the control group (P＞0.05).The volumes for the bilateral cerebellum,the left side of temporal gyrus and the right side of the lingual gyrus in the methamphetamine-dependent withdrawal group were increased than those in the control group.The volumes for the bilateral lingual gyrus and bilateral cuneus in the methamphetamine-dependent withdrawal group were decreased than those in the control group.The volumes of left of cuneus and cerebellum were positively correlated with the duration of abstinence.Conclusion:After long-term abstinence,although the patients still show abnormal brain structure,their behavior and cognitive function is improved.The cerebral nerve structural is recovered from long-term abstinence.

Osteoarthritis (OA),a common chronic degenerative joint disease,rises gradually with age,which seri-ously affects the quality of life of middle-aged and elderly patients. Currently,the therapeutic medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)and analgesics might improve OA symptoms,but cannot prevent the development of OA. The active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)have unique advantages in the treatment of OA. This article reviews the research progress of active ingredients of TCM in the prevention and treatment of OA reported by domestic and foreign journals in the past five years from the aspects of inhibition of the secretion of inflammation-related factors,improvement of cartilage matrix synthesis and catabolic imbalance, inhibition of chondrocyte apoptosis,promotion of chondrocyte proliferation,and regulation of estrogen levels,with an attempt to provide a theoretical basis for the development of new drugs for OA.

The steroidal saponins are one of the saponin types that exist in an unbound state and have various pharmacological activities, such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial and nerves-calming properties. Cancer is a growing health problem worldwide. Significant progress has been made to understand the antitumor effects of steroidal saponins in recent years. According to reported findings, steroidal saponins exert various antitumor activities, such as inhibiting proliferation, inducing apoptosis and autophagy, and regulating the tumor microenvironment, through multiple related signaling pathways. This article focuses on the advances in domestic and foreign studies on the antitumor activity and mechanism of actions of steroidal saponins in the last five years to provide a scientific basis and research ideas for further development and clinical application of steroidal saponins.
Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Saponins ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Steroids ; chemistry ; pharmacology

The uterine tetanic contraction and uterine artery blood flow reduction are possible reasons for primary dysmenorrhea (PD). In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the uterine relaxant effect and the influence on uterine artery blood velocity of Ge-Gen Decoction (GGD), a well-known Chinese herbal formula. In female ICR mice, uterine contraction was induced by oxytocin exposure following estradiol benzoate pretreatment, and the uterine artery blood velocity was detected by Doppler ultrasound. Histopathological examination of the uterine tissue samples were performed by H&E staining. Ex vivo studies demonstrated that oxytocin, posterior pituitary, or acetylcholine induced contractions in isolated mouse uterus. GGD inhibited both spontaneous and stimulated contractions. In vivo study demonstrated that GGD significantly reduced oxytocin-induced writhing responses with a maximal inhibition of 87%. Further study demonstrated that GGD normalized oxytocin-induced abnormalities of prostaglandins F2 alpha (PGF2α) and Ca(2+) in mice. In addition, injection of oxytocin induced a decrease in uterine artery blood flow velocity. Pretreatment with GGD reversed the oxytocin response on blood flow velocity. Histopathological examination showed pretreatment with GGD alleviated inflammation and edema in the uterus when compared with the model group. Both ex vivo and in vivo results indicated that GGD possessed a significant spasmolytic effect on uterine tetanic contraction as well as improvement on uterine artery blood velocity which may involve PGF2α and Ca(2+) signaling, suggesting that GGD may have a clinic potential in PD therapy.
Animals ; Blood Flow Velocity ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Dysmenorrhea ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Oxytocin ; adverse effects ; Uterine Contraction ; drug effects ; Uterus ; blood supply ; drug effects ; physiopathology

The present study was designed to investigate whether a combination of four effective components derived from Sheng-mai san (SMXZF; ginsenoside Rb1: ginsenoside Rg1: DT-13: Schizandrol A as 6 : 9 : 4 : 5) could attenuate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced injury in PC12 cells, focusing on the Akt and MAPK pathways . The PC12 cells were exposed to H2O2 (400 μmol·L(-1)) for 1 h in the presence or absence of SMXZF pre-treatment for 24 h. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. The efflux of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), the intracellular content of malondialdehyde (MDA), the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and caspase-3 were also determined. Cell apoptosis was measured by Hoechst 33342 staining and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining method. The expression of Bcl-2, Bax, cleaved caspase-3, Akt, and MAPKs were detected by Western blotting analyses. SMXZF pretreatment significantly increased the cell viability and SOD activity and improved the cell morphological changes, while reduced the levels of LDH and MDA at the concentrations of 0.1, 1 and 10 μg·mL(-1). SMXZF also inhibited H2O2-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells. Moreover, SMXZF reduced the activity of caspase-3, up-regulated the protein ratio of Bcl-2 and Bax and inhibited the expression of cleaved caspase-3, p-Akt, p-p38, p-JNK and p-ERK1/2 in H2O2-induced PC12 cells. Co-incubation of Akt inhibitor or p38 inhibitor partly attenuated the protection of SMXZF against H2O2-injured PC12 cells. In conclusion, our findings suggested that SMXZF attenuated H2O2-induced injury in PC12 cells by inhibiting Akt and MAPKs signaling pathways, which might shed insights on its neuroprotective mechanism.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; toxicity ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; PC12 Cells ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects