In this study， name， origin， producing areas， harvesting time and processing methods of ancient Alismatis Rhizoma were systematically researched by consulting the literature of ancient herbs， medical and prescription books， so as to provide a basis for the development of famous classical formula containing this herb. According to textual research， the main base of ancient Alismatis Rhizoma was Alisma plantago-aquatica and A. orientale. A. canaliculatum and A. gramineum and other genera were sometimes used as the source of Alismatis Rhizoma， there was a confusion of medicinal varieties. The earliest producing area of Alismatis Rhizoma was in today's Henan province， and later Hanzhong， Shaanxi province， became the high-quality producing area of Alismatis Rhizoma. Since the Ming dynasty， its production area expanded to Fujian. In the Qing dynasty， Jian'ou in Fujian was the authentic production area of Alismatis Rhizoma. In the period of the Republic of China， Sichuan and Jiangxi were added to the production areas of Alismatis Rhizoma. Based on the research results， it is suggested that the dried tubers of A. orientale from Fujian and Jiangxi or A. plantago-aquatica from Sichuan should be used in the famous classical formulas. In ancient times， Alismatis Rhizoma was processed by wine， but most of the standards and specifications in modern times are no longer included the processing specifications of Alismatis Rhizoma with wine. Although salt-processed Alismatis Rhizoma is commonly used in modern times， it didn't become one of the main processing methods until the Qing dynasty. According to the relevant national documents， it is suggested that Alismatis Rhizoma without clear processing requirements in famous classical formulas should be used as raw products， and the formulas with processing requirements should be selected as processed products such as salt and wine according to the meaning of the formulas.

This study aimed to investigate the effect and the possible mechanism of Shenlian( SL) extract on tumor necrosis factor-α( TNF-α)-induced ECV304 injury. After the establishment of TNF-α-induced ECV304 cells injure model,MTT assay was used to detect cell viability and the level of reactive oxygen species( ROS) was measured by flow cytometry. The contents of superoxide dismutase( SOD),malondialdehyde( MDA),nitric oxide( NO),endothelin-1( ET-1) and interleukin-1β( IL-1β) in the supernatant were detected by biochemical method and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA). The expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins B-lymphoma-2 gene( Bcl-2),Bcl-2 associated X protein( Bax),caspase-3,caspase-9 and nuclear factor E2 associated factor2( Nrf2)/Kelch like epichlorohydrin associated protein-1( Keap1) signaling pathway related proteins Nrf2,Keap1,quinone oxidoreductase( NQO1) and heme oxygenase 1( HO-1) were detected by Western blot. The results showed that 50 μg·L-1 TNF-α significantly damaged ECV304 cells,induced the impairment of cell viability( P<0. 01),the increase of ROS production,the decrease of SOD activity,and the increase of MDA,NO,ET-1 and IL-1β( P<0. 01),meanwhile,it caused the up-regulation of Keap1,caspase-9 and Bax protein expression,and down-regulation of NQO1 and Bcl-2 protein expression( P<0. 05) compared with the control group.Compared with the model group,SL extract reduced the damage of ECV304 cells induced by TNF-α,improved cell viability,reduced ROS production,increased SOD activity and decreased MDA,NO,ET-1,IL-1β content( P<0. 01 or P<0. 05). In addition,SL extract also down-regulated the protein expression levels of Keap1,caspase-3,caspase-9 and Bax,and increased the protein expressions of Nrf2,NQO1,HO-1 and Bcl-2( P<0. 01 or P<0. 05). The above results indicate that SL extract can provide protective effect on ECV304 cells injury induced by TNF-α,alleviate oxidative stress injury,inflammation and apoptosis,and its mechanism may be related to regulating Nrf2/Keap1 signaling pathway.
Apoptosis ; Kelch-Like ECH-Associated Protein 1/metabolism* ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/metabolism* ; Oxidative Stress ; Plant Extracts ; Signal Transduction ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/genetics*

Objective To analyze the characteristics and variation of occipital protuberance and occipital bunning of Chinese Holocene population. Methods Based on 275 adult male skulls, Neolithic Age ( 49 cases ), Bronze and Iron Age (171 cases) and modern (55 cases), the occipital protuberance and occipital bunning were divided into several categories, and the occurrence rates were analyzed and compared among different time periods. Results The characteristics and variation of occipital protuberance and occipital bunning were also different in different ages. The degree of the occipital protuberance was more and more significant with the age, which changed greatly from Neolithic Age to Bronze and Iron Age. In the Holocene, most people did not appear occipital bunning on the skull, but the relatively significant occipital bunning appeared in the Bronze and Iron Age. Conclusion The variation of occipital protuberance may be related to the change of skull size and overuse of trapezius muscle in Holocene. The occipital bunning appearance may reflect the relative development speed of the brain and skull to some extent.

Objective:To summarize the clinical characteristics and treatment outcome of neonates with laryngopharyngeal congenital structural abnormalities in intensive care unit.Methods:The clinical data of neonates with congenital laryngopharyngeal structural abnormalities in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the National Center of Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2017 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.The general data, birth status, disease types and clinical characteristics of abnormal laryngeal structure, complications, treatment and follow-up of some children with special diseases were summarized.These neonates were divided into the operation group and the conservative treatment group according to treatment methods, and then the outcomes of the two groups were compared.Results:A total of 133 cases of neonates with laryngopharyngeal congenital structural abnormalities were enrolled, including 73 cases(54.88%) with laryngomalacia, and 60 cases(45.12%) with special structural abnormalities.Of 60 cases with special structural abnormalities, 26 cases (19.54%) had pharynx and larynx cysts, 18 cases (13.53%) had vocal cord paralysis, 4 cases (3.00%) had laryngeal cleft, 2 cases (1.50%) had subglottic hemangioma, 3 cases (2.25%) had Pireer Robin, 1 case (0.75%) had laryngeal poof, 5 cases (3.75%) had pharynx softening, 1 case (0.75%) had subglottic stenosis.Nine patients had special structural abnormalities and laryngomalacia simultaneously.Fiber nasopharyngoscope and enhanced CT were main auxiliary examinations.Twenty-two(16.5%) cases received surgical treatment.Conclusions:Early diagnosis is needed for the neonates and abnormal laryngeal structure.The best treatment scheme should be evaluated according to the condition of the newborn.For some acute cases, early operation and multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment are warranted.

Corona virus disease 2019(COVID-19) has brought untold human sufferings and economic tragedy worldwide. It causes acute myocardial injury and chronic damage of cardiovascular system, which has attracted much attention from researchers. For the immediate strategy for COVID-19, "drug repurposing" is a new opportunity for developing drugs to fight COVID-19. Artemisinin and its derivatives have a wide range of pharmacological activities. Recent studies have shown that artemisinin has clear cardiovascular protective effects. This paper summarizes the research progress on the pathogenesis the pathogenesis of COVID-19 in cardiovascular damage by 2019 novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV) virus from myocardial cell injury directly by 2019-nCoV virus,viral ligands competitively bind to ACE2 and then reduce the protective effect of ACE2 on cardiovascular disease, "cytokine storm" related myocardial damage, arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death induced by the infection and stress, myocardial injury by hypoxemia, heart damage side effects from COVID-19 drugs and summarizing the cardiovascular protective effects of artemisinin and its derivatives have activities of anti-arrhythmia, anti-myocardial ischemia, anti-atherosclerosis and plaque stabilization. Then analyzed the possible multi-pathway intervention effects of artemisinin-based drugs on multiple complications of COVID-19 based on its specific immunomodulatory effects, protective effects of tissue and organ damage and broad-spectrum antiviral effect, to provide clues for the treatment of cardiovascular complications of COVID-19, and give a new basis for the therapy of COVID-19 through "drug repurposing".
Artemisinins ; COVID-19 ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Heart Diseases ; Humans ; SARS-CoV-2

In the original publication, the label of Fig. 2C should be read as "GFAP/lectin/DAPI" not "DMP1/GFAP/lectin/DAPI".

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of pelvic rotation in three-dimensional direction on the actual placement angle of acetabular prosthesis in total hip arthroplasty. METHODS: Pelvic CT imaging data of normal adults were collected, and three-dimensional reconstruction of pelvic acetabulum was performed with computer software to simulate the rotation of the pelvis around X, Y and Z axes perpendicular to the sagittal, transverse and coronal planes of the human body. Radiographic inclination(RI) and radiographic anteversion (RA) of the acetabular cup were measured when the acetabular prosthesis was implanted at a standard angle. The correlation analysis was used to quantify the relationship between the rotation angle of each axis and the actual angle of acetabulum. RESULTS: The pelvic rotation along the X-axis and Y-axis had little effect on the RA of the acetabulum, but had a great influence on the RI and showed a linear correlation. The regression equations were RA=0.682 4X+10.256(²=0.308 4) and RA=-0.714 1Y+10.424(²=0.999 8). The pelvic rotation along the Z-axis had little effect on the RA, but had a linear correlation with the RI, and the regression equation was RI=1.0Z+46(²=1.0). CONCLUSIONS The anteroposterior rotation of the pelvis or the longitudinal rotation along the body significantly affected the acetabular anteversion, but had little effect on the abduction angle. On the contrary, the left and right deviation of the pelvis on the coronal plane could significantly affect the acetabular anteversion angle, but did not affect its anteversion angle.
Acetabulum ; Adult ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Hip Prosthesis ; Humans ; Pelvis ; Rotation

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a tight boundary formed between endothelial cells and astrocytes, which separates and protects brain from most pathogens as well as neural toxins in circulation. However, detailed molecular players involved in formation of BBB are not completely known. Dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1)-proteoglycan (PG), which is known to be involved in mineralization of bones and dentin, is also expressed in soft tissues including brain with unknown functions. In the present study, we reported that DMP1-PG was expressed in brain astrocytes and enriched in BBB units. The only glycosylation site of DMP1 is serine89 (S89) in the N-terminal domain of the protein in mouse. Mutant mice with DMP1 point mutations changing S89 to glycine (S89G), which completely eradicated glycosylation of the protein, demonstrated severe BBB disruption. Another breed of DMP1 mutant mice, which lacked the C-terminal domain of DMP1, manifested normal BBB function. The polarity of S89G-DMP1 astrocytes was disrupted and cell-cell adhesion was loosened. Through a battery of analyses, we found that DMP1 glycosylation was critically required for astrocyte maturation both in vitro and in vivo. S89G-DMP1 mutant astrocytes failed to express aquaporin 4 and had reduced laminin and ZO1 expression, which resulted in disruption of BBB. Interestingly, overexpression of wild-type DMP1-PG in mouse brain driven by the nestin promoter elevated laminin and ZO1 expression beyond wild type levels and could effectively resisted intravenous mannitol-induced BBB reversible opening. Taken together, our study not only revealed a novel element, i.e., DMP1-PG, that regulated BBB formation, but also assigned a new function to DMP1-PG.
Animals ; Astrocytes ; cytology ; metabolism ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; cytology ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Glycosylation ; Male ; Mice ; Proteoglycans ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Aim To establish human U87-MG glioma model in nude mice brain and to observe the characteristics of the tumor growth. Methods Human U87-MG glioma cells were cultured in vitro. 5 μL of cell suspension containing 3.0 ×1010·L-1, 4.0×1010·L-1and 5.0×1010·L-1respectively was inocula-ted into the right caudate nucleus of 18 male nude mice brain un-der the guidance of stereotaxic apparatus, separately, whereas another 6 nude mice as the control group, were inoculated into the same volume of Hanks solution. The moving and survival state of rats with gliomas were observed. The examinations of the tumors formation, volumes, metastasis and histopathology were performed and the obtained brain samples were stained with HE and immunohistochemistry. Results All the tested rats of dif-ferent inoculation doses developed brain tumors without extracra-nial metastasis. The mean survival time of three groups was (46.50 ± 3.27) d,(38.50 ± 3.28) d and (30.67 ± 3.51) d,respectively. The tumors showed the similar morphological fea-tures and immunophenotype to human glioma. There was positive expression of GFAP and S-100 in the tumors. Conclusions The orthotopic implantation model of human U87-MG glioma, by in-oculating quantitative U87-MG cells stereotaxically into the brains of the nude mice, is successfully established with 100 yield of intracranial tumor and no extracranial growth extension. It resembles the histopathological and morphological features of human glioma,which can be used as a reliable animal model for the study of the tumorigenesis, pathogenesis, biological charac-teristics and therapy of glioma.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of ursolic acid on cardiomyopathy in mice with diabetes induced by high-fat diet combined with low dose streptozotocin, and to explore its possible mechanism. METHODS: Thirty male ICR mice were randomly divided into control group (=10) and moulding group (=20), the mice in the two groups were fed with regular diet and high-fat diet respectively for 6 weeks, and then the mice in the moulding group were injected with streptozotocin (30 mg/kg) for 5 successive days to induce diabetes mellitus (DM). Fasting blood glucose (FBG) was measured after 9 days. Mice with FBG over 11.1 mmol/L were regarded as DM. Twenty DM mice were randomly divided into model group and ursolic acid group (=10). Mice in each group were continuously administrated ursolic acid (100 mg/kg) or corresponding solvent intragastrically for 8 weeks. After that, FBG was measured, body weight (BW), heart weight and left ventricular weight were weighed in order to calculate the heart mass index (HMI) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI). Levels of creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in serum and the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) in myocardial tissue were detected. HE staining was used to observe pathological changes of myocardial tissue. Immunohistochemistry was employed to determine the expression of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) and interleukin 1β (IL-1β). RESULTS: Compared with the control group, HMI, LVMI were apparently enlarged, levels of FBG, CK, LDH in serum and MDA in myocardial tissue were extremely increased, while the activity of SOD in myocardial tissue were extraordinary decreased in diabetic group. HE staining of myocardium showed that arrangement disorder of myocardial fibers, edema and hypertrophy in myocardial cell, as well as inflammatory cell infiltration in model group. Immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of NLRP3 and IL-1β in myocardial tissue increased obviously in model group, the above changes inursolic acid group were significantly ameliorated. CONCLUSIONS Ursolic acid has a obvious protective effect on myocardial injury in mice with diabetes induced by high-fat diet combined with low dose streptozotocin, and its mechanism may be associated with inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation, reducing IL-1β generation and alleviating myocardial inflammatory injury.
Animals ; Cardiomyopathies ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Mice, Inbred NOD ; Myocardium ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein ; Triterpenes ; pharmacology