COVID-19 has been prevalent for three years. The virulence of SARS-CoV-2 is weaken as it mutates continuously. However, elderly patients, especially those with underlying diseases, are still at high risk of developing severe infections. With the continuous study of the molecular structure and pathogenic mechanism of SARS-CoV-2, antiviral drugs for COVID-19 have been successively marketed, and these anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs can effectively reduce the severe rate and mortality of elderly patients. This article reviews the mechanism, clinical medication regimens, drug interactions and adverse reactions of five small molecule antiviral drugs currently approved for marketing in China, so as to provide advice for the clinical rational use of anti-SARS-CoV-2 in the elderly.

Dabie Mountain in Anhui province is a genuine producing area of Poria cocos, commonly known as Anling. Jinzhai county in Anhui province is a traditional producing area of P. cocos, and it is also a key county for poverty alleviation in Dabie Mountains. Poverty alleviation of traditional Chinese medicine producing area is an important measure to implement the major strategic deployment of the central government. The planting of P. cocos is helpful to promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine industry in Dabie Mountains and help poverty alleviation. P. cocos is a saprophytic fungus with special demands on soil and ecological environment, and its planting appears a scattered and irregular distribution. Traditional investigation methods are time-consuming and laborious, and the results are greatly influenced by subjective factors. In order to obtain the suitable planting area of P. cocos in Jinzhai county, according to the field survey, the research team has explored the regional, biological characteristics and cultivation methods of P. cocos in the county, and obtained the altitude distribution area suitable for the growth of P. cocos. Then, the MaxEnt niche model was used to analyze the relationship between ecological factors and distribution areas, and the potential distribution zoning of P. cocos in Jinzhai county was studied. Combined with the characteristics of P. cocos planting pattern, taking ZY-3 remote sensing image as the data source, the maximum likelihood method was used to extract the area that could be used for P. cocos cultivation in Jinzhai county, and the reason why artificial planting P. cocos was mainly distributed in the west of Jinzhai county was analyzed. The suitable regional classification of P. cocos in Jinzhai county was obtained by superposition of suitable altitude distribution area, MaxEnt analysis and area extracted from remote sensing image, which provided data support for the planting planning of P. cocos in Jinzhai county.
Altitude ; China ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Soil ; Wolfiporia

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) is a special type of breast cancer that occurs during pregnancy and within 1 year after childbirth. With the rapid social development and the adjustment of reproductive policies in China, the average age of females at first childbirth is increasing, which is expected to lead to an increase in the incidence of PABC. This study aimed to accumulate clinical experience and to investigate and summarize the prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of PABC based on large multicenter samples in China. METHODS: According to the Chinese Society of Breast Surgery, a total of 164 patients with PABC in 27 hospitals from January 2016 to December 2018 were identified. The pregnancy status, clinicopathological features, comprehensive treatment methods, and outcomes were retrospectively analyzed. Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: A total of 164 patients of PABC accounted for 0.30% of the total number of cases in the same period; of which, 83 patients were diagnosed during pregnancy and 81 patients during lactation. The median age of PABC was 33 years (24-47 years). Stage I patients accounted for 9.1% (15/164), stage II 54.9% (90/164), stage III 24.4% (40/164), and stage IV 2.4% (4/164). About 9.1% (15/164) of patients were luminal A. Luminal B patients accounted the most (43.3% [71/164]). About 15.2% (25/164) of patients were human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2) overexpression and 18.9% (31/164) of patients were triple-negative breast cancer. For pregnancy breast cancer, 36.1% (30/83) of patients received direct surgery and 20.5% (17/83) received chemotherapy during pregnancy. About 31.3% (26/83) chose abortion or induction of labor. The median follow-up time was 36 months (3-59 months); 11.0% (18/164) patients had local recurrence or distant metastasis and 3.0% (5/164) died. CONCLUSIONS It is safe and feasible to standardize surgery and chemotherapy for PABC.
Adult ; Breast Neoplasms/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Female ; Humans ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: Based on trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) hydrolysis, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) analysis, the carbohydrate responsible for immunomodulatory activity are used as quality indicators for Astragalus Radix (AR). Methods: In this study, 24 batches of AR from different germplasm resources were selected as the research object, and AR polysaccharides were extracted. PAGE and HPTLC methods were used to analyze the partial acid hydrolyzate of AR polysaccharides and obtain a series of saccharide fingerprints. The data were analyzed by principal component analysis to obtain the difference between AR from different germplasm resources. Results: The results showed that trisaccharide and tetrasaccharide could be used as differential fragments to distinguish AR of different cultivation methods; Disaccharides and trisaccharides can be used as differential fragments to distinguish different species of AR. The immunological activity analysis of the specific oligosaccharide fragment of AR showed that the specific oligosaccharide fragment of AR could promote the secretion of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and NO in THP-1 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Conclusion: Both PAGE and HPTLC methods can be used to evaluate AR from different germplasm resources. This study laid the foundation for the quality evaluation of AR medicinal herbs.

Objective To assess the schistosomiasis transmission risk in Nanjing County, so as to provide the scientific evidence for the development of the schistosomiasis control strategy and consolidation of the control achievements. Methods On May 2019, the Deqiu Village in Deqiu Town and Baiyun Village in Nanjing Town of Yunnan Province, where schistosomiasis were historically relatively highly endemic, were selected to assess the risk of transmission of schistosomiasis by means of a retrospective review of the data pertaining to the historical endemic situation and schistosomiasis control, combined with a cross-sectional survey of snail and wild feces distribution. Results During the period between 2017 and 2018, the mean sero-prevalence rates of Schistosoma japonicum infections were 6.76% (202/2 990) and 2.86% (142/4 971) in humans and 0 (0/1 160) and 10.65% (31/291) in bovines in Deqiu and Baiyun villages of Nanjian County, respectively; however, no egg-positives were identified; in addition, there were 21.06 hm² snail habitats found, but no S. japonicum infections were detected in snails. In 2019, there was 6.17 hm² snail habitats detected, with 2.17% (245/11 298) occurrence of frames with snails and a 0.06 snails/0.1 m² density of living snails; however, no positives for nucleic acid detection were seen in snails; among the 136 wild fecal samples captures from 23 settings, no S. japonicum infections were identified. Conclusions The risk of schistosomiasis transmission remains at a low level in Nanjian County; however, the factors affecting the transmission of schistosomiasis have not been completed eliminated. The integrated schistosomiasis control strategy with an emphasis on the control of the source of S. japonicum infections requires to be reinforced to consolidate the control achievements.

Astragali Radix( AR) polysaccharide for injection( Guoyao Zhunzi Z20040086) is a traditional Chinese medicine for intravenous powder injection developed by Shanxi Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in early 1990 s by taking advantage of AR resources in Shanxi province. The effective parts of AR polysaccharides were obtained by advanced technology. The hemogram of patients with radiotherapy and chemotherapy showed alleviations in clinic. However,due to the technical bottleneck in separation of the complex polysaccharides mixture and the difficulties in accurate measurement of the polysaccharide structures,the pharmacodynamic mechanism of the drug remained unclear,and the side effect was hard to control. In recent years,the theoretical studies for polysaccharide receptors have indicated that when polysaccharides bound to protein receptors,only the oligosaccharide fragments of the polysaccharide molecule bound to the receptors,and one or more active sites of oligosaccharide fragments may existed in the polysaccharide molecule.Therefore,the active center of polysaccharides can be studied based on the level of oligosaccharides through degradation of the polysaccharides,which provided a new strategy for breaking through the bottleneck in polysaccharide structure determination. Therefore,this paper reviews the current status of studies for AR polysaccharides for injection,the polysaccharide receptors theory and successful cases,in order to propose the secondary development ideas of AR polysaccharides for injection. The study results will lay a material foundation for the development of new drugs of polysaccharides from traditional Chinese medicine,and provide a basis for the resolution of international difficulties in quality control of polysaccharide drugs and molecular models,so as to further study of glycobiology,and enrich the polysaccharide receptors theory.
Astragalus Plant ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Polysaccharides ; pharmacology

Objective To observe the efficacy difference between heavy-dose moxibustion at Sha-petechiae and ordinary suspended moxibustion in treating neck-type cervical spondylosis due to cold coagulation and blood stagnation.Method A total of 113 patients with neck-type cervical spondylosis due to cold coagulation and blood stagnation were randomized into a treatment group of 58 cases and a control group of 55 cases.The treatment group was intervened by heavy-dose moxibustion at Sha-petechiae after scraping therapy;the control group was treated with conventional moxibustion therapy.The cervical symptoms and signs were evaluated by using LU's scale scores.The improvement in symptoms and clinical efficacy were observed after the intervention and half a year later.Result The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and LU's scale scores were significantly changed after the intervention and half a year later compared with those before the intervention in both groups (P＜0.01).After the intervention and half a year later,there were significant differences in comparing the VAS and LU's scale scores between the two groups (P＜0.01).The total effective rate and markedly effective rate were respectively 94.8％ and 77.6％ in the treatment group versus 76.4％ and 52.7％ in the control group,and the between-group differences were statistically significant (P＜0.01).Conclusion Heavy-dose moxibustion at Sha-petechiae is an effective approach in treating neck-type cervical spondylosis due to cold coagulation and blood stagnation,and its short-term and long-term efficacies are both superior to those of ordinary moxibustion.

The dried stems of Schisandra henryi var. henryi were extracted with 95% ethanol and the extracts were further subjected to partition, affording the ethyl acetate extracts(EtOAc Extrs.).The EtOAc Extrs.were separated and purified with silica gel and octadecyl-silylated silica gel column chromatography, preparative HPLC and preparative TLC. Thirteen known compounds were obtained and identified by spectral methods including MS and NMR, all of which were elucidated as t-cadinol(1), cadinane-4β,5α,10β-triol(2), cadinane-5α, 10α-diol-2-ene(3), oxyphyllenodiols A(4), 1β, 4β-dihydroxyeudesman-11-ene(5), cyperusol C(6), (7R)-opposit-4(15)-ene-1β,7-diol(7), dysodensiol E(8), epi-guaidiol A(9), aromadendrane-4β,10β-diol(10), tricyclohumuladiol(11), caryolane-1,9β-diol(12), and guaidiol A(13). Compounds 3, 5-10, and 13 were separated from the genus for the first time, while compounds 1-13 were separated from this species for the first time.

This study was aimed to investigate the effects of blockade of Ca(2+) activated channel KCa3.1 and voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3 of the monocytes/macrophages on inflammatory monocyte chemotaxis. Chemotaxis assay was used to test the inflammatory Ly-6C(hi) monocyte chemotaxis caused by the monocytes/macrophages. The proliferation of monocytes/macrophages was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK8). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to detect the C-C motif ligand 7 (CCL7) in cultured media. The results showed that the recruitment of Ly-6C(hi) monocyte induced by monocytes/macrophages was suppressed by the potent Kv1.3 blocker Stichodactyla helianthus neurotoxin (ShK) or the specific KCa3.1 inhibitor TRAM-34. Meanwhile, the proliferation of monocytes/macrophages was significantly inhibited by ShK. The response of Ly-6C(hi) monocyte pretreated with ShK or TRAM-34 to CCL2 was declined. These results suggest that KCa3.1 and Kv1.3 may play an important role in monocytes/macrophages' proliferation and migration.
Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation ; Cnidarian Venoms ; pharmacology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Kv1.3 Potassium Channel ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology ; Macrophages ; cytology ; Monocytes ; cytology ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Pyrazoles ; pharmacology ; Small-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy difference between segmentation scraping and conventional acupuncture for cervical spondylosis (CS) so as to provide effective treatment method.

METHODSEighty-five cases of cervical type of CS were randomly divided into a scraping group (44 cases) and an acupuncture group (41 cases). The segmentation scraping therapy was used in the scraping group. The scraping group was treated with focusing on scraping the head and joint part of neck and occiput in the upper cervical spine injury, and focusing on scraping the lower section of cervical and shoulder in the lower cervical spine injury, once every seven days, totally for 3 times. In the acupuncture group, Fengchi (GB 20),Wangu (TE 5), Tianzhu (BL 10),Neck-Jiaji (EX-B 2), etc. were selected,once daily,for 15 days. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the immediate analgesic effect after the first treatment and the clinical efficacy was observed after the end of treatment.

RESULTSAfter the first treatment, the score of VAS was decreased significantly in the scaping group (P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference in the acupuncture group compared with those before treatment (P > 0.05); the score of VAS in the scaping group after the first treatment was lower than that in the acupuncture group (3.66 +/- 0.74 vs 5.43 +/- 0.35, P < 0.01). Compared with before treatment, the scores of VAS were decreased significantly after treatment in two groups (both P < 0.01), but without significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05); the effective rate was 95.5% (42/44) in the scaping group and 87.8% (36/41) in the acupuncture group, the curative effects were similar (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONBoth of scraping and acupuncture therapies have good analgesic effect for cervical spondylosis, and overall effects are similar, but the immediate analgesic effect of scraping thrapy is better than that of conventional acupuncture.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Neck Pain ; therapy ; Spondylosis ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome