Starting with the relationship between mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings as food and metabolites, this study systematically compared the chemical components, screened out differential components, and quantitatively analyzed the main differential components based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and UPLC-Q-TRAP-MS combined with principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA). Moreover, the in vitro enzymatic transformation of the representative differential components was studied. The results showed that(1) 95 components were identified from mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings, among which 27 components only exist in mulberry leaves and 8 components in silkworm droppings. The main differential components were flavonoid glycosides and chlorogenic acids.(2) Nineteen components with significant difference were quantitatively analyzed, and the components with significant differences and high content were neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, and rutin.(3) The crude protease in the mid-gut of silkworm significantly metabolized neochlorogenic acid and chlorogenic acid, which may be an important reason for the efficacy change in mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings. This study lays a scientific foundation for the development, utilization, and quality control of mulberry leaves and silkworm droppings. It provides references for clarifying the possible material basis and mechanism of the pungent-cool and dispersing nature of mulberry leaves transforming into the pungent-warm and dampness-resolving nature of silkworm droppings, and offers a new idea for the study of nature-effect transformation mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine.
Animals ; Bombyx ; Morus/chemistry* ; Chlorogenic Acid/analysis* ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Plant Leaves/chemistry*

Based on the systematic retrieval and the reported components of Sojae Semen Nigrum and Sojae Semen Praeparatum, this study conducted in-depth analysis of conversion of components in the fermentation process, and discussed types and possible mec-hanisms of conversion of chemical components, so as to provide the basis for studying technology, medicinal ingredients and quality standards. According to the analysis, there is a certain degree of conversion of nutrients(like protein, sugar, lipid), bioactive substances(like isoflavones, saponins, γ-aminobutyric acid) and other substances(like nucleosides, melanoids, biamines, etc) in the process of fermentation.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Fermentation ; Isoflavones/analysis* ; Semen/chemistry* ; Soybeans

BACKGROUND: Shenyankangfu Tablet (SYKFT) is a Chinese patent medicine that has been used widely to decrease proteinuria and the progression of chronic kidney disease. OBJECTIVE: This trial compared the efficacy and safety of SYKFT, for the control of proteinuria in primary glomerulonephritis patients, against the standard drug, losartan potassium. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION: This was a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Primary glomerulonephritis patients, aged 18-70 years, with blood pressure ≤ 140/90 mmHg, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 45 mL/min per 1.73 m MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was change in the 24-hour proteinuria level, after 48 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: A total of 735 participants were enrolled. The percent decline of urine protein quantification in the SYKFT group after 48 weeks was 8.78% ± 2.56% (P = 0.006) more than that in the losartan 50 mg group, which was 0.51% ± 2.54% (P = 1.000) less than that in the losartan 100 mg group. Compared with the losartan potassium 50 mg group, the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 50 mg group had a 13.39% ± 2.49% (P < 0.001) greater reduction in urine protein level. Compared with the losartan potassium 100 mg group, the SYKFT plus losartan potassium 100 mg group had a 9.77% ± 2.52% (P = 0.001) greater reduction in urine protein. With a superiority threshold of 15%, neither was statistically significant. eGFR, serum creatinine and serum albumin from the baseline did not change statistically significant. The average change in TCM syndrome score between the patients who took SYKFT (-3.00 [-6.00, -2.00]) and who did not take SYKFT (-2.00 [-5.00, 0]) was statistically significant (P = 0.003). No obvious adverse reactions were observed in any group. CONCLUSION: SYKFT decreased the proteinuria and improved the TCM syndrome scores of primary glomerulonephritis patients, with no change in the rate of decrease in the eGFR. SYKFT plus losartan potassium therapy decreased proteinuria more than losartan potassium therapy alone. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT02063100 on ClinicalTrials.gov.

The historical evolution， fermentation technology and key links of Sojae Semen Praeparatum （SSP） were sorted out by consulting ancient books and modern literature， and the influencing factors and control methods of quality were analyzed and summarized in order to provide reference for the quality control of SSP. After analysis， it was found that in the fermentation process of SSP， fermentation strains， miscellaneous bacteria， temperature and humidity were all important factors affecting the quality of SSP. The condition control of "post fermentation" process has been paid more attention to in the past dynasties. In addition， the delicious SSP recognized in ancient times should be made from mold fermentation， and the breeding and application of fermented mold may be the key point to solve the quality problem of SSP. Therefore， based on the evaluation indexes of SSP in the past dynasties， it is of great significance to study and optimize the technological conditions such as strain， temperature and humidity in depth to improve the quality of SSP.

The purpose of this article is to study the degradation of chemical compositions after the silkworm excrement being expelled from the silkworm, and to determine its main metabolic compositions and their changing relationships. This research is based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technology. Based on the systematic analysis of the main chemical compositions contained in silkworm excrement, the principal compositions analysis(PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) on commercial silkworm excrement and fresh silkworm excrement were analyzed for differences. The S-plot chart of OPLS-DA was used to select and identify the chemical compositions that contributed significantly to the difference. At the same time, the relative peak areas of the different compositions were extracted by Masslynx to obtain the relative content of different compositions in fresh silkworm excrement. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the chemical compositions between fresh silkworm excrement and commercial silkworm excrement. The difference compositions were mainly flavonoid glycosides and Diels-Alder type composition, and two types of compounds are degradated during the storage of silkworm sand. In this study, the chemical compositions of fresh silkworm excrement were systematically identified and analyzed for the first time by mass spectrometry, and it was found that some chemical compositions of silkworm excrement were degradated with time during storage.
Animals ; Bombyx ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Discriminant Analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Mass Spectrometry

BACKGROUND: It is currently unclear if fibrinogen is a risk factor for adverse events in patients receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or merely serves as a marker of pre-existing comorbidities and other causal factors. We therefore investigated the association between fibrinogen levels and 2-year all-cause mortality, and compared the additional predictive value of adding fibrinogen to a basic model including traditional risk factors in patients receiving contemporary PCI. METHODS: A total of 6293 patients undergoing PCI with measured baseline fibrinogen levels were enrolled from January to December 2013 in Fuwai Hospital. Patients were divided into three groups according to tertiles of baseline fibrinogen levels: low fibrinogen, <2.98 g/L; medium fibrinogen, 2.98 to 3.58 g/L; and high fibrinogen, ≥3.58 g/L. Independent predictors of 2-year clinical outcomes were determined by multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. The increased discriminative value of fibrinogen for predicting all-cause mortality was assessed using the C-statistic and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI). RESULTS: The 2-year all-cause mortality rate was 1.2%. It was significantly higher in the high fibrinogen compared with the low and medium fibrinogen groups according to Kaplan-Meier analyses (1.7% vs. 0.9% and 1.7% vs. 1.0%, respectively; log-rank, P = 0.022). Fibrinogen was significantly associated with all-cause mortality according to multivariate Cox regression (hazard ratio 1.339, 95% confidence interval: 1.109-1.763, P = 0.005), together with traditional risk factors including age, sex, diabetes mellitus, left ventricular ejection fraction, creatinine clearance, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The area under the curve for all-cause mortality in the basic model including traditional risk factors was 0.776, and this value increased to 0.787 when fibrinogen was added to the model (IDI = 0.003, Z = 0.140, P = 0.889). CONCLUSIONS Fibrinogen is associated with 2-year all-cause mortality in patients receiving PCI, but provides no additional information over a model including traditional risk factors.
Acute Coronary Syndrome ; blood ; therapy ; Aged ; Fasting ; blood ; Female ; Fibrinogen ; analysis ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Risk Factors

Background: It remains undetermined whether second-generation drug-eluting stents (G2-DESs) outperform first-generation DESs (G1-DESs) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of G1-DES and G2-DES in ACS patients in a high-volume cardiovascular center. Methods: In 2013, 10,724 consecutive patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in our institution. We included 4037 patients with ACS who underwent exclusively G1-DES or G2-DES implantation (n = 364 and n = 3673, respectively). We used propensity score matching to minimize the imbalance between the G1-DES and G2-DES groups and followed patients for 2 years. The efficacy endpoints were major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) and its components including target vessel-related myocardial infarction (TV-MI), target vessel revascularization/target lesion revascularization (TVR/TLR), and cardiac death. The safety endpoint was stent thrombosis. Continuous variables were compared by Mann-Whitney U-test, and categorical variables were compared using Pearson's Chi-square or Fisher's exact test. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed to compare the event-free survival rates, and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to assess whether stent type was an independent risk factor for the efficacy and safety endpoints. Results: At the 2-year follow-up, the results for MACE and it components, as well as stent thrombosis, were similar for G1-DES and G2-DES (MACE, 5.2% vs. 4.3%, χ = 0.514, P = 0.474; TV-MI, 0.8% vs. 0.4%, P = 0.407; TVR, 4.9% vs. 3.7%, χ = 0.939, P = 0.333; TLR, 3.8% vs. 2.5%, χ = 1.610, P = 0.205; cardiac death, 0.3% vs. 0.5%, P = 0.670; and stent thrombosis, 0.5% vs. 0.4%, P > 0.999). Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated similar event-free survival rates between G1-DES and G2-DES after propensity score matching (all: log-rank P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that stent type was not an independent risk factor for the efficacy and safety endpoints (MACE, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.805, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.455-1.424, P = 0.456; TV-MI, HR = 0.500, 95% CI: 0.101-2.475, P = 0.395; TVR, HR = 0.732, 95% CI: 0.403-1.330, P = 0.306; TLR, HR = 0.629, 95% CI: 0.313-1.264, P = 0.193; cardiac death, HR = 1.991, 95% CI: 0.223-17.814, P = 0.538; and stent thrombosis, HR = 0.746, 95% CI: 0.125-4.467, P = 0.749). Conclusion G1-DES and G2-DES have similar efficacy and safety profiles in ACS patients at the 2-year follow-up.
Acute Coronary Syndrome ; surgery ; Aged ; Coronary Thrombosis ; surgery ; Drug-Eluting Stents ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; surgery ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; methods ; Prospective Studies

Objective To observe the effects of Qijingmingmu decoction granule on the expression of mitogen-activated protein linase (MAPK) signal pathway in fibroblasts of conjunctivochalasis (CCH) under the stimulation of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and to explore the pathogenesis and effective treatment method of CCH.Methods CCH conjunctival fibroblasts were cultured in vitro and divided into CCH group,CCH + TNF-α group and CCH + TNF-α + Qijingmingmu decoction group.CCK-8 assay was used to determine the effective concentration of Qijingmingmu decoction granule,and 10-2 mg · L-1 TNF-α was added in the cultured fibroblasts of the latter two groups,followed by interference with Qijingmingmu decoction granule for 48h.The expression of MAPK signal pathway related protein and mRNA were detected by ELISA,Western Blot and RT-PCR.Then the results were statistically analyzed.Results CCK-8 assay showed the effective concentration of Qijingmingmu decoction granule was 1.61g · L-1.And there were significant differences in the total A values (A450) of extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK),c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK),p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) and their phosphorylation levels among the three groups (all P ＜ 0.05).Moreover,TNF-α could significantly up-regulate the expression of ERK1/2,JNK1/2,p-JNK1/2,p38 MAPK and p-p38 MAPK in CCH fibroblasts (all P ＜0.05),while Qijingmingmu decoction down-regulated their expressions in CCK fibroblasts after TNF-α stimulation (all P ＜ 0.05).Furthermore,the total differences in p-ERK1/2,p38 MAPK and p-p38 MAPK protein were significant in the three groups (all P＜0.05);and TNF-α could significantly up-regulate the expression of p-ERK1/2,p-JNK1/2,p38 MAPK and p-p38 MAPK protein in CCH fibroblasts (all P ＜0.05),while Qijingmingmu decoction down-regulated p-ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK expressions in CCK fibroblasts after TNF-α stimulation (both P ＜ 0.05).In addition,the total differences in ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK mRNA were significant in the three groups (both P ＜ 0.05);and TNF-α could significantly up-regulate the expression of ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK mRNA in CCH fibroblasts (both P ＜ 0.05),while Qijingmingmu decoction down-regulated p38 MAPK mRNA expressions in CCK fibroblasts after TNF-α stimulation (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The inflammatory factor TNF-α can up-regulate the expressions of MAPK signal pathway related protein and mRNA in CCH fibroblasts,resulting in the occurrence and development of CCH,and meanwhile Qijingmingmu decoction granule can downregulate the expression of MAPK signal pathway to play the therapeutic role in CCH to some extent.

Objective: To explore the impact of bundle branch block (BBB) on acute coronary syndrome (ACS) prognosis in patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A total of 6 429 ACS patients received PCI in our hospital from 2013-01 to 2013-12 were enrolled. According to BBB diagnosis at discharge, the patients were divided into 2 groups: BBB group, n=159 and Non-BBB group, n=6 270. The incidences of 2-year major adverse cardio and cerebral-vascular events (MACCE) including all-cause death, cardiac death, myocardial infarction, revascularization, in-stent thrombosis and stroke were compared between 2 groups; relationship between existing BBB and clinical outcomes was assessed. Results: Compared with Non-BBB group, BBB group had the elder age (62.97±11.37) years vs (58.26±10.36) years, lower BMI (25.31±3.02) vs (25.89±3.20), decreased glomerular filtration rate (86.89±16.15)ml/min vs (91.05±15.53)ml/min and LVEF (59.27±9.86)% vs (62.37±7.36) %, all P<0.05; other baseline condition, angiographic and interventional features were similar between 2 groups, all P>0.05. During 2-year follow-up period, compared with Non-BBB group, BBB group showed the higher incidences of cardiac death (2.5% vs 0.7%) and in-stent thrombosis (3.1% vs 0.8%), both P<0.05; other incidences of MACCE were similar between 2 groups, all P>0.05. With adjusted propensity score matching, 2-year incidence of MACCE was similar between 2 groups, P>0.05; 2-year incidences of MACCE in BBB group including LBBB and RBBB were similar to Non-BBB group, P>0.05. Cox regression analysis revealed that BBB was not related to ACS prognosis after PCI. Conclusion: BBB was not an independent risk factor for long-term MACCE occurrence in ACS patients after PCI.

BackgroundResidual SYNTAX score (rSS) and its derived indexes including SYNTAX revascularization index (SRI) and clinical rSS had been developed to quantify and describe the extent of incomplete revascularization. This study was conducted to explore the utility of the three scores among real-world patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

MethodsFrom January 2013 to December 2013, patients underwent PCI treatment at Fuwai Hospital were included. The primary endpoints were all-cause death and major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. The secondary endpoints were myocardial infarction, revascularization, stroke, and stent thrombosis. Kaplan-Meier methodology was used to determine the outcomes. Cox multivariable regression was to test the associations between scores and all-cause mortality.

ResultsA total of 10,344 patients were finally analyzed in this study. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that greater residual coronary lesions quantified by rSS and its derived indexes were associated with increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events. However, after multivariate analysis, only clinical rSS was an independent predictor of 2-year all-cause death (hazard ratio: 1.02, 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.03, P < 0.01). By receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, clinical rSS had superior predictability of 2-year all-cause death than rSS and SRI (area under ROC curve [AUC]: 0.59 vs. 0.56 vs. 0.56, all P < 0.01), whereas rSS was superior in predicting repeat revascularization than clinical rSS and SRI (AUC: 0.62 vs. 0.61 vs. 0.61; all P < 0.01). When comparing the predictive capability of rSS ≥8 with SRI <70%, their predictabilities were not significantly different.

ConclusionsThis study indicates that all three indexes (rSS, clinical rSS, and SRI) are able to risk-stratify patients and predict 2-year outcomes after PCI. However, their prognostic capabilities are different.

Aged ; Coronary Artery Disease ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; surgery ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; methods ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Risk Assessment ; Treatment Outcome