There are 200-500 species of Potentilla(Rosaceae) worldwide, among which 90 species are widely distributed in China and have a long history of ethnic medicinal use. According to our statistics, a total of 367 compounds have been isolated and identified from plants of this genus, including terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins, and phenylpropanoids. The medicinal materials made from these plants mainly have antioxidative, blood sugar-lowering, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, cardiovascular system-protecting, neuroprotective, and hepatoprotective activities. This study systematically reviews the research progress on chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Potentilla plants to provide a basis for further research and clinical application.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology* ; Antioxidants/pharmacology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Plant Extracts/pharmacology* ; Potentilla

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, affecting about 0.6% of the Chinese population. Many patients are not well controlled by conventional treatments, thus there is need for new treatment regimens. In this study, we assessed the efficacy and safety of secukinumab in Chinese patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. METHODS: This study was a 52-week, multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, Phase 3 trial. A sub-population of study participants (≥18 years) of Chinese ethnicity were randomized to receive subcutaneous injections of 300 or 150 mg secukinumab, or placebo. The co-primary endpoints were psoriasis area severity index (PASI) 75 and Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) 0/1 at Week 12. RESULTS: A total of 441 Chinese patients were enrolled in this study. Co-primary outcomes were achieved; 300 and 150 mg secukinumab were superior to placebo as shown in the proportion of patients that achieved PASI 75 (97.7% and 87.2% vs. 3.7%, respectively; P < 0.001), and IGA 0/1 (82.3% and 69.7% vs. 2.7%; P < 0.001) at Week 12. Treatment efficacy was maintained until Week 52. There was no increase in overall adverse events with secukinumab relative to placebo throughout the 52-week period. CONCLUSION: Secukinumab is highly effective and well tolerated in Chinese patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03066609; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT03066609.
Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use* ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; China ; Double-Blind Method ; Humans ; Psoriasis/drug therapy* ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome

Female ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; metabolism ; pathology ; Glomerulonephritis, Membranous ; metabolism ; pathology ; Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Kidney ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; metabolism ; pathology

BACKGROUNDAtopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by chronic recurrent dermatitis with profound itching. Most patients have personal and/or family history of atopic diseases. Several criteria have been proposed for the diagnosis of AD. Although the clinical features of childhood AD have been widely studied, there has been less large-scale study on adult/adolescent AD. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features of adult/adolescent patients with chronic symmetrical eczema/AD and to propose Chinese diagnostic criteria for adult/adolescent AD.

METHODSA hospital-based study was performed. Forty-two dermatological centers participated in this study. Adult and adolescent patients (12 years and over) with chronic symmetrical eczema or AD were included in this study. Questionnaires were completed by both patients and investigators. The valid questionnaires were analyzed using EpiData 3.1 and SPSS 17.0 software.

RESULTSA total of 2662 valid questionnaires were collected (1369 male and 1293 female). Of all 2662 patients, 2062 (77.5%) patients had the disease after 12 years old, while only 600 (22.5%) patients had the disease before 12 years old, suggesting late-onset eczema/AD is common. Two thousand one hundred and thirty-nine (80.4%) patients had the disease for more than 6 months. One thousand one hundred and forty-four (43.0%) patients had a personal and/or family history of atopic diseases. One thousand five hundred and forty-eight (58.2%) patients had an elevated total serum IgE and/or eosinophilia and/or positive allergen-specific IgE. Based on these clinical and laboratory features, we proposed Chinese criteria for adult/adolescent AD. Of all 2662 patients, 60.3% were satisfied with our criteria, while only 48.2% satisfied with Hanifin Rajka criteria and 32.7% satisfied with Williams criteria, suggesting a good sensitivity of our criteria in adult/adolescent AD patients.

CONCLUSIONLate-onset of eczema or AD is common. The clinical manifestations of AD are heterogeneous. We have proposed Chinese diagnostic criteria for adolescent and adult AD, which are simple and sensitive for diagnosis of adult/adolescent AD.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; diagnosis ; immunology ; Eczema ; diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Surveys and Questionnaires

INTRODUCTIONThis study aimed to determine the early growth patterns of preterm infants who required prolonged hospitalisation in terms of body weight Z-score, and to explore the influencing factors and predictors of their growth.

METHODSThe criteria of enrolment included preterm birth, singleton pregnancy, hospitalisation within the first 24 hours of life, hospital stay ≥ 28 days and clinical follow-up beyond 91 days of corrected age. Body weight Z-scores and the incidence of underweight infants were reviewed periodically, and the influencing factors and possible predictors of growth analysed.

RESULTSBody weight Z-scores of all infants of gestational age (GA) groups kept decreasing, with a trough seen at 36 weeks corrected gestational age (CGA). At corrected full-term, body weight Z-scores for all birth weight groups achieved birth level and were higher than that at 36 weeks CGA. Body weight Z-scores at 61 days corrected age was (-0.300 × GA [weeks] + 0.210 × birth weight [g] + 0.682 × body weight Z-score) at 40 weeks CGA. The cut-off values for body weight Z-score at birth (cut-off, -1.79; sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 91.3%) and 61 days corrected age (cut-off, -1.95; sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 97.1%) were selected to predict the risk of being underweight at 183 days corrected age.

CONCLUSIONEarly growth restriction is a practical problem in preterm infants with prolonged hospitalisation. Body weight Z-scores at 40 weeks CGA and 61 days corrected age can be used to predict body weight gain prior to 183 days corrected age in these infants.

Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gestational Age ; Growth Disorders ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; growth & development ; Infant, Premature, Diseases ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Length of Stay ; trends ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Retrospective Studies ; Singapore ; epidemiology

Objective To survey the incidence of acute coronary events and its trend in three years,and explore the distribution of the incidence across Beijing residents aged 25 years and more from 2007 to 2009.Methods The present study incorporated and linked the routinely collected data from the Hospital Discharge Information System and Cause of Death Register System in Beijing,estimated the incidence of acute coronary events,and analyzed the distribution of the incidence across gender,age groups and regions.Acute coronary event was defined as non-fatal myocardial infarction and death from coronary heart disease. Numbers of residents by age,gender and area were obtained from the Beijing Statistics Bureau.Results A total of 68 390 acute coronary events were identified among permanent residents of Beijing aged 25 years and more from 2007 to 2009.The age-standardized incidence was 166.4 per 100 000 people in overall population,with 218.5 in males and 115.2 in females.The age-standardized incidence was 144.3,154.7,and 195.8 per 100 000 people in urban,suburban,and exurban area,respectively.The incidence was the highest in Huairou district (263.8 per 100 000),while was the lowest in Haidian district ( 121.5 per 100 000 ).The age-standardized incidence was 158.4,169.4,and 171.2 per 100 000 in 2007,2008,and 2009,respectively.The age-standardized incidence increased by 8.1％ in 2009 compared to 2007,increase in men ( 11.1％ ) was greater than in women (2.5％ ).The incidence increased significantly with age in each year.The incidence raised by 30.3％ in 2009 compared to 2007 for men aged 35 - 44 years.In 2009,the incidence was 146.7,155.9,and 207.4 per 100 000 people in urban,suburban,and exurban area,respectively.The rates increased by 3.2％ in both urban and suburban areas,and 16.4％ in exurban areas in 2009 compared to 2007.Conclusion The incidence of acute coronary events increased from 2007 to 2009 among the permanent residents of Beijing aged 25 years and over,especially in young men,and people living in the exurban areas.

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the incidence of intra- and extrauterine growth retardation (EUGR) and growth restriction in premature infants, and to illustrate the growth pattern of them in postnatal and infantile period.

METHODSAll premature infants were admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) during the recent 7 years. The criteria for enrollment were (1) gestational age < 37 weeks; (2) single fetus; (3) admitted within the first 24 hours of life; (4) hospitalization period ≥ 14 days; (5) clinical follow-up persisted till ≥ 3 months of corrected gestational age. Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), EUGR and growth restriction were defined as having a measured growth value (weight) that was ≤ 10(th) percentile of Chinese infants' growth curve in corrected age on admission, discharge and follow-up period. Results were analyzed by using SPSS 12.0 statistical software package by chi-square test, rank-sum test, and t test.

RESULTSTwo hundred and thirty nine infants were involved, 134 were boys and 105 girls. The incidence of IUGR and EUGR assessed by weight was 25.5% and 40.6%, respectively. The lower the birth weight was, the higher the incidence of IUGR and EUGR was. The percentile of body weight in the growth curve at discharge was lower than that at birth (Z = -7.784, P = 0.000). The incidence of growth restriction assessed by weight was 20.5%, 15.0%, 8.8%, 17.0%, 10.4%, 10.1%, 11.9%, 7.0% at corrected gestational age of 38 - 40 weeks, corrected age of 28 d, 61 d, 91 d, 122 d, 152 d, 183 d, and 274 d, respectively. The incidences of growth restriction were stable when the corrected age was older than 91 days. The incidence of growth restriction in female premature infants at 183 days' corrected age was higher than that in male children (χ(2) = 6.181, P = 0.017), the incidence was 19.3% and 3.8% respectively. During the follow-up period, most of the average body weight of premature infants whose gestational age was < 32 weeks or birth weight ≤ 1500 g were lower than the 50(th) percentile of the growth curve except the average body weight of boys whose gestational age < 32 weeks at corrected age of 2 and 4 months.

CONCLUSIONSPremature and/or low birth weight infants are at high risk of growth restriction, especially very low birth weight infants. The incidence of growth restriction decreased with growth. Long-term prognosis requires further investigation.

Body Weight ; Female ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; growth & development ; Male ; Weight Gain

BACKGROUNDThe main therapeutic treatments for hepatic artery complications after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) include thrombolysis, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, stent placement, and liver retransplantation. The prognosis of hepatic artery complications after OLT is not only related to the type, extent, and timing but also closely associated with the selection and timing of the therapeutic methods. However, there is no consensus of opinion regarding the treatment of these complications. The aim of this study was to determine optimal treatment for hepatic artery complications after OLT.

METHODSThe clinical data of 25 patients diagnosed with hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) and hepatic artery stenosis (HAS) between October 2003 and March 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. Treatments included liver retransplantation and interventions which contain thrombolysis, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stent placement.

RESULTSAmong five patients with HAT, 3 were treated with thrombolysis. One recovered, one died after thrombolysis and another one died of multi-organ failure after retransplantation because of recurrent HAT. The remaining 2 patients underwent successful retransplantation and have survived after that. Among 12 patients presented with HAS within 1 month postoperatively, 2 patients underwent retransplantation due to irreversible liver failure and another 10 patients were treated with interventions. The liver function failed to improve in 3 patients and retransplantations were performed in 4 patients after stent placement because of ischemic cholangitis. Among 6 patients undergoing liver retransplantations, two died of intracranial hemorrhage and infection respectively. Eight patients presented with HAS after 1 month postoperatively, 5 patients were treated with interventional management and recovered after stent placement. Among another 3 patients presented with HAS, 2 patients' liver function was stable and one patient received late liver retransplantation due to ischemic bile duct lesion.

CONCLUSIONSIndividualized therapeutic regimens should be adopted in treating hepatic artery complications after OLT, according to postoperative periods, types and whether ischemic bile duct lesion exists or not. Liver retransplantation is the best treatment for patients with hepatic artery thrombosis. Interventional treatments of late HAS without irreversible liver failure or bile duct ischemia are appropriate, whereas retransplantation is recommended for early HAS.

Adult ; Aged ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Female ; Hepatic Artery ; pathology ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies ; Thrombosis ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo investigate the gene differential expression patterns in hepatocirrhosis and non-hepatocirrhosis tissues within different ischemic time.

METHODSThe liver tissues were divided into two groups: Group A (non-hepatocirrhosis), Group B (hepatocirrhosis), each of which consisted of 3 groups with different ischemic time: 15, 30 and 45 minutes. The gene differential expression patterns in the two groups within different ischemic time were detected and compared with those in normal liver tissues by using 4000 points gene microarray.

RESULTSIn non-hepatocirrhosis tissues, the homeostatic maintenance genes expressed highly during hepatic ischemia for 15 minutes, and no apoptotic gene was expressed; but in hepatocirrhosis tissues, many apoptotic genes expressed highly. As for 30 minutes, in both two groups liver tissue genes expressed to the peak, and the genes related to cell death, oxidative stress and nuclear factors expressed highly. The difference lies in the facts that in Group B pro-apoptosis genes expressed more than those in Group A, and the Ratio values were higher than those in Group A. Many genes of heat shock protein family and antioxidant proteins expressed highly simultaneously in Group A, but comparatively low in Group B. As for 45 minutes, genes of heat shock proteins and antioxidant proteins expressed lowly in Group B.

CONCLUSIONSIt suggests that the safe time limit of hepatic ischemia for cell survive is 30 minutes or so. Non-hepatocirrhosis tissues could endure 30 minutes of ischemia and even longer, but it should be restricted within 30 minutes in hepatocirrhosis tissues.

Gene Expression Profiling ; Humans ; Ischemia ; genetics ; Liver ; blood supply ; metabolism ; Liver Cirrhosis ; genetics ; pathology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods ; Time Factors

Objective To study the clinical and experimental efficacy of end-to-side gastro jejunostomy with circular stapler after distal subtotal gastrectomy.Methods Twelve Beagle dogs were randomly divided into group A and B. End-to-side gastroduodenostomy was finished with circular staplers or hand-sewn after gastrectomy. Side-to-side gastroduodenostomy was done in the second operation after three months.Healing and diameter of end-to-side gastroduodenostomy in Beagle'S were observed dogs.Perimeter of side-to-side gastroduodenostomy and duodenum adjacent to anastomosis were measured. One hundred and forty-five patients suffered from stomach cancer were randomly divided into group A and B.Group A had 71 cases and Group B 74 cases.End-to-side gastrojejunostomy was finished with circular stapler or hand-sewn after distal subtotal gastrectomy.Leakage and stricture of anastomosis were observed after operation.Size of anastomosis and track of Barium fluid and gastric residual Barium fluids two hours later were observed one year after operation.Results All operations in 12 dogs were successful.Healing of anastomoses and triangles at small curvature were satisfied three months after operation.Diameters of end-to-side gastroduodenostomy in group A and B were (1.18±0.13)am and(1.20±0.09)cm respectively，which were not significantly different between the two groups(t=-0.255，P=0.804).Circumferences of side-to-side gastroduodenostomy and duodenum adjacent to anastomosis were(6.46±0.06)cm and(7.26±0.12)cm respectively.All operations in 106 cases were successful and no complications of leakage and stricture of anastomosis occurred.Thin Barium fluid passed over anastomosis quickly under X-ray after one year.There was a little Barium fluid in the residual stomach in two hours later. Conclusion End-to-side gastrojejunostomy with circular stapler after distal subtotal gastrectomy is feasible. Anastomosis at the original position of residual stomach ensures adequate remove of stomach and prevents from trauma of spleen and vessel around spleen.