Abstract: Hyperuricemia is a metabolic disease caused by elevated uric acid in the body, and is closely related to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and renal complications. In the development process of uric acid-lowering drugs, activity evaluation is a crucial step. At present, the activity screening methods of uric acid-lowering drugs can be roughly divided into two categories: in vitro and in vivo. In vitro screening is mainly for such targets as xanthine oxidase, urate transporters, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase, etc.; while in vivo screening is achieved by rodent, poultry and organoid models. In this article, the activity evaluation methods for uric acid-lowering compounds are comprehensively summarized both in vitro and in vivo, aiming to provide some insight for the development of uric acid-lowering drugs.

Imported medicinal materials are an important part of Chinese medicinal resources. To be specific, about 10% of the around 600 commonly used Chinese medicinal materials are from abroad, and the introduction of foreign medicinal materials has promoted the development of Chinese medicine. Amid the advancement of reform and opening up and the "Belt and Road" Initiative, major headway has been made in the cross-border trade in China, bringing opportunities for the import of medicinal materials from border ports. However, for a long time, there is a lack of systematic investigation on the types of exotic medicinal materials at border ports. In the fourth national census of traditional Chinese medicine resources, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, together with several organizations, investigated the nearly 40 border ports, Chinese medicinal material markets, and border trade markets in 6 provinces/autonomous regions in China for the first time and recorded the types, sources, circulation, and the transaction characteristics of imported medicinal materials. Moreover, they invited experts to identify the origins of the collected 237 medicinal materials. In addition, the status quo and the problems of the medicinal materials were summarized. This study is expected to lay a basis for clarifying the market and origins of imported medicinal materials as well as the scientific research on and supervision of them.
Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Materia Medica ; Records ; Censuses ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal

Objective To investigate the predictive value of peripheral blood LMR and LMR/LDH on the prognosis of primary Waldeyer's Ring DLBCL patients. Methods We collected 71 patients with primary Waldeyer's Ring DLBCL. The ROC curve was used to determine the optimal critical values of LMR and LMR/LDH before treatment. The chi-square test was used to analyze the constituent ratio and rate of high and low LMR groups as well as high and low LMR/LDH groups. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rate. Log rank method and Cox risk regression model were used for univariate and multivariate analyses, respectively. Results The optimal critical values of LMR and LMR/LDH were 2.97 and 1.56, respectively. The prognosis of patients in the high LMR group was significantly better than that in the low LMR group (P < 0.001). The prognosis of patients in the high LMR/LDH group was significantly better than that in the low LMR/LDH group (P < 0.001). Univariate analysis showed that age, B symptoms, clinical stage, treatment efficacy, IPI score, LDH level, LMR and LMR/LDH were important factors that influenced the prognosis of early-stage Waldeyer's Ring DLBCL. Multivariate analysis showed that the age, clinical stage and LMR/LDH were independent prognostic factors. Conclusion LMR and LMR/LDH before treatment may have certain value in predicting the prognosis of Waldeyer's Ring DLBCL patients.

The quality marker(Q-marker) of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is a new concept of TCM quality control proposed in recent years. It is a hot issue in the research of modern Chinese medicine. The TCM efficacy is a high-level summary of the TCM therapeutic effect under the guidance of TCM theory. On this basis, it is of considerable significance to explore the TCM efficacy marker for the TCM modernization. However, the traditional research strategy based on the single herb and decoction piece in macro TCM level, or the drug research strategy based on the biological effect of the targets, is quite different from the characteristics of multiple components of TCM, as well as the weak and low-selective effect of Chinese medicine ingredients on targets. Therefore, how to select representative ingredients to characterize the TCM overall efficacy is a problematic point in establishing TCM efficacy markers. In this paper, the concept and method of Q-marker were introduced into the study of Chinese medicine efficacy. The research method for systematic TCM was used to systematically discuss the connotation of TCM efficacy markers, the principles of discovery and determination, common research ideas and techniques by taking the representative research results as an example. This study provides new ideas for the research and discovery of TCM efficacy markers.
Biomarkers ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Quality Control ; Research Design

Objective:To explore the value of 3.0 T high resolution MRI (HR-MRI) in the follow-up of drug treatment in acute and non-acute ischemic stroke caused by middle cerebral artery (MCA) plaque.Methods:The perspective study enrolled patients with ischemic stroke caused by MCA stenosis from October 2012 to October 2015 in the department of Neurology and Neurosurgery of Changhai Hospital Affiliated to Naval Medical University. All the patients underwent HR-MRI and then were divided into acute and non-acute stroke groups according to the intervels of the last symptom onset to the time of HR-MRI examination. All patients were informed consent to receive antiplatelet drug and intensive lipid therapy and followed up with HR-MRI. The HR-MRI sequence including T 2WI, T 1WI and contrast-enhanced T 1WI of vessel wall, and T 2WI and DWI of brain were routinely performed. T-test of paired samples was used to evaluate the changes of stenosis rate of vascular lumen, plaque enhancement degree, plaque volume and plaque burden on HR-MRI, and the NIHSS score of nervous system and blood biochemical indicators of the patients before and after treatment. Chi square test was used to compare the difference in ischemic event recurrcence between the acute and the non-acute stroke group. Results:A total of 31 acute stroke patients and 20 non-acute stroke patients were enrolled in the study. The mean follow-up time of acute stroke group was (671.71±522.86) days. Compare with the baseline, the stenosis rate of vascular lumen ( P=0.039), plaque enhancement degree ( P<0.001), plaque volume ( P=0.024) and plaque burden ( P=0.031) were all improved after the drug treatment, the NIHSS score of nervous system was also significantly improved, and the levels of total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in 12 patients were significantly decreased. The mean follow-up time of patients with non-acute stroke was (695.35±555.90) days. The stenosis rate of vascular lumen, plaque enhancement degree, plaque volume and plaque burden were slightly improved, but without statistical significance ( P>0.05). There were no significant changes in NIHSS score of nervous system, TC, triglyceride (TG) and LDL-C ( P>0.05), however the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly increased than that in the baseline ( P=0.02). During the follow-up period, no new cerebral infarction was found in the DWI images of the two groups. Six patients had transient ischemic attack (TIA) recurrence in the acute stroke group and 5 patients in the non-acute stroke group, there was no significant difference between both groups(χ 2=0.229, P= 0.632). Conclusion:HR-MRI can be used as an important evaluation method for the follow-up of MCA atherosclerotic plaque therapy. After antiplatelet therapy and intensive lipid-lowering therapy, the plaque volume and burden of MCA offending plaque, and plaque enhancement decreased in acute stroke patients but there was no significant change in non-acute patients.

Vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) is frequently used in abdominal surgeries. However, relevant guidelines are rare. Chinese Trauma Surgeon Association organized a committee composed of 28 experts across China in July 2017, aiming to provide an evidence-based recommendation for the application of VSD in abdominal surgeries. Eleven questions regarding the use of VSD in abdominal surgeries were addressed: (1) which type of materials should be respectively chosen for the intraperitoneal cavity, retroperitoneal cavity and superficial incisions? (2) Can VSD be preventively used for a high-risk abdominal incision with primary suture? (3) Can VSD be used in severely contaminated/infected abdominal surgical sites? (4) Can VSD be used for temporary abdominal cavity closure under some special conditions such as severe abdominal trauma, infection, liver transplantation and intra-abdominal volume increment in abdominal compartment syndrome? (5) Can VSD be used in abdominal organ inflammation, injury, or postoperative drainage? (6) Can VSD be used in the treatment of intestinal fistula and pancreatic fistula? (7) Can VSD be used in the treatment of intra-abdominal and extra-peritoneal abscess? (8) Can VSD be used in the treatment of abdominal wall wounds, wound cavity, and defects? (9) Does VSD increase the risk of bleeding? (10) Does VSD increase the risk of intestinal wall injury? (11) Does VSD increase the risk of peritoneal adhesion? Focusing on these questions, evidence-based recommendations were given accordingly. VSD was strongly recommended regarding the questions 2-4. Weak recommendations were made regarding questions 1 and 5-11. Proper use of VSD in abdominal surgeries can lower the risk of infection in abdominal incisions with primary suture, treat severely contaminated/infected surgical sites and facilitate temporary abdominal cavity closure.
Abdomen ; surgery ; China ; Drainage ; methods ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Humans ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Societies, Medical ; organization & administration ; Surgical Wound Infection ; prevention & control ; Traumatology ; organization & administration ; Vacuum

The project was launched to analyze the effects of sulfur-fumigated Ophiopogonis Radix on endogenous metabolites in rats by metabonomics. The preparation method of sulfur-fumigated Ophiopogonis Radix in laboratory was established. Then the blood samples of SD rats in blank group,Ophiopogonis Radix extract group and sulfur-fumigated Ophiopogonis Radix extract group were investigated by UHPLC-Q-Exactive. The differential metabolites were screened and identified by PCA(principal component analysis),OPLSDA(orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis) and variable importance projection(VIP),and the metabolic pathways were analyzed. Finally,a total of 15 potential biomarkers were identified. Compared with the samples of Ophiopogonis Radix extract group,sulfur-fumigated Ophiopogonis Radix mainly affected the biosynthesis and metabolism of amino acids in normal rats. Its mechanism may be related to the biosynthesis of phenylalanine,tyrosine,tryptophan and aminoacyl-tRNA as well as the metabolism of phenylalanine and tryptophan. Based on UHPLC-HRMS metabonomics,this paper discussed the effects of sulfur-fumigated Ophiopogonis Radix on endogenous metabolites in rats,which provided an idea for the metabolic study of other sulfur-fumigated traditional Chinese medicines.
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Metabolomics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sulfur

Piloerection is an involuntary erection of body hairs that usually has physiological correlates such as cold or a strong emotional experience. Piloerection may also be a rare manifestation of seizure.Here, we report a case of 54-year-old man who experienced pilomotor seizures from temporal lobe epilepsy. The patient presented with sudden piloerection and no loss of consciousness many times a day. Magnetic resonance imagingof the brain showed threelesions in the right hemisphere, with the largest lesion in the right temporal lobe. A video-EEG showed an ictal discharge in the delta range with right temporal onset. Digital subtraction angiography excluded arteriovenous malformation. The lesion in the right temporal lobe was resected. Immunohistochemistry confirmed a cerebral cavernous malformation. There was no further seizure. A review of the published literature revealed that ictal piloerection as a lone manifestation is rare. Most cases of pilomotor seizure originate in the temporal lobe. Close to four fifth of the cases has a structural lesion. EEG was able to confirm the diagnosis of ictal piloerection in the majority of cases.

Metastatic brain lymphomas, which belong to secondary central nervous system lymphomas, usually originate from primary tumors of the bone marrow, testis, or orbit. Gastrointestinal lymphomas commonly metastasize to the lung or heart. We report here a case of brain hemorrhage due to metastasis from primary gastrointestinal diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). A 30-year-old male presented with headache. He was diagnosed to have gastrointestinal lymphoma 6 months earlier, and treated with gastrointestinal surgery. Pathological diagnosis was DLBCL. A PET-CT scan immediately after gastrointestinal surgery demonstrated no brain metastasis. On admission to the ward, imaging of the brain showed right temporoparietal hematoma. In the ward, the patient deteriorated with impaired consciousness. Repeat brain imaging showed enlargement of the hematoma. He underwent right temporoparietal craniotomy for the removal of a hematoma, and tumor nodules adherent to the cortex was found. Pathology confirmed a metastatic DLBCL in the brain. Literature review showed that this was the first reported case of brain hemorrhage from metastatic lymphoma. Metastatic central nervous system lymphoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis in patients with a history of gastrointestinal lymphoma presenting with neurological symptoms.