This study was designed to evaluate the protective effect of CPD1, a novel phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor, on renal interstitial fibrosis after unilateral renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (UIRI). Male BALB/c mice were subjected to UIRI, and treated with CPD1 once daily (i.g, 5 mg/kg). Contralateral nephrectomy was performed on day 10 after UIRI, and the UIRI kidneys were harvested on day 11. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE), Masson trichrome and Sirius Red staining methods were used to observe the renal tissue structural lesions and fibrosis. Immunohistochemical staining and Western blot were used to detect the expression of proteins related to fibrosis. HE, Sirius Red and Masson trichrome staining showed that CPD1-treated UIRI mice had lower extent of tubular epithelial cell injury and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) in renal interstitium compared with those in the fibrotic mouse kidneys. The results from immunohistochemistry and Western blot assay indicated significantly decreased protein expressions of type I collagen, fibronectin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) after CPD1 treatment. In addition, CPD1 dose-dependently inhibited the expression of ECM-related proteins induced by transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) in normal rat kidney interstitial fibroblasts (NRK-49F) and human renal tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2). In summary, the novel PDE inhibitor, CPD1, displays strong protective effects against UIRI and fibrosis by suppressing TGF-β signaling pathway and regulating the balance between ECM synthesis and degradation through PAI-1.
Animals ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Rats ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; Fibrosis ; Kidney ; Kidney Diseases ; Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors ; Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1

Skin wound healing tends to slow down with aging, which is detrimental to both minor wound recovery in daily life and the recovery after surgery. The aim of current study was to explore the effect of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) on wound healing during aging. Cultured human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and mouse full-thickness skin wound model were used to explore the functional changes of replicative senescent dermal fibroblasts and the effect of aging on skin wound healing. Scratch wound healing assay revealed significantly decreased migration speed of senescent HDFs, and BrdU incorporation assay indicated their considerably retardant proliferation. The protein expression levels of collagen and HDAC6 were significantly decreased in both senescent HDFs and skin tissues from aged mice. HDAC6 activity inhibition with highly selective inhibitor tubastatin A (TsA) or HDAC6 knockdown with siRNA decreased the migration speed of HDFs and considerably suppressed fibroblast differentiation induced by transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), which suggests the involvement of HDAC6 in regulating fundamental physiological activities of dermal fibroblasts. In vivo full-thickness skin wound healing was significantly delayed in young HDAC6 knockout mice when compared with young wild type mice. In addition, the wound healing was significantly slower in aged wild type mice than that in young wild type mice, and became even worse in aged HDAC6 knockout aged mice. Compared to the aged wild type mice, aged HDAC6 knockout mice exhibited delayed angiogenesis, reduced collagen synthesis, and decreased collagen deposition in skin wounds. Together, these results suggest that delayed skin wound healing in aged mice is associated with impaired fibroblast function. Adequate expression and activity of HDAC6 are required for fibroblasts migration and differentiation.
Humans ; Animals ; Mice ; Aged ; Histone Deacetylase 6 ; Skin ; Wound Healing ; Cell Movement ; Collagen/pharmacology* ; Fibroblasts ; Mice, Knockout ; Cells, Cultured

The antidepressant effect of Xiaoyaosan has been demonstrated. It is of value to explore the biological mechanism of Xiaoyaosan in the treatment of depression from the perspective of functional modules by using the method of functional module division of the metabolic network. The differential metabolites and related enzymes and proteins regulated by Xiaoyaosan were identified in the database. Pathway enrichment analysis and crosstalk pathway analysis of Xiaoyaosan regulated metabolites was carried out. A network of differentially regulated metabolites and their enzymes and proteins was constructed by using the STRING tool. The CNM decomposition algorithm was used to extract the functional modules of the network and enrichment analysis of functional modules was carried out. The results show that Xiaoyaosan regulates 97 differential metabolites, 234 related enzymes and 258 depression-related proteins. The pathways crosstalk analysis was divided into two sub-networks, one of which is related to the neural system and cell signal transduction, the other is related to the endocrine system and metabolic pathways. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of the network and 9 functional modules extracted by the CNM algorithm shows that module 1 and module 3 belong to the pathways that can be enriched into more pathways with fewer proteins. The corresponding functions of these pathways include the endocrine system, amino acid metabolism, the nervous system and signal transduction. In this study, pathway crosstalk analysis and metabolic network module division strategies were used to explain the biological mechanism of Xiaoyaosan in the treatment of depression, providing ideas and methods for in-depth study of the pharmacological mechanism of this traditional Chinese medicine from the perspective of metabolic regulation.

BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation is effective in restoring sinus rhythm and left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is increasingly used for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to observe the feasibility and safety of performing AF ablation and LAAC in a single (one-stop) procedure. METHODS: Consecutive AF patients who underwent the combined procedure of AF ablation and LAAC with WATCHMAN device between March 2017 and September 2018 were prospectively enrolled. Baseline and intra-procedural parameters were evaluated. Three-month and subsequent 1-year follow-up were performed in all and earlier-enrolled subjects, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 178 AF patients (94 males, 68.9 ± 8.1 years) underwent the one-stop procedure with CHA2DS2-VASc score 3.3 ± 1.5 and HAS-BLED score 1.6 ± 1.0, respectively. Pulmonary vein isolation was achieved in all patients while additional linear ablation was applied if the operator deemed necessary, yielding immediate ablation success rate of 98.9% (176/178). In the subsequent LAAC, satisfactory seal (residual leak <5 mm) was achieved in all patients. One stroke and four cardiac perforations occurred peri-operatively. At 3-month follow-up, sinus rhythm and satisfactory seal were maintained in 153/178 (86.0%) and 178/178 (100%) patients, respectively. One stroke and one delayed cardiac tamponade occurred, while no device-related thrombus or device migration was observed. During the 1-year follow-up for the earlier enrolled subjects, 52/72 (72.2%) of the patients maintained sinus rhythm. There was no stroke or systemic embolism observed. CONCLUSION Combining catheter ablation and LAAC in a single procedure can be successfully and safely performed in non-valvular AF patients of Chinese population.

A new species of Alternaria causing leaf spots on the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) in Yunnan, China, was isolated, examined, and illustrated. Morphologically, it belongs to the section Porri of Alternaria, which produces relatively large conidia and a simple or branched, filamentous long beak. It is, however, characterized by conidiophores gradually enlarging near the apex into a clavate conidiogenous cell and long ellipsoid to obclavate, smooth-walled conidia with a long filamentous beak. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS rDNA, GAPDH, and TEF1-alpha sequences demonstrate that the phytopathogen falls in the clade of the section Porri, being most closely related to A. sidae, A. sennae, A. deseriticola, A. cyamopsidis, A. rostellata, A. nitrimali, A. crassa, and A. thunbergiae.
Acanthaceae ; Accidental Falls ; Alternaria ; Animals ; Ascomycota ; Beak ; China ; Classification ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Hevea ; Rubber ; Spores, Fungal

Objective To study the antiviral effect of Jin Qiao Tablets on influenza A H1N1 virus in vivo. Methods The mouse pneumonia model was established by nasal inhalation of 15 LD50 of influenza virus. After prophylactic or therapeutic medication for 5 d,mouse lung tissue was taken out and weighed. Viral load in lung tissue was measured by polymerse chain reaction(PCR),and the level of γ-interferon(γ-IFN)in rat serum and lung was detected by double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)for evaluating the effect of Jin Qiao Tablets on lung index, viral load and γ-IFN in rats. After prophylactic or therapeutic medication for 7 d,morbidity and mortality within 14 d of mice with pneumonia induced by nasal inhalation of 3 LD50 were observed to evaluate the action of Jin Qiao Tablets for protecting against death and prolonging life span. Results Jin Qiao Tablets markedly decreased the increased lung index,promoted the death-protection rate and life-prolongation rate, decreased viral load, raised the level of γ-IFN in mice (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Experimental results in vivo showed that Jin Qiao Tablets had better anti-influenza virus activity than Yinqiao Jiedu Tablets and Lianhua Qingwen Capsules, and the effect of Jin Qiao Tablets was equivalent to that of Tamiflu. The prophylactic effect of Jin Qiao Tablets was stronger than the therapeutic effect, but there was no significant difference between them. Conclusion Jin Qiao Tablets have obvious effect against influenza A H1N1 virus in vivo.

BACKGROUNDGlobally, the proportion of child deaths that occur in the neonatal period remains a high level of 37-41%. Differences of cause in neonate death exist in different regions as well as in different economic development countries. The specific aim of this study was to investigate the causes, characteristics, and differences of death in neonates during hospitalization in the tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of China.

METHODSAll the dead neonates admitted to 26 NICUs were included between January l, 2011, and December 31, 2011. All the data were collected retrospectively from clinical records by a designed questionnaire. Data collected from each NICU were delivered to the leading institution where the results were analyzed.

RESULTSA total of 744 newborns died during the 1-year survey, accounting for 1.2% of all the neonates admitted to 26 NICUs and 37.6% of all the deaths in children under 5 years of age in these hospitals. Preterm neonate death accounted for 59.3% of all the death. The leading causes of death in preterm and term infants were pulmonary disease and infection, respectively. In early neonate period, pulmonary diseases (56.5%) occupied the largest proportion of preterm deaths while infection (27%) and neurologic diseases (22%) were the two main causes of term deaths. In late neonate period, infection was the leading cause of both preterm and term neonate deaths. About two-thirds of neonate death occurred after medical care withdrawal. Of the cases who might survive if receiving continuing treatment, parents' concern about the long-term outcomes was the main reason of medical care withdrawal.

CONCLUSIONSNeonate death still accounts for a high proportion of all the deaths in children under 5 years of age. Our study showed the majority of neonate death occurred in preterm infants. Cause of death varied with the age of death and gestational age. Accurate and prompt evaluation of the long-term outcomes should be carried out to guide the critical decision.

Cause of Death ; China ; Female ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant Mortality ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Newborn, Diseases ; mortality ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Perinatal Death ; Retrospective Studies

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of dimemorfan phosphate in the treatment of dry cough.Methods Three hundred seventy -eight patients with dry cough were randomly divided into experimental group ( n=216 ) , positive control ( n=108 ) and place-bo group ( n=54 ).Experimental group was taken dimemorfan phosphate 20 mg, orally, tid, 5 -7 d.Positive control group was taken dextro-methorphan 30 mg, orally, tid, 5 -7 d.Placebo group was taken dimemorfan phosphate simulation tablets 20 mg or dextromethorphan simulation tablets 30 mg, tid, 5-7 d.Comparison of the clinical effica-cy, change of the total cough score after 5-7 d treatment, and the inci-dence of adverse drug reactions between the three groups.Results The clinical effectiveness of cough symptom after treatment , experimental group and positive control group and placebo group were 81.02%, 84.26%and 38.89%, respectively.The difference between experimen-tal group with placebo group was statistically significant ( P <0.01 ) , there was no statistically significant difference between experimental group with positive control group ( P>0.05 ).The average decrease of total cough score after treatment in the experimental group , the positive control group and the placebo group were (2.34 ±1.42), (2.43 ±1.55) and (1.39 ±1.20), respectively.The decrease in the total cough score of experimen-tal group was superior to that of placebo group ( P<0.01 ) , the decrease in the total cough score of experimental group was not inferior to positive control group ( P>0.05 ).The incidence of adverse events were 4.21% in experimental group , 12.04%in positive control group and 5.66%in placebo group , respectively.Among these , the incidence of adverse events associated with drug were 1.87%, 10.19%, 5.66%, respectively.Conclusion Dimemorfan phos-phate has exact antitussive efficacy in the treatment of dry cough , has the same antitussive efficacy and similar side effect in the treatment of dry cough compared with the dextromethorphan.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of different dosage of mouse nerve growth factor on nerve function recovery after brain injury in infant.Methods Ninety patients with brain injury were divided into treatment group and control group , each group 45 cases.Treatment group was treated with intravenous injection of the nerve growth factor 30 &mu;g along with gangliosides , and control group treated with nerve growth factor 18&mu;g along with gangliosides .The clinical symptoms , neurological function score and intelligence level were compared between the two groups.Results After 7, 14 d treatment, the neurological function scores of treatment group were ( 33.80 ±1.80 ) , ( 38.20 ±1.90 ) , had no significance with ( 32.20 ±2.40 ) , ( 37.40 ±2.10 ) in control group ( P>0.05 ) .Total efficacy in treatment group was 95.56%( 43/45 ) , had no significance with 91.11%( 41/45 ) in control group ( P>0.05 ) . The intelligence level and the improvement of clinical symptoms of brain injury in treatment group had no significance with control group after treatment ( P >0.05 ) . The adverse reactions mainly manifested as nausea , vomiting and restlessness , the incidence of adverse reactions had no significant difference in two groups ( P >0.05 ) .Conclusion The low dosage mouse nerve growth factor combined gangliosides is also beneficial to the recovery of neurological function af -ter brain injury in infant.