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Background: Elderly rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) population faces multiple treatment dilemma. Here we aim to investigate if Gancao Nourishing-Yin decoction (GCNY) added to methotrexate (MTX) exhibit better effects in an ERA mice model. Methods: ERA mice model was established by adding D-galactose (Dgal) to collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice. The model was then assigned into control group (CIA + Dgal), MTX treatment group (MTX), GCNY treatment group (GCNY), and integrative treatment group (MTX + GCNY). Pathological scoring was performed to evaluate the severity between the groups. Proteomic analysis was applied to investigate the secretory phenotype of the ERA mouse model and the underlying mechanism of GCNY, MTX and their combination. Representative cytokines related to proteomic results were further validated by ELISAs. Results: CIA + Dgal mice showed more aggressive joints damage than the CIA mice. Besides changes in the inflammatory pathway such as Pi3k-Akt signaling pathway in both model, differential expressed proteins (DEPs) indicated metabolism-related pathways were more obvious in CIA + Dgal mice. Low-dose MTX failed to show pathological improvement in CIA + Dgal mice, while GCNY improved joints damage significantly. Besides down-regulated inflammation-related targets, GCNY-regulated DEPs (such as Apoc1 ~ 3, Grk2 and Creb3l3) were broadly enriched in metabolism-related pathways. MTX + GCNY showed the best therapeutic effect, and the DEPs enriched in a variety of inflammatory,metabolism and osteoclast differentiation signaling pathway. Notably, MTX + GCNY treatment up-regulated Dhfr, Cbr1, Shmt1 involved in folic acid biosynthesis and anti-folate resistance pathways indicated a coincidence synergic action. ELISAs confirmed CPR and Akt that elevated in CIA + Dgal mice were significantly ameliorated by treatments, and adding on GCNY elevated folic acid levels and its regulator Dhfr. Conclusion: Aging aggravated joints damage in CIA, which probably due to metabolic changes rather than more severe inflammation. GCNY showed significant effects in the ERA mice model especially when integrated with MTX to obtain a synergic action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a common malignant tumor, the morbidity and mortality of lung cancer have been rising in recent years. The concept of "premetastatic niche" may lead to a revolutionary change in antitumor metastasis therapeutic strategies. Traditional Chinese medicine with multitargets and lower poisonous agents may be a potentially effective means to intervene in the "premetastatic niche (PMN)" to prevent and treat tumor metastasis. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) is a substance with strong immune activity in Astragalus membranaceus that has excellent biological activities such as immunomodulation, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor. In this study, we constructed a tumor lung metastasis animal model to explore the intervention mechanism of APS on the premetastatic niche. We found that APS inhibited the formation of the lung premetastatic niche and inhibited the recruitment of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the lung. Mechanistically, we showed that the proteins and gene expression of S1PR1, STAT3, and p-STAT3 in the S1PR1/STAT3 signaling pathway were suppressed by APS. In line with the above findings, our results confirmed that APS may inhibit the accumulation of MDSCs in the premetastatic niche through the intervention of the S1PR1-STAT3 signaling pathway to achieve the antitumor effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat various diseases for thousands of years. However, the uncertainty of dosage as well as the lack of systemic evaluation of pharmacology and toxicology is one major reason why TCM remains mysterious and is not accepted worldwide. Hence, we aimed to propose an integrated dose–response metabolomics strategy based on both therapeutic effects and adverse reactions to guide the TCM dosage in treatment. Methods: The proposed methodology of integrated dose–response metabolomics includes four steps: dose design, multiple comparison of metabolic features, response calculation and dose–response curve fitting. By comparing the changes of all metabolites under different doses and calculating these changes through superposition, it is possible to characterize the global disturbance and thus describe the overall effect and toxicity of TCM induced by different doses. Rhubarb, commonly used for constipation treatment, was selected as a representative TCM. Results: This developed strategy was successfully applied to rhubarb. The dose–response curves clearly showed the efficacy and adverse reactions of rhubarb at different doses. The rhubarb dose of 0.69 g/kg (corresponding to 7.66 g in clinic) was selected as the optimal dose because it was 90% of the effective dose and three adverse reactions were acceptable in this case. Conclusion: An integrated dose–response metabolomics strategy reflecting both therapeutic effects and adverse reactions was established for the first time, which we believe is helpful to uncover the mysterious veil of TCM dosage. In addition, this strategy benefits the modernization and internationalization of TCM, and broadens the application of metabolomics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to identify the molecular mechanism and prognosis-related genes of Jianpi Jiedu decoction in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods. The gene expression data of hepatocellular carcinoma samples and normal tissue samples were downloaded from TCGA database, and the potential targets of drug composition of Jianpi Jiedu decoction were obtained from TCMSP database. The genes were screened out in order to obtain the expression of these target genes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The differential expression of target genes was analyzed by R software, and the genes related to prognosis were screened by univariate Cox regression analysis. Then, the LASSO model was constructed for risk assessment and survival analysis between different risk groups. At the same time, independent prognostic analysis, GSEA analysis, and prognostic analysis of single gene in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were performed. Results. 174 compounds of traditional Chinese medicine were screened by TCMSP database, corresponding to 122 potential targets. 39 upregulated genes and 9 downregulated genes were screened out. A total of 20 candidate prognostic related genes were screened out by univariate Cox analysis, of which 12 prognostic genes were involved in the construction of the LASSO regression model. There was a significant difference in survival time between the high-risk group and low-risk group (p < 0.05). Among the genes related to prognosis, the expression levels of CCNB1, NQO1, NUF2, and CHEK1 were high in tumor tissues (p < 0.05). Survival analysis showed that the high expression levels of these four genes were significantly correlated with poor prognosis of HCC (p < 0.05). GSEA analysis showed that the main KEGG enrichment pathways were lysine degradation, folate carbon pool, citrate cycle, and transcription factors. Conclusions. In the study, we found that therapy target genes of Jianpi Jiedu decoction were mainly involved in metabolism and apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma, and there was a close relationship between the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and the genes of CCNB1, NQO1, NUF2, and CHEK1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aging of the population and the extension of life expectancy, osteoporosis is becoming a global epidemic. Although there are several drugs used to treat osteoporosis in clinical practice, such as parathyroid hormone or bisphosphonates, they all have some serious side effects. Therefore, a safer drug is called for osteoporosis, especially for the prevention in the early stage of the disease, not only the treatment in the later stage. Panax notoginseng saponin (PNS), a traditional Chinese herb, has been used as anti-ischemic drug due to its function on improving vascular circulation. In order to verify whether Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) could be used to prevent osteoporosis, ovariectomy (OVX) was induced in female C57BL/C6J mice, followed by orally administration with 40 mg/kg/d, 80 mg/kg/d, and 160 mg/kg/d of three different dosages of PNS for 9 weeks. Serum biochemical analysis, micro-CT, histological evaluation, and immunostaining of markers of osteogenesis and angiogenesis were performed in the sham, osteoporotic (OVX), and treatment (OVX+PNS) groups. Micro-CT and histological evaluation showed that compared to sham group, the bone mass of OVX group reduced significantly, while it was significantly restored in the moderate-dose PNS (40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg) treatment groups. The expression of CD31 and osteocalcin (OCN) in the bone tissue of treatment group also increased, suggesting that PNS activated osteogenesis and angiogenesis, which subsequently increased the bone mass. These results confirmed the potential function of PNS on the prevention of osteoporosis. However, in the high dose of PNS (160 mg/kg) group, the antiosteoportic effect had been eliminated, which also suggested the importance of proper dose of PNS for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. It is generally considered that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapy postpones the progression of some chronic kidney diseases (CKDs). Chinese medicine herbs are widely applied in TCM therapy. We aimed to evaluate clinical efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal formula granules in patients with CKD stage 3 through a prospective randomized controlled study. Methods. A total of 343 participants with CKD stage 3 were recruited from 9 hospitals in Jiangsu Province between April 2014 and October 2016. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Patients in the treatment group orally took Chinese herbal formula granules twice a day, while controls received placebo granules. The duration of intervention was 24 weeks. Primary outcomes were 24-hour proteinuria, serum creatinine, and eGFR, which were measured every 4 weeks. Results. There was no statistical difference in 24-hour proteinuria between the two groups (0.97 ± 1.14 g/d vs. 0.97 ± 1.25 g/d). Patients in the treatment group had significantly lower serum creatinine level (130.78 ± 32.55 μmol/L versus 149.12 ± 41.27 μmol/L) and significantly higher eGFR level (55.74 ± 50.82 ml/min/1.73·m2 versus 44.46 ± 12.60 ml/min/1.73·m2) than those in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between two groups in the incidence of adverse events. Conclusion. The treatment adopting Chinese herbal formula granules for 24 weeks improved kidney function of patients with CKD stage 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Qixuehe capsule (QXH), a Chinese patent medicine, has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of menstrual disorders. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, qi stagnation and blood stasis syndrome (QS-BSS) is the main syndrome type of menstrual disorders. However, the pharmacodynamic effect of QXH in treating QS-BSS is not clear, and the main active compounds and underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Methods. A rat model of QS-BSS was established to evaluate the pharmacodynamic effect of QXH. Thereafter, a network pharmacology approach was performed to decipher the active compounds and underlying mechanisms of QXH. Results. QXH could significantly reduce the rising whole blood viscosity (WBV) and plasma viscosity (PV) but also normalize prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), and fibrinogen (FIB) content in QS-BSS rats. Based on partial least-squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), the low-dose QXH-intervened (QXH-L) and the high-dose QXH-intervened (QXH-H) groups seemed the most effective by calculating the relative distance to normality. Through network pharmacology, QXH may improve hemorheological abnormality mainly via 185 compounds-51 targets-28 pathways, whereas 184 compounds-68 targets-28 pathways were associated with QXH in improving coagulopathy. Subsequently, 25 active compounds of QXH were verified by UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. Furthermore, 174 active compounds of QXH were shared in improving hemorheological abnormality and coagulopathy in QS-BSS, each of which can act on multiple targets to be mainly involved in complement and coagulation cascades, leukocyte transendothelial migration, PPAR signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, and arachidonic acid metabolism. The attribution of active compounds indicated that Angelicae Sinensis Radix (DG), Paeoniae Radix Rubra (CS), Carthami Flos (HH), Persicae Semen (TR), and Corydalis Rhizoma (YHS) were the vital herbs of QXH in treating QS-BSS. Conclusion. QXH can improve the hemorheology abnormality and coagulopathy of QS-BSS, which may result from the synergy of multiple compounds, targets, and pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical status of humans can be estimated by observing the appearance of the tongue coating, known as tongue diagnosis. The goals of this study were to reveal the relationship between tongue coating appearance and the oral microbiota in patients with gastric cancer and to open a novel research direction supporting tongue diagnosis. We used a tongue manifestation acquisition instrument to analyse the thickness of the tongue coating of patients with gastric cancer and that of healthy controls, and high-throughput sequencing was used to describe the microbial community of the tongue coating by sequencing the V2-V4 region of the 16S rDNA. The tongue coatings of 74 patients with gastric cancer were significantly thicker than those of 72 healthy controls (343.11 ± 198.22 versus 98.42 ± 48.25, P < 0.001); 51.35% of the patients were assessed as having thick tongue coatings, whereas all healthy controls were assessed as having thin tongue coatings. Thick tongue coatings presented lower microbial community diversity than thin tongue coatings. The tongue coating bacterial community is associated with the appearance of the tongue coating. The tongue coating may be a potential source for diagnosing gastric cancer, but its sensitivity needs to be further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]