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Objective: To investigate the protective effects and mechanism of Chinese herbal compound Tongxinluo Capsule (通心络胶囊, TXL) on the Parkin-mediated mitophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome system in a rat model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI). Methods: Seventy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 7 groups: sham group, MIRI group, low- and high-dose TXL (0.5 and 1 g·kg-1·d-1, respectively) groups, atorvastatin (ATV) group (7.2 g·kg-1·d-1), chloroquine (CQ) group (10 g·kg-1·d-1), and highdose TXL + CQ group. After pharmacological administration for 7 days, rats underwent left anterior descending artery ligation surgery to establish the MIRI models with 50 min ischemia followed by 4 h reperfusion. Blood was taken for cardiac troponin I (cTnI) detection and hearts were harvested for infarct staining and apoptosis detection. The autophagy or mitophagy proteins and ubiquitinated proteins were detected by Western blotting. Results: Compared with the sham group, the MIRI group exhibited a larger infarcted area (27.13%±0.01%, P<0.01), a higher apoptotic index (34.33%±2.03% vs.1.81%±0.03%, P<0.01), and higher cTnI expression (14.18±1.01 vs. 7.96±0.32, P<0.01). The mitochondrial integrity was damaged in the MIRI group, while TXL and ATV alleviated the damage of MIRI. More autophagosomes were observed in the high-dose TXL group than in the MIRI group (7.00±0.58 vs. 4.33±1.15, P<0.05). More amounts of PTEN-induced putative kinase protein 1 (PINK1) and Parkin translocated onto the mitochondria were detected in the high-dose TXL group than in the MIRI group (P<0.05). The ubiquitin response was signifificantly downregulated in the high-dose TXL group relative to the MIRI group (P<0.05). CQ administration abolished the activation of autophagy flux and the PINK1/ Parkin pathway induced by high-dose of TXL. Conclusions: TXL ameliorates MIRI via activating Parkin-mediated mitophagy in rats. The downregulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system is also involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effect of early intervention of Tongxinluo (通心络, TXL) on right ventricular function (RVF) of rats with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) induced by monocrotaline (MCT). Methods: A total of 30 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to 5 groups with complete random experiment design: Sham group (Sham), MCT group, TXL group, sildenafil (SIL) group and combination group (TXL+SIL), 6 rats in each group. Rats were injected with 50 mg/kg MCT solution for inducing PAH model except for those in the sham group. From the day of modeling, rats of TXL, SIL and TXL+SIL groups were given TXL (1.2 g/kg), SIL (10 mg/kg) and combination solution (TXL:1.2 g/kg, SIL: 10 mg/kg) respectively, and rats in Sham and MCT groups were given normal saline (5 mL/kg). The samples were collected and tested after 21 consecutive days of intragastric administration. Echocardiography was used to measure the related indices of RVF, including pulmonary arterial flow spectrum, pulmonary artery diameter (PAD), right ventricular wall thickness (RVWT), right ventricular diameter (RVD), tricuspidannular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), right atrium transverse diameter (RAT), and inferior vena cava diameter (IVCD). Elastic Verhoeff-Van Gieson staining was adopted to measure the percentage of wall thickness (WT%) of pulmonary arteriols. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to measure the cross-sectional area (CSA) of right ventricular cardiomyocytes. Results: MCT-induced PAH rat model was successfully established. In MCT group the wall of pulmonary arterioles exhibited a prominent-increase thickness, PAD, RVWT, RVD, RAT, IVCD, WT%, right ventricular hypertrophy index (RVHI) as well as CSA of RV cardiomyocyte significantly increased (all P<0.01), and TAPSE markedly decreased (P<0.01). At the same time, TXL prominently improved all of the above indices (all P<0.01). In comparison with SIL, TXL significantly reduced RVD (P<0.05) and decreased CAS of RV cardiomyocytes (P<0.01), but TAPSE in SIL group was much larger than in TXL group (P<0.01). Moreover, TAPSE in TXL+SIL group was larger than that in TXL group (P<0.01), while the two groups performed equally well in terms of the other indices. Conclusion: Early intervention of TXL could inhibit pulmonary arterioles remodeling, and improve RVF by attenuating right ventricular hypertrophy, and TXL has a stronger effect on inhibiting right ventricular remodeling than SIL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large amount of size tunable zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) was synthesized in a shot time with ultrasonic assisted method. The structure and morphology of synthesized materials were characterized with XRD and SEM. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption technique was also used to characterize the synthesized ZIF-67. Results showed that the ZIF-67 prepared by this method had higher crystallinity, regular rhombic dodecahedral morphology, and higher porosity and specific surface area. As supercapacitor electrode materials, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) measurements were carried out to test the electrochemical performance of synthesized materials. The results showed that ZIF-67 synthesized by ultrasonic assisted method delivered a specific capacitance of 93 F/g at 0. 5 A/g, which was much higher than that of ZIF-67 synthesized under static condition. When current density was 1 A/g, the specific capacitance of ZIF-67 synthesized by ultrasonic assisted method could be retained to 98. 6% of the initial value after 1000 cycles, demonstrating the excellent cycling stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three dimensional flower-like NiCo2O4 was prepared by a hydrothermal method and annealing treatment. XRD and SEM were used to characterize the crystallization, element composition and morphology of synthesized material. The results showed that: 1) The crystallinity of the synthesized NiCo2O4 material was not high. 2) The material contained Ni and Co elements with different valences. The presence of the Ni2+/ Ni3+ and Co2+/Co3+ provided two active centers for the generation of pseudocapacitance. 3) As supercapacitor electrode material, the three dimensional flower-like NiCo2O4 displayed excellent electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To observe the clinical curative effect of Chinese medicine Bushen Huoxue Granule(补肾活血颗粒, BHG) on Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with depressive state. Methods: Sixty-two PD patients with depressive state were randomly assigned to two groups by using a random number table, 31 in each group. Madopar was given to all as the conventional treatment. The fluoxetine hydrochloride dispersible tablet was given to the patients in the control group and BHG was given to those in the treatment group. The therapeutic course for all was 12 weeks. Before and after treatment, Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) was applied to judge the curative effect, and the changes of cerebral neurotransmitters levels in the brain of patients were detected by encephalofluctuograph technique. Results: The scores of HAMD in the two groups were decreased markedly after 12-week treatment. It was lower in the treatment group than that in the control group with significant difference ( P<0.01). The contents of norepinephrine (NE) and 5-serotonin (5-HT) in the PD patients were obviously lower than normal value. There was no significant difference between the two groups before treatment ( P>0.05). The contents of NE and 5-HT were all increased in the two groups after treatment ( P<0.05), with significant differences between the two groups ( P<0.01). Conclusion: BHG could increase the contents of NE and 5-HT in PD patients' brain to improve the depressive state of PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To observe the clinical curative effect of Chinese medicine Bushen Huoxue Granule(补肾活血颗粒, BHG) on Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with depressive state. Methods: Sixty-two PD patients with depressive state were randomly assigned to two groups by using a random number table, 31 in each group. Madopar was given to all as the conventional treatment. The fluoxetine hydrochloride dispersible tablet was given to the patients in the control group and BHG was given to those in the treatment group. The therapeutic course for all was 12 weeks. Before and after treatment, Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD) was applied to judge the curative effect, and the changes of cerebral neurotransmitters levels in the brain of patients were detected by encephalofluctuograph technique. Results: The scores of HAMD in the two groups were decreased markedly after 12-week treatment. It was lower in the treatment group than that in the control group with significant difference ( P<0.01). The contents of norepinephrine (NE) and 5-serotonin (5-HT) in the PD patients were obviously lower than normal value. There was no significant difference between the two groups before treatment ( P>0.05). The contents of NE and 5-HT were all increased in the two groups after treatment ( P<0.05), with significant differences between the two groups ( P<0.01). Conclusion: BHG could increase the contents of NE and 5-HT in PD patients' brain to improve the depressive state of PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore advantages of Chinese medicine (CM) by analyzing differences in the origin of philosophy for human health between CM and Western medicine (WM). Methodologically, a distinctive feature of CM is its systems theory, which is also the difference between CM and WM. Since the birth of CM, it has taken the human body as a whole from the key concepts of 'qi, blood, yin-yang, viscera (Zang-Fu), and meridian and channel', rather than a single cell or a particular organ. WM evolves from the Western philosophic way of thinking and merely uses natural sciences as the foundation. The development of WM is based on human structures, or anatomy, and therefore, research of WM is also based on the way of thinking of decomposing the whole human body into several independent parts, which is the impetus of promoting the development of WM. The core of CM includes the holistic view and the dialectical view. Chinese herbal medicines contain various components and treat a disease from multiple targets and links. Therefore, Chinese herbal medicines treat a diseased state by regulating and mobilizing the whole body rather than just regulating a single factor, since the diseased state is not only a problem in a local part of the body but a local reflection of imbalance of the whole body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effects of brachytherapy with computed tomography-guided percutaneous radioactive I-125 seeds interstitial implantation (ISI) synchronized chemotherapy and Chinese medicine (CM) for the treatment of advanced stage of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Ninety patients diagnosed with NSCLC by biopsy were randomly assigned to three groups: the synchronized therapy group (A), the chemotherapy plus CM-treated group (B), and the chemotherapy-treated group (C); a 2-month course of treatment was administered to them all. The effectiveness of treatment was evaluated based on tumor size, tumor markers (carcinoembryonic, squamous cell carcinoma-associated antigen, and cytokeratin 19 fragment), clinical symptoms, and quality of life (QOL) in patients. Results: The total effective rates of Groups A to C were 83.33%, 46.67%, and 43.33%, respectively. The tumor markers were reduced obviously in Group A, showing signifificant difference compared with those in the other two groups. Additionally, QOL was elevated and cancer-related symptoms were alleviated more signifificant in Group A than those in Group C (all P<0.05). Conclusion: The synchronized therapy of I-125 implantation with chemotherapy and CM was a safe therapeutic method and can be regarded as a new mode for treatment of advanced-stage NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]