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Background: Retinal ischemia is a retinal disorder related to retinal vascular occlusion, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. The study aimed to evaluate the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of Chi-Ju-Di-Huang-Wan (CJDHW) against retinal ischemia in rats. Methods: High intraocular pressure (HIOP)-induced retinal ischemia was established in Wistar rats by raising their intraocular pressure to 120 mmHg for 60 min with in an eye whose anterior chamber was cannulated with a 30-guage needle adapted to a normal saline bottle through an intravenous line. This ischemic insult was followed by 1 or 7 days of reperfusion. The effects of CJDHW were studied by (i) electroretinogram (ERG); (ii) real-time polymerase chain reaction to determine the retinal mRNA levels of Thy-1 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9); (iii) Western blot analysis to determine the retinal protein levels of B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), phosphorylated-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (P-p38 MAPK) and MMP-9; (iv) hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining; (v) fluorogold retrograde labeling; and (vi) terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) apoptosis assay. Moreover, after fixation with 4 % paraformaldehyde and 30 % sucrose, the isolated retinas were sectioned and immunolabeled with goat anti-choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) polyclonal antibody, mouse anti-vimentin monoclonal antibody and rabbit anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) polyclonal antibody. The retinal sections were then incubated with rhodamine-conjugated rabbit anti-goat antibody, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG or FITC-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG. A daily oral intake of 3 mL of water (vehicle; Group 2) or CJDHW (2.8 or 4.2 g/kg/day; CJDHW2.8 or CJDHW4.2; Group 3 or 4) was given for 7 consecutive days either before (preischemic drug administration) or after HIOP-induced retinal ischemic injury (postischemic drug administration). In Group 5, an intravitreal injection of 4 µL of 0.5 mM SB203580 (p38 MAPK inhibitor) was performed on the ischemic eye 15 min before retinal ischemia. The control rats received a sham procedure (Group 1) where the saline reservoir was not raised. Results: The ischemia-induced changes (Group 2) were significantly modulated by pretreating the rats with 4.2 g/kg/ day of CJDHW (Group 4; ERG: P < 0.001 on I/R day 7; HE stain: P < 0.001 on I/R day 7; TUNEL: P = 0.05 on I/R day 7; retrograde labeling: P = 0.007 on I/R day 7; Thy-1 mRNA: P = 0.02; MMP-9 mRNA: P < 0.001; Bcl-2 protein: P = 0.02; HO-1 protein: P = 0.03; P-p38 MAPK protein: P < 0.001; MMP-9 protein: P = 0.02). These modulations included the following features (Group 2 vs. 4), increased ERG b-wave amplitudes (0.38 ± 0.04 vs. 0.81 ± 0.03), increased inner retinal thick- ness (45.08 ± 2.85 vs. 67.98 ± 5.48 µm), increased ChAT immunolabeling, decreased vimentin/GFAP immunoreactivity, less numerous apoptotic cells in the ganglion cell layer (1.40 ± 0.55 vs. 0.60 ± 0.55), and more numerous retinal ganglion cells (887.73 ± 158.18 vs. 1389.02 ± 53.20). Moreover, increased Thy-1 (0.31 ± 0.15 vs. 0.78 ± 0.32) and decreased MMP-9 mRNA levels were found (4.44 ± 0.84 vs. 1.13 ± 0.34), respectively. Furthermore, the Bcl-2 protein level (0.78 ± 0.08 vs. 1.80 ± 0.34) was increased while the HO-1 (0.99 ± 0.20 vs. 4.15 ± 2.08), P-p38 MAPK (1.12 ± 0.18 vs. 0.57 ± 0.18) and MMP-9 levels were decreased (0.70 ± 0.23 vs. 0.39 ± 0.10). The ischemia-associated increases in P-p38 and MMP-9 protein levels were also attenuated by 0.5 mM SB203580 (P-p38 MAPK: 1.12 ± 0.18 vs. 0.18 ± 0.07, P < 0.001; MMP-9: 0.70 ± 0.23 vs. 0.21 ± 0.07, P = 0.002). This was also the case to the MMP_enzyme activity (Group 2 vs. 4: 5.03 ± 1.57 vs. 1.59 ± 0.47, P = 0.002; Group 2 vs. 5: 5.03 ± 1.57 vs. 1.35 ± 0.41, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Treatment of the rats suffering from retinal ischemia with CJDHW inhibited apoptosis, increased antioxidative activity, downregulated MMP-9 and inhibited p38 MAPK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practitioners and researchers from China, the largest user of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), have been publishing an increasing number of scientific articles in world-famous CAM journals in recent years. However, the status of CAM research in the three major regions of China, the Mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong has, until now, not been reported. In this study, we compared articles from these three regions published in international CAM journals from 2000 to 2009 using PubMed database and the Journal Citation Reports. The study results showed that the number of published articles from Mainland China increased significantly from 2000 to 2009, particularly since 2005. Meanwhile, the number of published articles from Taiwan also increased, whereas those from Hong Kong remained steady. Clinical trials and randomized controlled trials from Chinese authors both took a small percentage of the total. The impact factors of the journals in which these articles were published suggested similar academic levels whereas the average number of citation of articles from the Mainland was less than those from the other two regions. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, American Journal of Chinese Medicine, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine were the most popular journals for Chinese authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated chlorinated transformation products (TPs) and their parent micropollutants, aromatic pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the urban water bodies of two metropolitan cities. Nine PPCPs and 16 TPs were quantitatively or semi-quantitatively determined using isotope dilution techniques and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. TPs and most PPCPs were effectively removed by conventional wastewater treatments in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Chlorinated parabens and all PPCPs (at concentrations below 1000 ng/L) were present in the waters receiving treated wastewater. By contrast, the waters receiving untreated wastewater contained higher levels of PPCPs (up to 9400 ng/L) and more species of chlorinated TPs including chlorinated parabens, triclosan, diclofenac, and bisphenol A. The very different chemical profiles between the water bodies of the two cities of similar geographical and climatic properties may be attributed to their respective uses of chemicals and policies of wastewater management. No apparent increase in the number of species or abundances of TPs was observed in either the chlorinated wastewater or the seawater rich in halogens. This is the first study to elucidate and compare the profiles of multiple TPs and their parent PPCPs in the water bodies of coastal cities from tropical islands. Our findings suggest that chlorinated derivatives of bisphenol A, diclofenac, triclosan, and parabens in the surface water originate from sources other than wastewater disinfection or marine chlorination. Although further studies are needed to identify the origins, conventional wastewater treatments may protect natural water bodies against contamination by those chlorinated substances., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)