The American journal of Chinese medicine
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Artemisinin and its analogues (ARTs) are currently the most effective anti-malarial drugs, but the precise mechanism of action is still highly controversial. Effects of ARTs on Plasmodium genes expression are studied in our Lab. The overexpression of an interesting amidotransferase, NADH-dependent glutamate synthase (NADH-GltS) was found in treated by dihydroartemisinin (DHA). ⋯ Experimental data showed that Glu levels were significantly decreasing with DHA dose increasing but NADH-GltS enzyme activities were still remained at higher levels in parasites, and appropriate amount of exogenous Glu could significantly reduce anti-malarial action of DHA but excessive amount lost the above effect. Aza alone could inhibit proliferation of P. falciparum and had an additive effect in combination with DHA. Those results could suggest that: Glutamate depletion is one of the anti-malarial actions of DHA; overexpression of NADH-GltS would be a feedback pattern of parasite itself due to glutamate depletion, but not a direct action of DHA; the "feedback pattern" is one of protective strategies of Plasmodium to interfere with the anti-malarial actions of DHA; and specific inhibitor for NADH-GltS as a new type of anti-malarial agents or new partner in ACT might provide a potential.
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Parkinson's disease (PD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease, is caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). It is characterized by the formation of intracytoplasmic Lewy bodies that are primarily composed of the protein alpha-synuclein ( α -syn) along with dystrophic neurites. Acupuncture stimulation results in an enhanced survival of dopaminergic neurons in the SN in parkinsonism animal models. ⋯ We identified that serum- and glucocorticoid-dependent kinase 1 (SGK1) is evidently downregulated in chronic MPTP-intoxication and acupuncture stimulation maintained SGK1 expression at levels similar to the control group. For an examination of the expression correlation between SGK1 and α -syn, SH-SY5Y cells were knocked down with SGK1 siRNA then, the downregulation of dopaminergic cells and the increase in the expression of α -syn were observed. Our findings indicate that the acupuncture-mediated inhibition in the α -syn increase induced by MPTP may be responsible for modulating SGK1 expression.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation for Improving Postoperative Recovery, Reducing Stress and Inflammatory Responses in Elderly Patient Undergoing Knee Surgery.
Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) is a form of acupuncture treatment that applies electrical stimulation on specific acupoint through cutaneous electrodes. This technique has been used for perioperative anesthesia management as part of after surgery recovery. However, to date, limited data are available for using the TEAS for postoperative recovery in elderly surgical patients. ⋯ Our data showed that the QoR-40 was significantly lower in Group C than that in Group E at postoperative day 1 (p<0.05); Similarly, Cortisol (COR), Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly lower in Group E than those of Group C at postoperative day 1, 3, and 7 (p<0.05), while the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (N/L) was lower in Group E than that in Group C at postoperative day 1 and 3 (p<0.05). Our results showed that perioperative TEAS administration is able to facilitate the development of postoperative recovery of elderly patients, especially at the early stage after surgery. The reported results are likely to be mediated by the reduction of surgical inflammation and perioperative stress response.
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Panax ginseng is a natural medicine that has been used globally for a long time. Moreover, several studies have reported the effective activity of ginseng in treating malignancies. Various agents containing ginseng were widely used as an antitumor treatment nowadays. ⋯ In several recent studies, ginsenosides are regarded as major active components of ginseng that have the potential to control lung cancer. Most of these results have proved that ginsenosides induce apoptosis in lung cancer cells through many different signaling pathways such as PI3K/Akt, NF- κ B, EGFR, and so on. This study is aimed at reviewing the signaling pathways that underlie ginsenosides-triggered apoptotic process and encourage further studies to target promising agents against lung cancer treatment.
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Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is characterized by myofibroblast activation, which can be triggered by oxidative stress. In this study, we investigated the antifibrotic effect of the ethyl acetate extract of Salvia miltiorrhiza (EASM) on PF and examined the underlying molecular mechanism. EASM suppressed myofibroblast activation with reduced extracellular matrix deposition in the lungs of mice subjected to bleomycin (BLM) challenge, demonstrating the inhibitory effects on PF. ⋯ Additionally, EASM inhibited TGF- β 1/Smad3 signaling by downregulating protein kinase C delta (PKC- δ ) and Smad3 phosphorylation (p-Smad3), which led to suppression of the TGF- β 1-induced fibrogenic response. These results indicate that EASM exhibits potent antifibrotic activity in vitro and in vivo, which might be associated with activation of Nrf2 pathway and inhibition of TGF- β 1/Smad3 pathway. Our findings support that EASM may act as an effective antifibrotic remedy for PF.