Medicine
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Tourette syndrome (TS) is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by involuntary motor and speech tics, which can greatly reduce the quality of life of patients. The pathophysiology of TS involves both genetic and environmental factors. Assessing TS pathogenesis is complex, and its underlying pathophysiology is not fully understood. ⋯ However, despite the progress of research, the treatment methods and drugs of modern medicine are still unsatisfactory, and it is difficult to achieve satisfactory results. Traditional Chinese medicine, as a part of complementary and alternative medicine, has unique efficacy in the treatment of TS, and the safety of its treatment is also worthy of attention. Based on the latest achievements in the pathophysiology of TS, this article will discuss the treatment of TS by acupuncture combined with medicine.
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Polygonum cuspidatum (Huzhang, HZ) is one of the commonly used traditional Chinese medicines for treating gouty arthritis (GA), but the specific mechanism is not clear. This study employed network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of HZ on GA. The network pharmacology approach, including active ingredient and target screening, drug-compound-target-disease network construction, protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks, enrichment analysis, and molecular docking, was used to explore the mechanism of HZ against GA. ⋯ The mechanism of HZ in GA treatment was shown to be related to the IL-17 signaling pathway, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, and is involved in the inflammatory response, positive regulation of gene expression, cellular response to lipopolysaccharide, and other biological processes. Molecular docking showed that all four core compounds had good binding properties to IL-1β, with luteolin and beta-sitosterol showing better docking results than anakinra, suggesting that they could be used as natural IL-1β inhibitors in further experimental studies. The mechanism of action of HZ against GA has multi-target and multi-pathway characteristics, which provides an important theoretical basis for the study of the active ingredients of HZ as natural IL-1β inhibitors.
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Hepatic fibrosis is a great concern in public health. While effective drugs for its treatment are lacking, Curcuma longa L. (CL) has been reported as a promising therapeutic. We aimed to uncover the core components and mechanisms of CL against hepatic fibrosis via a network pharmacology approach. ⋯ The therapeutic effect of CL on hepatic fibrosis may be attributed to multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-pathways.
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Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant disease characterized by abnormal proliferation of plasma cells, which usually occurs in middle-aged and elderly male patients. Bisphosphonates (BP) are commonly used for the treatment of MM bone disease. Long-time use of BP may cause medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ). MRONJ occurs in jaw exclusively, and Multiple myeloma can also invade the jaw. The 2 diseases have similar clinical manifestations and imaging findings. This report present a case of MM identified in surgical specimen at the site that had been previously pathologically diagnosed as MRONJ in a patient with MM. ⋯ These findings suggested MRONJ and MM could occur simultaneously at same site, so patients with MM presenting with symptoms of MRONJ should be screened for concurrent or disease relapse of multiple myeloma to prevent misdiagnosis or inadequate management. Meanwhile, this also suggests long-term inflammatory may lead to invasion of multiple myeloma.
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Acute basilar artery occlusion (ABAO) after endovascular treatment (EVT) is often associated with a poor prognosis, particularly in patients with cerebellar infarction who may develop malignant cerebellar edema. The present study aimed to investigate how massive cerebellar infarction (MCI) affects hospitalization outcomes in ABVO patients who undergo EVT. We conducted a retrospective study of ABVO patients who underwent EVT at our hospital between September 2017 and September 2022. ⋯ Additionally, an extremely poor prognosis was independently associated with stent implantation, EVT duration, and body mass index, while mRS score improvement was correlated with EVT duration and pulmonary infection. MCI in ABAO patients is a significant independent risk factor for a poor prognosis at discharge and no improvement in function score compared to onset. Early diagnosis and intervention are necessary to improve outcomes, particularly in high-risk populations.