Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a chronic, progressive and irreversible interstitial lung disease characterized by unremitting pulmonary myofibroblasts activation, extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and inflammatory recruitment. PF has no curable medication yet. In this study we investigated the molecular pathogenesis and potential therapeutic targets of PF and discovered drug lead compounds for PF therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew Phytol
June 2024
Climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances are increasing liana abundance and biomass in many tropical and subtropical forests. While the effects of living lianas on species diversity, ecosystem carbon, and nutrient dynamics are receiving increasing attention, the role of dead lianas in forest ecosystems has been little studied and is poorly understood. Trees and lianas coexist as the major woody components of forests worldwide, but they have very different ecological strategies, with lianas relying on trees for mechanical support.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadicular pain, a common and complex form of neuropathic pain, presents significant challenges in treatment. Acupuncture, a therapy originating from ancient traditional Chinese medicine and widely utilized for various pain types, including radicular pain, has shown promising outcomes in the management of lumbar radicular pain, cervical radicular pain, and radicular pain due to spinal stenosis. Despite its efficacy, the exact mechanisms through which acupuncture achieves analgesia are not fully elucidated and are the subject of ongoing research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFour trials were conducted to establish a protein and amino acid requirement model for layer chicks over 0-6 weeks by using the analytical factorization method. In trial 1, a total of 90 one-day-old Jing Tint 6 chicks with similar body weight were selected to determine the growth curve, carcass and feather protein deposition, and amino acid patterns of carcass and feather proteins. In trials 2 and 3, 24 seven-day-old and 24 thirty-five-day-old Jing Tint 6 chicks were selected to determine the protein maintenance requirements, amino acid pattern, and net protein utilization rate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Pharmacol
January 2024
The aim was to systematically compare the drug compatibility with various closed intravenous (i.v.) infusion containers, to provide a reference for selecting a relatively superior infusion container and improve the medication safety for patients in clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of leflunomide (L) added to the standard-of-care (SOC) treatment in COVID-19 patients hospitalised with moderate/critical clinical symptoms.
Design: Prospective, open-label, multicentre, stratified, randomised clinical trial.
Setting: Five hospitals in UK and India, from September 2020 to May 2021.
The proliferation of the biomarker Ki67 has been extensively studied in colorectal cancer (CRC). Although numerous Ki67 cut-off values have previously been reported, the optimal cut-off value remains unclear with previous studies providing contrasting results. The present retrospective cohort study aimed to determine the optimal cut-off value for CRC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis meta-analysis aims to systemically evaluate the efficacy of vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) combined with autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). The China HowNet, China Biomedical Literature, VIP periodical resource integration service platform, Wanfang, Embase, Cochrane Central, and PubMed databases were retrieved using the computer. The retrieval period was up to July 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHua Xi Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi
December 2021
Peripheral odontogenic keratocysts are rarely observed, and cases of odontogenic keratocysts of buccal soft tissues are even rarer. This study was performed to present two rare cases of odontogenic keratocysts in buccal soft tissues and review related literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is threatening public health, and there is no effective treatment. In this study, we have implemented a multi-targeted anti-viral drug design strategy to discover highly potent SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors, which simultaneously act on the host ribosome, viral RNA as well as RNA-dependent RNA polymerases, and nucleocapsid protein of the virus, to impair viral translation, frameshifting, replication, and assembly. Driven by this strategy, three alkaloids, including lycorine, emetine, and cephaeline, were discovered to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 with EC values of low nanomolar levels potently.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Emerging evidence has indicated that small airway dysfunction (SAD) contributes to the clinical expression of asthma.
Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the relationships of SAD assessed by forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% (FEF25-75%), with clinical and inflammatory profile and treatment responsiveness in asthma.
Method: In study I, dyspnea intensity (Borg scale), chest tightness, wheezing and cough (visual analog scales, VASs), and pre- and post-methacholine challenge testing (MCT) were analyzed in asthma patients with SAD and non-SAD.
Chin J Integr Med
April 2021
Objective: To evaluate whether the efficacy of Getong Tongluo Capsule (, GTC, consisted of total flavone of Radix Puerariae) on improving patients' quality of life and lowering blood pressure are superior to the extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGB) for patients with convalescent-phase ischemic stroke and primary hypertension.
Methods: This randomized, positive-drug- and placebo-controlled, double-blind trial was conducted from September 2015 to October 2017. Totally 477 eligible patients from 18 hospitals in China were randomly assigned in a 2:1:1 ratio to the following interventions, twice a day for 12 weeks: (1) GTC 250 mg plus EGB-matching placebo 40 mg (237 cases, GTC group), (2) EGB 40 mg plus GTC-matching placebo 250 mg (120 cases, EGB group) or (3) GTC-matching placebo 250 mg plus EGB-matching placebo 40 mg (120 cases, placebo group).
Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease that affects skeletal muscle strength by impeding communication within the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Research has shown that sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P)/S1P receptor signaling may be involved in the process of neuromuscular diseases. Fingolimod is structurally similar to S1P, whose immunosuppressive effect has been recognized in many immune diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To compare the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with donepezil hydrochloride and donepezil hydrochloride alone on improving learning-memory ability in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to explore its action mechanism.
Methods: Sixty patients of AD were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each group. The patients in the observation group were treated with EA at governor vessel (GV) combined with donepezil hydrochloride.
Ovarian cancer (OC) is a type of gynaecological malignancy with high mortality in females. Serous ovarian cancer (SOC) is a distinct subtype of OC with poor early diagnosis. Given the limitations of traditional therapies, such as chemotherapy, targeted treatment is therefore a promising therapy to improve the survival rate of SOC patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Syst Evol Microbiol
January 2020
A novel strain, YM-1, was recovered from human urine in PR China in 2017. Cells of strain YM-1 were Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, aerobic, motile, non-spore-forming and poly-β-hydroxybutyrate-accumulating. The strain contained Cω6/C ω7, C and Cω7 as major fatty acids; phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified phospholipid as major polar lipids; and ubiquinone-8 as the predominant respiratory quinone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study focused on exploring the inhibitory mechanism of microRNA (miR)-23a in endometrial cancer. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to investigate miR-23a expression in endometrial tissues and endometrial cancer cells. A colony formation assay using crystal violet staining was performed to compare cell proliferation, while wound-healing and Transwell assays were performed to compare cell migration and invasion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cervical cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy with low terminal cure rate, and therefore new therapeutic targets are urgently needed to combat this disease. SMYD2, as an oncogene, is abnormal highly expressed in multiple types of tumors and further affects the occurrence and development, but the potential correlations between SMYD2 expression and cervical cancer progression is still unclear.
Methods: We first used the bioinformatics website to screen the data of cervical cancer in (The Cancer Genome Atlas) TCGA and survival analysis was used to find the different survival rates in the SMYD2 high expression group and low expression group.
Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a key component of the B cell receptor (BCR) signaling pathway and plays a crucial role in B cell malignancies and autoimmune disorders; thus, it is an attractive target for the treatment of B cell related diseases. Here, we evaluated the BTK inhibitory activity of a series of pyrimido[4,5-d][1,3]oxazin-2-one derivatives. Combining this evaluation with structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis, we found that compound 2 exhibited potent BTK kinase inhibitory activity, with an IC of 7 nM.
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