Publications by authors named "Meina Zhao"

Genipin, a precursor of dietary blue pigment, is a promising alternative for industrial applications in food and health. Due to its ability to simultaneously satisfy biosafety requirements and provide crosslinking effects, genipin has attracted considerable attention for food and biomedical applications. In this review, we attempt to shed light on the progress in genipin research using scientometrics.

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The aim of this study is to elucidate the pharmacological mechanism underlying the effects of Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma (ginseng) in heart failure (HF), providing a theoretical foundation for its clinical application. The potential mechanism of ginseng in the context of HF was investigated using systems pharmacology that combined network pharmacology, Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) analysis, molecular docking, and experimental verification. Network pharmacology was employed to identify drug-disease targets.

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Liver fibrosis is a commonly observed pathological phenomenon that occurs during the progression of various types of chronic liver diseases. The Hippo pathway is closely associated with the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Previous studies have shown that wedelolactone (WED) has a significant antihepatic fibrosis effect, whereas the target and mechanism underlying WED remain elusive.

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Salvianolic acid B (SalB), among the most abundant bioactive polyphenolic compounds found in Bge., exerts therapeutic and protective effects against various diseases. Although some summaries of the activities of SalB exist, there is lack of a scientometric and in-depth review regarding disease therapy.

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Diabetic nephropathy (DN) has emerged as the foremost cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) globally. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress plays a critical role in DN progression. Triterpenoid saponin from Aralia taibaiensis (sAT) has been reported to possess anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant effects.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Data from over 900 publications between 2001 and 2022 reveals an upward trend in research output, with the U.S. leading in contributions and collaborations, particularly from Vanderbilt University.
  • * Key findings underscore high-frequency keywords like "type 2 diabetes" and "glutamine," while also indicating a lack of collaboration among researchers and institutions in this field.
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Objectives: To explore the effect of extract of Styrax (ES) on myocardial ischemic injury and its molecular mechanism, indirectly providing a theoretical basis for the development of ES.

Methods: In order to assess the impact of ES treatment on ischemic heart disease, both a left anterior descending ligation-induced myocardial infarction (MI) model and an ischemia/hypoxia (I/H)-induced H9c2 cell injury model have been constructed. Specifically, Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the following groups (n = 8) and administered intragastrically once a day for seven consecutive days: Sham group, MI group, ES-L (0.

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Article Synopsis
  • Styrax shows potential in preventing and treating cerebrovascular diseases, yet the precise mechanisms of its protective effects against ischemic strokes are not fully understood.
  • In a study using a rat model of ischemic stroke, different doses of styrax were administered, revealing significant reductions in cerebral infarct volume and improvement in neurological function, particularly at the highest dose of 0.4 g/kg.
  • Styrax treatment positively influenced various biochemical markers related to oxidative stress and inflammation, while also affecting key metabolic processes, suggesting that its protective effects may stem from its role in energy and glutamine metabolism.
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  • - The study investigates the cost-effectiveness of various first-line treatment strategies for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC) from the perspectives of Chinese and US healthcare payers.
  • - A network meta-analysis was performed using data from clinical trials between October 2018 and January 2022, employing a Markov model to analyze different treatment effectiveness and cost outcomes.
  • - Results indicate that treatment combinations like atezolizumab with bevacizumab are cost-effective in China, while in the US, lenvatinib appears most cost-effective, with varying incremental cost-effectiveness ratios based on willingness-to-pay thresholds.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Data was analyzed using various tools to review publications from the Web of Science database, revealing a steady increase in research output, primarily from the United States, with Cleveland Clinic being a major contributor.
  • * Key findings highlighted the frequent themes of gut microbiota, heart failure, and related keywords, with emerging research focuses on compounds like TMAO and bile acids, suggesting potential new treatment strategies for heart failure through gut microbiota modulation.
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(SM) coupled with (DO) has been used to relieve cardiovascular diseases in China for many years. Our previous studies have integrated that SM-the volatile oil of DO (SM-DOO)-has a cardioprotective effect on chronic myocardial ischemia based on a pharmacological method, but the cardioprotective mechanism has not been elucidated completely in the metabonomic method. In the present study, a metabonomic method based on high-performance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was performed to evaluate the effects of SM-DOO on chronic myocardial ischemia induced by an ameroid constrictor, which was placed on the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) of pigs.

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Intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) is a fundamental property of cancer; however, the origins of ITH remain poorly understood. We performed single-cell transcriptome profiling of peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) from 15 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC), constructed a map of 45,048 PC cells, profiled the transcriptome states of tumor cell populations, incisively explored ITH of malignant PC cells and identified significant correlates with patient survival. The links between tumor cell lineage/state compositions and ITH were illustrated at transcriptomic, genotypic, molecular and phenotypic levels.

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Background: Prior studies have shown that patients whose tumor overexpresses Her2 at 3+ level by immunohistochemistry (IHC) fare better than those whose tumor overexpresses Her2 at 2+ level (with ERBB2 amplified). Therefore, it would be important to compare the outcome of patients whose tumor expresses Her2 at 2+ level but further classify by gene amplification studies as positive or negative.

Methods: We retrospectively identified patients with advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma with low Her2 protein expression (2+ by IHC) whose tumors were evaluated for gene amplification of ERBB2 by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

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Aim: The aim of this study was to develop a GX1-modified nanostructured lipid carrier (NLCs) and to evaluate its ability to improve the anti-gastric cancer tumor effects of paclitaxel (PTX).

Main Methods: The GX1-modified NLCs were synthesized and loaded with PTX (GX1-PTX-NLCs) by emulsion solvent evaporation technique. The anti-tumor activity and pharmacodynamics were then evaluated by in vitro cell studies and animal experiments.

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Introduction: Proactive palliative care can effectively relieve symptoms early and effectively as well as improve the quality of life of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC).

Areas Covered: The review summarizes palliative care for GAC. GAC caused specific symptoms, such as malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO), bleeding, weight loss, and/or ascites, therefore, these symptoms must be addressed specifically.

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Purposes: Preoperative chemoradiation is a potential treatment option for localized gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC). Currently, the response to chemoradiation cannot be predicted. We analyzed the pretreatment maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) on positron emission tomography/computed tomography as potential predictors of the response to chemoradiation.

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Background: As cancer patients are surviving longer, more patients manifest brain metastases (BRMs). However, the rate of BRMs from upper gastrointestinal cancer is unclear. We therefore evaluated the frequency and prognostic effect of BRMs in this setting.

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Esophageal cancer remains a global health concern with a dismal prognosis and an estimated 5-year survival rate of approximately 10-15%. Immunotherapy is a novel treatment approach representing an effective and promising option against several types of cancer. The development of new and efficacious immunotherapeutic strategies, such as adoptive cell therapy-based, antibody-based and vaccine-based therapies, aims to prevent immunological escape and modify immunological responses.

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Background: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is one standard option for localized esophageal or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer patients but an optimal concurrent chemotherapy combination is not established.

Methods: 412 patients with resectable (cT1N1M0 or cT2-4N0-3M0) esophageal or GEJ cancer treated at the MDACC between October 2002 and June 2016 were analyzed. Exposures: CRT with DF or FOX followed by surgery (trimodality; TMT).

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Mitochondrial dynamics, determining mitochondrial morphology, quality and abundance, have recently been implicated in myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (MI/R) injury. The roles of κ-opioid receptor activation in cardioprotection have been confirmed in our previous studies, while the underlying mechanism associated with mitochondrial dynamics remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the effect of κ-opioid receptor activation on the pathogenesis of MI/R and its underlying mechanisms.

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Macrophages play important roles in the healing and remodeling of cardiac tissues after myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury. Here we investigated the potential effects of salvianolic acid B (SalB), one of the abundant and bioactive compounds extracted from Chinese herb Salvia Miltiorrhiza (Danshen), on macrophage-mediated inflammation after MI/R and the underlying mechanisms. In primary cultured bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), SalB attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced M1 biomarkers (IL-6, iNOS, CCL2 and TNF-α) mRNA expression in a concentration-dependent manner.

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Salvia miltiorrhiza-Dalbergia odorifera coupled-herbs (SMDOCH) has been used to treat coronary heart disease (CHD) for thousands of years, but its unclear bioactive components and mechanisms greatly limit its clinical application. In this study, for the first time, we used network pharmacology to elucidate the mechanisms of action of SMDOCH on CHD. We collected 270 SMDOCH-related targets from 74 bioactive components and 375 CHD-related targets, with 58 overlapping common targets.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to assess how often paratracheal lymph nodes (LNs) are affected by metastases in patients with esophageal cancer and how this impacts their prognosis.
  • Out of 1,199 patients analyzed, 6.1% had positive paratracheal LNs at diagnosis, with a median overall survival of 2.10 years, and recurrence often led to shorter survival rates.
  • The research found that the location of the tumor correlates with the likelihood of paratracheal LN metastases, with higher rates associated with tumors closer to the esophagogastric junction.
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