Better detoxifying effect of ripe forsythiae fructus over green forsythiae fructus and the potential mechanisms involving bile acids metabolism and gut microbiota.

Forsythiae Fructus (FF), the fruit of (Thunb.) Vahl. (Lianqiao), is one of the most fundamental herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM), mainly due to its heat-clearing and detoxifying effects.

Correction: Transplantation of HGF gene-engineered skeletal myoblasts improve infarction recovery in a rat myocardial ischemia model.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Transplantation of HGF gene-engineered skeletal myoblasts improve infarction recovery in a rat myocardial ischemia model.

Background: Skeletal myoblast transplantation seems a promising approach for the repair of myocardial infarction (MI). However, the low engraftment efficacy and impaired angiogenic ability limit the clinical efficiency of the myoblasts. Gene engineering with angiogenic growth factors promotes angiogenesis and enhances engraftment of transplanted skeletal myoblasts, leading to improved infarction recovery in myocardial ischemia.

[Dynamic changes of TGF-α and TGF-β1 in rats with liver cirrhosis induced by multiple pathogenic factors].

Objective: To explore the dynamic changes of transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) of liver cirrhosis induced by multiple pathogenic factors in rats.

Methods: Animals in the cirrhosis group were fed a mixture of maize flour, lard, cholesterol and alcohol plus subcutaneously injection with carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄), the CCl₄(0.5 ml/100 g · w) was injected at the first day of experiment and the 40% CCl₄oil solution (0.

Effect of artesunate supplementation on bacterial translocation and dysbiosis of gut microbiota in rats with liver cirrhosis.

Aim: To evaluate the effect of artesunate (AS) supplementation on bacterial translocation (BT) and gut microbiota in a rat model of liver cirrhosis.

Methods: Fifty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a normal control group (N), a liver cirrhosis group (M) and a liver cirrhosis group intervened with AS (MA). Each group was sampled at 4, 6 and 8 wk.

[Protective effect of tanshinol on the hepatopulmonary syndrome in rat].

Objective: To explore the mechanism of tanshinol on alleviate the inflammatory injury of lung tissue in rat hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS).

Methods: SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group (n = 8), hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) group (n = 11) and tanshinol intervention group (n = 9). HE staining was used to observe the histopathology changes of pulmonary and hepatic tissues, and to count the number of macrophages in lung tissues.