Renal protective effects and mechanisms of Astragalus membranaceus for diabetic kidney disease in animal models: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Astragalus membranaceus (AM) shows potential therapeutic benefits for managing diabetic kidney disease (DKD), a leading cause of kidney failure with no cure. However, its comprehensive effects on renal outcomes and plausible mechanisms remain unclear.

Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the effects and mechanisms of AM on renal outcomes in DKD animal models.

Oral Chinese Herbal Medicine plus usual care for diabetic kidney disease: study protocol for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial.

Background: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has become the leading cause of kidney failure, causing a significant socioeconomic burden worldwide. The usual care for DKD fails to achieve satisfactory effects in delaying the persistent loss of renal function. A Chinese herbal medicine, (TQF), showed preliminary clinical benefits with a sound safety profile for people with stage 2-4 DKD.

Renal-protective effects of Chinese medicinal herbs and compounds for diabetic kidney disease in animal models: protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a common and severe complication of diabetes that can lead to end-stage renal disease with no cure. The first-line drugs recommended by clinical guidelines fail to achieve satisfactory effects for people with DKD. A Chinese herbal medicine Tangshen Qushi Formula (TQF) shows preliminary efficacy and safety in preserving renal function for people with DKD, but the effects on comprehensive renal outcomes remain unclear.

Oral Chinese herbal medicine in reducing the recurrence of colorectal adenoma after polypectomy: A protocol for the systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Colorectal adenoma (CRA) is a significant precancerous lesion of sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC). CRA is likely to recur after polypectomy, increasing the risk of CRC. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been used to reduce CRA recurrence.

Benefits of herbal formulae containing Poria cocos (Fuling) for type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf or Fuling is one of the top 10 most frequently prescribed herbs in China for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review is to determine the additional benefit of Fuling formulae use in addition to hypoglycaemic agents for T2DM in randomised clinical trials.

Additional Benefit of Chinese Medicine Formulae Including for Diabetes Mellitus: Current State of Evidence.

Background: Chinese medicine has been used to treat diabetes symptoms for thousands of years. or is a Chinese medicinal herb that is routinely used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM).

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the evidence of the added benefits and safety of herbal formulae containing in clinical studies and the possible mechanisms of in the prevention and treatment of DM in experimental studies.

Clinical evidence of Chinese medicine therapies for depression in women during perimenopause and menopause.

Background: Depression is common in women during perimenopause and menopause. Complementary therapies such as acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) are often utilized by these women. However, the efficacy and safety of these treatments have not been systematically evaluated.

Acupuncture therapies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review of randomized, controlled trials.

Context: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and is projected to be the third leading cause of death by 2030. Acupuncture, a traditional Chinese therapy, has been used for more than 2000 years to treat respiratory conditions and may treat COPD effectively. In previous literature reviews, researchers have noted significant heterogeneity among the included studies, and none of the reviewers found convincing evidence to recommend routine use of acupuncture therapies for COPD.

Panax ginseng therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a clinical trial protocol and pilot study.

Background: Panax ginseng (Ren shen) has been used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This article aims to present a study protocol and pilot trial comparing P. ginseng with placebo for treating moderate to very severe COPD.

A meta-analysis of ear-acupuncture, ear-acupressure and auriculotherapy for cigarette smoking cessation.

Background: This systematic review evaluated the effects of ear acupuncture, ear acupressure and auriculotherapy for cigarette smoking cessation (SC) at end-of-treatment (EoT), three, six and 12 months follow-up.

Methods: Searches of six English and Chinese databases located 25 randomized controlled trials (3735 participants). Methodological quality was assessed using Cochrane Risk of Bias.

Oral Chinese herbal medicine combined with pharmacotherapy for stable COPD: a systematic review of effect on BODE index and six minute walk test.

This systematic review evaluated the effects of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) plus routine pharmacotherapy (RP) on the objective outcome measures BODE index, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) in individuals with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Searches were conducted of six English and Chinese databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, CNKI and CQVIP) from their inceptions until 18th November 2013 for randomized controlled trials involving oral administration of CHM plus RP compared to the same RP, with BODE Index and/or 6MWT/D as outcomes. Twenty-five studies were identified.

Ear acupressure for smoking cessation: a randomised controlled trial.

This study investigated the efficacy and safety of ear acupressure (EAP) as a stand-alone intervention for smoking cessation and the feasibility of this study design. Adult smokers were randomised to receive EAP specific for smoking cessation (SSEAP) or a nonspecific EAP (NSEAP) intervention which is not typically used for smoking cessation. Participants received 8 weekly treatments and were requested to press the five pellets taped to one ear at least three times daily.

Ear acupressure for smoking cessation: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease worldwide but smokers often fail to quit due to nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Current available pharmaceutical therapies may assist with smoking cessation but may have side effects. Ear acupressure (EAP) and ear acupuncture have been used for smoking cessation, and some positive results have been reported.

Interaction of herbal compounds with biological targets: a case study with berberine.

Berberine is one of the main alkaloids found in the Chinese herb Huang lian (Rhizoma Coptidis), which has been reported to have multiple pharmacological activities. This study aimed to analyze the molecular targets of berberine based on literature data followed by a pathway analysis using the PANTHER program. PANTHER analysis of berberine targets showed that the most classes of molecular functions include receptor binding, kinase activity, protein binding, transcription activity, DNA binding, and kinase regulator activity.

Current and future therapeutic targets of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systematic autoimmune disease which affects about 1% of the population world wide. This article aimed to identify current therapeutic targets for RA based on data from the literature and drug target related databases. Identified targets were further analysed using a powerful bioinformatics tool, PANTHER (Protein ANalysis THrough Evolutionary Relationships).

Structure, function, regulation and polymorphism of human cytochrome P450 2A6.

The CYP2A6 gene spans a region of approximately 6 kb pairs consisting of 9 exons and has been mapped to the long arm of chromosome 19 (between 19q12 and 19q13.2). The CYP2A6 protein has 494 amino acids and is an important hepatic Phase I enzyme that metabolizes approximately 3% of therapeutic drugs (n > 30; e.

Prediction of deleterious non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms of human uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase genes.

UDP glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) are an important class of Phase II enzymes involved in the metabolism and detoxification of numerous xenobiotics including therapeutic drugs and endogenous compounds (e.g. bilirubin).

Multidrug resistance-associated proteins and implications in drug development.

1. The multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRPs) belong to the ATP-binding cassette superfamily (ABCC family) of transporters that are expressed differentially in the liver, kidney, intestine and blood-brain barrier. There are nine human MRPs that transport a structurally diverse array of endo- and xenobiotics as well as their conjugates.

Clinical pharmacogenetics and potential application in personalized medicine.

The current 'fixed-dosage strategy' approach to medicine, means there is much inter-individual variation in drug response. Pharmacogenetics is the study of how inter-individual variations in the DNA sequence of specific genes affect drug responses. This article will highlight current pharmacogenetic knowledge on important drug metabolizing enzymes, drug transporters and drug targets to understand interindividual variability in drug clearance and responses in clinical practice and potential use in personalized medicine.

Substrates and inhibitors of human multidrug resistance associated proteins and the implications in drug development.

Human contains 49 ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes and the multidrug resistance associated proteins (MRP1/ABCC1, MRP2/ABCC2, MRP3/ABCC3, MRP4/ABCC4, MRP5/ABCC5, MRP6/ABCC6, MRP7/ABCC10, MRP8/ABCC11 and MRP9/ABCC12) belong to the ABCC family which contains 13 members. ABCC7 is cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator; ABCC8 and ABCC9 are the sulfonylurea receptors which constitute the ATP-sensing subunits of a complex potassium channel. MRP10/ABCC13 is clearly a pseudo-gene which encodes a truncated protein that is highly expressed in fetal human liver with the highest similarity to MRP2/ABCC2 but without transporting activity.

Clinical drugs that interact with St. John's wort and implication in drug development.

St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum, SJW) is one of the most commonly used herbal antidepressants for the treatment of minor to moderate depression. A major safety concern about SJW is its ability to alter the pharmacokinetics and/or clinical response of a variety of clinically important drugs that have distinctive chemical structure, mechanism of action and metabolic pathways.