Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology of Rhizoma phragmitis: A Narrative Review

Rhizoma phragmitis is a common Chinese herbal medicine whose effects are defined as ‘clearing heat and fire, promoting fluid production to quench thirst, eliminating irritability, stopping vomiting, and disinhibiting urine’. During the Novel Coronavirus epidemic in 2020, the Weijing Decoction and Wuye Lugen Decoction, with Rhizoma phragmitis as the main herbal component, were included in The Pneumonia Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Infection (Trial Version 5) due to remarkable antiviral effects. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Rhizoma phragmitis has antiviral, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and hypoglycemic functions, lowers blood lipids and protects the liver and kidney. This review aims to provide a systematic summary of the botany, traditional applications, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of Rhizoma phragmitis.

Oral Chinese Herbal Medicine on Immune Responses During Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Cellular immune responses including lymphocyte functions and immune effector cells are critical for the control of coronavirus infection. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) potentially has a therapeutic effect for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Nevertheless, there are limited clinical practice suggestions on immunogenicity of the CHM against SARS-CoV-2. To assess the effect of oral CHM on immunogenicity and whether oral CHM improves the clinical parameters through the immunity profile during COVID-19, we performed the present study.

METHODS

For this systematic review and meta-analysis, 11 databases were searched for relevant studies assessing oral CHM for COVID-19 on November 20, 2020 (updated March 9, 2021). Primary outcomes mainly included immunity profiles. Secondary outcomes included all-cause mortality; the remission time of fever, cough, chest tightness, and fatigue. The random effect was used to estimate the heterogeneity of the studies. Summary relative risks, weight mean difference and standardized mean difference were measured with 95% confidence intervals. Modified Jadad scale and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale were used to assess the risk of bias of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies, respectively. The certainty of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE approach.

RESULTS

We analyzed findings from 3,145 patients in 30 eligible studies. Compared with routine treatment, oral CHM, as an adjuvant medicine, improved lymphocyte counts, CD4+, and CD4+/CD8+ ratio with low quality of evidence; improved CD3+ with moderate quality of evidence; and reduced TNF-α with low certainty of evidence. Besides, oral CHM, as an adjuvant medicine reduced the time to clinical symptoms remission with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, compared with routine treatment alone.

CONCLUSION

CHM may be recommended as an adjuvant immunotherapy for disease modification and symptom relief in COVID-19 treatment. However, large RCTs objectively assessing the efficacy of CHM on immune responses in COVID-19 are needed to confirm our findings.

Intact living-cell electrolaunching ionization mass spectrometry for single-cell metabolomics

A novel living-cell mass spectrometry method allows a whole cell to enter entirely into the MS inlet and ionize with almost no sample dilution and matrix interference, which greatly improves the sensitivity of single-cell metabolite detection.

Emerging Theranostic Nanomaterials in Diabetes and Its Complications

Diabetes mellitus (DM) refers to a group of metabolic disorders that are characterized by hyperglycemia. Oral subcutaneously administered antidiabetic drugs such as insulin, glipalamide, and metformin can temporarily balance blood sugar levels, however, long-term administration of these therapies is associated with undesirable side effects on the kidney and liver. In addition, due to overproduction of reactive oxygen species and hyperglycemia-induced macrovascular system damage, diabetics have an increased risk of complications. Fortunately, recent advances in nanomaterials have provided new opportunities for diabetes therapy and diagnosis. This review provides a panoramic overview of the current nanomaterials for the detection of diabetic biomarkers and diabetes treatment. Apart from diabetic sensing mechanisms and antidiabetic activities, the applications of these bioengineered nanoparticles for preventing several diabetic complications are elucidated. This review provides an overall perspective in this field, including current challenges and future trends, which may be helpful in informing the development of novel nanomaterials with new functions and properties for diabetes diagnosis and therapy.

Evolution of Aroma Profiles and Potential in Shine Muscat Grape Berry during Ripening

hine Muscat, with its excellent quality and unique Muscat aroma, is emerging as one of the most profitable table grape cultivars in Asia. However, in-depth analysis of the cultivar’s aroma profile before berries are harvest-ready is lacking. The aroma components and their concentrations undergo substantial changes during berry ripening, which provides an opportunity for producing some juice/wine products with special flavour. In this study, the evolution of free and bound aroma compounds in Shine Muscat grapes was analysed from EL-35 to EL-38. The main aroma attributes of harvest-ready berries were: ‘green’, ‘sweet’, ‘floral’ and ‘fruity’. The headspace SPME-GC-MS analysis revealed that alcohols were the most abundant free and bound compounds in Shine Muscat. Furthermore, the free forms of hexanal, β-damascenone, and (E, Z)-2,6-nonadienal determined the aroma characteristics of the grapes directly, while the bound forms of β-damascenone, (E, Z)-2,6-nonadienal, and 2-hexanol determined the aroma of Shine Muscat that cannot to be smelled directly. Taking all indicators together, we believe that picking Shine Muscat grapes at EL-37 (when a minimum TSS of 17% has been reached) maintains its fine aroma characteristics. These results lay the foundation for the further development, utilisation and study of the aroma characteristics of Shine Muscat grapes.

Dynamic metabolic change of cancer cells induced by natural killer cells at single-cell level studied by label-free mass cytometry

Natural killer cells (NK cells) are important immune cells which have attracted increasing attention in cancer immunotherapy. Due to the heterogeneity of cells, individual cancer cells show different resistance to NK cytotoxicity, which has been revealed by flow cytometry. Here we used label-free mass cytometry (CyESI-MS) as a new tool to analyze the metabolites in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HepG2) cells at the single-cell level after the interaction with different numbers of NK92 MI cells. A large amount of chemical information from individual HepG2 cells was obtained showing the process of cell apoptosis induced by NK cells. Nineteen metabolites which consecutively change during cell apoptosis were revealed by calculating their average relative intensity. Four metabolic pathways were impacted during cell apoptosis which hit 4 metabolites including glutathione (GSH), creatine, glutamic acid and taurine. We found that the HepG2 cells could be divided into two phenotypes after co-culturing with NK cells according to the bimodal distribution of concentration of these 4 metabolites. The correlation between metabolites and different apoptotic pathways in the early apoptosis cell group was established by the 4 metabolites at the single-cell level. This is a new idea of using single-cell specific metabolites to reveal the metabolic heterogeneity in cell apoptosis which would be a powerful means for evaluating the cytotoxicity of NK cells.

Label-free mass cytometry is utilized to study the dynamic metabolic change during apoptosis in HepG2 cells induced by NK92 MI cells at the single-cell level. The metabolic heterogeneity of individual HepG2 cells during apoptosis was revealed.

The heterogeneity of oxidized lipids in individual tumor cells reveals NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity by label-free mass cytometry

NK cell-mediated immunotherapy has received increasing attention in the past decade due to its efficacy and bio-safety. The composition and content of lipids in individual cells are closely related to...

Meibomian gland dysfunction and primary Sjögren's syndrome dry eye: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a systemic autoimmune disorder that primarily affects the exocrine glands such as the lacrimal and the salivary glands. Dry eye disease (DED) is one of the most prevalent manifestations of pSS and is usually classified into aqueous-deficient dry eye and evaporative dry eye. Sjögren's syndrome dry eye (SSDE) is generally described as aqueous-deficient dry eye. However, as the leading pathophysiological mechanism of evaporative dry eye, meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) also has influence on SSDE, which has been shown in recent studies. We speculate that SSDE is more than just an aqueous-deficient dry eye. While no related systematic review and meta-analysis has been published, the present study is designed to derive a better understanding of the association between MGD and SSDE.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The Preferred Reporting items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis for Protocols 2015 statement was used to prepare this protocol. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wan Fang Database will be searched from their inception to 31 October 2021, with restrictions to publications in English or Chinese. Two reviewers will independently carry out data extraction and quality assessment. The diagnosis of pSS will meet the standard diagnostic criteria, such as American College of Rheumatology/European League against Rheumatism Classification Criteria (ACR/EULAR) or American-European Consensus Group Classification criteria (AECG), and the definition of MGD and DED will differ between studies. The quality of included studies will be judged using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Scale. We will carry out this meta-analysis using RevMan V.5.4.1. The incidence of MGD in patients with SSDE will be indicated as OR with 95% CI.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval is not required as this meta-analysis is performed based on published studies and does not involve human participants. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42021226017.

Biomimetic Recognition of Quinones in Water by an Endo-Functionalized Cavity with Anthracene Sidewalls

Selective molecular recognition in water is the foundation of numerous biological functions but is a challenge for most synthetic hosts. We employ the concept of endo-functionalized cavity and the strategy of simultaneous construction to address this issue. The concept and the strategy were demonstrated in the construction of a biomimetic host for selectively recognizing quinones in water. The host was synthesized by joining two pieces of bent anthracene dimer through amide bond formation, affording a deep hydrophobic cavity and inward-directing hydrogen bonding sites. The host can recognize quinones over their close analogues in water, and its association affinity to p-benzoquinone is the highest among all the known hosts and is even comparable to that of the bioreceptor. The binding with an anthraquinone reaches nanomolar affinity. Shielded hydrogen bonding, C-H⋅⋅⋅π, and charge transfer interactions, and the hydrophobic effect are responsible for the high binding affinity and selectivity.

Exploring the temporal relationship between atrial fibrillation and heart failure development. Analysis from nationwide database

Background

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) often coexist and are closely intertwined, each condition worsening the other. The temporal relationships between these two disorders have not yet been fully explored. We assessed, on a nationwide scale, the prognosis of patients hospitalized with HF and AF, based on the timing of AF and HF development.

Methods

From the administrative database covering hospital care for the whole French population, we identified 1,349,638 patients diagnosed with both AF and HF between 2010 and 2018: 956,086 of these AF patients developed HF first (prevalent HF) and 393,552 developed HF after AF (incident HF). The outcome analysis (all-cause death, cardiovascular [CV] death, ischemic stroke or hospitalization for HF) was performed with follow-up starting at the time of last event between AF or HF in the whole cohort and in 427,848 propensity-score-matched patients (213,924 with incident HF and 213,924 with prevalent HF).

Results

During follow-up (mean follow-up 1.6±1.9 year), matched patients with prevalent HF had a higher risk of all-cause death (21.6 vs 19.2%/year), CV death (7.6 vs 6.5%/year) as well as non-cardiovascular death (13.9 vs 12.7%/year) than those with incident HF. The risk for ischemic stroke was lower in the prevalent HF group (1.2 vs 2.4%/year).

Conclusion

In patients hospitalized with both AF and HF, we identified two distinct clinical entities based on the chronological sequence of the two disorders. Patients in whom HF preceded AF (prevalent HF) had higher mortality and higher risk of rehospitalization for HF.

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding sources: None.

Abscisic acid receptors are involves in the Jasmonate signaling in Arabidopsis

The phytohormones jasmonates (JAs) act as important molecules of elicitors for the chlorophyll degradation and anthocyanin biosynthesis. JAs do usually not act independently but integrate in complex networks linking to other hormonal signaling transduction. Here, the crosstalk was detected between the JAs (jasmonic acid) and abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathways in the mediation of chlorophyll degradation and anthocyanin biosynthesis. In this study, we found that the ABA receptor mutants, pyr1pyl1pyl2pyl4 (1124) and pyr1pyl1ply2pyl4pyl5pyl8 (112458) showed less level of chlorophyll and anthocyanin than the wild-type plants, while gain-of-function of RCAR13 transgenic lines inhibited chlorophyll degradation and enhanced anthocyanin accumulation after MeJA treatment. The amidohydrolases, including ILL6 and IAR3 and cytochrome P450 (CYP94B3), encoding JA-Ile catabolism were markedly depressed by ABA receptors. While transcripts of the enzymes for activation of anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway were analyzed, the results indicating that JA biosynthetic genes, including allene oxide synthase (AOS), LOX3 and LOX4 were enhanced by the link of JAs and ABA receptors. Moreover, the ABA receptors are also involved in JAs signal transduction through the regulation of COI, JAZ and MYC2 transcripts. These findings elucidate a connection between a core component of the ABA signaling pathway and JA responses.

[Efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy alone in the treatment of diffuse lymphocytic infiltration syndrome in an ivorian patient living with HIV: a case report]

Objective

We report in this work the efficacy of highly active antiretrovirals (ARVs) alone in the treatment of diffuse infiltrative lymphocytosis syndrome (DILS) without the use of corticosteroids, which appears risky in patients living with HIV.

Observation

This is a 60-year-old HIV-positive patient, discovered during the etiological workup of renal failure, which revealed a non-nephrotic glomerular profile. The renal biopsy found an interstitial infiltrate of CD8 suggestive of DILS. Management consisted in starting ARV treatment alone (lamuvidine, abacavir and raltegravir) without associated corticosteroid therapy. The clinical evolution under treatment was marked by a recovery of the renal function with a creatininemia at 99 μmol/l, a regression of the proteinuria, a CD4 rate at 293/mm³ and an HIV viral load at 533.3 copies or 1.6 log in the space of 3 months.

Conclusion

DILS is a diffuse systemic disease in HIV patients who are usually under poor virological control. In view of the strong immunosuppression and the absence of other infiltrative diseases, it appeared to us to be risky and unjustified to add a corticosteroid therapy.

P–129 Follicular extracellular vesicles of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome inhibit oocyte maturation

Study question

Does follicular extracellular vesicles of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS-EVs) interfere with the quality of oocytes?

Summary answer

PCOS-EVs induced oxidative stress in the oocytes and inhibited oocyte maturation by increasing the abnormal mitochondria distribution and abnormal spindle rates.

What is known already

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age, with a prevalence up to 10%. Women with PCOS are characterized by a clustering of features, including hyperandrogenism, polycystic ovarian morphology, and notably, anovulation. Although international guidelines recommend assisted reproduction techniques to be an effective resort for PCOS patients to conceive. However, even after overcoming ovulatory dysfunction via ovulation induction, the pregnancy outcomes of patients with PCOS were far from satisfying with lower fertilization, cleavage, and implantation rates, implicating that theoocyte quality of these patients are affected. Whereas the mechanisms have not been elucidated yet.

Study design, size, duration

Follicular fluid of PCOS patients (n = 10) and healthy controls (n = 10) were collected and used for extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolation via ultracentrifugation. Germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes collected from female ICR mice were cocultured with RIF-EVs or FER-EVs, respectively, and PBS served as a blank control. GV breakdown (GVBD) rate and maturation rate were calculated at two-hour and fourteen-hour of co-culture, respectively. Besides, oocyte mitochondria distribution, meiosis spindle morphology, and oxidative status were assessed in different groups.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

EVs were determined by western blotting, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. Fluorescence labeled EVs were used to visualize internalization by oocytes. Oocytes mitochondria and mitosis spindles were stained with fluorescence, and abnormal mitochondria rate or abnormal spindle rate was calculated. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was detected in the differently treated oocytes. Moreover, the expression of CAT, GSS, and SOD was determined in the oocytes using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

Main results and the role of chance

Both PCOS-EVs and CTRL-EVs are bilayered vesicles, ranging from 100 to 150 nm, and enriched in Alix, TSG101, and CD9. EVs could be internalized by oocytes within one hour. After coculture, the GVBD rate was similar among the three groups; whereas the maturation rate was significantly decreased in the PCOS-EV group compared with CTRL-EV group or PBS group. In addition, the abnormal mitochondria distribution rate or abnormal spindle rate were significantly increased in the PCOS-EV group compared with PBS or CTRL-EV group. The ROS level was increased in the PCOS-EV group compared with CTRL-EV group, and the expression of CAT, GSS, and SOD was increased in the PCOS-EV-treated oocytes.

Limitations, reasons for caution

Our study did not identify the contents of PCOS-EVs and CTRL-EVs, and the molecular mechanisms of dysregulations induced by PCOS-EVs need further researches to investigate.

Wider implications of the findings: This work confirmed that EV-conducted cellular communication played an important role in oocyte development in women with PCOS. The dysregulation of oocytes induced by PCOS-EVs might be related to the poor oocyte quality of women with PCOS, which may provide a novel target to improve pregnancy outcomes of these patients.

Trial registration number

Not applicable

Paeonol Suppresses Vasculogenesis Through Regulating Vascular Smooth Muscle Phenotypic Switching

OBJECTIVE

Smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotypic switching is associated with development of a variety of occlusive vascular diseases. Paeonol has been reported to be involved in suppressing SMC proliferation. However, it is still unknown whether paeonol can regulate SMC phenotypic switching, and which eventually result in suppressing vasculogenesis.

METHODS

Murine left common carotid artery was injured by completely ligation, and paeonol was administrated by intraperitoneal injection. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was performed to visualize vascular neointima formation. Rat aortic SMCs were used to determine whether paeonol suppresses cell proliferation and migration. And murine hind limb ischemia model was performed to confirm the function role of paeonol in suppressing vasculogenesis.

RESULTS

Complete ligation of murine common carotid artery successfully induced neointima formation. Paeonol treatment dramatically reduced the size of injury-induced neointima. Using rat aortic primary SMC, we identified that paeonol strongly suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and decreased extracellular matrix deposition. And paeonol treatment dramatically suppressed vasculogenesis after hind limb ischemia injury.

CONCLUSION

Paeonol could regulate SMC phenotypic switching through inhibiting proliferation and migration of SMC, which results in inhibiting ischemia-induced vasculogenesis.

Neuroprotective Effect of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound on the Mouse MPTP/MPP+ Model of Dopaminergic Neuron Injury

Ultrasound mediated neuromodulation has been demonstrated to a safe treatment strategy in the field of neuroscience. In this study, low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) was used to treat Parkinson's disease (PD) models induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP⁺) to explore the possibility of ultrasound neuroprotective effect on PD. The results demonstrated that LIPUS treatment can attenuate the central neurotoxicity of MPTP in mice, reduce the loss of tyrosine hydroxylase positive neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and decrease the apoptosis in the section of substantia nigra. The movement and balance dysfunctions in PD mice were improved with LIPUS treatment. In addition, we demonstrated that LIPUS can inhibit the decreased activity and increased apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons induced by MPP⁺, restrain the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential caused by MPP⁺. Moreover, LIPUS stimulation alone did not cause any cytotoxicity and tissue damage in our study. Taken together, the protective and regulatory effects of LIPUS on dopaminergic neurons make it possible as a new, safe and noninvasive treatment for PD.