Thoughts on intervention in HIV/AIDS with traditional Chinese medicine

Study on the activity of Huo-Xue-Hua-Yu decoction and its drug groups in improving fracture healing using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy based on gold nanoparticles

The Huo-Xue-Hua-Yu decoction (HXHYD) prescription, which possesses good clinical properties for healing fractures, is made up of 12 types of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). According to the drug efficacy of TCM, HXHYD consists of four drug-group prescriptions. This study focused on the type of active mechanism in these drug groups and the type of interaction between them in HXHYD. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy was employed to study the effect of the incorporation of calcium hydroxyapatite (CHA), protein and lipid groups on the repair of complete tibial fractures in rats treated with HXHYD and its drug-group prescriptions and without treatment to reveal the efficacy rule of the drug groups in the prescription. The rats were divided into seven groups, each of which was subdivided into three subgroups (evaluated on days 15, 21 and 30 after surgery). The six treatment groups were treated HXHYD, four drug-group prescriptions and Gu-Zhe-Cuo-Shang capsule therapy (treated control). SERS readings were taken at the fractured sites. The results showed that the medical ingredients in HXHYD were not the simple addition of four drug-group prescriptions and the efficacy of HXHYD was stronger than every other drug group prescription because it contained the highest content of CHA and highest carbonate-to-phosphate and phosphate-to-phenylalanine ratios among the treatment groups at all time points in comparison with the fractured control group (no treatment). Thus, the SERS technique has great potential to provide a novel method for effectively and accurately studying the efficacy rule of drug groups in one prescription with the aim to optimize prescriptions.

HIV Vaccine Preparedness among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Taiwan: Sociocultural and Behavioral Factors

In Taiwan, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at disproportionate risk of HIV infection. We examined awareness and acceptability of future HIV vaccines. From July to August 2014, we conducted a cross-sectional survey with MSM recruited through community-based organizations (CBOs) in 2 cities. Among 200 participants (mean age, 27.6 years), half reported multiple partners and one-third condomless anal sex (past 3 months); 12% were HIV-positive. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) use was reported by 42.7%. Over two-thirds (69.0%) were aware of HIV vaccine research, but less than half (43.8%) would accept an HIV vaccine if available. In multivariable analysis, higher educational attainment, >5 sex partners, and TCM use were positively associated with HIV vaccine awareness. Culturally informed HIV vaccine preparedness in Taiwan may be supported by a complementary approach to TCM and HIV prevention technologies, tailoring information for MSM with lower education and targeting those at high risk through gay-identified CBOs.

Health related quality of life: is it another comprehensive evaluation indicator of Chinese medicine on acquired immune deficiency syndrome treatment?

Health related quality of life (HRQOL) can better reflect changes in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients and inform economic evaluation of AIDS treatment services, and the assessment of HRQOL can help us to detect problems that may influence the progression of the disease, hence HRQOL has become a particularly important assessment indictor for HIV comprehensive interventions. Being a multi-angle, multi-level, and diversified complex intervention, roles of Chinese medicine (CM) in AIDS treatment have been recognized and accepted by more and more patients, and HRQOL has been widely used to evaluate the comprehensive management effects of CM on AIDS. In this article, the authors analyze the definition and measurement of HRQOL, measurement of HRQOL of HIV/AIDS patients and effects of CM on AIDS, and give some reasonable advices for the usage of the scale of HRQOL. The authors hold that some new HRQOL instruments specific for CM treatment of AIDS should be developed and further prospective studies should be carried out to demonstrate the practicality, reliability and validity of HRQOL as an evaluation indictor for CM treatment of AIDS.

Direct analysis of traditional Chinese medicines using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS)

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) spectrometry provides an excellent tool to characterize chemical constituents in Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) without requiring separation and extraction procedures. This study involved the use of SERS to analyze two TCMs, namely Coptis chinensis and Phellodendron amurense, and their main active constituent, berberine. Using silver nanospheres as SERS-active probes, the decoctions of two raw TCMs and their counterfeits were analyzed. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to calculate the expected Raman spectrum of berberine, and liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used as a comparative technique to quantify the amount of berberine in the samples. The results of the SERS measurements were consistent with the results of DFT calculations and LCMS analyses. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the potential of SERS was demonstrated as a sensitive, rapid, and non-destructive method to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the active constituents in raw TCM products.

Cell-based screening of traditional Chinese medicines for proliferation enhancers of mouse embryonic stem cells

A high-throughput cell-based method was developed for screening traditional Chinese herbal medicines (TCHMs) for potential stem cell growth promoters. Mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were cultured in growth media supplemented with various TCHM extracts. The dosage-dependent effects of TCHM extracts on cell growth, including proliferation and cytotoxicity, were assessed via EGFP fluorescence measurement. Seven TCHMs were investigated, and among them Panax notoginseng (PN), Rhizoma Atractylodis macrocephalae, Rhizoma chuanxiong, and Ganoderma lucidum spores (GLS) showed potential to improve mES cell proliferation. Eleven mixtures of these four TCHMs were then studied, and the results showed that the mixture of PN and GLS had the strongest growth promoting effect, increasing the specific growth rate of mES cells by 29.5% at a low dosage of 0.01% (wt/vol) PN/GLS (P<0.01) and 34.2% at 0.1% (wt/vol) PN/GLS (P<0.05) compared to the control. The growth promoting effect of PN/GLS was further confirmed with ES cells cultured in spinner flasks. A 29.3-fold increase in the total cell number was achieved in the medium supplemented with 0.01% PN/GLS after 5 days, while the control culture only gave a 16.8-fold increase. This cell-based screening method thus can provide an efficient and high-throughput way to explore potential stem cell growth promoters from TCHMs.