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Sleep disorder (SD) has a high incidence and seriously affects quality of life, mental health and even the manifestation of physical diseases. The combination of Pinellia ternata (Chinese name: banxia) and Prunella vulgaris  (Chinese name: xiakucao), known as the Banxia–Xiakucao Chinese herb pair (BXHP), is a proven Chinese herbal medicine that has been used to treat SD for thousands of years due to its significant clinical effects. However, its active pharmacological components and sedative–hypnotic mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Thus, the present study used a systematic pharmacological approach to develop pharmacokinetic screens and target predictions via construction of a protein–protein interaction network and annotation database for SD-related and putative BXHP-related targets. Visualization, screening and integrated discovery enrichment analyses were conducted. The BXHP chemical database contains 166 compounds between the two herbal ingredients, and of these, 22 potential active molecules were screened by pharmacokinetic evaluation. The targets of 114 of the active molecules were predicted, and 34 were selected for further analysis. Finally, gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses suggested that BXHP can reduce inflammatory responses. and mediate immune-related and central nervous system neurotransmitters via regulation of multiple targets and pathways. The use of a systematic pharmacology-based approach in the present study further elucidated the mechanisms of action underlying BXHP for the treatment of SD from a holistic perspective and sheds light on the systemic mechanisms of action of Chinese herbal medicines in general.

Background Evaluation of liver fibrosis played a monumental role in the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). We aimed to explore the value of serum N -glycan markers in liver fibrosis. Methods This multi-center (33 hospitals) study recruited 760 treatment-naïve CHB patients who underwent liver biopsy. Serum N -glycan markers were analyzed by DNA sequencer-assisted fluorophore-assisted with capillary electrophoresis (DSA-FACE) technology. First, we explore the relationship between 12 serum N -glycan markers and the fibrosis stage. Then, we developed a Px score for diagnosing significant fibrosis using the LASSO regression. Next, we compared the diagnostic performances between Px, LSM, APRI, and FIB-4. Finally, we explored the relationships between glycosyltransferase gene and liver fibrosis with RNA-transcriptome sequencing. Results We included 622 CHB participants: male-dominated (69.6%); median age 42.0 (IQR 34.0–50.0); 287 with normal ALT; 73.0% with significant fibrosis. P5(NA2), P8(NA3), and P10(NA4) were opposite to the degree of fibrosis, while other profiles (except for P0[NGA2]) increased with the degree of fibrosis. Seven profiles (P1[NGA2F], P2[NGA2FB], P3[NG1A2F], P4[NG1A2F], P7[NA2FB], P8[NA3], and P9[NA3Fb]) were selected into Px score. Px score was associated with an increased risk of significant fibrosis (for per Px score increase, the risk of significant fibrosis was increased by 3.54 times (OR = 4.54 [2.63–7.82]) in the fully-adjusted generalized linear model. p for trend was <0.001. The diagnostic performance of the Px score was superior to others. Glycosyltransferase genes were overexpressed in liver fibrosis, and glycosylation and glycosyltransferase-related pathways were significantly enriched. Conclusions Serum N -glycan markers were positively correlated with liver fibrosis. Px score had good performance in distinguishing significant fibrosis.

Objective：To investigate the beneficial effect of bicyclol on rat hearts subjected to ischemia-reperfusion（IR） injuries and its possible mechanism.Methods：Male Sprague-Dawley rats were intragastrically administered with bicyclol（25,50 or 100 mg/（kg·d）） for 3 d.Myocardial IR was produced by occlusion of the coronary artery for 1 h and reperfusion for 3 h.Left ventricular hemodynamics was continuously monitored.At the end of reperfusion,myocardial infarct was measured by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride（TTC） staining,and serum lactate dehydrogenase（LDH） level and myocardial superoxide dismutase（SOD） activity were determined by spectrophotometry.Isolated ventricular myocytes from adult rats were exposed to 60 min anoxia and 30 min reoxygenation to simulate IR injuries.After reperfusion,cell viability was determined with trypan blue;reactive oxygen species（ROS） and mitochondrial membrane potential of the cardiomyocytes were measured with the fluorescent probe.The mitochondrial permeability transition pore（mPTP） opening induced by Ca2＋（200 μmol/L） was measured with the absorbance at 520 nm in the isolated myocardial mitochondria.Results：Low dose of bicyclol（25 mg/（kg·d）） had no significant improving effect on all cardiac parameters,whereas pretreatment with high bicyclol markedly reduced the myocardial infarct and improved the left ventricular contractility in the myocardium exposed to IR（P〈0.05）.Medium dose of bicyclol（50 mg/（kg·d）） markedly improved the myocardial contractility,left ventricular myocyte viability,and SOD activity,as well decreased infarct size,serum LDH level,ROS production,and mitochondrial membrane potential in rat myocardium exposed to IR.The reduction of ventricular myocyte viability in IR group was inhibited by pretreatment with 50 and 100 mg/（kg·d） bicyclol（P〈0.05 vs.IR）,but not by 25 mg/（kg·d） bicyclol.The opening of mPTP evoked by Ca2＋ was significantly inhibited by medium bicyclol.Conclusions：Bicyclol exerts cardioprotection against IR injury,at least,via reducing oxidative stress and its subsequent mPTP opening.

Mutations of fins-like tyrosine kinase 3 （FLT3） and nucleophosmin （NPM1） exon 12 genes are the most common abnormalities in adult acute myeloid leukemia （AML） with normal cytogenetics. To assess the prognostic impact of the two gene mutations in Chinese AML patients, we used multiplex polymerase chain reaction （PCR） and capillary electrophoresis to screen 76 AML patients with normal cytogenetics for mutations in FLT3 internal tandem duplication （FLT3/ITD） and exon 12 of the NPM1 gene. FLT3/ITD mutation was detected in 15 （19.7%） of 76 subjects, and NPM1 mutation in 20 （26.3%） subjects. Seven （9.2%） cases were positive for both FLT3/ITD and NPM1 mutations Significantly more FLT3/ITD aberration was detected in subjects with French-American-British （FAB） M1 （42.8%）. NPM1 mutation was frequently detected in subjects with M5 （47.1%） and infrequently in subjects with M2 （11.1%）. FLT3 and NPM1 mutations were significantly associated with a higher white blood cell count in peripheral blood and a lower CD34 antigen expression, but not age, sex, or platelet count. Statistical analysis revealed that the FLT3/ITD- positive group had a lower complete remission （CR） rate （53.3% vs. 83.6%）. Survival analysis showed that the FLT3/ITD-positive/NPM1 mutation-negative group had worse overall survival （OS） and relapse-free survival （RFS）. The FLT3/ITD-positive/NPM1 mutation-positive group showed a trend towards favorable survival compared with the FLT3/ITD-positive/NPM1 mutation-negative group （P=0.069）. Our results indicate that the FLT3/ITD mutation might be a prognostic factor for an unfavorable outcome in Chinese AML subjects with normal cytogenetics, while NPM1 mutation may be a favorable prognostic factor for OS and RFS in the presence of FLT3/ITD.