Displaying all 7 publications

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  1. Hu Z, Chang X, Pan Q, Gu K, Okechukwu PN
    Pharmacogn Mag, 2017 Oct-Dec;13(52):559-565.
    PMID: 29200713 DOI: 10.4103/pm.pm_135_17
    Background: Camel milk has been reportedly used to treat dropsy, jaundice, tuberculosis, and diabetes while camel urine is used to treat diarrhea and cancer. However, there is no scientific evidence on the antiulcer activity of camel milk and urine. Thus, the present is designed to investigate the gastroprotective and ulcer healing effect of camel milk and urine on experimentally induced gastric ulcer models in rats.

    Materials and Methods: The gastroprotective effect was investigated in HCl/EtOH, water-restraint stress (WRS) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (indomethacin)-induced ulcer models while ulcer healing activity was investigated in indomethacin-induced ulcer model. Cimetidine (100 mg/kg) was used as a standard antiulcer drug.

    Results: Acute toxicity study done up to a dosage of 10 ml/kg of camel milk and urine showed no signs of toxicity and mortality among the rats, indicating the present dosage of 5 ml/kg is safe to be administered to the rats. In the HCl/EtOH model, oral administration of cimetidine (100 mg/kg), camel urine (5 ml/kg), and camel milk (5 ml/kg) significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited gastric lesions by 83.7, 60.5 and 100%, respectively. In the WRS-induced model, cimetidine, and camel urine showed an ulcer inhibition of 100% while camel milk showed an inhibition of 50%. Similarly, in the indomethacin-induced ulcer model, cimetidine, camel milk, and urine showed an ulcer inhibition of 100, 33.3, and 66.7%, respectively. In addition, camel milk and urine also showed a significant (P < 0.05) ulcer healing effect of 100% in indomethacin-induced ulcer model, with no ulcers observed as compared to that of cimetidine, which offers a healing effect of 60.5%.

    Conclusion: The antiulcer activity of camel milk and urine may be attributed to its cytoprotective mechanism and antioxidant properties.

    SUMMARY: Acute toxicity findings revealed the dosage of 10 ml/kg of camel milk and urine seems no toxic and indicating the dosage of 5 ml/kg is safe to be administered to the ratsOral administration of cimetidine (100 mg/kg), camel urine (5 ml/kg), and camel milk (5 ml/kg) significantly inhibited gastric lesions by 83.7, 60.5 and 100% in the HCl/EtOH experimental modelThe results of this investigation have proven that camel milk and urine showed strong ulcer healing effect in indomethacin-induced gastric damage. Abbreviations used: NSAIDs: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, UI: Ulcer index, ANOVA: One-way analysis of variance, WRS: Water-restraint stress, ROS: Reactive oxygen species.
  2. Lin C, Wei Z, Cheng KK, Xu J, Shen G, She C, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2017 07 28;7(1):6820.
    PMID: 28754994 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-07306-5
    Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy that has been found useful for treating various diseases. The treatments involve the insertion of fine needles at acupoints along specific meridians (meridian specificity). This study aims to investigate the metabolic basis of meridian specificity using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR)-based metabolomics. Electro-acupuncture (EA) stimulations were performed at acupoints of either Stomach Meridian of Foot-Yangming (SMFY) or Gallbladder Meridian of Foot-Shaoyang (GMFS) in healthy male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. 1H-NMR spectra datasets of serum, urine, cortex, and stomach tissue extracts from the rats were analysed by multivariate statistical analysis to investigate metabolic perturbations due to EA treatments at different meridians. EA treatment on either the SMFY or GMFS acupoints induced significant variations in 31 metabolites, e.g., amino acids, organic acids, choline esters and glucose. Moreover, a few meridian-specific metabolic changes were found for EA stimulations on the SMFY or GMFS acupoints. Our study demonstrated significant metabolic differences in response to EA stimulations on acupoints of SMFY and GMFS meridians. These results validate the hypothesis that meridian specificity in acupuncture is detectable in the metabolome and demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of a metabolomics approach in understanding the mechanism of acupuncture.
  3. Xu J, Zheng X, Cheng KK, Chang X, Shen G, Liu M, et al.
    Sci Rep, 2017 03 30;7:45580.
    PMID: 28358020 DOI: 10.1038/srep45580
    Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is a common gastrointestinal disease which has been considered as precancerous lesions of gastric carcinoma. Previously, electro-acupuncture stimulation has been shown to be effective in ameliorating symptoms of CAG. However the underlying mechanism of this beneficial treatment is yet to be established. In the present study, an integrated histopathological examination along with molecular biological assay, as well as 1H NMR analysis of multiple biological samples (urine, serum, stomach, cortex and medulla) were employed to systematically assess the pathology of CAG and therapeutic effect of electro-acupuncture stimulation at Sibai (ST 2), Liangmen (ST 21), and Zusanli (ST 36) acupoints located in the stomach meridian using a rat model of CAG. The current results showed that CAG caused comprehensive metabolic alterations including the TCA cycle, glycolysis, membrane metabolism and catabolism, gut microbiota-related metabolism. On the other hand, electro-acupuncture treatment was found able to normalize a number of CAG-induced metabolomics changes by alleviating membrane catabolism, restoring function of neurotransmitter in brain and partially reverse the CAG-induced perturbation in gut microbiota metabolism. These findings provided new insights into the biochemistry of CAG and mechanism of the therapeutic effect of electro-acupuncture stimulations.
  4. Lin X, Liu X, Xu J, Cheng KK, Cao J, Liu T, et al.
    Chin Med, 2019;14:18.
    PMID: 31080495 DOI: 10.1186/s13020-019-0240-2
    Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, which is commonly treated with antidiarrhoeal, antispasmodics, serotonergic agents or laxative agents. These treatments provide relief for IBS symptoms but may also lead to undesired side effects. Previously, herb-partitioned moxibustion (HPM) treatment has been demonstrated to be effective in ameliorating symptoms of IBS. However, the underlying mechanism of this beneficial treatment is yet to be established. The aim of the current study was to systematically assess the metabolic alterations in response to diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) and therapeutic effect of HPM.

    Methods: Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR)-based metabolomics approach was used to investigate fecal and serum metabolome of rat model of IBS-D with and without HPM treatment.

    Results: The current results showed that IBS-induced metabolic alterations in fecal and serum sample include higher level of threonine and UDP-glucose together with lower levels of aspartate, ornithine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, 2-hydroxy butyrate, valine, lactate, ethanol, arginine, 2-oxoisovalerate and bile acids. These altered metabolites potentially involve in impaired gut secretory immune system and intestinal inflammation, malabsorption of nutrients, and disordered metabolism of bile acids. Notably, the HPM treatment was found able to normalize the Bristol stool forms scale scores, fecal water content, plasma endotoxin level, and a number of IBS-induced metabolic changes.

    Conclusions: These findings may provide useful insight into the molecular basis of IBS and mechanism of the HPM intervention.

  5. Sang C, Yan H, Chan WK, Zhu X, Sun T, Chang X, et al.
    Front Med (Lausanne), 2021;8:637652.
    PMID: 33708783 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.637652
    Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the main causes of fibrosis. Liver biopsy remains the gold standard for the confirmation of fibrosis in NAFLD patients. Effective and non-invasive diagnosis of advanced fibrosis is essential to disease surveillance and treatment decisions. Herein we used routine medical test markers and logistic regression to differentiate early and advanced fibrosis in NAFLD patients from China, Malaysia, and India (n1 = 540, n2 = 147, and n3 = 97) who were confirmed by liver biopsy. Nine parameters, including age, body mass index, fasting blood glucose, presence of diabetes or impaired fasting glycemia, alanine aminotransferase, γ-glutamyl transferase, triglyceride, and aspartate transaminase/platelet count ratio, were selected by stepwise logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), and hypothesis testing and were used for model construction. The area under the ROC curve (auROC) of the model was 0.82 for differentiating early and advanced fibrosis (sensitivity = 0.69, when specificity = 0.80) in the discovery set. Its diagnostic ability remained good in the two independent validation sets (auROC = 0.89 and 0.71) and was consistently superior to existing panels such as the FIB-4 and NAFLD fibrosis score. A web-based tool, LiveFbr, was developed for fast access to our model. The new model may serve as an attractive tool for fibrosis classification in NAFLD patients.
  6. Wang L, Tan H, Yu J, ZhangBao J, Huang W, Chang X, et al.
    Eur J Neurol, 2023 Feb;30(2):443-452.
    PMID: 36286605 DOI: 10.1111/ene.15612
    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim was to evaluate the potential of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) measured with optical coherence tomography in predicting disease progression in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

    METHODS: Analyses were conducted post hoc of this 24-month, phase III, double-blind study, in which RRMS patients were randomized (1:1:1) to once daily oral fingolimod 0.5 mg, 1.25 mg or placebo. The key outcomes were the association between baseline RNFLT and baseline clinical characteristics and clinical/imaging outcomes up to 24 months. Change of RNFLT with fingolimod versus placebo within 24 months and time to retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thinning were evaluated.

    RESULTS: Altogether 885 patients were included. At baseline, lower RNFLT was correlated with higher Expanded Disability Status Scale score (r = -1.085, p = 0.018), lower brain volume (r = 0.025, p = 0.006) and deep gray matter volume (r = 0.731, p change -0.605% vs. -0.315%, p = 0.035) in patients without optic neuritis history. At month 24, low baseline RNFLT versus high baseline RNFLT was associated with a higher number of new or newly enlarged T2 lesions (mean number 4.0 vs. 2.8, p = 0.014) and a higher risk of subsequent RNFL thinning (hazard ratio 2.55; 95% confidence interval 1.84-3.53; p 

  7. Mullins N, Kang J, Campos AI, Coleman JRI, Edwards AC, Galfalvy H, et al.
    Biol Psychiatry, 2022 Feb 01;91(3):313-327.
    PMID: 34861974 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.05.029
    BACKGROUND: Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders.

    METHODS: We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors.

    RESULTS: Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged.

    CONCLUSIONS: Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.

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