Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 14. Epub 2018 Jun 14.

Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200065, China.

Although naloxone has been documented to exert neuroprotection in animal model of cerebral ischemia, the mechanism is not well understood. In this present study we investigated whether naloxone affected the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in ischemic brain injury of rats. SD rats were subjected to a permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion surgery, and received naloxone (0. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 14. Epub 2018 Jun 14.

Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA.

Activation of the Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II isoform δA (CaMKIIδA) disturbs intracellular Ca homeostasis in cardiomyocytes during chronic heart failure (CHF). We hypothesized that upregulation of CaMKIIδA in cardiomyocytes might enhance Ca leak from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) via activation of phosphorylated ryanodine receptor type 2 (P-RyR2) and decrease Ca uptake by inhibition of SR calcium ATPase 2a (SERCA2a). In this study, CHF was induced in rats by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 11. Epub 2018 Jun 11.

Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coronary Heart Disease Prevention, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are widely expressed in organisms and are implicated in the regulation of most biological functions. The present study investigated the association of plasma miRNAs with the clinical outcomes of dual antiplatelet therapy in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Plasma miRNA levels were screened using high-throughput Illumina sequencing to evaluate the antiplatelet efficacy of clopidogrel and aspirin. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 11. Epub 2018 Jun 11.

Institute of Applied Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Sumy, 40000, Ukraine.

Bone loss induced by microgravity is a substantial barrier to humans in long-term spaceflight. Recent studies have revealed that icariin (ICA) can attenuate osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and ovariectomized rats. However, whether ICA can protect against microgravity-induced bone loss remains unknown. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 7. Epub 2018 Jun 7.

Department of Hypertension, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.

Leptin, an adipokine that is implicated in the control of food intake via appetite suppression, may also stimulate oxidative stress, inflammation, thrombosis, arterial stiffness, angiogenesis and atherogenesis. These leptin-induced effects may predispose to the development of cardiovascular diseases. In the present review we discuss the evidence linking leptin levels with the presence, severity and/or prognosis of both coronary artery disease and non-cardiac vascular diseases such as stroke, carotid artery disease, peripheral artery disease (PAD) and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) as well as with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 7. Epub 2018 Jun 7.

Pediatric Research Institute, the Department of Pediatrics of University of Louisville, Louisville 40202, USA.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Although considerable progress has been made in the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of CVD, there is still a critical need for novel diagnostic biomarkers and new therapeutic interventions to decrease the incidence of this disease. Recently, there is increasing evidence that circulating miRNAs (miRNAs), i. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 7. Epub 2018 Jun 7.

Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal.

Pervasive transcription of the human genome is responsible for the production of a myriad of non-coding RNA molecules (ncRNAs) some of them with regulatory functions. The pivotal role of ncRNAs in cardiovascular biology has been unveiled in the last decade, starting from the characterization of the involvement of micro-RNAs in cardiovascular development and function, and followed by the use of circulating ncRNAs as biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases. The human non-coding secretome is composed by several RNA species that circulate in body fluids and could be used as biomarkers for diagnosis and outcome prediction. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 7. Epub 2018 Jun 7.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Center for Basic and Translational Stroke Research, Member of Toxicology Working Group and Inhalation Facilities, West Virginia University, USA.

Globally, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of mortality. Approximately 18 million people died from CVDs in 2015, representing more than 30% of all global deaths. New diagnostic tools and therapies are eagerly required to decrease the prevalence of CVDs related to mortality and/or risk factors leading to CVDs. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 5. Epub 2018 Jun 5.

Pediatric Endocrinology and Genetic, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Institute for Pediatric Research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200092, China.

Mucolipidosis II α/β, mucolipidosis III α/β, and mucolipidosis III γ are autosomal recessive disorders belonging to the family of lysosomal storage disorders caused by deficiency of the UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, a lysosomal enzyme N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase (GlcNAc-phosphotransferase) localized in the Golgi apparatus, which is essential for normal processing and packaging of soluble lysosomal enzymes with initiating the first step of tagging lysosomal enzymes with mannose-6-phosphate (M6P). Mucolipidosis II and III are caused by mutations in the GNPTAB and GNPTG genes, and patients with these diseases are characterized by short stature, skeletal abnormalities, and developmental delay. In this study we report 38 patients with mucolipidosis II and III enrolled in Eastern China during the past 8 years. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 4. Epub 2018 Jun 4.

Department of Medicine, Section of Cardiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA.

Diabetes mellitus is currently a major public health problem. A common complication of diabetes is cardiac dysfunction, which is recognized as a microvascular disease that leads to morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. While ischemic events are commonly observed in diabetic patients, the risk for developing heart failure is also increased, independent of the severity of coronary artery disease and hypertension. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun;39(6):903-905

Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun;39(6):1064

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 31. Epub 2018 May 31.

Institute of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death for women, and multidrug resistance (MDR) is the major obstacle faced by chemotherapy for breast cancer. We have previously synthesized a doxorubicin (DOX) derivative by conjugating DOX with triphenylphosphonium (TPP) to achieve mitochondrial delivery, which induced higher cytotoxicity in drug-resistant breast cancer cells than DOX itself. Due to its amphiphilicity, TPP-DOX is difficult to physically entrap in nanocarriers. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 31. Epub 2018 May 31.

Laboratory of Immunopharmacology, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, nonspecific inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterized by complicated and relapsing inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. SM934 is a water-soluble artemisinin analogue that shows anti-inflammatory and immuno-regulatory effects. In this study, we investigated the effects of SM934 on UC both in vivo and in vitro. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 31. Epub 2018 May 31.

Institute of Liver Diseases, Shuguang Hospital affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.

Liver fibrosis is excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins that results from various chronic liver diseases. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) play an essential role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT) is a classic formula of Chinese traditional medicine. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 31. Epub 2018 May 31.

Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.

Caspofungin is an echinocandin antifungal agent licensed as a first-line therapy for invasive candidiasis in patients with moderate to severe illness or recent exposure to azoles. In this study we developed a whole-body physiology-based pharmacokinetics (WB-PBPK) model to predict the pharmacokinetics (PK) of caspofungin, and combined with Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) to optimize clinical dosage regimens of caspofungin in different kinds of patients. A WB-PBPK model of caspofungin was built and validated with raw data from 4 previous trials of general patients, intensive care unit (ICU) patients with Child-Pugh B, ICU patients on continuous renal replacement therapy, mild and moderate hepatic insuffciency (HI) patients. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 31. Epub 2018 May 31.

Department of Medical Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, China.

For the majority of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the standard of care remains platinum-based chemotherapy. However, cisplatin resistance is a big obstacle to the treatment, and elucidation of its mechanism is warranted. In this study, we showed that there was no difference in intracellular uptake of cisplatin or the removal of platinum-DNA adducts between a cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cell line (A549/DR) and a cisplatin-sensitive NSCLC cell line (A549). Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 31. Epub 2018 May 31.

Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215007, China.

Escin, a triterpene saponin isolated from horse chestnut seed, has been used to treat encephaledema, tissue swelling and chronic venous insufficiency. Recent studies show that escin induces cell cycle arrest, tumor proliferation inhibition and tumor cell apoptosis. But the relationship between escin-induced DNA damage and cell apoptosis in tumor cells remains unclear. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 25. Epub 2018 May 25.

Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100050, China.

Host cdc2-like kinase 1 (CLK1) is responsible for the alternative splicing of the influenza virus M2 gene during influenza virus infection and replication that has been recognized as a potential anti-influenza virus target. In this study, we showed that gallocatechin-7-gallate (J10688), a novel CLK1 inhibitor isolated from Pithecellobium clypearia Benth, exerted potent anti-influenza virus activity in vivo and in vitro. ICR mice were intranasally infected with a lethal dose of H1N1. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 24. Epub 2018 May 24.

Department of Translational Neuroscience, Jing'an District Centre Hospital of Shanghai, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology & Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.

Both in vivo and in vitro studies have shown the beneficial effects of the delta-opioid receptor (DOR) on neurodegeneration in hypoxia/ischemia. We previously reported that DOR stimulation with [(D-Ala2, D-Leu5) enkephalin] (DADLE), a potent DOR agonist, for both a short (minutes) and long (days) time has notable protective effects against sodium azide (NaN)-induced cell injury in primary cultured rat cortical neurons. We further demonstrated that short-term DADLE stimulation increased neuronal survival through the PKC-mitochondrial ERK pathway. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 Jun 24;39(6):912-922. Epub 2018 May 24.

Center for Phenomics of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, China.

Lower back pain (LBP) is the most common disease in orthopedic clinics world-wide. A classic Fangji of traditional Chinese medicine, Duhuo Jisheng Decoction (DHJSD), has been proven clinically effective for LBP but its therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesized that DHJSD might relieve LBP through inhibiting the exaggerated proinflammatory cytokines and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 24. Epub 2018 May 24.

Department of Cardiology, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai 200433, China.

Due to the lack of typical clinical symptoms, the average delay time for diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) is longer than 2 years. It is urgent to find biomarkers for PH diagnosis. In this study we investigated whether plasma microRNAs (miRNAs) can be used as biomarkers for PH diagnosis. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 24. Epub 2018 May 24.

Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.

SMARCA2 is a critical catalytic subunit of the switch/sucrose non-fermenting (SWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complexes. Dysregulation of SMARCA2 is associated with several diseases, including some cancers. SMARCA2 is multi-domain protein containing a bromodomain (BRD) that specifically recognizes acetylated lysine residues in histone tails, thus playing an important role in chromatin remodeling. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 24. Epub 2018 May 24.

State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, the National Drug Screening Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a clinical syndrome characterized by hepatic steatosis. NAFLD is closely linked to obesity, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) functions as an energy sensor and plays a central role in regulating lipid metabolism. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 24. Epub 2018 May 24.

Department of Neurology, Yunfu People's Hospital, Yunfu 527300, China.

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors containing α6 subunits (α6-nAChRs) show highly restricted distribution in midbrain neurons associated with pleasure, reward, and mood control, suggesting an important impact of α6-nAChRs in modulating mesolimbic functions. However, the function and pharmacology of α6-nAChRs remain poorly understood because of the lack of selective agonists for α6-nAChRs and the challenging heterologous expression of functional α6-nAChRs in mammalian cell lines. In particular, the α6 subunit is commonly co-expressed with α4-nAChRs in the midbrain, which masks α6-nAChR (without α4) function and pharmacology. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 24. Epub 2018 May 24.

Department of Pharmacology of Chinese Materia Medica, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China.

Major depressive disorder is a common but devastating mental disorder, and recent evidence shows that neuroinflammation may play a pivotal role in the etiology of depression. Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is an active component purifed from Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch) Bge, which has shown anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic effects. In this study, we explored whether AS-IV produced antidepressant effects via its inhibition of neuroinflammation in mouse models of depression. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 24. Epub 2018 May 24.

Department of Cardiology, The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) alleviates acute and chronic inflammation in experimental inflammatory bowel disease, glomerulonephritis, and airway inflammation. However, the anti-inflammatory effects of HGF on myocardial infarction are not defined. The current study assessed the anti-inflammatory effects of HGF in post-ischemic heart failure. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 23. Epub 2018 May 23.

Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.

Timosaponin A3, a saponin in Zhimu, elicited hepatotoxicity via oxidative stress. However, the clinical medication of Zhimu has been historically regarded as safe, probably associated with the antioxidants it contains. However, the related information on the in vivo levels of timosaponin A3 and antioxidants remained unclear on Zhimu treatments. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 23. Epub 2018 May 23.

Department of Physiology, School of Life Science and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, 110016, China.

Salvianolic acid A (SAA) is a minor phenolic carboxylic acid extracted from Salviae miltiorrhizae Bunge (Danshen). SAA exhibits a variety of pharmacological activities, such as antioxidative, anti-thrombotic, neuroprotective, and anti-fibrotic effects, as well as protection from myocardial ischemia and prevention of diabetes and other diseases. Furthermore, SAA has shown renal-protective effects in doxorubicin-induced nephropathy. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 23. Epub 2018 May 23.

Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan, 430030, China.

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge contains various active constituents, some of which have been developed as commercially available medicine. Moreover, some other ingredients in Salvia miltiorrhiza play roles in anti-platelet activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects and the underlying mechanism of miltirone, a lipophilic compound of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 22. Epub 2018 May 22.

Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Drug Research for Emerging Virus Prevention and Treatment, State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.

The persistence of latent HIV-1 reservoirs throughout combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is a major barrier on the path to achieving a cure for AIDS. It has been shown that bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) inhibitors could reactivate HIV-1 latency, but restrained from clinical application due to their toxicity and side effects. Thus, identifying a new type of BET inhibitor with high degrees of selectivity and safety is urgently needed. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 18. Epub 2018 May 18.

Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Key Laboratory of Zhejiang Province, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang, 310009, Hangzhou, China.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are a chronic vascular disease characterized by pathological luminal dilation. Aortic rupture is the fatal consequence of AAAs. Ginkgo biloba extracts (GBEs), a natural herb extract widely used as food supplements, drugs, and cosmetics, has been reported to suppress development of calcium chloride-induced AAAs in mice. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 18. Epub 2018 May 18.

Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.

BRAF and MEK inhibitors have shown remarkable clinical efficacy in BRAF-mutant melanoma; however, most patients develop resistance, which limits the clinical benefit of these agents. In this study, we found that the human melanoma cell clones, A375-DR and A375-TR, with acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and MEK inhibitor trametinib, were cross resistant to other MAPK pathway inhibitors. In these resistant cells, phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 (rpS6) but not phosphorylation of ERK or p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) were unable to be inhibited by MAPK pathway inhibitors. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 18. Epub 2018 May 18.

Department of Pharmacology, Fudan University School of Pharmacy, 201203, Shanghai, China.

The G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) smoothened (SMO) is a key signaling component of the sonic hedgehog (Hh) pathway and a clinically validated target for cancer treatment. The FDA-approved SMO inhibitors GDC-0449/Vismodegib and LDE225/Sonidegib demonstrated clinical antitumor efficacy. Nevertheless, relatively high percentage of treated patients would eventually develop acquired cross resistance to both drugs. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Beijing Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaceutics and New Drug Delivery System, Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.

Rising evidence has shown the development of resistance to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) inhibitors in the practices of cancer therapy. It is reported that the efficacy of axitinib (AX), a VEGFR inhibitor, is limited in the treatment of breast cancer as a single agent or in combination with other chemotherapeutic drugs due to the probability of rising population of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) caused by AX. The present study evaluated the effect of dopamine (DA) improving AX's efficacy on MCF-7/ADR breast cancer in vitro and in vivo, and developed a pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) model describing the in vivo experimental data and characterizing the interaction of effect between AX and DA. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.

Varacin C is a promising anticancer agent and possesses acid-promoted and photo-induced DNA-damaging activities. In this study, we synthesized an analog varacin-1 (VCA-1) and examined its anticancer potentials. The results demonstrated that VCA-1 caused dose-dependent apoptotic cell death in cancer cells. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.

The influence of broad-spectrum antibiotics on the pharmacokinetics and biotransformation of major constituents of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction (SGD) in rats was investigated. The pharmacokinetic behaviors of paeoniflorin (PF), albiflorin (AF), liquiritin (LT), isoliquiritin (ILT), liquiritin apioside (LA), isoliquiritin apioside (ILA), and glycyrrhizic acid (GL), seven major constituents of SGD, as well as glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), a major metabolite of GL, were analyzed. A 1-week pretreatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics (ampicillin, metronidazole, neomycin, 1 g L; and vancomycin, 0. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, Shanghai Key Clinical Center for Metabolic Disease, Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, 200233, China.

There is evidence that post-load/post-meal hyperglycemia is a stronger risk factor for cardiovascular disease than fasting hyperglycemia. The underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. The current study aimed to compare the metabolic profiles of post-load hyperglycemia and fasting hyperglycemia. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.

Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) comprises a heterogeneous group of medical conditions affecting the myocardium. It presents with proteinaceous infiltration with variable degrees of severity, prevalence and evolution. Despite this heterogeneity, erroneous protein folding is the common pathophysiologic process, yielding the formation of a single misfolded protein (monomer) that progressively evolves and ultimately forms amyloid fibers. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Department of Anaesthesiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a life-threatening event. Even with timely treatment, acute ischemic myocardial injury and ensuing ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) can still be difficult issues to tackle. Apart from radiological and other auxiliary examinations, laboratory tests of applicable cardiac biomarkers are also necessary for early diagnosis and close monitoring of this disorder. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210000, China.

Apatinib, a small-molecule inhibitor of VEGFR-2, has attracted much attention due to its encouraging anticancer activity in third-line clinical treatment for many malignancies, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Its usage in second-line therapy with chemotherapeutic drugs is still under exploration. In this study we investigated the antitumor effect of apatinib combined with docetaxel against NSCLC and its cellular pharmacokinetic basis. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Department of Pediatrics, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai 264000, China.

Cerebral palsy is a group of non-progressive motor impairment syndromes caused by brain lesions during development. Herein, we investigated the relationship between nucleotide variations in a miRNA coding region and the predisposition of Chinese children to cerebral palsy. A total of 233 CP patients and 256 healthy participants were enrolled, and 60 children were selected from each group for plasma miRNA detection. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.

Fufang Danshen (FFDS or Compound Danshen) consists of three Chinese herbs Danshen (Salviae miltiorrhizae radix et rhizome), Sanqi (Notoginseng radix et rhizome) and Tianranbingpian (Borneolum, or D-borneol), which has been show to significantly improve the function of the nervous system and brain metabolism. In this study we explored the possible mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of the combination of the effective components of FFDS (Tan IIA, NG-R1 and Borneol) in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) based on network pharmacology. We firstly constructed AD-related FFDS component protein interaction networks, and revealed that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) might regulate neuronal apoptosis through Bad in the progression of AD. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.

The repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a high-risk surgical procedure related to hormonal and metabolic stress-related response with an ensuing activation of the inflammatory cascade. In contrast to open repair (OR), endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) seems to decrease the postoperative stress by offering less extensive incisions, dissection, and tissue manipulation. However, these beneficial effects may be offset by the release of cytokines and arachidonic acid metabolites during intra-luminal manipulation of the thrombus using catheters in endovascular repair, resulting in systemic inflammatory response (SIR), which is clinically called post-implantation syndrome. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 17. Epub 2018 May 17.

Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510080, China.

Hypomotility is a common symptom of gallstone disease, which is accompanied by a loss of interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLCs) in the gallbladder. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is widely used in treating gallstone disease, and has shown anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects apart from its ability to dissolve gallstones. In this study, we investigated the anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects of UDCA on ICLCs in guinea pigs with gallstones. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 16. Epub 2018 May 16.

Department of Pharmacology and Laboratory of Aging and Nervous Diseases, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Translational Research and Therapy for Neuro-Psycho-Diseases, College of Pharmaceutical Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Although the pathogenic mechanism underlying PD remains largely unknown, decreased nigral glutathione (GSH) in postmortem brains of PD patients supports the presence of oxidative stress in PD. We found that Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), which is important for maintaining the level of GSH, protected dopaminergic (DA) neurons from neurotoxicity of MPTP/MPP. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 16. Epub 2018 May 16.

Department of General Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Wu Jiang, Suzhou, 215200, China.

Our previous study showed that TP53-induced glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR) regulated ROS, autophagy, and apoptosis in response to hypoxia and chemotherapeutic drugs. Aescin, a triterpene saponin, exerts anticancer effects and increases ROS levels. The ROS is a key upstream signaling to activate autophagy. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 16. Epub 2018 May 16.

Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.

Modified citrus pectin (MCP) is a carbohydrate enriched complex, which has been implicated in cancer treatment and prevention. However, the effects of MCP on urinary bladder cancer (UBC) are unknown. In this study, MCP was first tested in T24 and J82 human UBC cells and showed the inhibition of cell viability by the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. Read More

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May;39(5):659-660

Departments of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A8.

Acta Pharmacol Sin 2018 May 26;39(5):885-892. Epub 2018 Apr 26.

Sino-US Translational Medicine Institute and College of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China.

Contact inhibition and its disruption of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are important cellular events in vascular diseases. But the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. In this study we investigated the roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the contact inhibition and its disruption of VSMCs and the molecular mechanisms involved. Read More