Siquan Zhu

Background: The comprehensive investigation of the association between keratoplasty and wound dehiscence remains limited, despite corneal disease being a leading cause of visual impairment.Methods: A meticulous search strategy was executed across prominent databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase. Data relevant to our research objective were extracted from eligible studies. The methodological quality of each study was assessed using the ROBINS-I tool, while statistical analysis was conducted utilizing STATA 17.0. To evaluate potential publication bias, the Funnel plot and Egger’s test were employed.Results: A total of 11 articles were deemed suitable for inclusion in our analysis. Our findings indicate that the overall incidence of wound dehiscence following keratoplasty was estimated to be 1.9% (95% CI: 0.013, 0.026), although substantial heterogeneity was observed (I² = 72.798%). Notably, developed countries exhibited a higher incidence of wound dehiscence compared to their developing counterparts. Furthermore, the occurrence of wound dehiscence was found to be lower in deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) procedures when compared to penetrating keratoplasty (PK). Analysis utilizing Egger’s linear regression method yielded no evidence of publication bias (p = 0.91). Moreover, within the first year post-keratoplasty, approximately 31.4% of patients experienced wound dehiscence (95% CI: 0.149, 0.503), and 43.1% exhibited a decline in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (95% CI, 0.341, 0.522).Conclusion: The results of our study unveiled the occurrence rate of wound dehiscence following keratoplasty, exhibiting variations based on economic level and the specific surgical procedure employed. Furthermore, onset time of wound dehiscence and visual acuity warrant consideration.

This study explores the effect and mechanism of activated astrocytes (AS) in optic nerve injury and finds out possible Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) interventions via network pharmacology. Then we validated the result in Chronic ocular hypertension (COH) modeling rat experiment. We obtained the information about herbs and the ingredients from TCMSP database and constructed AS-related Target-Ingredient-Herb Network (TIHN) and Target-Ingredient Network (TIN) based on AS activation-related targets acquired from published articles. Then we screened candidate ingredients for animal experiments by the Degree in TIN, binding affinities, and pharmacokinetic parameters. The treatment effect of the candidate ingredient was validated in COH modeling rats. 5 AS activation-related key targets were included in the network pharmacology study. According to these targets, 75 ingredients and 447 herbs were obtained. Cryptotanshinone (CTS) was chosen for the animal experiment due to its stable binding pattern and pharmacokinetic parameters. In animal experiment, the episcleral vein cauterization (EVC) effectively increased the intraocular pressure (IOP) of modeling rats, and CTS had no significant influence on modeling rats’ IOP. But CTS significantly alleviated the retinal lesion and ganglion cells apoptosis caused by the COH environment, which could attribute to the regulation of AS activation by CTS.

With the continuing progress in space exploration, a new and perplexing condition related to spaceflight ocular syndrome has emerged in the past four decades. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has named this condition “spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome” (SANS). This article gives an overview of the current research about SANS and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) by analyzing the existing publications on PubMed and CNKI and reports from NASA about SANS, summarizing the potential pathogenesis of SANS and physical interventions for treating SANS, and discussing the feasibility of treating SANS with TCM. Due to the unique characteristics of the space environment, it is infeasible to conduct large-scale human studies of SANS. SANS may be the result of the interaction of multiple factors, including inflammation and fluid displacement in the optic nerve sheath and cerebrospinal fluid. We should pay attention to SANS. Visual function is not only related to the health of astronauts but also closely related to space operations. TCM has antioxidative stress and antiapoptotic effects and is widely used for optic nerve diseases. TCM has great potential to prevent SANS.

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history of treating glaucoma with remarkable effects, but there is no clear conclusion on its mechanism.Methods: Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to analyze the mechanism and targets of TCM in the treatment of glaucoma, and baicalein was used to treat chronic ocular hypertension animal models rats for observation.Results: The results of animal experiments showed that baicalein could significantly reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) in a rat model of chronic ocular hypertension and protect the structure of the retina and optic nerve, as shown by hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Reducing the apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) by upregulating the expression of the antiapoptotic protein BCL-2 is basically consistent with the results of molecular docking. In the network pharmacology analysis, many key proteins of biological pathways involved in the herbal therapeutic processes in glaucoma, such as threonine kinase 1 (AKT1, core protein of PI3K/AKT signaling), tumor protein p53 (TP53, a tumor suppressor gene coding tumor protein P53), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3, core protein of JAK/STAT signaling), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 17 (IL-17, proinflammatory factors), were identified. Their interactions built complicated chain reactions in the process of glaucoma.Conclusion: By combining the analysis of network pharmacology and animal experimental results, baicalein could effectively improve the symptoms of glaucoma and reduce RGC apoptosis, suggesting that the potential mechanism of TCM in treating glaucoma is related to regulating inflammation and cellular immunity and reducing apoptosis.

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history of treating glaucoma with remarkable effects, but there is no clear conclusion on its mechanism.Methods: Network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to analyze the mechanism and targets of TCM in the treatment of glaucoma, and use baicalein to intervene in chronic ocular hypertension rat animal models to verify.Result：The results of animal experiments showed that baicalin could significantly reduce the intraocular pressure(IOP) in a rat model of chronic ocular hypertension and protect the structure of the retina and optic nerve, as shown by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining and transmission electron microscope(TEM). Reduce the apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells(RGCs) by up-regulating the expression of anti-apoptotic protein BCL-2, and adjusted the expression of AKT1, HIF-1α up and down to a certain extent, this trend is basically consistent with the results of the molecular docking. In the network pharmacology analysis, many key proteins of biological pathways involved in the herbal therapeutic processes on glaucoma like AKT1 (core protein of PI3K/AKT signaling), TP53 (a tumor suppressor gene coding tumor protein P53), STAT3 (core protein of JAK/STAT signaling), IL6 and IL1B (pro-inflammatory factors). And their interactions built complicated chain reaction in the process of glaucoma. Conclusion: By combining the analysis of network pharmacology and experimental verification revealed that baicalein can effectively improve the symptoms of glaucoma and reduce RGCs apoptosis, suggesting the potential mechanism of TCM in treating glaucoma is related to regulating inflammation and cellular immunity, and reducing apoptosis.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of irreversible blindness globally. Qidengmingmu Capsule (QC) is a Chinese patent medicine used to treat DR, but the molecular mechanism of the treatment remains unknown. In this study, we identified and validated potential molecular mechanisms involved in the treatment of DR with QC via network pharmacology and molecular docking methods. The results of Ingredient-DR Target Network showed that 134 common targets and 20 active ingredients of QC were involved. According to the results of enrichment analysis, 2307 biological processes and 40 pathways were related to the treatment effects. Most of these processes and pathways were important for cell survival and were associated with many key factors in DR, such as vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGFA), hypoxia-inducible factor-1A (HIF-1Α), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα). Based on the results of the PPI network and KEGG enrichment analyses, we selected AKT1, HIF-1α, VEGFA, TNFα and their corresponding active ingredients for molecular docking. According to the molecular docking results, several key targets of DR (including AKT1, HIF-1α, VEGFA, and TNFα) can form stable bonds with the corresponding active ingredients of QC. In conclusion, through network pharmacology methods, we found that potential biological mechanisms involved in the alleviation of DR by QC are related to multiple biological processes and signaling pathways. The molecular docking results also provide us with sound directions for further experiments.

BackgroundDry eye disease(DED) is a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance, and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface. DED has a higher incidence in old age and is seen predominantly in females worldwide. Treatments that replenish deficient tears include artificial tears, gels and ointments in mild to moderate disease. Qiju Dihuang Pills is a typical herb decoction applied to the treatment of ocular disease. This study is to identify potentially active compounds and the underlying mechanisms of Qiju Dihuang Pills in the treatment of DED.MethodCompounds in Qiju Dihuang Pills were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP) online databases and then screened by bioavailability and drug likeness parameters. Related targets of DED obtained from GeneCards database, thereby obtaining the targets of Qiju Dihuang Pills against DED. DED-related genes were conducted for Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of the genes were constructed using Cytoscape software.ResultIn total, 121compounds from Qiju Dihuang Pills were screened out with 219 putative target genes. Hence, 219 potential target genes of Qiju Dihuang Pills were selected for further study. After overlap analysis of the 219 genes of Qiju Dihuang Pills and 3533 DED-associated genes, we finally achieved 162 Qiju Dihuang Pills-DED target genes. Network analysis indicated that main targets of main active components of Qiju Dihuang Pills were target genes such as Proline-rich AKT1 substrate 1 (AKT1), interleukin 6(IL-6), Mitogen-activated protein kinase 3(MAPK3), Vascular endothelial growth factor A(VEGFA), and Caspase-3(CASP3), which are involved in the regulation of cancer pathway, Tumor necrosis factor(TNF) signal pathway, hepatitis B pathway, The interleukin 17(IL-17) signaling pathway and so forth. ConclusionOur data provide deep understanding of the pharmacological mechanisms of Qiju Dihuang Pills in attenuating dry eye syndrome. The discovery shed new light on the development of active compounds of Qiju Dihuang Pills for the treatment of DED. Qiju Dihuang Pills alleviated dry eye disease through multi-component, and multi-pathway.

Background: The safety and effectiveness of Internal Treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the main subject of this protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: The following online databases will be searched from inception to April 2020: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Wan-Fang Database, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database. All published randomized controlled trials in English or Chinese related to Internal Treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine for COVID-19 will be included. Primary outcomes are time of disappearance of main symptoms and serum cytokine levels. Secondary outcomes is Accompanying symptoms disappear rate, negative COVID-19 results rate on 2 consecutive occasions CT image improvement, average hospitalization time, occurrence rate of common type to severe form, clinical cure rate, and mortality. Two reviewers will conduct the study selection, data extraction, and assessment independently. The assessment of risk of bias and data synthesis will be conducted with Review Manager Software V.5.2. Results: The results will provide a high-quality synthesis of current evidence for researchers in this subject area. Conclusion: The conclusion of our study will provide evidence to judge whether the internal treatment in traditional Chinese medicine is an effective intervention for COVID-19 patients. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020180178.