Pengqian Wang

Since Ephedra Herba (ephedra) and its major alkaloid ephedrine were prohibited as dietary supplements due to their adverse effects on the cardiovascular and central nervous system (CNS), most studies have focused on their amphetamine-like effects and neurotoxicity. However, ephedra also has a long history of use in the treatment of various CNS diseases (known as “Zhong Feng” syndrome) according to two thousand years of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) records. Pharmacokinetic reports have also demonstrated that alkaloids of ephedra can quickly penetrate the blood–brain barrier (BBB) once absorbed into the blood and there are multiple alkaloids derived from ephedra which have been identified as natural sympathomimetic drugs. These drugs are capable of interfering with several types of neurotransmitter, and have an especially potent effect on monoamine neurotransmitters. The effects of ephedra on CNS therefore remain both contradictory and confusing. In this review, we summarized the available evidence of pharmacology and toxicology of ephedra and ephedrine on CNS, and aimed to clarify their effects. Given the unmet need for more efficient treatments of neurological disorders, ephedra is potentially valuable herbal medicine which may provide a promising avenue for development of treatments and encourage further drug research and development (R&D).

Acupuncture is an important part of Chinese medicine that has been widely used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, acupuncture has been used as a complementary treatment for COVID-19 in China. However, the underlying mechanism of acupuncture treatment of COVID-19 remains unclear. Based on bioinformatics/topology, this paper systematically revealed the multi-target mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for COVID-19 through text mining, bioinformatics, network topology, etc. Two active compounds produced after acupuncture and 180 protein targets were identified. A total of 522 Gene Ontology terms related to acupuncture for COVID-19 were identified, and 61 pathways were screened based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Our findings suggested that acupuncture treatment of COVID-19 was associated with suppression of inflammatory stress, improving immunity and regulating nervous system function, including activation of neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction, calcium signaling pathway, cancer pathway, viral carcinogenesis, Staphylococcus aureus infection, etc. The study also found that acupuncture may have additional benefits for COVID-19 patients with cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity. Our study revealed for the first time the multiple synergistic mechanisms of acupuncture on COVID-19. Acupuncture may play an active role in the treatment of COVID-19 and deserves further promotion and application. These results may help to solve this pressing problem currently facing the world.

Inter-module connectivity, which tend to connect different communities and maintain network architectural integrity, is contributing to functional coordination and information flow between modules in perturbations. Detecting the strength of inter-module connection is essential to characterize the reactive bio-systematical variation. A quantitative evaluation method for inter-module connections is needed. Here, based on the high-throughput microarray data from mouse, an evaluation approach (named as IMCC) for inter-module connectivity was developed. The IMCC model, which is an integration of direct and indirect inter-module connections, successfully excluded inter-module connections without statistical significance or below the cutoff value, and provided a more comprehensive landscape of inter-module relationships. We showed that the IMCC method reflected a more precise functional coordination between modules according to KEGG database, were validated by topological parameter. Application of IMCC in genome-scale stroke networks deciphered characteristic pathological “core-periphery” structure of modular map and functional coordination module pair. Author summery: Inter-module connectivity, which tend to connect different communities and maintain network architectural integrity, is contributing to functional coordination and information flow between modules in perturbations. Moreover, modular rearrangements provide more efficient ways for phenotype alteration, inter-module connections have been considered to be ‘‘evolutionary interaction switches”. Such modular map rewiring can be used as a network biomarker to characterize the dynamics of drug responses. Detecting the strength of inter-module connection is essential to characterize the reactive bio-systematical variation response to disease or drug. We aim to construct a quantitative evaluation method for inter-module connections. Thus, this study has implications in systematical exploration detailed variation of inter-module pharmacological action mode of drugs.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of blood-letting therapy (BLT) in treatment of hypertension.