Skip to main content Skip to search
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12
Waldheimia glabra is traditionally used as incense and as an anti-influenza drug by Tibetans in China. Here, we collected W. glabra from the Gangs Rinpoche mountain at an altitude of 5200 m, and analyzed its essential oil by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with the retention indices (RI). Twenty-seven compounds, representing 72.4% of the total essential oil, were identified, including α-bisabolol (20.2%), valeranone (11.8%), chamazulene (9.9%), spathulenol (8.2%), β-caryophyllene (6.1%), and caryophyllene oxide (5.2%). Bioactivity evaluation of the essential oil revealed that it exhibited potent anti-influenza effect on viruses H3N2 and anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 macrophages, but no anti-complementary activity.

During the screening of a traditional Chinese folk herb library against HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines, the EtOAc extract from the Tibetan medicine, Caragana tibetica (CT-EtOAc) exhibited potential anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (anti-HCC) activity. HPLC-based activity profiling was performed for targeted identification of anti-HCC activity from CT-EtOAc by MS-directed purification method. CT-EtOAc was separated by time-based fractionation for further anti-HCC bioassay by a semipreparative HPLC column (150 mm × 10 mm i.d., 5 μm) with a single injection of 5 mg. Bioassay-guided and ESIMS-directed large scale purification was performed with a single injection of 400 mg of CT-EtOAc by peak-based fractionation. A 1.4-mm heavy wall micro NMR tube with z-gradient was used to measure one and two dimensional NMR spectra for the minor or trace amounts of components of the extract. Two active compounds could be elucidated as naringenin chalcone (CT-1) and 3-hydroxy-8, 9-dimethoxypterocarpan (CT-2) relevant to anti-HCC effects for the EtOAc extract of C. tibetica rapidly and unambiguously by this protocol.

Artemisia hedinii occupies an important position in the Tibetan medicine. Plants in Artemisia vary a lot and are widely distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, many plants in Artemisia look similar, making traditional identification methods laborious. In this article, ITS2 sequences were used as DNA barcoding to identify four kinds of confusable Tibetan medicine plants in Artemisia, aiming to establish a rapid and accurate identification methods. Twenty-one samples in Artemisia were collected from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, ITS2 sequence PCR amplification and sequencing were conducted after the extraction of DNA. Another 11 sequence downloaded from Genbank were added to the analysis. Genetic distance calculation and analysis, building Neighbor Joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree were conducted by MEGA 6.0, also comparison of secondary structures of ITS2 sequences among samples. A. hedinii, A. annua, A. dubia and A. argyi shared close genetic distance, but the maximum distance between the four species was much greater than the minimum distance within each species, NJ tree showed that the four species went to four separate branches, differences among secondary structures of ITS2 sequences also made it clear to identify these medical plants. It could be an accurate and rapid method for identification and recognition, as well as the evolutionary relationships between the species by using ITS2 sequence as DNA barcode for plants of Tibetan Artemisia. The study provides theoretical basis for quality control, medication safety and rational exploitation.

<p>Meditation practice alters intrinsic resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in the default mode network (DMN). However, little is known regarding the effects of meditation on other resting-state networks. The aim of current study was to investigate the effects of meditation experience and meditation-state functional connectivity (msFC) on multiple resting-state networks (RSNs). Meditation practitioners (MPs) performed two 5-minute scans, one during rest, one while meditating. A meditation naïve control group (CG) underwent one resting-state scan. Exploratory regression analyses of the relations between years of meditation practice and rsFC and msFC were conducted. During resting-state, MP as compared to CG exhibited greater rsFC within the Dorsal Attention Network (DAN). Among MP, meditation, as compared to rest, strengthened FC between the DAN and DMN and Salience network whereas it decreased FC between the DAN, dorsal medial PFC, and insula. Regression analyses revealed positive correlations between the number of years of meditation experience and msFC between DAN, thalamus, and anterior parietal sulcus, whereas negative correlations between DAN, lateral and superior parietal, and insula. These findings suggest that the practice of meditation strengthens FC within the DAN as well as strengthens the coupling between distributed networks that are involved in attention, self-referential processes, and affective response.</p>

The CO I gene sequences of Qianghuoyu, Pachytriton labiatus and Gehyra mutilata were achieved by PCR amplification and bi-directional sequencing. Furthermore, a pair of specific primers SJYW1 and SJYW2 in the non-conservative district were designed through sequence alignment. The PCR reaction condition was established by changing the annealing temperature and cycle numbers. The results showed that 350 bp DNA fragment was amplified from Qianghuoyu in PCR with annealed temperature at 54 °C and the cycle number was 25 cycles, whereas not any DNA fragment was amplified from P. labiatus and G. mutilata under the same reaction condition. This method is well-performed in the identification of Qianghuoyu for its excellent specificity and repeatability.

Learn how this ancient Tibetan formula reduces plaque in veins and arteries, and controls bacterial infections in the lungs that lead to asthma and allergies.

Chebulae Fructus immaturus, a traditional Tibetan medicine, originated from the immature fruit of Terminalia chebula Retz., has been proven to have antioxidat function. However, its protection to injury liver cell caused by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) has not been clarified. This study evaluated the effect of phenolic acid from Chebulae Fructus immaturus (PATC) on CCl4-induced acute liver injury in mice and related molecular mechanisms. Our data showed that PATC had convincing protective effects on the CCl4-induced acute liver injury by enhancing the anti-oxidative defense system, ameliorating inflammation and inhibiting the hepatocyte apoptosis.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic and progressive disease that represents an important public health challenge nowadays. Despite the growing number of studies assessing the rehabilitation outcome of Wuqinxi for COPD, their many variables and observations are often explored with a relatively small sample size, accordingly maybe lead to potential false-positive results. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the rehabilitation efficacy of Wuqinxi for COPD.METHODS: A detailed search for articles up to June 2019 will be performed to identify randomized controlled trials for Wuqinxi in COPD. The following database will be used: PUBMED, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Sino Med, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals Database, and Wanfang Database. Grey literature will be explored and the selection of studies, data extraction and validation will performed independently by 2 reviewers using predefined selection criteria and quality indicators. Stata V.13.0 and Review manager 5.3 software will be used for data synthesis, sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis, and risk of bias assessment. We will use the grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation system to assess the quality of evidence. RESULTS: This research will update previous evidence summaries and provide a quantitative and standardized assessment of the rehabilitation efficacy of Wuqinxi for COPD. CONCLUSION: This systematic review will generate the latest evidence for determining whether Wuqinxi has a positive rehabilitation effect for COPD.PROSPERO registration number: PROSPERO CRD 42019120960.

Breast cancer (BC) patients in China suffered from a variety of psychology stress such as perceived stress and anxiety, posttraumatic growth (PTG) as a positive factor could promote their psychology health and quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on promoting PTG, decreasing perceived stress and anxiety of Chinese BC patients. A randomized controlled trial of 60 BC patients (Stages I–III) was conducted. They were randomly divided to the 8-week MBSR group or usual care (UC) group. PTG inventory, Perceived Stress Scale of Chinese version (CPSS) and State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) evaluated the PTG level, perceived stress and anxiety at three times(before intervention-T1, after intervention-T2 and follow up at 3 months-T3). A repeated-measures analysis of variance model was used to compare each outcome measure of two groups at the three times. There was one patient discontinued the intervention and one lose to follow up in MBSR group, finally 58 BC patients completed the research. There was no difference between two groups before the intervention. The results showed significant improvements in MBSR group comparing with the UC group that PTG level was much higher after the 8-week intervention and the follow up (F = 34.73, p < .00). At the same time, CPSS (F = 14.41, p < .00) and STAI (F = 15.24, p < .00) scores were significant decreased at T2 and T3. The results showed that MBSR promoted the level of PTG and decreased perceived stress and anxiety state of Chinese BC patients, and the results persisted at three months after intervention. The research preliminary proved that MBSR was suitable to Chinese BC patients. MBSR should be recommending to BC survivors in China.

Hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (HPH) is a severe condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality in people living at high altitude. Tsantan Sumtang, a traditional Tibetan medicine, has been routinely used for the treatment of cardiopyretic disease, as well as stenocardia. Interestingly, our previous research found that Tsantan Sumtang improved HPH in rats maintaining in a hypobaric chamber. We performed a series of experiments to test the indexes of vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling, the key pathophysiological characteristics of HPH. Our results showed that Tsantan Sumtang relaxed noradrenaline (NE)-precontracted rat pulmonary artery rings in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro. The PGI2-cAMP (prostaglandin I2-cyclic adenosine monophosphate) pathway, NO-cGMP (nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate) pathway, and the opening of K+ channels (inward rectifier K+ channels, large conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels, and voltage-dependent K+ channels) might play major roles in the vasorelaxation effect. In vivo, the administration of Tsantan Sumtang resulted in a substantial decrease in the rat mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and the right ventricular hypertrophy index (RVHI). The reduction of thickness of small pulmonary arterial wall and the WT% (the ratio of the vascular wall thickness to the vascular diameter) were observed. The smooth muscle muscularization of the arterials was alleviated by Tsantan Sumtang treatment at the same time. Tsantan Sumtang also reduced remodeling of pulmonary arterioles by suppressing the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), cyclin D1, and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) through inhibition of p27Kip1 degradation. Therefore, Tsantan Sumtang could be applied as a preventative medication for HPH, which would be a new use for this traditional medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (HPH) is a severe condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality in people living at high altitude. Tsantan Sumtang, a traditional Tibetan medicine, has been routinely used for the treatment of cardiopyretic disease, as well as stenocardia. Interestingly, our previous research found that Tsantan Sumtang improved HPH in rats maintaining in a hypobaric chamber. We performed a series of experiments to test the indexes of vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling, the key pathophysiological characteristics of HPH. Our results showed that Tsantan Sumtang relaxed noradrenaline (NE)-precontracted rat pulmonary artery rings in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro. The PGI2-cAMP (prostaglandin I2-cyclic adenosine monophosphate) pathway, NO-cGMP (nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate) pathway, and the opening of K+ channels (inward rectifier K+ channels, large conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels, and voltage-dependent K+ channels) might play major roles in the vasorelaxation effect. In vivo, the administration of Tsantan Sumtang resulted in a substantial decrease in the rat mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and the right ventricular hypertrophy index (RVHI). The reduction of thickness of small pulmonary arterial wall and the WT% (the ratio of the vascular wall thickness to the vascular diameter) were observed. The smooth muscle muscularization of the arterials was alleviated by Tsantan Sumtang treatment at the same time. Tsantan Sumtang also reduced remodeling of pulmonary arterioles by suppressing the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), cyclin D1, and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) through inhibition of p27Kip1 degradation. Therefore, Tsantan Sumtang could be applied as a preventative medication for HPH, which would be a new use for this traditional medicine.