depression is often triggered by prolonged exposure to psychosocial stressors and associated with coronary heart disease (cHd). Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are involved in the pathogenesis of various emotional and cardiovascular disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Kai-Xin-San (KXS), which may terminate the signaling of MMPs, exerts antidepressant-like and cardioprotective effects in a myocardial infarction (Mi) plus depression rat model. Rats were randomly assigned to five groups: a normal control (control group), a celisc-injection of isopropyl adrenaline group (iSo group), depression (depression group), an iSo + depression (depression + iSo group), and an iSo + depression group treated with intragastric administration of 1,785 mg/kg KXS (KXS group). Behavioral changes, echocardiography, biochemical index, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and apoptosis-related proteins were assessed. compared with the depression + iSo group, KXS significantly improved stress-induced alterations of behavioral parameters and protected the heart by enlarging the left ventricular (lV) fractional shortening (FS) and lV ejection fraction (EF). Moreover, KXS significantly attenuated iSo + depression-induced MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression at the mrna and protein level and decreased TiMP in the heart compared to the complex model group. Myocardial apoptosis was significantly attenuated by KXS by regulating the Bcl-2/Bax axis. These results indicated that Mi comorbid with depression may damage the MMP balance in the central and peripheral system, and KXS may have a direct anti-depressive and cardio-protective effect by regulating the level of MMPs and associated myocardial apoptosis. it is promising to further explore the clinical potential of KXS for the therapy or prevention of Mi plus depression comorbidity disease.
Objective: Kaixinsan (KXS) decoction, as an ancient’s herbal formula, has been demonstrated to be active in various animal models resembling human depression with multi-target effects. This very first study evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of Shen Zhi Ling (SZL) tables (KXS preparation), compared with fluoxetine (FLX, positive comparator), in patients with mild to moderate depressive disorder.Methods: In this randomized double-blind parallel-group study, 156 patients with mild to moderate depression without taken any antidepressants in the past 6 months or 4 straight weeks were randomized to receive either 3.2g/d SZL plus 20mg/d FLX placebo (SZL group) or 20mg/d FLX plus 3.2g/d SZL placebo (FLX group), for 8 weeks. Their clinical presentations and some metabolic indexes were assessed during the 8 weeks visiting period.Results: Patients in SZL group showed a statistically significant improvement after 8 weeks of treatment in HAMD-17 score (18.79±2.09 to 4.43±4.71, p<0.001) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) score (58.49±8.89 to 39.84±12.09, p<0.001), but not in N-back total respond time (1145.55±608.26 to 1128.47±387.49, p>0.05). In addition, no significant difference at 8 weeks of treatment was found between SZL and FLX groups in SDS score (39.84±12.09 vs. 36.63±12.44) and N-back respond time (1128.47±387.49 vs. 1089.43±352.08) as well as reduction of HAMD-17 score (14.79±4.88 vs. 15.24±4.29) (p>0.05 for all). However, the serum APOB, APOC3 and ALB levels and HDL-C/LDL-C ratio decreased significantly in patients after SZL treatment, while only APOB/APOA1 ratio decreased significantly in FLX group. Other metabolic indexes did not alter significantly after treated with SZL or FLX.Conclusion: The efficacy and safety profile of SZL are comparable to that of fluoxetine in patients with mild to moderate depression. The beneficial effect of SZL is probably associated with improvement of lipid metabolic balance.
The monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis (OA) may lead to cartilage degeneration and histopathological lesions. However, the correlation between inflammatory reaction and subchondral bone remodeling in a rodent osteoarthritic model is ambiguous. In this study, intra-articular injection of MIA was performed in 36 four-week-old specific pathogen-free male Wistar rats to induce OA. After 4 weeks of intervention, changes in intrinsic structural properties of the subchondral bones were measured, and the histological evaluation, as well as biochemical analysis, was conducted. We found that intra-articular injection of MIA increased chondrocyte apoptosis and promoted cartilage matrix degradation, such as cartilage surface defects and shallow or disappearing staining. MIA also induced inflammation, improved the expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, and matrix metalloproteinase, and decreased the expression of cartilage-specific proteins with the extension of modeling time. Meanwhile, the MIA also significantly accelerated the subchondral bone remodeling, as shown by the decreased subchondral bone density, thinning of trabeculae, disordered cartilage structure, and morphology. In conclusion, we have shown that MIA-induced rodent osteoarthritic model would cause decreased subchondral bone density, sparse trabecular bone, and other manifestations of osteoporosis accompanied by an inflammatory response, which would worsen with the progression of modeling time. Our results suggest that different phases of MIA-induced OA are associated with the changes in subchondral bone microstructure and the progression of local inflammation.
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