Background Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees (APN), a principal constituent of a famous traditional Chinese medicine Fukeqianjin tablet which is used for the treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), has been reported to have anti-inflammatory effect in vitro. However, whether it has pharmacological effect on PID in vivo is unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to test the anti-inflammatory effect of APN and illuminate a potential mechanism.MethodsThirty-six female specific pathogen-free SD rats were randomly divided into control group, PID group, APN1 group, APN2 group, APN3 group and prednisone group. Pathogen-induced PID rats were constructed. The APN1, APN2 and APN3 group rats were orally administrated with APN extract at different levels. The prednisone group rats were administrated with prednisone. Eight days after the first infection, the histological examination of upper genital tract was carried out, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out using homogenate of the uterus and fallopian tube. Furthermore, immunohistochemical evaluations of NF-κB p65 and IκB-α in uterus was conducted.ResultsAPN obviously suppressed the infiltrations of neutrophils and lymphocytes, and it could significantly reduce the excessive production of cytokines and chemokines including IL-1β, IL-6, CXCL-1, MCP-1 and RANTES in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, APN could block the pathogen-induced activation of NF-κB pathway.ConclusionAPN showed potent anti-inflammatory effect on pathogen-induced PID in rats, with a potential mechanism of inhibiting the NF-κB signal pathway.

Genetic variations in genes involved in repairing platinum-induced DNA lesions may contribute to the toxicity of platinum-based chemotherapy. The role of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within DNA repair pathways in the occurrence of severe toxicity is not yet understood. Current studies prefer to do original works rather than analyze previously published data. Our study aimed to replicate associations between previously investigated SNPs and toxicities and to identify new genetic makers. We systematically examined the relevance of 97 SNPs in 54 candidate genes responsible for repairing DNA interstrand and intrastrand cross-links to severe toxicity in a discovery cohort of 437 NSCLC patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy. Statistically significant SNPs were then assessed for replication in an independent validation cohort of 781 NSCLC patients. We found that 7 SNPs were significant at p < 0.01 (RRM1 rs12806698, XPC rs2228000, XPF rs1799801, hMLH1 rs1800734, PMS2 rs1062372, REV3L rs462779 and FANCC rs4647554) in the discovery cohort. Among them, two SNPs (RRM1 rs12806698 and hMLH1 rs1800734) remained significant after Bonferroni correction. XPC rs2228000 showed a significant relationship with severe gastrointestinal toxicity in the validation cohort. When the two cohorts were combined, XPC rs2228000 presented better tolerance of severe hematologic toxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity and leukopenia (OR = 0.677, 95% CI: 0.510-0.899, p = 0.007; OR = 0.565, 95% CI: 0.368-0.869, p = 0.009; OR = 0.628, 95% CI: 0.439-0.899, p = 0.011, respectively). Our findings can offer comprehensive pharmacogenetic information for platinum-induced toxicities.

No abstract

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) can lead to a poor outcome of severe sequelae, and the current methods of clinical diagnosis are not satisfactory. Metabolomics is an effective method for the identification of disease-related metabolite biomarkers to facilitate disease diagnosis. However, to the best of our knowledge, no PID-associated metabolomic study has yet been carried out. The metabolomic changes of rats with PID were investigated in the present study. A PID model was constructed by the multi-pathogenic infection of the upper genital tract in rats. Infiltration of inflammatory cells and elevated expression levels of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 in the uterus and fallopian tubes validated the disease model. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry coupled with derivatization was used to determine the urine metabolomic profile. Principal component analysis and partial least squares-discriminant analysis of the data sets showed a clear separation of metabolic profiles between rats with PID and control rats. Eighteen differentiating metabolites were found, including four amino acids, three fatty acids, nine organic acids, and two sugars, which indicated alterations in sugar metabolism, the citric acid cycle, amino acid metabolism and fatty acid metabolism. These metabolites could be potential biomarkers of PID, and this research may offer a new approach to evaluate the effect of anti-PID drugs in pre-clinical or clinical trials.

Postpartum depression affects about 10-20% of newly delivered women, which is harmful for both mothers and infants. However, the current diagnosis of postpartum depression depends on the subjective judgment of a practitioner, which may lead to misdiagnosis. Hence, an appended objective diagnosis index may help the practitioner to improve diagnosis. A metabolomic study can find biomarkers as an objective index to facilitate disease diagnosis. Forty-nine postpartum depressed patients and 50 healthy controls were recruited into this study. The metabolites in urine were scanned with LC-Q-TOF-MS. The metabolomic data were analyzed with a multivariate statistical analysis method. Data from 40 patients and 40 controls were used for partial least square-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA). The urine metabolomic profiles of patients were different from those of controls. The PLS-DA model was validated by a permutation test, and the model could accurately classify the other 9 patients and 10 controls in T-prediction. Ten differentiating metabolites were found as main contributors to this difference, which are involved in amino acid metabolism, neurotransmitter metabolism, bacteria population, etc. Some of these potential biomarkers, such as 4-hydroxyhippuric acid, homocysteine, and tyrosine, showed relatively high sensitivities and specificities. The metabolic profile alteration induced by postpartum depression was found, and some of the differentiating metabolites may serve as biomarkers to facilitate the diagnosis of postpartum depression.