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Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Combined with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors on the Treatment for Parkinson's Disease with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Feng, ST, Wang, XL, Wang, YT, Yuan, YH, Li, ZP, Chen, NH, Wang, ZZ, Zhang, Y
The American journal of Chinese medicine. 2021;(3):627-643
Abstract
Depression is a common neuropsychiatric symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), resulting in a lower quality of life and cognitive impairment in PD patients. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulas have been widely used in neurodegenerative disease and neuropsychic disorders to improve life quality of patients in ethnomedicine. TCM formulas combined with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) also have a positive effect on depressed PD compared with SSRIs as reported by several clinical studies. However, the results are discordant and failed to be conclusive. We aim to evaluate the efficacy of TCM formulas combined with SSRIs for depressed PD in this systematic review. We searched literatures from PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, Embase, Google Scholar, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, and VIP Information Database before July 2020. We included randomized controlled trials investigating the efficacy of TCM formulas combined with SSRIs on depressed PD patients. This analysis was according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline. Eleven randomized clinical trials involving 861 subjects were enrolled in this analysis. The overall results showed that TCM formulas combined with SSRIs significantly improved the depression score [weighted mean difference (WMD): -4.920, 95% confidence interval (CI): (-5.999, -3.840); [Formula: see text]¡ 0.001] and had a statistical significance on Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale II score [WMD: -1.209, 95% CI: (-1.561, -0.857); [Formula: see text] < 0.001]. Furthermore, we observed that Chai-Hu-Shu-Gan Powder combined with SSRIs had a significant improvement on the depressive symptom in PD compared to the SSRIs alone [WMD: -5.390, 95% CI: (-7.66, -3.11); [Formula: see text] < 0.001]. No severe side events were reported in these included trials. This systematic review provided the evidences that TCM formulas combined with SSRIs might be helpful and safe in the treatment of depression of PD, including Chai-Hu-Shu-Gan Powder. Also, more randomized double-blinded trials with reliable design are required in the future.
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Lack of effect of tart cherry concentrate dose on serum urate in people with gout.
Stamp, LK, Chapman, P, Frampton, C, Duffull, SB, Drake, J, Zhang, Y, Neogi, T
Rheumatology (Oxford, England). 2020;(9):2374-2380
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES Cherry concentrate has been suggested to reduce serum urate (SU) and gout flares. The aims of this study were to determine the magnitude of the effect of tart cherry concentrate on SU in people with gout, the most effective dose of tart cherry concentrate for lowering SU, and adverse effects. METHODS Fifty people with gout and SU > 0.36 mmol/l were recruited. Half were on allopurinol and half were on no urate-lowering therapy. Participants were randomized to receive tart cherry juice concentrate: placebo, 7.5 ml, 15 ml, 22.5 ml or 30 ml twice daily for 28 days. Blood samples were taken at baseline, then at 1, 3 and 5 h post cherry and then on days 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28. The area under the curve for SU was calculated over the 28-day study period. RESULTS Cherry concentrate dose had no significant effect on reduction in SU area under the curve, urine urate excretion, change in urinary anthocyanin between day 0 and day 28, or frequency of gout flares over the 28-day study period (P = 0.76). There were 24 reported adverse events, with only one (hyperglycaemia) considered possibly to be related to cherry concentrate. Allopurinol use did not modify the effect of cherry on SU or urine urate excretion. CONCLUSION Tart cherry concentrate had no effect on SU or urine urate excretion. If there is an effect of cherry concentrate on gout flares over a longer time period, it is not likely to be mediated by reduction in SU. TRIAL REGISTRATION Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=368887, ANZCTR 12615000741583).
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The effect of green-coffee extract supplementation on obesity: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Gorji, Z, Varkaneh, HK, Talaei, S, Nazary-Vannani, A, Clark, CCT, Fatahi, S, Rahmani, J, Salamat, S, Zhang, Y
Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology. 2019;:153018
Abstract
BACKGROUND Given that the most recent systematic review investigating Green-Coffee Extract (GCE) as a weight loss facilitator was nearly a decade ago and that the authors reported there no consensus on the effect of GCE/CGA (Chlorogenic acids) on body composition indices, a comprehensive systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of all available randomized controlled trial (RCTs) was undertaken to examine the effect of GCE and CGA intervention on body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) in adults. METHODS We conducted a systematic search of all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) performed up to June 2019 in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar. RCTs that investigated the effect GCE/CGA Supplementation on BW, BMI and WC in adults were included for final analysis. The pooled weight mean difference (WMD) of included studies was estimated using a random-effects model. RESULTS A total of 13 articles with 16 RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. Results revealed significant reduction in BMI (WMD: -0.403 kg/m2, 95% CI: -0.800, -0.005, p = 0.047) and no significant change in BW (WMD: -0.585 kg, 95% CI: -1.498, 0.329, p = 0.210) and WC (WMD: -0.847 cm, 95% CI: -1.764, 0.071, p = 0.070). In the subgroup analysis, studies that were conducted on baseline BMI ≥25 kg/m2 revealed a significant greater reduction in body weight and BMI than those performed on baseline BMI <25 kg/m2. Moreover, short supplementation periods of less than 4 weeks had no effect. CONCLUSION The results of current meta-analysis study support the use of GCE supplementation for the improvement of obesity indices, with sub-group analysis highlighting greater improvements in individuals with a starting BMI ≥25 kg/m2.
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An integrated strategy for the systematic characterization and discovery of new indole alkaloids from Uncaria rhynchophylla by UHPLC/DAD/LTQ-Orbitrap-MS.
Pan, H, Yang, W, Zhang, Y, Yang, M, Feng, R, Wu, W, Guo, D
Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry. 2015;(20):6057-70
Abstract
The exploration of new chemical entities from herbal medicines may provide candidates for the in silico screening of drug leads. However, this significant work is hindered by the presence of multiple classes of plant metabolites and many re-discovered structures. This study presents an integrated strategy that uses ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography/linear ion-trap quadrupole/Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC/LTQ-Orbitrap-MS) coupled with in-house library data for the systematic characterization and discovery of new potentially bioactive molecules. Exploration of the indole alkaloids from Uncaria rhynchophylla (UR) is presented as a model study. Initially, the primary characterization of alkaloids was achieved using mass defect filtering and neutral loss filtering. Subsequently, phytochemical isolation obtained 14 alkaloid compounds as reference standards, including a new one identified as 16,17-dihydro-O-demethylhirsuteine by NMR analyses. The direct-infusion fragmentation behaviors of these isolated alkaloids were studied to provide diagnostic structural information facilitating the rapid differentiation and characterization of four different alkaloid subtypes. Ultimately, after combining the experimental results with a survey of an in-house library containing 129 alkaloids isolated from the Uncaria genus, a total of 92 alkaloids (60 free alkaloids and 32 alkaloid O-glycosides) were identified or tentatively characterized, 56 of which are potential new alkaloids for the Uncaria genus. Hydroxylation on ring A, broad variations in the C-15 side chain, new N-oxides, and numerous O-glycosides, represent the novel features of the newly discovered indole alkaloid structures. These results greatly expand our knowledge of UR chemistry and are useful for the computational screening of potentially bioactive molecules from indole alkaloids. Graphical Abstract A four-step integrated strategy for the systematic characterization and efficient discovery of new indole alkaloids from Uncaria rhynchophylla.
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Optimized Extraction of Polysaccharides from Grateloupia livida (Harv.) Yamada and Biological Activities.
Ye, D, Jiang, Z, Zheng, F, Wang, H, Zhang, Y, Gao, F, Chen, P, Chen, Y, Shi, G
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2015;(9):16817-32
Abstract
Polysaccharides from Grateloupia livida (Harv.) Yamada (GL) were extracted by a heating circumfluence method. Single-factor experiments were performed for the three parameters: extraction time (X₁), extraction temperature (X₂) and the ratio of water to raw material (X₃) and their test range. From preliminary experimental results, one type of the response surface methodology, the Box-Behnken design was applied for the optimizing polysaccharide extraction conditions. The experimental data obtained were fitted to a second-order polynomial equation. The optimal conditions were extraction time 5 h, extraction temperature 100 °C and ratio of water to raw material 70 mL/g. Under these conditions, the experimental yield was 39.22% ± 0.09%, which well matched the predicted value (39.25%), with 0.9774 coefficient of determination (R²). GL polysaccharides had scavenging activities for DPPH and hydroxyl radicals in vitro. The scavenging rates for both radicals peaked at 20 mg/mL GL concentration. However, the positive standard, VC (ascorbic acid), possessed stronger antioxidant activities than GL polysaccharides. Furthermore, the anticancer activity of GL polysaccharides on HepG2 cell proliferation increased dose- and time-dependently, but the positive standard, 5-fluorouracil (5-fu) showed more significant anticancer activity in this study. Overall, GL polysaccharides may have potential applications in the medical and food industries.
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A systematic review on natural medicines for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease with meta-analyses of intervention effect of ginkgo.
Yang, M, Xu, DD, Zhang, Y, Liu, X, Hoeven, R, Cho, WC
The American journal of Chinese medicine. 2014;(3):505-21
Abstract
We performed a systematic review to evaluate the efficacy of natural medicines for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Disease-specific and intervention terms were searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and PsycINFO to identify RCTs for the AD intervention of natural medicines, and searched for literatures in English language. The RCTs compared natural medicines and either placebo or orthodox medication in AD patients. The quality of literature was evaluated by Jadad's score and the Cochrane assessing tool to reduce the risk of bias. Meta-analysis and the heterogeneity of results across the trials were performed. Out of the literatures, 21 clinical reports were included in this review that satisfied the particular selection criteria. Apart from Ginkgo, other treatments we came across had minimal benefits and/or the methodological quality of the available trials was poor. The meta-analyses showed that Ginkgo had better outcomes than the placebo, with the standardized mean difference (SMD) between Ginkgo and the placebo on cognition being -1.62 (95% CI: -2.69 to -0.56) and on activities of daily living being -1.55 (95% CI: -2.55 to -0.55), with the existence of significant heterogeneity across studies. The meta-analysis for assessing the prevention effect of Ginkgo against AD suggested that risk ratio (RR) is 1.06 (95% CI: 0.92 to 1.22) between Gingko and the placebo, with no significant heterogeneity across studies (test for heterogeneity, p = 0.49). Our results suggest that Ginkgo may help established AD patients with cognitive symptoms but cannot prevent the neurodegenerative progression of the disease.
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Effect of green tea supplementation on blood pressure among overweight and obese adults: a protocol for a systematic review.
Li, G, Zhang, Y, Mbuagbaw, L, Holbrook, A, Levine, MA, Thabane, L
BMJ open. 2014;(4):e004971
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Emerging randomised controlled trials (RCTs) exploring the effect of green tea (GT) supplementation or GT extract (GTE) on blood pressure (BP) among overweight and obese adults yielded inconclusive results. We aim to conduct a systematic review to summarise the evidence of RCTs until now, to clarify the efficacy of GT supplementation or GTE in BP in overweight and obese populations. METHODS AND ANALYSIS The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE and ClinicalTrials.gov will be searched to retrieve potential RCTs. Unpublished studies will be identified by searching the abstract books or websites of the three major conference proceedings: the International Society of Hypertension, the Nutrition & Health Conference and the World Congress of Nutrition and Health. A random-effects meta-analysis will be performed to pool the mean difference for the change in BP from baseline (ie, postintervention BP minus baseline BP) between intervention groups and placebo groups of the included studies, presenting the pooled results with 95% CIs. Subgroups analyses will be conducted according to different doses of GT or GTE, trial duration, geographic regions, overweight versus obese participants, and participants with versus without change in body weight after intervention. Sensitivity analysis will be performed by excluding studies classified as having a high risk of bias, applying a fixed-effects model, using the postintervention BP for analyses and excluding trials with non-study cointerventions. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION This systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. It will be disseminated electronically and in print. Summarising the RCT evidence to clarify the efficacy in BP among overweight and obese adults will aid in making the dietary recommendation of GT and improving the clinical management of hypertension. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER PROSPERO CRD42014007273.
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Study on optimisation of extraction process of tanshinone IIA and its mechanism of induction of gastric cancer SGC7901 cell apoptosis.
Hou, J, He, J, Jin, X, Hu, T, Zhang, Y
African journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM. 2013;(6):456-8
Abstract
The objective of this paper was to investigate the extraction process of tanshinone IIA and its mechanism of induction of gastric cancer SGC7901 cell apoptosis. Extraction process of tanshinone IIA was optimised by orthogonal experimental method, and its effect on gastric cancer SGC7901 cell apoptosis was observed using MTT assay and electron microscopy. The optimum extraction process of tanshinone IIA was as follows: addition of a 10-fold amount of 80% ethanol, one-time extraction, and extraction time of 45 minutes. The study concluded that tanshinone IIA can induce apoptosis of gastric cancer SGC7901 cells.