This study is to investigate the effects of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs) loaded with the graphene oxide (GO) granular lubrication on ameliorating inflammatory responses and ...osteoporosis of the subchondral bone in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) animal models.
The KOA animal models were established using modified papain joint injection. 24 male New Zealand rabbits were classified into the blank control group, GO group, UCMSCs group, and GO + UCMSCs group, respectively. The concentration in serum and articular fluid nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), type II collagen (COL-II), and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) was detected using ELISA, followed by the dissection of femoral condyles and staining of HE and Micro-CT for observation
the microscope.
GO granular lubrication and UCMSCs repaired the KOA animal models. NO, IL-6, TNF-α, GAG, and COL-II showed optimal improvement performance in the GO + UCMSCs group, with statistical significance in contrast to the blank group (
0.01). Whereas, there was a great difference in levels of inflammatory factors in serum and joint fluid. Micro-CT scan results revealed the greatest efficacy of the GO + UCMSCs group in improving joint surface damage and subchondral bone osteoporosis. HE staining pathology for femoral condyles revealed that the cartilage repair effect in GO + UCMSCs, UCMSCs, GO, and blank groups were graded down.
UCMSCs loaded with graphene oxide granular lubrication can promote the secretion of chondrocytes, reduce the level of joint inflammation, ameliorate osteoporosis of the subchondral bone, and facilitate cartilage repair.
Background:
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) has become a public health problem. Several systematic reviews (SRs) have reported that duloxetine may be an effective treatment for improving pain and ...depressive symptoms in patients with KOA.
Aim:
To evaluate the available results and provide scientific evidence for the efficacy and safety of duloxetine for KOA.
Methods:
A comprehensive search strategy was conducted across eight databases from inception to 31 December 2021. Two researchers independently selected eligible studies, collected data and evaluated those included SRs’ quality. For assessing methodological quality, the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) was employed. Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS) was used to assess the risk of bias. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) was utilized for assessing reporting quality. In addition, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to determine primary outcome indicators’ evidence quality.
Results:
Totally 6 SRs were contained in this overview. After assessment based on AMSTAR 2, ROBIS, and PRISMA, unsatisfactory results in terms of methodological quality, risk of bias as well as reporting quality, were obtained. Limitations included a search of grey literature, the reasons for selecting the study type, an excluded study list and the specific reasons, reporting bias assessment, and reporting of potential sources of conflict of interest. According to the GRADE results, the evidence quality was high in 0, moderate in 5, low in 19, and very low in 36. Limitations were the most commonly downgraded factor, followed by publication bias and inconsistency.
Conclusion:
Duloxetine may be an effective treatment for improving pain and depressive symptoms in KOA patients with acceptable adverse events. However, due to the low quality of the available evidence, the original study design and the quality of evidence from SRs should be further improved, so as to provide strong scientific evidence for definitive conclusions.
Systematic Review Registration:
PROSPERO; (
http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/
), identifier (CRD42021289823).
Background As a bioactive metabolite preparation widely used in acute ischemic stroke (AIS), the efficacy and safety of Panax notoginseng saponins injections (PNSI) in patients with AIS after ...intravenous thrombolysis remain to be evaluated. Methods This study included randomized controlled trials published before 26 April 2024 in 8 databases. AIS patients who received intravenous thrombolysis were included. The control group receiving conventional treatment and the treatment group receiving additional PNSI. Primary outcomes were selected as mortality, disability, and adverse events. Secondary outcomes were selected as all-cause mortality, improvement of neurological deficit, quality of life, and cerebral injury indicators. The revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess risk of bias. Risk ratio (RR) and mean differences (MD) were calculated for binary variables and continuous variables, respectively, based on a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results A total of 20 trials involving 1,856 participants were included. None of them reported mortality or disability. There was no significant difference in the adverse events RR: 1.04; 95% CI: 0.60 to 1.81 and hemorrhagic transformation RR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.36 to 2.70 between the two groups. Compared to the control group, the treatment group had a better effect in neurological improvement assessed by National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale MD: −2.91; 95% CI: −4.76 to −1.06, a better effect in activities of daily living changes in Barthel Index MD: 9.37; 95% CI: 1.86 to 16.88, and a lower serum neuron-specific enolase level MD: −2.08; 95% CI: −2.67 to −1.49. Conclusion For AIS patients undergoing intravenous thrombolysis, the use of PNSI improved neurological deficits and enhanced activity of daily living in the short term without increasing the occurrence rate of adverse events. However, due to the moderate to very low certainty of evidence, it is advisable to conduct high-quality clinical trials to validate the findings of this study. Systematic Review Registration https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=466851 , Identifier CRD42023466851
Ginkgo biloba is a traditional Chinese medicine extracted from the Ginkgophyta and is commonly used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in China. Clinical trials have demonstrated the ...clinical benefits of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) preparations for patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP).
The efficacy of different GBE preparations in treating UAP may vary, leading to a lack of guidance for physicians when choosing GBE preparations. How to make choices among different GBE preparations is a topic worthy of investigation. In order to clarify the efficacy differences among different GBE preparations, provide a reference for their optimal use conditions, this study was conducted.
This study included literature from eight databases from inception to November 2023. It included UAP patients, with the control group receiving conventional treatment and the treatment group receiving different GBE preparations in addition to conventional treatment. Angina efficacy, electrocardiogram (ECG) improvement, and frequency of angina were chosen as outcomes. This study employed a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis, and the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) curve was used for estimating the efficacy ranking.
A total of 98 studies involving 9513 patients and 9 interventions were included. Compared with conventional treatment, GBE preparations combined with conventional treatment had better efficacy in angina symptoms and ECG improvement. According to the SUCRA ranking, Shuxuening injection was most effective in improving angina symptoms and reducing the frequency of angina. Among oral GBE preparations, Ginkgo tablets had the best performance in improving angina symptoms and ECG manifestations, and reducing the frequency of angina. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the treatment group and the control group, and all adverse events were mild and self-limiting. Compared with oral preparations, the incidence of adverse events for injections was higher.
GBE preparations may alleviate angina symptoms and myocardial ischemia in the treatment of UAP with favorable safety. Shuxuening injection may be the most effective among all GBE preparations in improving angina symptoms, while Ginkgo tablets may perform best among oral formulations. The optimal use of GBE injection may be for rapidly alleviating angina symptoms and myocardial ischemia in patients with UAP, and oral formulation of GBE may be more suitable for the long-term treatment of patients with milder symptoms.
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022361487, ID: CRD42022361487.
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Acupuncture has been widely used in the clinical management of osteoarthritis of the knee (KOA). Many systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) have reported its effectiveness in relieving ...pain. This overview aimed to summarize SRs and MAs on the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for KOA and evaluate their methodological and evidence quality of the included SRs and MAs.
We conducted a comprehensive literature search for SRs and MAs in four Chinese and four international databases from their inception until August 2021. Two researchers independently searched the reviews, extracted the data, and cross-checked the data. The Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) tool was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included SRs and MAs. The Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system was used to assess the quality of evidence for the outcomes of the included SRs and MAs.
A total of 14 SRs and MAs were included. The evaluation results of the AMSTAR 2 tool showed that the methodological quality of all the 14 SRs and MAs was critically low. The principal causes are the lack of a pre-registration proposal and a list of excluded studies and justify the exclusions, the report on the sources of funding, and the reasons for the study designs for inclusion. The results of the GRADE evaluation showed 25 of 46 outcomes were very low-level evidence. Seventeen were of low level, four were of moderate level and none were of high level. Most outcomes were downgraded in quality of evidence mainly because of publication bias and imprecision.
The existing evidence suggests that acupuncture seems to be an effective and safe therapy for KOA. However, the deficiencies in the methodological quality and quality of evidence of the included SRs/MAs have limited the reliability of the conclusions. Therefore, further rigorous and comprehensive studies are warranted to verify the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in KOA.
•We evaluated the significance of root hydraulic conductance (Lp) and related parameter changes in water uptake and growth regulation of plants under different nitrogen (N) conditions.•The ...superiority of partial N deficit (D) in term of maize seedling growth was apparent and caused compensatory growth.•Higher plant dry mass in D might be attributable to the maintenance of a similar ΨL and improved shoot N content.•Compared with partial N resupply, partial N deficit was more advantageous to root water uptake and N accumulation at the same level of root surface area, thus resulted in higher dry mass of maize seedlings. Unexpectedly, at 21 day, the shoot dry mass in S could recover to the level of control. The regulation mechanisms in partial N resupply will be the focus of future studies.•When adopting the method of partial N application, it is necessary to consider the soil N condition before partial application.
The influence mechanism of heterogeneous nutrient distribution on compensatory growth of maize seedlings is a key topic in the interaction between crops and soil environment. We evaluated the significance of root hydraulic conductance (Lp) and related parameter changes in water uptake and growth regulation of plants under different nitrogen (N) conditions. Maize seedlings were grown in split-root containers containing N solutions. Three N treatments were applied: (1) full-strength N (control: C), in which both sub-root systems received 4.0 mM N (each sub-root: C44); (2) partial N deficit (D), in which each sub-root system received 2.0 mM N (D42) or full-strength N (D44); and (3) partial N resupply (S), in which both sub-root systems received 2.0 mM N for six days, followed by 2.0 mM N (S22) or full-strength N (S24). The shoot dry mass in D increased gradually with early development, and was greater than that in C and S within 15–21 day, suggesting that the superiority of partial N deficit (D) in term of maize seedling growth was apparent and caused compensatory growth. Moreover, the slope and intercept in D44 and D42 between ΨL vs. Lp and shoot N content vs. Lp were obviously greater than that in C44, S24 and S22, indicating that higher plant dry mass in D might be attributable to the maintenance of a similar ΨL and improved shoot N content. In addition, the slopes and intercepts in D44 and D42 between Lp vs. root surface area and shoot N content vs. root surface area were higher than that in S24 and S22, suggesting that compared with partial N resupply, partial N deficit was more advantageous to root water uptake and N accumulation at the same level of root surface area, thus resulted in higher dry mass of maize seedlings. However, partial N resupply significantly increased root cortex thickness/diameter ratio and reduced root vessel diameter, which resulted in lower Lp, ΨL and shoot N content during 12–21 day. Unexpectedly, at 21 day, the shoot dry mass in S could recover to the level of control. The regulation mechanisms in partial N resupply will be the focus of future studies. Thus, when adopting the method of partial N application, it is necessary to consider the soil N condition before partial application.
Determining appropriate farming management practices to adapt to climate change with lower environmental costs is important for sustainable agricultural production. In this study, a long-term ...experiment (1985–2019) was conducted under different management practices combining fertilization rate (no, low and high N fertilizer, N0, N1 and N2), straw additions (no, low and high addition, S0, S1 and S2) with conservation tillage (no-tillage, NT) in the North China Plain (NCP). The Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) model was firstly evaluated using the experimental data, and then applied to simulate the changes of crop yields, soil organic carbon (SOC), and N2O emissions under different management practices combined with climate change scenarios, under low and high emission scenarios of societal development pathways (SSP245 and SSP585, respectively) with climate projections from 2031 to 2100. Under the low emission scenario (SSP245), wheat yields were the highest with the NT-N1-S2 treatment (a 23% increase relative to the baseline (1981–2010)). For maize yields, the NT-N1-S1 treatment increased 46% relative to baseline under the SSP585, whereas, the yields increased less in all treatments under SSP245–2040s. The SOC was predicted to increase by 6–60% by 2100 under SSP245. Straw addition and tillage were the main factors influencing SOC. N fertilizer was the most important driver for wheat and maize yields, however, N2O emissions from soil increased with increased application of N fertilizer. Therefore, the no-tillage method under low N fertilizer and high straw addition (NT-N1-S2) is recommended to promote crop yields and substantially increase SOC under SSP245 and SSP585. Conservation agriculture practices can potentially offset crop yield reductions, increase soil quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the NCP, and ensure crop production to meet the growing demand for food under future climate change.
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•Under climate change, crop yields and SOC can be enhanced with straw addition under no tillage.•SOC increased by a predicted 6–60% by 2100 under a low emissions scenario.•N2O emission closely tracked increases in mineral fertilizer.•Conservation agriculture is recommended to adapt to future climate change.
Probabilistic seasonal rainfall forecasting is of great importance for stakeholders such as farmers and policymakers to assist in developing risk management strategies and to inform decisions. In ...practice, there are two kinds of commonly used tools, dynamical models and statistical models, to provide probabilistic seasonal rainfall forecasts. Dynamical models are based on physical processes but are usually expensive to operate and implement, and rely overly on initial conditions. Statistical models are easy to implement but are usually based on simple or linear relationships between observed variables. Recently, machine learning techniques have been widely used in climate projection and perform well in reproducing historical climate. For these reasons, we conducted a case study in Australia by developing a machine learning-based probabilistic seasonal rainfall forecasting model using multiple large-scale climate indices from the Pacific, Indian and Southern Oceans. Rainfall probabilities of exceeding the climatological median for upcoming seasons from 2011 to 2018 were successively forecasted using multiple climate indices of precedent six months. The performance of the model was evaluated by comparing it with an officially used forecasting model, the SOI (Southern Oscillation Index) phase model (SP) operated by Queensland government in Australia. Results indicated that the random forest (RF) model outperformed the SP model in terms of both distinct forecasts and forecasting accuracy. The RF model increased the percentages of distinct forecasts to 64.9% for spring, to 71.5% for summer, to 65.8% for autumn, and to 63.9% for winter, 1.4 ∼ 3.2 times of the values from the SP model. Forecasting accuracy was also greatly increased by 28%, 167%, 219%, and 76% for four seasons respectively, compared to the SP model. The proposed rainfall forecasting model is based on readily available data, and we believe it can be easily extended to other regions to provide seasonal rainfall outlooks.
•Effects of 33-years fertilization and straw on SOC and crop yield under different tillage systems were evaluated.•Straw addition is more effective in increasing SOC content than mineral ...fertilizer.•N and P fertilizer application rates are the main factors limiting crop yield.•Tillage methods had slight impact on changes of SOC content.•Optimized fertilization and straw addition can improve both crop yield and SOC.
Decline in soil organic carbon (SOC) is one of the most important causes of agricultural ecosystem degradation and food insecurity. Multiple agricultural management practices, such as fertilization and straw additions, affect cropland SOC; however, long-term effects of these practices remain ambiguous. In this study, we evaluated how mineral fertilizers, straw additions, and different tillage methods affected SOC and crop yields in a long-term field experiment (1985–2017) in the North China Plain (NCP). Nine treatments consisting of different tillage methods (CT:conventional tillage; NT: no-tillage) combined with applications of inorganic N (N0, N1 and N2: 0 kg, 225 kg and 375 kg urea-N ha−1 yr−1), inorganic P (P0, P1 and P2: 0 kg, 75 kg and 150 kg P2O5 ha−1 yr−1) and straw (S0, S1 and S2: 0 kg, 2250 kg, and 4500 kg ha−1 yr−1) were established. CT-N0-P0-S0 was the control treatment. In all treatments, the SOC content increased rapidly over the first 15 years, which was mainly due to the fact that these plots were wastelands before. The SOC content of treatments with straw additions generally increased faster than treatments without straw additions. Nutrient additions and conventional tillage increased crop yields whereas straw additions had variable effects, with highest crop yields in the CT-N2-P2-S2 treatment. Long-term applications of mineral fertilizer and straw significantly affected SOC and yields (P < 0.0001). Straw additions contributed more than nutrient additions to the explained variance of SOC (19.7 %). P and N contributed most to the total explained variance of wheat yields (43.2 % and 40.9 %, respectively) and maize yields (30.5 % and 38.7 %, respectively). The climate accounted for 23.8 % of the total explained variance of maize yields, however, it contributed only 1.1 % for wheat yields (P = 0.0064). In addition, crop yields were positively correlated with SOC levels. This means that long-term applications of straw can feasibly improve SOC and crop yields, which can satisfy the economic needs of farmers and can also benefit the environment. CT-N1-P1-S2 was eventually identified as the optimal treatment to preserve soil quality and reduce fertilizer use, thereby maintaining the sustainable development of the wheat-maize agricultural system in NCP.
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