The total flavonoids from ethanol extract of the aerial part of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. (Lamlaceae) (Xintahua) showed protective activities against rat acute myocardial ischemia in rats. This study aims to isolate acacetin, a flavonoid, from the aerial part of Z. clinopodioides, to develop an HPLC method for its detection, and to evaluate its protective effects on neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Sephadex LH-20 silicagel and pillar layer chromatography silica gel were applied for the isolation and purification of acacetin and its structure was elucidated on the basis of 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The content of acacetin in Z. clinopodioides collected from three different origins was determined by HPLC. The neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were isolated and cultured in vitro to establish a hypoxia/reoxygenation injury model. The viability of cardiomyocytes was measured by the MTT method. Changes of malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the medium were also determined. The acacetin content in various batches of Z. clinopodioides ranged from 45.50 to 47.41 μg/g. Acacetin of 25, 10, 5 μg/mL significantly decreased the MDA content in a model of hypoxia/reoxygenation injury (P < 0.001, P < 0.001 and P = 0.033, respectively). Acacetin protects neonatal cardiomyocytes from the damage induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation stress through reduction of lipid peroxidation and enhancement of the antioxidant activity.

Ischemic heart disease is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. We previously demonstrated that acacetin protects against myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury in rats, although the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effects of acacetin on autophagy during hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury by exposing H9c2 myocardial cells to H/R with or without acacetin pretreatment during hypoxia. Our results show that acacetin significantly increased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, enhanced antioxidant capacity, and suppressed protein apoptosis of rat cardiomyocytes H9c2 cells following H/R injury. In addition, lentiviral infection of H9c2 cardiomyocytes revealed that acacetin pretreatment significantly enhanced the fluorescence intensity of autophagy proteins Beclin 1, LC3-II, and p62. These results indicate that acacetin protected H9c2 cardiomyocytes from H/R damage by enhancing autophagy. Moreover, we found that application of acacetin increased activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, whereas cotreatment with the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 reversed the inhibition of apoptosis and autophagy induced by acacetin. In conclusion, acacetin mitigated H/R injury by promoting autophagy through activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Capparis spinosa L. is an important medicinal species in the Xinjiang Province of China. Ten natural populations of C. spinosa from 3 locations in North, Central, and South Xinjiang were studied using morphological trait inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) molecular markers to assess the genetic diversity and population structure. In this study, the 10 ISSR primers produced 313 amplified DNA fragments, with 52% of fragments being polymorphic. Unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA) cluster analysis indicated that 10 C. spinosa populations were clustered into 3 geographically distinct groups. The Nei gene of C. spinosa populations in different regions had Diversity and Shannon's information index ranges of 0.1312-0.2001 and 0.1004-0.1875, respectively. The 362 markers were used to construct the dendrogram based on the UPGMA cluster analysis. The dendrogram indicated that 10 populations of C. spinosa were clustered into 3 geographically distinct groups. The results showed these genotypes have high genetic diversity, and can be used for an alternative breeding program.

Lymphaticovenular anastomosis (LVA) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure used to treat lymphedema. This surgical procedure connects the superficial lymphatic vessels to nearby veins to establish lymphatic-venous pathways. One of the most common challenges encountered by lymphatic surgeons when performing LVA is a mismatch in the sizes of the veins and lymphatic vessels, with the effectiveness limited by technical constraints. We conducted a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of an overlapping lockup anastomosis (OLA) LVA technique to address these problems. In this study, we present a novel OLA technique for LVA that addresses the challenges with conventional techniques. The OLA technique was used in 10 lymphedema patients between September 2022 and March 2023 to compare OLA and end-to-end anastomosis. The time required for anastomosis, method of anastomosis, patency rates, and lymphedema volume were evaluated in this study. Of 123 LVAs, 44 were performed using the OLA technique in 10 patients, with indocyanine green lymphangiography revealing unobstructed drainage. A single case of slight fluid leakage occurred, which was resolved by reinforcing the sutures. The average anastomosis time for OLA and the end-to-end technique was 5.55 minutes and 12.1 minutes, respectively. The wounds of the patients healed without infection, and the subjective limb circumference decreased. The OLA technique could serve as a valuable addition to the current LVA technique, especially for cases with a mismatch in the sizes of the lymphatic vessels and veins. This technique has the potential to promote the broader application of LVA in the treatment and prevention of lymphedema.

Lymphaticovenular anastomosis (LVA) is increasingly utilized in the treatment of lymphedema. This study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of the “Overlapping” LVA technique, which addresses the size mismatch between lymphatic and venous vessels in lymphedema treatment. Between August 2022 and April 2023, seventeen patients diagnosed with lymphedema were enrolled in this study. The severity of lymphedema in these patients was classified according to the International Society of Lymphology (ISL) staging system.All patient underwent LVA procedures, anastomosis techniques including the Overlapping, end-to-end and octopus anastomosis. The techniques of anastomosis, anastomosis time, patency rate, and volume of limb lymphedema were evaluated. Our study enrolled 17 lymphedema patients who underwent the LVA procedure. All patients showed significant postoperative improvement in limb edema. The mean drainage volume was 472.29 ml. The Overlapping technique demonstrated a 100% success rate as assessed by clinical observation and intraoperative Indocyanine Green (ICG) lymphography. The average anastomosis time was 5.3 min, reducing operative time compared to traditional methods. These findings suggest that the Overlapping technique could serve as a valuable addition to the current LVA technique. This Overlapping anastomosis technique provides a wide range of applications for lymphatic anastomosis treatment and prevention of lymphedema.