Following long-term hypertension, mechanical stretching and neuroendocrine stimulation, cause multiple heterogeneous cells of the heart to interact, and result in myocardial remodeling with myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis. The immune system, specifically macrophages, plays a vital role in this process. Macrophages are heterogeneous and plastic. Regulated by factors such as microenvironment and cytokines, polarization can be divided into two main forms: M1/M2, with different polarizations playing different roles in left ventricular structural remodeling associated with hypertension. However, descriptions of macrophage phenotypes in hypertension-induced myocardial hypertrophy models are not completely consistent. This article summarizes the phenotypes of macrophages in several models, aiming to assist researchers in studying macrophage phenotypes in hypertension-induced left ventricular structural remodeling models.

Many basic studies on acupuncture need to be carried out on experimental animals. However, the safety of acupuncture in experimental animals has been neglected for a long time. In the present paper, we make a discussion on the current situations, causes, its influence on research results and countermeasures of acupuncture safety events in experimental animals, so as to promote the safety evaluation of acupuncture in experimental animals and the standardized operation of acupuncture.
针刺基础研究多需要在实验动物身上进行，然而实验动物的针刺安全性问题长期以来都未得到重视。本文对实验动物的针刺安全性现状、产生的原因、对研究结果的影响及对策进行了探讨，以促进对实验动物针刺安全性的评价及针刺规范性操作。.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have explored the anti-tumor effect of berberine (BBR), but little clinical evidence guides the use of BBR in cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to investigate the impact of BBR on various cancers in healthy animals to promote the transformation from bench to bed.
METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Springer, and Cochrane databases were searched from January 2000 to October 2018 for relevant articles.
METHODS: Only published studies focusing on the relationship between BBR and various cancers in vivo were qualified. Two review authors independently assessed the risk of bias for each study, and any disagreement was resolved by discussion or by involving a third assessor.
RESULTS: A total of 26 studies from 2000 to 2018, focusing on various cancer types, including breast cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, lung cancer, gastric cancer, neuroepithelial cancer, endometrial carcinoma, esophageal cancer, tongue cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, and sarcoma were included. Overall, BBR reduced tumor volume (SMD =3.72, 95% CI: 2.89, 4.56, Z = 8.73, p < 0.00001) and tumor weight (SMD =2.35, 95% CI: 1.51, 3.19, Z = 5.50, p < 0.00001) in a linear The dose-response relationship (Pearson r = - 0.6717, p < 0.0001 in tumor volume analysis; Pearson r = - 0.7704, p < 0.0005 in tumor weight analysis). BBR inhibited angiogenesis in tumor tissues (SMD = 4.29, 95% CI: 2.14, 6.44, Z = 3.92, p < 0.00001), but it had no significant effect on the body weight of experimental animals (SMD = 0.11, 95% CI: - 0.70, 0.92, Z = 0.27, p = 0.78). Publication bias was not detected.
CONCLUSIONS: BBR exerted anti-tumor effects in a variety of tumors in vivo, especially breast cancer and lung cancer, and the evidence was still insufficient in colorectal cancer and gastric cancer.

Rabbit mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are important seed cells in regenerative medicine research, particularly in translational research. In the current study, we showed that rabbit subchondral bone is a reliable source of MSCs. First, we harvested subchondral bone (SCB) from the rabbit knee-joint and initiated the MSC culture by cultivating enzyme-treated SCB. Adherent fibroblast-like cells that outgrew from SCB fulfill the common immuno-phenotypic criteria for defining MSCs, but with low contamination of CD45+ hematopoietic cells. Interestingly, differentiated SCB-MSCs expressed osteogenic and chondrogenic markers at significantly higher levels than those in bone marrow cell suspension-derived MSCs (BMS-MSCs) (P<0.05). No differences in the expression of adipogenic markers between SCB-MSC and BMS-MSC (P>0.05) were observed. Moreover, the results of the colony forming unit-fibroblast assay and sphere formation assay demonstrated that the SCB-MSCs had increased self-renewal potential. SCB-MSCs expressed higher levels of the stemness markers Nanog, OCT4, and Sox-2 compared to in BMS-MSCs (P<0.05). Furthermore, the results of both the CCK-8-based assay and CFSE dilution assay showed that SCB-MSCs exhibited enhanced proliferative capacity. In addition, SCB-MSCs exhibited higher phosphorylation of extracellular signal-related kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling, which is closely related to MSC proliferation. In conclusion, we identified SCB-MSCs as a novel stem cell population that met the requirements of MSCs; the unique properties of SCB-MSC are important for the potential treatment of tissue damage resulting from disease and trauma.

BACKGROUND: Diastolic dysfunction refers to an impaired relaxation and an abnormality in a heart\'s filling during diastole while left ventricular systolic function is preserved. Diastolic dysfunction is commonly observed in patients with primary hypertension, diabetes and cardiomyopathies such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or restrictive cardiomyopathy. We have generated a restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) mouse model with troponin mutations in the heart to mimic the human RCM patients carrying the same mutations.
RESULTS: In the present study, we have investigated the ventricular muscle internal dynamics and pressure developed during systole and diastole by inserting a micro-catheter into the left ventricle of the RCM mice with or without treatment of desensitizer green tea extracts catechins. Our results demonstrate that green tea catechin is able to correct diastolic dysfunction in RCM mainly by improving ventricular compliance and reducing the internal muscle rigidity caused by myofibril hypersensitivity to Ca(2+).
CONCLUSIONS: Green tea extract catechin is effective in correcting diastolic dysfunction and improving ventricular muscle intrinsic compliance in RCM caused by troponin mutations.

Paraoxonase (PON) refers to a family of three enzymes, namely PON1, PON2, and PON3. PON1 and PON3 are found in circulation bound to high-density lipoprotein, whereas PON2 is an intracellular protein. PON1 was first discovered as an enzyme to hydrolyze the organophosphate pesticide paraoxon, an activity that both PON2 and PON3 lack. All three PON enzymes are able to degrade oxidized lipids and protect against oxidative stress. PON enzymes also act to suppress inflammation. Animal studies show a critical role for PON enzymes, especially PON1 in protecting against cardiovascular diseases and related disorders, including diabetes and metabolic syndrome. In line with the findings in experimental animals, accumulating evidence from clinical research also indicates that PON enzymes function as potential protectors in human cardiovascular diseases and related disorders. Identification of PON enzymes as important players in cardiovascular health will facilitate the development of novel preventive and therapeutic modalities targeting PON enzymes to combat cardiovascular diseases and related disorders, which collectively constitute the chief contributors to the global burden of disease. This review describes the biochemical properties and molecular regulation of PON and summarizes the major recent findings on the functions of PON in protecting against cardiovascular diseases and related disorders.

Animal models are indispensible in biomedical research and have made tremendous contributions to answer fundamental questions on human biology, disease mechanisms, and to the development of new drugs and diagnostic tools. Due to the limitations of rodent models in translational medicine, tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri chinensis), the closest relative of primates, have attracted increasing attention in modeling human diseases and therapeutic responses. Here we discuss the recent progress in tree shrew biology and the development of tree shrews as human disease models including infectious diseases, metabolic diseases, neurological and psychiatric diseases, and cancers. Meanwhile, the current problems and future perspectives of the tree shrew model are explored.
动物模型在生物医学领域(如回答人体各种重大生物学问题、解析人类疾病机理和新药研发等方面)已经做出了不可替代的巨大贡献。转化医学存在的问题使得树鼩 (Tupaia belangeri chinensis) 实验动物重新得到重视;人类疾病的树鼩模型也再次受到越来越多的关注。该文综述了国内外特别是近年来我国树鼩研究进展, 包括树鼩基础生物学及动物模型方面取得的成绩, 并分析了该领域目前存在的困难和问题, 探讨了未来的一些研究方向。