[Research progress on active ingredients of Coicis Semen].

As a common medicinal and edible resource in China, Coicis Semen has a long history of cultivation and medicinal use. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) clinically believes that Coicis Semen has the effect of strengthening the spleen and tonifying the lungs, clearing heat and dampness, removing pus and paralysis, and stopping diarrhea. Therefore, it is used to treat edema, foot odor, spleen deficiency, diarrhea, and other symptoms. The above effects are closely related to the active ingredients of Coicis Semen, such as esters, fatty acids, polysaccharides, proteins, as well as phenolic acids, sterols, flavonoids, lactams, triterpenes, alkaloids, and adenosine. Modern research has found that Coicis Semen also has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, and hypotensive effects and other pharmacological activities, and it can improve immunity and regulate lipid metabolism. Coicis Semen is widely distributed in China, mainly produced in Guizhou, Yunnan, Fujian, Sichuan, and other places, and the quality of Coicis Semen from different origins varies. From ancient times to the present, Coicis Semen processing methods have experienced the process from simple to complex, and the types of auxiliary materials are more extensive, such as soil, bran, and river sand. These processing methods have been inherited from generation to generation. Nowadays, the commonly used methods are bran-fried, stir-fried, sand-fried, etc. In this paper, by reviewing the relevant literature in China and abroad in recent years, the main active ingredients and related pharmacological effects of Coicis Semen are sorted out, and the effects of different origins and processing methods on the chemical composition of Coicis Semen are summarized, with a view to providing references for the comprehensive development and utilization of Coicis Semen and the further study of its mechanism of action.

[Mechanism of Puerariae Thomsonii Radix in treatment of mild dyslipidemia: based on clinical metabolomics and proteomics].

This study aims to explore the potential metabolic pathways and targets of Puerariae Thomsonii Radix in the clinical treatment of mild dyslipidemia. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS and EASY-nLC-timsTOF-Pro2 were employed to perform metabolomic and proteomic analyses of the plasma samples collected from the patients with mild dyslipidemia at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment with Puerariae Thomsonii Radix. The multivariate statistical analysis was carried out for comparison between groups, and the correlation analysis was performed for the metabolites and proteins closely related to mild dyslipidemia with the blood lipid indexes. The possible pathways and targets for mitigating mild dyslipidemia were screened out by the Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) enrichment analysis. The results showed that 56 differential metabolites and 78 differential proteins in the plasma of patients were associated with Puerariae Thomsonii Radix treatment. In addition, changes were detected for the proteins or metabolites(ApoB-100, 9,10-DHOME, GAPDH, PGK1, PGAM1, ENO1, etc.) involved in lipoprotein, lipid, and glucose metabolism and the proteins or metabolites(oxidized phospholipid, PLA2G7, LTA4H, etc.) related to inflammation and oxidative stress. Puerariae Thomsonii Radix may down-regulate the overexpression of ApoB-100, activate the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α/γ(PPARα/γ), promote the catabolism of fat and glycerol, and alleviate the oxidative stress mediated by oxidized phospholipids and leukotriene B4(LTB4) in the treatment of mild dyslipidemia.

[Guidelines for traditional dietary care in autumn and winter].

The National Nutrition Plan(2017-2030) and the Healthy China Action Plan(2019-2030) propose to vigorously develop traditional dietary care services, fully leverage the role of traditional dietary care in modern nutrition, and guide citizens to develop dietary habits that are in line with the dietary characteristics of different regions in China. Traditional dietary care has a long history in China and is one of the brilliant treasures of Chinese cuisine and traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) culture. It has played an important role in disease prevention, treatment, and health preservation and longevity. To promote the traditional culture of TCM, and guide and standardize the application and promotion of dietary care, it is necessary to develop a dietary care guideline with TCM characteristics. Based on the theories and practices of TCM, the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences(CACMS) has developed this guideline, which is tailored to local conditions and combined with modern nutrition, and targets people with different physical constitutions. According to the principles of dialectical diet, tailored to people, times, and local conditions, reinforcing healthy qi, correction, the combination of meat and vegetables, and the combination of four qi and five flavors, suitable ingredients are recommended(including TCM materials that are both food and medicinal materials). By promoting the popularization and development of traditional dietary care, this guideline contributes to integrating the strength of TCM into a unique nutritional and health model with Chinese characteristics.

Evaluation of two laboratory model methods for diarrheal irritable bowel syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Diarrheal irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) is a common chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder, and the underlying pathogenic mechanism is still unclear. Animal models that mimic the pathological state of IBS-D patients were constructed to provide a reference for later drug research and model development. METHODS: The IBS-D model was induced using restraint stress and chemical stimulation (rhubarb), and rats were divided into normal control group (NC), chemically stimulated group (CS), and restraint stress group (RS). Visceral motility responses to Colorectal Balloon Dilation (CRD) were measured by Abdominal Withdrawal Reflex (AWR); evaluation of faecal properties and water content; determination of colonic tissue tight junction (TJ) mRNA expression by RT-PCR; measurement of inflammatory cytokines by ELISA; and intestinal flora and short chain fatty acids. RESULTS: Compared to NC group, CS and RS group rats showed increased intestinal sensitivity and Bristol stool score, significant diarrheal symptoms and weight loss. Mucin 2, ZO-1, OCLN, CLDN4 mRNA expression was reduced and the intestinal mucosal barrier function was diminished. In addition, the levels of inflammatory factors IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-α increased, the abundance and diversity of intestinal flora decreased, the content of beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacteria decreased, and SCFAs such as acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid decreased to different degrees. Although, no significant difference was observed for any molecular and inflammatory marker, but compared to CS group, RS group had less water in the stool, higher visceral sensitivity, and higher relative abundance of beneficial intestinal bacteria such as Actinobacteria. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, restraint stress combined with chemical stimulation can mimic the pathological state of diarrhoea symptoms, visceral hypersensitivity, reduced intestinal mucosal barrier permeability, immune regulatory dysfunction and dysbiosis in IBS-D patients. However, herbs with antibacterial effects such as rhubarb and senna, for example, are not suitable as the first choice for chemical stimulation, as they may lead to a decrease in harmful bacteria and an increase in beneficial bacteria in the intestinal fraction and do not perfectly mimic the imbalanced state of intestinal flora in IBS-D patients, while restraint stress may be a key factor in modelling.

[Research progress in gut-skin axis and its association with traditional Chinese medicine theory].

Currently, the gut-organ axis has become a hot research topic. As increasing attention has been paid to the role of gut microbiota in the health of organs, the complex and integrated dialogue mechanism between the gastrointestinal tract and the associated microbiota has been demonstrated in more and more studies. Skin as the largest organ in the human body serves as the primary barrier protecting the human body from damage. The proposal of the gut-skin axis has established a bidirectional link between the gut and the skin. The disturbance of gut microbiota can lead to the occurrence of skin diseases, the mechanism of which is complex and may involve multiple pathways in immunity, metabolism, and internal secretion. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), the connection between the intestine and the skin can be established through the lung, and the interior disorders will definitely cause symptoms on the exterior. This paper reviews the research progress in the gut-skin axis and its correlation with TCM theory and provides ideas and a basis for cli-nical treatment and drug development of skin and intestinal diseases.

Azole-Induced Color Vision Deficiency Associated with Thyroid Hormone Signaling: An Integrated In Vivo, In Vitro, and In Silico Study.

Azoles that are used in pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products can have toxic effects on fish. However, there is no information regarding azole-induced visual disorder associated with thyroid disruption. We evaluated changes in retinal morphology, optokinetic response, transcript abundance of the genes involved in color perception and hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis, and thyroid hormone (TH) levels in zebrafish larvae exposed to common azoles, such as climbazole (CBZ, 0.1 and 10 µg/L) and triadimefon (TDF, 50 and 500 µg/L), at environmentally relevant and predicted worst-case environmental concentrations. Subsequently, the effect of azoles on TH-dependent GH3 cell proliferation and thyroid receptor (TR)-regulated transcriptional activity, as well as the in silico binding affinity between azoles and TR isoforms, was investigated. Azole exposure decreased cell densities of the ganglion cell layer, inner nuclear layer, and photoreceptor layer. Zebrafish larvae exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of CBZ and TDF showed a decrease in optokinetic response to green-white and red-white stripes but not blue-white stripes, consistent with disturbance in the corresponding opsin gene expression. Azole exposure also reduced triiodothyronine levels and concomitantly increased HPT-related gene expression. Molecular docking analysis combined with in vitro TR-mediated transactivation and dual-luciferase reporter assays demonstrated that CBZ and TDF exhibited TR antagonism. These results are comparable to those obtained from a known TR antagonist, namely, TR antagonist 1, as a positive control. Therefore, damage to specific color perception by azoles appears to result from lowered TH signaling, indicating the potential threat of environmental TH disruptors to the visual function of fish.

[CiteSpace knowledge mapping of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment of premature ovarian failure].

This study aimed to investigate the research trend of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) against premature ovarian fai-lure(POF) from 1989 to 2021 by bibliometrics and explore the research status, research hotspots, and advances in international co-operation, knowledge structure, and active topics.The research articles on POF published from database inception to December 28, 2021, were retrieved from Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI) and visually analyzed for countries, journals, authors, institutions, and keywords by CiteSpace 5.8.R3.A total of 1 468 articles were included, including 217 in English and 1 251 in Chinese.Since 1989, there has been an overall upward trend in the number of articles, with China serving as the main contributor.The core authors of Chinese articles are from a cooperative team represented by FENG Yi-xuan, REN Yu-lan, LING Le-le, and TENG Xiu-xiang.BETTERLE C is the author with the highest number of published articles in this international research field.The articles are mainly published by TCM journals and universities, and Human Reproduction accounts for the highest proportion of publications in the international research(11 articles, 5.07%).In the retrieved research articles, the research contents mainly focus on the treatment methods, research methods, and mechanism of action of TCM in the treatment of POF, where "Zuogui Pills" "gene" "cell" "model" "expression", etc.are the current research hotspots. "Acupuncture" "data mining" "systematic review" "oxidative stress" "activation" may be the potential topics in the follow-up research development.Future development should focus on the scientific interpretation and analysis of the theory and practice of TCM by modern scientific and technological methods.The research on informatization, digitization, and knowledge of TCM theory and practice is pivotal to promoting the internationalization and modernization of TCM, which can help researchers explore new directions for future research and identify new perspectives for potential collaboration in the field.

Chronic Exposure to Climbazole Induces Oxidative Stress and Sex Hormone Imbalance in the Testes of Male Zebrafish.

As the main active ingredient for the treatment of fungal infections, climbazole (CBZ) is commonly used in a variety of personal care products. After its use, CBZ enters the receiving environment directly or indirectly through domestic sewage. Its concentration can be up to several nanograms per liter in surface water. So far, the effects of CBZ on the reproductive system of female zebrafish have been systematically studied, but the potential toxicity mechanism of CBZ on male zebrafish still needs to be further explored. In this study, adult male zebrafish were exposed to CBZ at concentrations of 0.1, 10, and 1000 µg·L-1 for 28 days, and their testes were collected for histological, mass-spectrometry-based metabolomics, and biochemical analyses. We found that CBZ caused a significantly abnormal metabolism of purine and glutathione and triggered oxidative stress in zebrafish testes, thereby inducing testicular cell apoptosis. In addition, CBZ could inhibit the synthesis of essential sex hormones in the testis and thus reduce the sperm production. The conclusions of this study fill the data gap on the reproductive toxicity of CBZ to male zebrafish and highlight the ecotoxicological application of untargeted metabolomics in the biomarker discovery.

Clinical efficacy and safety of aidi injection combination with vinorelbine and cisplatin for advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 54 randomized controlled trials.

The Aidi injection contains multiple active ingredients, including astragaloside (Re, Rb1, and Rg1), ginsenoside, cantharidin, elentheroside E, and syringin, and it is administered with vinorelbine and cisplatin (NP) to treat non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). In this study, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the clinical efficacy and safety of the Aidi injection with NP, and the optimal threshold and treatment regimen to produce the desired responses. We collected all studies regarding the Aidi injection with NP for NSCLC from Chinese and English databases (up to April 2019). Risk of methodological bias was evaluated for each study. Data for analysis were extracted using a standard data extraction form. Evidence quality was assessed following the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. We included 54 trials containing 4,053 patients for analysis. Combining the Aidi injection with NP significantly increased the objective response rate (odds ratio [OR], 1.32; confidence interval [CI], 1.23, 1.42), disease control rate (OR, 1.14; CI, 1.11, 1.18), and quality of life (OR, 1.80; CI, 1.61, 1.98), with decreased risks of myelosuppression, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, anemia, gastrointestinal reaction, and liver dysfunction. For patients with a Karnofsky Performance Status score of ≥60, the Aidi injection (50 mL/day, two weeks/cycle, with two to three cycles) treatment with vinorelbine (25 mg/m2) and cisplatin (30-35 mg/m2 or 40-50 mg/m2) might be the optimal regimen for producing the desired tumor response and achieving a good safety level. Most results were robust, and their quality was moderate. The results suggest that administration of the Aidi injection and concomitant NP is beneficial to NSCLC, and provide evidence for the optimal threshold and treatment regimen that may improve tumor response with a good safety level.

CRM197-Coupled Der p 2 Peptides Suppress Allergic Airway Inflammation in a Der p 2-Induced Asthma Mouse Model.

Allergic diseases affect more than 25% of the global population. Der p 2 is the major allergen of the house dust mite (HDM) Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Allergen-specific immunotherapy is the only treatment to change the course of allergic diseases. In this study, two synthesized Der p 2 peptides coupled to cross-reacting material 197 (CRM197) showed reduced IgE reactivity and allergenic activity. CRM197-coupled Der p 2 peptides induced rDer p 2-specific IgG1 antibodies in mice, which could inhibit HDM-allergic patients' IgE binding to rDer p 2. The immunity effects of CRM197-coupled Der p 2 peptides were studied in an rDer p 2-induced asthma mouse model. CRM197-coupled Der p 2 peptides can suppress asthmatic airway inflammation in this model. Analysis of IL-4, IL-5, and IFN-γ levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid revealed that the suppression was associated with a shift from a Th2 to a Th1 response. Thus, CRM197-bound Der p 2 peptides exhibited less allergenic activity than the rDer p 2 allergen, which preserved immunogenicity and may be candidates for mite allergy vaccines.