[Present situation and development strategy of Alpinia oxyphylla].

Alpinia oxyphylla is mainly produced in Hainan,and also one of the four famous traditional Chinese medicines in South China with increasing importance in traditional Chinese medicine industry. Field surveys and literatures show that A. oxyphylla has widely used as a medicinal and edible plant,it is an important raw material for many Chinese patent medicines,health products and food,with a long history of artificial cultivation and application. The future development is prospected on health market. But A. oxyphylla industry has faced a lot of problems,including unreasonable planting layout,lack of good varieties,imperfect seed breeding system,low level of standardization,inconsistent quality of medicinal materials,low level of industry,and so on. The suggestions for sustainable development are listed below.First,it is essential to strengthen the research on the basis and application technology of A. oxyphylla,speed up the selection and breeding of improved varieties,and popularize standardized cultivation techniques. Secondly,it is important to strengthen the research on quality standards,improve the quality evaluation system of medicinal materials. Thirdly,it is necessary to take full advantage of the functional components to develop functional products with Hainan characteristics,find out the unique product characteristics of A. oxyphylla,build a famous brand and improve the product competitiveness in the market. It is also important to strengthen policy support and industrial supervision,promote the healthy and rapid development of A. oxyphylla industry.

Con-T[M8Q] potently attenuates the expression and development of morphine tolerance in mice.

As a variant of peptide conantokin-T (con-T), con-T[M8Q] is derived from the venom of Conus tulipa. Our previous study has demonstrated that con-T[M8Q] selectively targets N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) NR2B subunit. In the present study, we determined the effects of con-T[M8Q] on the expression and development of morphine tolerance using hot plate test and acetic acid writhing test. Our results demonstrated that con-T[M8Q] could efficiently attenuate the expression and development of morphine analgesic tolerance in mice at low doses (5-20nmol/kg), and it exhibited more potent effects compared with ifenprodil, a typical small-molecule antagonist of NMDAR. In addition, low doses of con-T[M8Q] (5-20nmol/kg) did not cause drug resistance and apparent analgesic activity compared with morphine. Taken together, con-T[M8Q] could be a promising new candidate in attenuating morphine tolerance.