Natural products as the therapeutic strategies for addiction.

World Drug Report 2023 concluded that 296 million people abused drugs, 39.5 million became addiction and 494,000 died as a direct or indirect result of addiction. Addiction has become a growing problem that affects individuals, their families, societies, countries and even the world. However, treatment for addiction is only limited to some developed countries because of the high cost, difficult implementation, and time consuming. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a low-cost, effective drug for the development of addiction treatment in more countries, which is essential for the stability and sustainable development of the world. In this review, it provided an overview of the abuse of common addictive drugs, related disorders, and current therapeutic regimen worldwide, and summarized the mechanisms of drug addiction as reward circuits, neuroadaptation and plasticity, cognitive decision-making, genetics, and environment. According to their chemical structure, 43 natural products and 5 herbal combinations with potential to treat addiction were classified, and their sources, pharmacological effects and clinical trials were introduced. It was also found that mitragine, ibogine, L-tetrahydropalmatine and crocin had greater potential for anti-addiction.

CircRNA: a rising therapeutic strategy for lung injury induced by pulmonary toxicants.

Lung injury has been a serious medical problem that requires new therapeutic approaches and biomarkers. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that exist widely in eukaryotes. CircRNAs are single-stranded RNAs that form covalently closed loops. CircRNAs are significant gene regulators that have a role in the development, progression, and therapy of lung injury by controlling transcription, translating into protein, and sponging microRNAs (miRNAs) and proteins. Although the study of circRNAs in lung injury caused by pulmonary toxicants is just beginning, several studies have revealed their expression patterns. The function that circRNAs perform in relation to pulmonary toxicants (severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), drug abuse, PM2.5, and cigarette smoke) is the main topic of this review. A variety of circRNAs can serve as potential biomarkers of lung injury. In this review, the biogenesis, properties, and biological functions of circRNAs were concluded, and the relationship between circRNAs and pulmonary toxicants was discussed. It is expected that the new ideas and potential treatment targets that circRNAs provide would be beneficial to research into the molecular mechanisms behind lung injury.

Cocaine in Different Matrices: Recent Updates on Pretreatment and Detection Techniques.

Cocaine abuse has attracted increased attention in the recent past since it can cause addiction and great harm to the normal human body. Due to cocaine exists in various complex matrices, the detection of it in different matrices is helpful to prevent abuse. It is thus imperative to establish efficient and accurate methods for pretreatment and detection of cocaine in different samples. The present study provides a summary of the research progress of cocaine pretreatment methods (such as different microextraction methods, QuEChERS, and solid phase extraction based on novel extraction materials) and detection approaches (such as liquid chromatography coupled with different detectors, gas chromatography and related techniques, capillary electrophoresis and sensors). A comparison of the pros and cons of different pretreatment and detection methods is presented. The findings of this study will provide a reference for selection of the most suitable cocaine pretreatment and detection techniques.

In-vivo and in-vitro studies on the effect of Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang on nimodipine transport across rat blood-brain barrier.

Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT), an aqueous extract of Rhizoma Coptidis, Radix Scutellariae, Cortex Phellodendri and Fructus Gardeniae (3:2:2:3) is an important multi-herb remedy in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of HLJDT on nimodipine transport across rat blood-brain barrier (BBB). It was found that in-vivo the brain concentrations of nimodipine significantly increased when rats were pretreated with HLJDT. In-vitro, the serum of HLJDT-treated rats increased the accumulation of nimodipine in primary cultured rat brain microvessel endothelial cells (rBMECs) and decreased the expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) on rBMECs. Our previous study showed that the peak concentration of baicalin and berberine in rats after administration of HLJDT was 5 mug mL(-1) and 10 ng mL(-1), respectively. This study showed that 5 mug mL(-1) baicalin significantly increased the accumulation of nimodipine in rBMECs, while 10 ng mL(-1) berberine had no effect on the accumulation of nimodipine in rBMECs. Both the in-vivo and in-vitro experimental findings indicated that HLJDT pretreatment may alter the transport of nimodipine across rat BBB.