[Regional differences analysis of Alismatis Rhizoma based on UPLC characteristic chromatogram and determination of eight terpenoids].

An ultra-performance liquid chromatography(UPLC) method integrating characteristic chromatogram and eight terpenoids determination has been established for comparing the differences of Alismatis Rhizoma(Zexie) from different product areas. Thirty-seven batches of crude drugs and thirty batches of prepared slices of Alismatis Rhizoma were analyzed. The obtained data were analyzed by similarity evaluation, principal components analysis(PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA). There were three main characteristic peaks in the characteristic chromatograms, and alisol B 23-acetate(S) was selected as the reference. Compared with the S peak, the relative retention times of the other two characteristic peaks were 0.55(alisol) and 0.77(alisol B), respectively. Peak areas and the ratio of alisol B to alisol B 23-acetate could be used to distinguish Alismatis Rhizoma from different geographical origins. The samples were divided into three groups by PCA and PLS-DA based on the content determination results, and they were "Jian Zexie"(Fujian and Jiangxi provinces), "Chuan Zexie"(Sichuan and Hubei provinces), and "Guang Zexie"(Guangxi province). The contents of chemical components in samples from different producing areas were notably different. For example, the contents of alisol A and alisol A 24-acetate were significantly higher in "Guang Zexie" compared with "Jian Zexie" and "Chuan Zexie"(P<0.000 1). The contents of alisol B and alisol C were significantly higher in "Chuan Zexie" compared with "Jian Zexie"(P<0.000 1). Combining the characteristic chromatograms and quantitative analysis of eight terpenoids, this study showed that the relative contents of components and their ratios were notable different in samples from different regions, but types and numbers of chemical compositions were basically similar. The results of this study illustrated the regional differences of Alismatis Rhizoma and their components characteristics, and provided references for authentication and quality control of Alismatis Rhizoma.

[Recommendations on quality standards of Alismatis Rhizoma in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition)].

The present research was launched to improve the quality standards of Alismatis Rhizoma and supply scientific evidence and recommendations for the quality control of Alismatis Rhizoma in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(Ch. P) 2020 edition. The contents of water, total ash, heavy metals and deleterious element, pesticide residues and alcohol-soluble extract were analyzed according to the methods listed in the volume Ⅳ of Ch. P 2015 edition. Alisol B 23-acetate, alisol C 23-acetate and reference herbs were used to identify Alismatis Rhizoma by TLC method, which was developed by using a mixture of dichloromethane-methanol(15∶1) as developing solvent on silica gel GF_(254 )precoated plates. In HPLC method, alisol B 23-acetate and alisol C 23-acetate were separated with acetonitrile-water as the mobile phase and detected at 208 nm and 246 nm, respectively. Thirty-seven batches of crude drugs, thirty batches of prepared slices and nineteen batches of salt prepared slices of Alismatis Rhizoma were determined according to the methods established. The quality standards established based on the research results were specific and repeatable, and suitable for the quality evaluation of Alismatis Rhizoma. We recommended that the botanical sources, TLC examination, alcohol-soluble extract of salt prepared slices and content determination should be revised in the Ch. P 2020 edition.

[Qualitative and quantitative research on nucleosides of Alismatis Rhizoma from different regions].

Ten compounds, including nucleosides and amino acids were identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. HPLC fingerprints on these compounds in Alismatis Rhizoma were established for the first time. The comparisons of Alismatis Rhizoma from different regions were conducted by the similarity evaluation and hierarchical cluster analysis(HCA). Meanwhile, the HPLC-DAD method for the content determination of five nucleosides was also established. The results showed that the similarities of Alismatis Rhizoma collected from Sichuan and Fujian provinces were above 0.96, whereas they were less than 0.87 in those from Guangxi province. The results of HCA showed the samples from Sichuan and Fujian were gathered in the same group, all samples from Guangxi in another group, which indicated the similarities between samples from Sichuan and Fujian in nucleosides and they were different from the samples from Guangxi. The total contents of five nucleosides were revealed, of which samples from Sichuan and Fujian were 0.81-1.30 mg·g~(-1) followed a descending order of vernine>cytidine>uridine>adenine>adenosine, and from Guangxi were 0.35-0.50 mg·g~(-1) with the sequences of uridine>adenine>vernine>cytidine>adenosine. The nucleosides contents of samples from Sichuan and Fujian were both higher than that from Guangxi. For samples from Sichuan and Fujian, the former was slightly higher, except for adenine. These results would be helpful to reveal the bioactive constituents in aqueous extract and provided important evidences for the quality control of Alismatis Rhizoma.

[Advances in studies on chemical compositions of Alismatis Rhizoma and their biological activities].

Alismatis Rhizoma is a traditional Chinese medicine, which was widely used in clinical prescriptions and proprietary Chinese medicine. Over 220 compounds have been isolated from it, including triterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids, polysaccharides, nitrogen compounds, phenylpropanoids, flavones and sterides. The pharmacological studies show that Alismatis Rhizoma exhibits diuretic, anti-urolithiatic, anti-hyperlipidemia, antidiabetics, antitumor, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-complementary activities, etc. In this review, the chemical compositions and its pharmacological activities of Alismatis Rhizoma in recent 50 years were summarized. The authors hope to provide references for further study, development and utilization of Alismatis Rhizoma.

[Studies on quality standards of Poria].

In order to provide scientific recommendations for the revision of the quality standards of Poria in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(Ch. P) 2020 edition, a series of experiments were carried out to improve the quality standards of Poria. TLC methods were established to identify Poria by using pachymic acid, dehydrotumulosic acid and reference herbs as reference substances. The contents of water, total ash, pesticide residues, heavy metals and deleterious element, mycotoxins, sulfur dioxide residues and ethanol-soluble extract of herbal materials and decoction pieces of Poria were determined according to the methods recorded in the volume Ⅳ of Ch. P 2015 edition. An HPLC method was developed for the determination of pachymic acid and dehydropachymic acid. The contents of polysaccharide were determined by spectrophotometry using D-glucose as reference substance. The quality standards were established on the basis of the research results, in which the [assay] were added, and the [identification] and [tests] were revised when compared with Ch. P 2015 edition. The established methods are simple, specific, repeatable, and suitable for the quality evaluation of Poria.

[Quality evaluation of Poria based on specific chromatogram and quantitative analysis of multicomponents].

HPLC specific chromatograms of Poria were established, and the concentrations of 10 triterpenoids(16α-hydroxydehydrotrametenolic acid, poricoic acid B, dehydrotumulosic acid, poricoic acid A, polyporenic acid C, poricoic acid AM, 3-O-acetyl-16α-hydroxydehydrotrametenolic acid, dehydropachymic acid, pachymic acid, and dehydrotrametenolic acid) were simultaneously determined. Chromatographic analysis was conducted on a Welch Ultimate XB C_(18) column(4.6 mm × 250 mm,5 µm). Acetonitrile solution(contain 3% tetrahydrofuran)(A) and 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution(B) were used as the mobile phase with gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL·min~(-1). The column temperature was 30 ℃ and the injection volume was 20 µL. The experimental data were analyzed by the SPSS 22.0 and GraphPad Prism 7.0. The established triterpenoids fingerprints were specific, and the 10 components were well separated and showed good linearity(r≥0.999 6) within the concentration ranges tested. The mean recoveries were between 98.53%-103.8%(RSD 1.7%-2.7%). The method was specific and repeatable, and could be used for identification and quality evaluation of Poria. The results showed that the contents of 10 triterpenoids were positively correlated with each other. The contents of 10 triterpenoids of samples collected from producing areas were higher than that collected from markets. The total contents of 10 triterpenoids of samples collected from Hubei and Yunnan province were slightly higher than that from Anhui province, but the contents of samples from Anhui province were varied in smaller ranges.

Relationship Between Physical Activity Patterns and Metabolic Syndrome Among Male Coal Miners of Shanxi Province in China.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and physical activity (PA) in different domains among male coal miners of Shanxi Province in China. METHOD: The study was conducted from July 2013 to December 2013. A two-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used. Data regarding the general information of participants were collected by well-trained interviewers. MetS was defined according to IDF criteria. Self-reported PA was obtained with the IPAQ and categorized into three tertiles of intensity levels across occupation, transportation, household, and leisure-time domains. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were applied to compute the odds ratios and their 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: A total of 3076 males aged 18-65 years old were recruited in this cross-sectional study. The prevalence of MetS was 40.5% in the study subjects. The percentages of vigorous-intensity PA in MetS and non-MetS groups were 70.07% and 62.92%, respectively. Participants spent most of their time on occupation (2034 MET-min/w) and transportation (693MET-min/w) domains. Higher-intensity levels in occupation domains were significantly associated with lower risk of MetS (OR: 0.759, 95% CI: 0.633-0.911; OR: 0.627, 95% CI: 0.516-0.762). CONCLUSIONS: Across four types of workers, the relationships between PA domains and MetS were different. For underground and underground auxiliary workers, the negative relationship was found between occupation PA and MetS. For office workers, the negative relationship was found between household PA and MetS. For ground workers, only leisure-time PA had positively related to MetS.

Isolation and purification of diterpenoids from the aerial parts of Isodon excisoides target-guided by UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS.

Cytotoxic diterpenoids were enriched and orientation prepared from the aerial parts of Isodon excisoides target-guided by UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS. Four diterpenoids were obtained, including a novel compound: 1α-acetoxy-7α, 14ß, 20α-trihydroxy-ent-kaur-16-en-15-one (1); together with three known compounds kamebakaurin (2), lasiokaurin (3), enmenol-1-ß-glucoside (4). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods in conjunction with published data for their analogues. All compounds were tested for their cytotoxic effects against five human cancer cell lines HCT-116, HepG2, A2780, NCI-H1650 and BGC-823, respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 showed obviously cytotoxic activity against the five cancer cell lines with IC50 ranging from 1.06 to 3.60 µM. Compounds 3 and 4 showed selective cytotoxic activity.

Gender Differences in Dietary Patterns and Their Association with the Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Chinese: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Few studies have investigated gender differences in dietary intake. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine gender differences in dietary patterns and their association with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The food intakes of 3794 subjects enrolled by a two-stage cluster stratified sampling method were collected using a valid semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its prevalence was 35.70% in the sample (37.67% in men and 24.67% in women). Dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis combined with cluster analysis and multiple group confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the factorial invariance between gender groups. The dominating dietary pattern for men was the "balanced" dietary pattern (32.65%) and that for women was the "high-salt and energy" dietary pattern (34.42%). For men, the "animal and fried food" dietary pattern was related to higher risk of MetS (odds ratio: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.01-1.60), after adjustment for age, marital status, socioeconomic status and lifestyle factors. For women, the "high-salt and energy" dietary pattern was related to higher risk of MetS (odds ratio: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.24-4.14). We observed gender differences in dietary patterns and their association with the prevalence of MetS. For men, the "animal and fried food" dietary pattern was associated with enhancive likelihood of MetS. For women, it was the "high-salt and energy" dietary pattern.

Associations of Individual-Related and Job-Related Risk Factors with Nonfatal Occupational Injury in the Coal Workers of Shanxi Province: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the relationships between the risk factors and the incidence of nonfatal occupational injury of coal mine workers of Shanxi Province. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2013 to December 2013, and 4319 workers were recruited from more than 200,000 coal mine employees who are exposed to continuous potential risk of occupational injuries by using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling method. Trained interviewers having necessary medical knowledge conducted face-to-face interviews with the participants. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: A total number of 3618 effective respondents were got from 4319 participants (83.77%) and the mean age of the participants was 41.5 years with the standard deviation of 8.65. Significant crude odds ratios were observed for all factors considered except for marital status, education, work duration, BMI, EPQ-RSC(P) scale and EPQ-RSC(L) scale. Results from multivariable logistic regression model showed significant adjusted odds ratios for risk factors including gender (female vs male 0.275, 0.094-0.800), age (≥55 vs ≤25yr 0.169, 0.032-0.900), work type (light physical labor vs heavy physical labor 0.504, 0.328-0.774), workplace (underground auxiliary vs underground front-line 0.595, 0.385-0.919), length of shiftwork experience (0~5yr vs no shift 2.075, 1.287-3.344 and ≥15yr vs no shift 2.076, 1.230-3.504) and EPQ-RSC(E) score (extraversion vs introversion 0.538, 0.334-0.867). CONCLUSIONS: Several risk factors of nonfatal occupational injury were identified including male, age, heavy physical labor, underground front-line, length of shiftwork experience and introversion. The coal mining enterprises should pay attention to controlling the hazards associated with frontline physical work. Workers' behaviors, life styles and personality traits should also be considered, so that the enterprises could set achievable targets for workers and lessen the exposed period to the risky underground workstation.