Two cardenolide glycosides from the seed fairs of Asclepias curassavica and their cytotoxic activities.

Two cardenolide glycosides, corotoxigenin 3-O-[ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-6-deoxy-ß-D-glucopyranoside] (1) and coroglaucigenin 3-O-[ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-6-deoxy-ß-D-glucopyranoside] (2), were isolated from the seed fairs of Asclepias curassavica. The structures of 1-2 were determined based on the combination of the analysis of their MS, NMR spectroscopic data and acid hydrolysis. The inhibitory effects of compounds 1 and 2 on human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT116), non-small cell lung carcinoma cells (A549) and hepatic cancer cells (SMMC-7721) were evaluated. The results showed that both compounds 1 and 2 significantly inhibited the viability, proliferation, and migration of A549, HCT116 and SMMC-7721 cells, suggesting that compounds 1 and 2 can be applied in the treatment of lung, colon and liver cancers in clinical practice. This study may not only provide a scientific basis for clarifying the active ingredients in A. curassavica, but also help to understand its antitumor activity, which can promote the application of A. curassavica in clinical treatment of various cancers.

[Geochemical Survey Method of Land Quality in Land Parcel Scale City: A Case Study of the Initial Area of the Xiong'an New District].

In order to evaluate the land quality geochemical survey achievement in the service of the accurate management of urban land resources, the initial area of the Xiong'an New District as urbanization pathfinder in China is chosen as the research subject. The sample points were set by differential classification, and the spatial interpolation accuracy of the soil elements at a plot scale and a quantitative assessment of the consistency of the land plot (pattern spot) prediction evaluation were studied under the conditions of different sampling densities. The regional geochemical variation values randomly distributed on the plane can be reflected quantitatively by differential classification sampling, which can meet the basic demand of the quality attribute of a single plot (map spot) by the accurate management of urban land resources. The spatial variability of soil elements is mostly middle to moderate, and Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg, Se, N, P, and other elements of high spatial variability are affected by human industrial and agricultural production activities. Under the same sampling density, the larger the element variation coefficient, the worse the spatial interpolation accuracy. Although the interpolation accuracy of the same element index is affected by the sampling density, the increase in the sampling density could not identify the continuous component on the structure of the soil element content. The soil environment is clean, and the heavy metal content is lower than the GB15618-2018 standard. The interpolation results are basically consistent with the grading results of the measured values, while the contents of N, P, and K of the nutrient indices vary greatly, and the predicted and measured geochemical grades of the plots (map spot) differ substantially under the influence of factors such as human disturbance and spatial variability. The quantitative evaluation of the six different sampling densities indicates that the 16 points·km-2 sampling density adopted in the geochemical survey and evaluation of urban land quality can satisfy the needs of an accurate control of urban land resources in the study area and similar areas. The research can provide key technologies to support and serve the accurate management of urban land resources for geochemical surveys and the evaluation of land quality in land parcel scale cities.

[Discussion on Key Issues of Geochemical Monitoring of Soil Heavy Metal in Xiong'an New District].

To build a soil environmental quality monitoring network and collect the systematic soil geochemical data of heavy metals before and after the construction of Xiong'an New District(XND), long-term variations in soil heavy metal levels during the XND construction were monitored based on the land quality geochemical survey monitoring data and the geochemical distribution of heavy metals. Parameters such as sampling density, sampling quantity, and sampling period were estimated to construct the geochemical monitoring network, which provides a reference for the future long-term monitoring of soil heavy metal geochemistry in XND. The results indicate that variations in the amount of heavy metals As, Cd, Cu, Hg, and Pb are greater than 36%, while the nugget coefficients of Cd, Cu, and Pb are greater than 75% because of the superposition of manmade sources on the high natural background levels. At the 95% and 90% confidence levels, while the allowable error Δ of the sample mean value is 5%, 10%, and 15% and heavy metals as As, Cd, Cu, Hg,Ni, Pb and Zn is monitored in soil environmental quality monitoring network, the proper numbers in the study area are 1077, 270, 120 and 767, 192, 86, respectively. The minimum detectable change(MDC)of each heavy metal species is between 0.0025 and 2.54 mg ·kg-1. Soil heavy metal monitoring requires different revisit intervals under different annual change rates, but in the study area, revisit intervals of soil monitoring are approximately two years under the current conditions of constant annual change rates.

Chinese herbal medicines for prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer: From molecular mechanisms to potential clinical applications.

Worldwide, colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumors, leading to immense social and economic burdens. Currently, the main treatments for CRC include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of CRC, the prognosis for CRC patients remains poor. Furthermore, the occurrence of side effects and toxicities severely limits the clinical use of these therapies. Therefore, alternative medications with high efficacy but few side effects are needed. An increasing number of modern pharmacological studies and clinical trials have supported the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) for the prevention and treatment of CRC. CHMs may be able to effectively reduce the risk of CRC, alleviate the adverse reactions caused by chemotherapy, and prolong the survival time of patients with advanced CRC. Studies of molecular mechanisms have provided deeper insight into the roles of molecules from CHMs in treating CRC. This paper summarizes the current understanding of the use of CHMs for the prevention and treatment of CRC, the main molecular mechanisms involved in these processes, the role of CHMs in modulating chemotherapy-induced adverse reactions, and CHM's potential role in epigenetic regulation of CRC. The current study provides beneficial information on the use of CHMs for the prevention and treatment of CRC in the clinic, and suggests novel directions for new drug discovery against CRC.