[Compatibility mechanism of Gegen Qinlian Decoction in treatment of ulcerative colitis based on network pharmacology].

Gegen Qinlian Decoction(GQD) is commonly used for the clinical treatment of ulcerative colitis(UC) and other diseases, but its compatibility mechanism has not been elucidated systematically. In this study, the compatibility mechanism of GQD against UC was revealed based on the blood components in the mouse model of UC by network pharmacology. The targets of blood components of GQD were collected to construct a protein-protein interaction(PPI) network. The key targets were screened out according to the topological parameters of the network, and 16 core components were identified, such as puerarin, chrysin, berberine, and liquiritigenin, based on the key targets in the blood components. Functional enrichment analysis was performed on the key targets, and the regulatory network of the prescription was constructed, which elucidated the compatibility mechanism of the Chinese herbal drugs in the prescription at both target and pathway levels. The results showed that all the Chinese herbal drugs in GQD had heat-clearing and toxin-removing effects, and the four Chinese herbal drugs synergistically exerted their effects by co-regulating protooncogenes, such as FOS and JUN, and characteristically regulating signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3) and interleukin-6(IL-6). The pathway analysis revealed that GQD exerted heat-clearing and toxin-removing effects mainly by regulating the inflammatory response-related signaling pathways, such as Toll-like receptor, tumor necrosis factor(TNF), and mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK). Furthermore, the study revealed the synergistic effects of Chinese herbal drugs in GQD based on the TNF signaling pathway. The results showed that the sovereign drug Puerariae Lobatae Radix played a primary role in the regulation of targets in the TNF signaling pathway, the minister drugs Scutellariae Radix and Coptidis Rhizoma showed the synergistic effects with Puerariae Lobatae Radix, and the assistant and guiding drug Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma supported Puerariae Lobatae Radix in the key target NF-κB and the process of cell adhesion. The drugs in GQD showed good characteristics of compatibility in the TNF signaling pathway. This study is expected to provide the basis for the further exploration of the compatibility mechanism of GQD.

[Improving comprehensive retention rate of peppermint oil in freeze-dried preparation based on cyclodextrin inclusion technology].

The freeze-drying technique, characterized by low-temperature processing, is especially suitable for sensitive volatile oils with thermal instability. However, there are few studies focusing on the retention of volatile oils in the processing of freeze-dried preparations. This study evaluated the effects of different addition methods(adsorption, emulsification, solid dispersion, and inclusion) on the retention rate of the main components in peppermint oil, aiming to explore the application feasibility of freeze-dried preparations of volatile oils. Firstly, the addition method was determined based on the retention rates of menthol in four freeze-dried preparations. Secondly, an orthogonal test was designed to optimize the preparation process based on the characteristics of the preferred addition method. The results showed that the most suitable preparation form of peppermint oil was inclusion with beta-cyclodextrin(ß-CD), and the retention rate of menthol in freeze-drying was 86.36%. According to the two-step preparation process of inclusion and freeze-drying, we introduced the product of inclusion rate and retention rate, i.e., comprehensive retention rate, to determine the optimum processing parameters. The results showed that ß-CD/oil ratio of 7∶1, inclusion temperature of 40 ℃, and inclusion time of 2 h were the optimum processing parameters. The product prepared with these parameter had the comprehensive retention rate of 68.41%, retention rate of 92.53%, and inclusion rate of 73.93%. The inclusion compound was white powder with significantly increased solubility. The pre-paration process based on cyclodextrin inclusion in this study is stable and reliable and provides a new idea for ensuring the efficacy and stability of volatile components in freeze-dried preparations.