ABSTRACT
By referring to the relevant ancient herbal literature， medical records and prescription books， the textual research of Violae Herba has been conducted to verify the name， origin， producing area， quality evaluation and processing method changes. The results showed that the name of Zihua Diding originated from its flower color and plant morphological characteristics. The primitive plant of Violae Herba is Viola genus of Violaceae， V. yedoensis， as stipulated in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia， has been the mainstream in past dynasties of China. Violae Herba is mainly wild， and it is widely distributed throughout the country. Since modern times， the quality of Violae Herba is better with integrity， green color and yellow root. There are few records on the harvesting and processing methods of Violae Herba in ancient times， most of which are directly used after drying. It is suggested that the collection and processing methods of Violae Herba in the famous classical formulas can be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of Astragalus mongholicus on renal gene expression profile in mice with diabetic nephropathy by cDNA microarray.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The mice with diabetic nephropathy were fed A. mongholicus and normal saline respectively. cDNA microarray was used to measure gene expression profile in renal tissue after 12 weeks, and the data were analyzed by bioinformatics. RT-PCR was performed to detect the relative levels of some genes which were randomly selected.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Eighty eight genes were found differently expressed in two chips. Among these genes, 81 genes were found differently expressed in reverse direction change, 7 genes were found differently expressed in same direction change. The genes altered were mainly related to material metabolism, immunity and inflammatory reaction, signal transduction, translation, transcription, et al. The expressions of genes tested by RT-PCR were in accordance with those detected by cDNA microarray.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A. mongholicus may play protective roles in diabetic nephropathy through multiple pathways at gene level. The effect of A. mongholicus in genes related to material metabolism is more significant.</p>