Calibration on chromone reference extract and application on quality control of Saposhnikoviae Radix / 中国中药杂志

The calibration of chromone reference extract(CRE) was conducted and a quality control method of Saposhnikoviae Radix(SR) was established based on CRE. Meanwhile, the quality control system of SR was improved and the feasibility of using reference extract as a substitute for single reference substance in quality control of Chinese medicine was discussed. In this study, the content of the prepared CRE was calibrated with prim-O-glucosylcimifugin, cimifugin, 4'-O-β-D-glucosyl-5-O-methylvisamminol, and secO-glucosylhamaudol as indicators. Subsequently, an HPLC analytical method was developed to determine the content of four chromones in 20 batches of SR samples based on the CRE with known content as the standard substance. T-test was used for the comparison of the determination results of the two methods(single chemical component and CRE as reference substances, respectively), and the P values of prim-O-glucosylcimifugin, cimifugin, 4'-O-β-D-glucosyl-5-O-methylvisamminol, and sec-O-glucosylhamaudol were 0. 16,0. 39, 0. 14, and 0. 42. The results demonstrated that there was no significant difference between the two methods. This study initially verified the feasibility that the CRE could be used as a substitute for single reference substance in quality control of SR. In conclusion,this study is expected to provide a scientific basis and a new research model for the application of reference extract in the quality control of Chinese medicine.

Construction of "2R network pharmacology" research method for effective components of traditional Chinese medicine based on "prediction of dominant components-screening of potential targets" / 中国中药杂志

Chinese traditional medicine compound is the main form of Chinese medicine clinical application. The elucidation of the effective components of traditional Chinese medicine is one of the key scientific issues to promote the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine. At present, there are many research ideas on the effective components of traditional Chinese medicine compounds. By analyzing the current status and existing problems of existing research ideas, the author proposes a "double reduction network pharmacology"(2 R network pharmacology) research method based on "prediction of dominant components-potential target selection". Chemical components with good properties were selected by ADMET property prediction technology, and compared with the blood components and target organ components to determine the dominant components with potential therapeutic effect, that is "reducing constituents"; the potential core regulatory pathway of traditional Chinese medicine compound was enriched by RNA-Seq technology combined with network database, and then the target of traditional Chinese medicine compound was mined based on the signal pathway, that is "reducing targets". To improve the efficiency and accuracy of effective component screening, the network relationship of "component target" was established by the related technology of network pharmacology. The purpose of this study is to provide practical research ideas and methods for clarifying the effective components of traditional Chinese medicine, revealing the law of compatibility of traditional Chinese medicine and clarifying the target of drug action.

Study on scrophulariaceae radix reference extract and its application in quality control of Scrophulariae Radix / 中国中药杂志

By establishing the preparation process of Scrophulariaceae Radix reference extract(SRRE) and calibrating it, we discussed its feasibility as a substitute for single reference substance in the quality control of Scrophulariae Radix. The SRREs were prepared by solvent extraction method and chromatographic separation technology, and then calibrated with the reference substances of harpagide, angoroside C and harpagoside. The HPLC content determination method of Scrophulariae Radixl was established with SRREs of the known content and the reference substances of harpagide, angoroside C and harpagoside respectively as the control ones. Then the content of three components in Scrophulariae Radix was determined, and the t-test method was used to compare the results of the two methods. With SRRE as references, harpagide, angoroside C and harpagoside were in a good linear relationship(r≥0.999 8) within each range, and the average recovery rate was 98.55% to 100.6%. The t-test results showed that the P values of two determination methods were 0.493, 0.155 and 0.171 for harpagide, angoroside C and harpagoside respectively, indicating no significant diffe-rence between the two methods of content determination. The SRRE can be used as a substitute for the reference in the quality control of Scrophulariaceae Radix. The SRRE can replace the corresponding reference substance for the quality control of Scrophulariae Radix. The results of this study provide new methods and new ideas for the quality evaluation of Scrophulariae Radix, and provide a scientific basis for the application of reference extracts in the quality research of traditional Chinese medicine.

Mesenchymal stem cells transplantation mildly ameliorates experimental diabetic nephropathy in rats / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Diabetic nephropathy is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to explore whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation could attenuate diabetic nephropathy in experimental diabetic rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sprague-Dawley rats received a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (60 mg/kg). Diabetic rats were randomized to four groups: diabetes control group (DC), ciclosporin A group (CsA), MSC group, and MSC + CsA group (MSCA). Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were cultured, identified and labeled by 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) in vitro. Then they were transplanted to diabetic rats via introcardiac infusion. Ciclosporin A was administered daily at 5 mg/kg. At 1, 2, 4, 8 weeks after transplantation, random blood glucose, urine albumin/creatinine ratio (Alb/Cr), endogenous creatinine clearance rate and renal mass index were tested. Renal morphology and labeled cells were examined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Cultured MSCs expressed mesenchymal cell phenotype, and could be multidifferentiated to osteogenic and adipogenic cells. Labeled MSCs could be detected in the kidney of nephropathic rats, mainly in renal interstitium, but they did not propagate after engrafting in kidney. Over the course of the experiment, MSCA group showed a significant decrease in blood glucose compared with MSC group, CsA group and DC group (P < 0.05, respectively). The Alb/Cr in MSCA group and MSC group were significantly lower than CsA group and DC group (P < 0.05). And the Alb/Cr in MSCA group showed a significant decrease compared with MSC group (0.74 vs 0.84, P < 0.05). There was a significant difference in renal mass index between the MSCA group and DC group (5.66 vs 6.37, P < 0.05). No significant difference was found in creatinine clearance rate among 4 groups (P > 0.05). Treatment with MSC + CsA significantly ameliorated the morphology of diabetic kidney.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MSC could mildly ameliorate diabetic nephropathy by decreasing blood glucose, Alb/Cr ratio and renal mass index.</p>

Effects of hypoxia on human placental decidua basalis-mesenchymal stem cells proliferation, apoptosis and VEGF expression / 生理学报

Human placental decidua basalis-mesenchymal stem cells (PDB-MSCs) are multipotent cells from the human term placenta, which are ethically conducive, easily accessible and high-yielding source. PDB-MSCs can differentiate into adipogenic, osteogenic and neurogenic cells under appropriate conditions, which may be an attractive and alternative source of seed cells for tissue engineering. To investigate the effect of hypoxia (1% O2) on human PDB-MSCs and the expression of cytokine, PDB-MSCs were isolated from human placenta by density gradient centrifugation and cultured in the Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium-high glucose (DMEM-HG) containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), and the fifth passage of PDB-MSCs were taken. PDB-MSCs were divided into 4 groups according to the concentrations of O2 and FBS: 20% O2, 10% FBS; 20% O2, 0% FBS; 1% O2, 10% FBS; 1% O2, 0% FBS. The proliferation and apoptosis of PDB-MSCs were detected by MTT and flow cytometric analysis at the time points of 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, and 96 h, respectively. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) released from PDB-MSCs was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at the same time points. The results showed that hypoxia enhanced the proliferation of PDB-MSCs at 12 h under the condition of 10% FBS, while at 24 h under the condition of 0% FBS (P<0.01, n=3). In normoxia, the cells cultured in 10% FBS displayed a significant proliferation compared to those cultured in 0% FBS. However, in hypoxia, the number of cells cultured in 0% FBS (serum deprivation) increased significantly compared to that cultured in 10% FBS at 24 h and 96 h respectively (P<0.05, P<0.01, n=3). With the flow cytometric analysis of cell apoptosis under the condition of hypoxia and serum deprivation, we found that hypoxia and serum deprivation did not induce PDB-MSCs apoptosis (P>0.05, n=3). This conclusion may relate to the expression of VEGF which needs further research. In conclusion, the results obtained indicate that PDB-MSCs are able to bear hypoxia and serum deprivation, suggesting that PDB-MSCs can be used as seed cells for ischemia related tissue engineering.

A study on selective killing effect of Hsv-tk/GCV driven by human telomerase catalytic subunit promoter on human lung cancer cell A549 / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study selective killing effect of herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase/ganciclovir (Hsv-tk/GCV) driven by human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) promoter on lung cancer cell line A549 in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>(1) Expression plasmids of Hsv-tk gene driven by hTERT promoter and sv40 promoter respectively (pGL3-hTp-tk and pGL3-sv40-tk) were transfected into telomerase-positive human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 and telomerase-negative fetal lung fibroblast cell line MRC-5. Reverse transcription-PCR was performed to detect expression of tk gene in above transfected cell lines; (2) Inhibition effect on proliferation of above transfected cell lines treated with GCV was investigated with MTT method; (3) Influence of GCV on apoptosis and cell cycle of above transfected cell lines was investigated with flow cytometry.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) tk mRNA expression was detected in both A549 and MRC-5 transfected with pGL3-sv40-tk, also in A549 transfected with pGL3-hTp-tk, but not in pGL3-hTp-tk transfected MRC-5; (2) GCV showed significant inhibition effects on proliferation of pGL3-sv40-tk transfected A549 and MRC-5 in vitro, also on that of pGL3-hTp-tk transfected A549, but not on that of pGL3-hTp-tk transfected MRC-5; (3) Treated with GCV, apoptosis index (AI) of pGL3-sv40-tk transfected A549 and MRC-5 as well as pGL3-hTp-tk transfected A549 (21.58%, 9.35% and 23.19% respectively) increased significantly, compared with A549, MRC-5 transfected with pGL3-hTp (0.78% and 0.55% respectively) and A549, MRC-5 without plasmid transfection as blank control (2.17% and 0.60% respectively); GCV had no influence on AI of pGL3-hTp-tk transfected MRC-5 (0.88%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>tk gene driven by hTERT promoter could express selectively in lung cancer cell A549. Hsv-tk/GCV driven by hTERT promoter could selectively inhibit proliferation of lung cancer cell.</p>

Study on revising the criteria of classification of hazard conditions of productive dust / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To provide scientific basis data for revising the national hygiene criteria of "Classification of hazard conditions of productive dust" (GB5817-86).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The data of the retrospective study and the field survey data were analyzed with correlation and regression analysis. The product of total dust concentration of respiratory exposure (mg/m(3)), total ventilation during exposure (m(3)/d per psrson), and level of free SiO(2) in dust (%) was the respiratory exposure dose of free SiO(2) (mg per day per person) which was used as dose criteria value of classification of hazard degree of dust.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Using free SiO(2) exposure dose and the dose-effect relationship, the hazard degrees of the dust were divided into 5 grades: 0, I, II, III, IV (0 - 8.0, 8.1 - 12.0, 12.1 - 16.0, > 24.1 mg per day per person).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The exposure dose of free SiO(2) is closely related to the pathogenesis of silicosis. Using the exposure dose of free SiO(2) as the classification indicator of hazard degree of dust is reliable, simple and easy to execute.</p>