Modulation effects of danshen-honghua herb pair on gut microbiota of acute myocardial ischemia model rat.

In the recent years, a growing number of studies have shown that the occurrence of myocardial ischemia (MI) is closely related to the gut microbiota (GM). The Danshen-Honghua herb pair (DHHP), a classic combination in traditional Chinese herbal formulas, has been widely applied throughout history to cure cardiovascular disease, exhibiting remarkable clinical efficacy to treat ischemic heart disease (IHD). However, the intrinsic regulation mechanism of DHHP in treating MI remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the possible protective mechanism of DHHP in rats with acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) induced by isoproterenol (ISO) through 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique. Pharmacodynamic results showed that DHHP significantly ameliorated the pathological changes and improved the abnormal cardiac enzymes levels in the AMI rats. In addition, GM analysis demonstrated that DHHP effectively ameliorated the ISO-induced dysbiosis of the GM community, mainly by enhancing the GM diversity and increasing the relative abundance of Bacteroides, Roseburia, unclassified_f__Lachnospiraceae, and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, the abundance ratio of Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes, and decreasing the relative abundance of Escherichia-Shigella and Enterococcus. In summary, this study revealed that DHHP could improve ischemic myocardial injury in rats, and that its regulation mechanism is associated with significantly ameliorating the composition of GM, thus contributing to further our understanding of the anti-MI mechanisms of DHHP.

Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of Danshen in isoproterenol-induced acute myocardial ischemic injury combined with Honghua.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Herb pair, the most fundamental and simplest form of herb compatibility, serves as the basic building block of traditional Chinese medicine formulae. The Danshen-Honghua herb pair (DH), composed of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Danshen in Chinese) and Carthami Flos (Honghua in Chinese), has remarkable clinical efficacy to cure cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. This study was designed to investigate the pharmacodynamics of DH in comparison with single herbs and pharmacokinetics of DH relative to Danshen in acute myocardial ischemic injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty male Wistar rats were divided into control, model and drug treated groups. The acute myocardial ischemia rat model was induced by administering 85 mg/kg/d isoproterenol (ISO) subcutaneously for two consecutive days. For pharmacodynamic study, histopathological and biochemical analysis were performed to assess the anti-myocardial ischemic effects. While for pharmacokinetic study, a UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for determination of nine main active ingredients, namely danshensu, protocatechuic acid, protocatechualdehyde, caffeic acid, lithospermic acid, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A and salvianolic acid C in rat plasma. RESULTS: The histopathological and biochemical analysis revealed that DH exerted enhanced anti-myocardial ischemic effects against the ISO-induced myocardial ischemia compared with single herbs. The pharmacokinetic study indicated that DH could significantly increase the t1/2z of danshensu, Tmax, AUC0-∞ and MRT0-t of protocatechuic acid in comparison with Danshen alone in normal rats, but more importantly elevate systemic exposure level and prolong t1/2z of protocatechualdehyde, caffeic acid, Tmax of danshensu in acute myocardial ischemia rats. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrated the greater effects of DH after the compatibility in ISO-induced acute myocardial ischemia rats at pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic levels and provided valuable information for clinical application of herb pairs.

The complete plastid genome sequence of Gleditsia sinensis, an ancient medicinal tree in China.

Gleditsia sinensis Lam. (Leguminosae) is an ancient medicinal tree in China. In this study, we first characterized the whole plastid genome sequence using the illumination sequencing technology. The length of the plastid genome was 163,151 bp, including the large single copy (LSC) region of 91,515 bp, the small single copy (SSC) region of 19,250 bp, and two reversed duplicate regions (IR) of each 26,193 bp. The genome of G. sinensis contains 130 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) and 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Phylogenetic analysis showed that G. sinensis was placed as a sister to the congeneric G. japonica.

[Bletilla striata planting area in Ningshan county extraction based on multi-temporal remote sensing images].

Traditional Chinese medicine is planted in mountainous areas with suitable natural conditions. The planting area is complex in terrain,and the planting plots are mostly irregularly shaped. It is difficult to accurately calculate the planting area by traditional survey methods. The method of extracting Chinese herbal medicine planting area combined with remote sensing and GIS technology is of great significance for the rational development and utilization of traditional Chinese medicine resources. Taking Bletilla striata planting in Ningshan county of Shaanxi province as an example,the extraction method of planting area of traditional Chinese medicine in county was studied. High-resolution ZY-3 and GF-1 multi-spectral multi-temporal remote sensing images were used as data sources. Through field sampling,samples such as B. striata,cultivated land,forest land,water body,artificial surface,alpine meadow,etc. are collected. The spectral features,texture features and shape features of remotely identifiable objects in different planting areas and cultivated land,vegetable sheds were analyzed,confusing ground objects were eliminated and interpretation marks were establish. The method of visual interpretation is used to realize the extraction of B. striata planting areas,and the B. striata planting area are calculated by combining GIS technology. The results showed that the method of visual interpretation,using high-resolution ZY-3 and GF-1 multi-spectral multi-temporal remote sensing image data extracted the planting area of 403.05 mu. It can effectively extract the B. striata planting area in research region.

Investigating the effects and possible mechanisms of danshen- honghua herb pair on acute myocardial ischemia induced by isoproterenol in rats.

Danshen (salvia miltiorrhiza) and honghua(Carthamus tinctorius) were traditional herb pair with promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis actions, in China. Both were widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases (CVD) for hundreds years, especially shown definite advantage in the treatment of ischemic heart disease (IHD). However, the mechanism of danshen-honghua herb pair (DHHP) in the treatment of IHD was still unclear. This study was focused on examining the effects and possible mechanisms of DHHP in rats with acute myocardial ischemia induced by isoproterenol (ISO). The results suggested that DHHP significantly ameliorated the myocardial tissue abnormalities, notablely inhibited the elevation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinekinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin T (CTn-T) in plasma, obviously decreased the plasma levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor α (TNF-α), outstandingly inhibited the reduction of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) caused by ISO, significantly inhibited the high expression of Bcl-2 assaciated X protein (Bax) and nuclear transcriptionfactor-κBP65 (NF-κBP65) protein, significantly induced the low expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) protein in acute myocardial ischemia rats. DHHP can obviously ameliorate hemodynamic parameters. In summary, DHHP can significantly improve myocardial ischemia in acute myocardial ischemia model rats caused by ISO. Anti-free radicals, anti-peroxidation, inhibition of cell apoptosis and anti- inflammation maybe are the potential mechanisms of DHHP anti-myocardial ischemia in acute myocardial ischemia rats in duced by ISO.