Research progress on ginger polysaccharides: extraction, purification and structure-bioactivity relationship.

Ginger is a widespread source of herbal medicine and traditional spices. Among its various bioactive components, ginger polysaccharides (GPs) have attracted the attention of researchers worldwide because of their significant bioactivity. Recent studies have demonstrated the antioxidant, antitumour, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, hypoglycaemic, cough suppressant and thrombotic anticoagulant effects of GPs. However, the structure-bioactivity relationship of GPs has yet to be comprehensively investigated. This review aims to explore all the current published studies on GPs. It further examines various aspects, including the extraction and purification methods, structure, bioactivity, application and structure-bioactivity relationship of GPs. Thus, this review intends to provide a reference for future GP-related research and development.

Shen-Qi-Jiang-Tang granule ameliorates diabetic nephropathy via modulating tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Shen-Qi-Jiang-Tang granule (SQJTG), a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription, has been widely used in clinical for diabetes, especially type Ⅱ diabetes. Previous anti-diabetic studies stumbled across that SQJTG has a potential kidney protective effect on diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, the protective mechanism of SQJTG on DN still needs to be explored. AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the present study was to explore the therapeutic effect of SQJTG on DN through both bioinformatics analysis and in vivo experiments. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The TCMIP database was used for screening potential compounds and targets of SQJTG, and the GeneCards, OMIM, DrugBank, and TTD databases were used for collecting DN-related genes. Then protein-protein interaction analysis for the common targets of SQJTG and DN was performed by the STRING database. Meanwhile, KEGG and GO were carried out using the Metascape and DAVID databases. In vivo experiments, to testify the potential kidney protective effects of SQJTG, STZ-induced DN mice with different dosages of SQJTG treatment were collected and the renal tissues were detected by H&E, PAS, Masson and TUNEL staining. Immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting were used to assess the proteins' expressions. Flow cytometry and ELISA assay were used to detect the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. RESULTS: Among the 338 compounds ascertained by SQJTG, there were 789 related targets as well. Moreover, 1,221 DN-related targets were predicted and 20 core targets were screened by the PPI analyses. According to GO and KEGG pathway analysis, SQJTG may affect DN via the TNF pathway. For the in vivo experiments, renal histomorphological examinations demonstrated that SQJTG treatment significantly ameliorated STZ-induced kidney damage and had a dosage dependence. Meanwhile, mice with DN were found to have dramatic increases in IL-1, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-12, but markedly decreased after administration of SQJTG. In addition, the protein levels of TNF signaling molecules, like p-P65, p-JNK, and p-p38, showed significantly elevated in kidney tissues of DN mice and attenuated after SQJTG treatment. CONCLUSIONS: SQJTG exerts a kidney protective effect in DN mice via modulating TNF signaling pathways, and it has promising applications for the treatment of DN.

Development and characterization of pectin and chitosan films incorporated with a new cross-linking agent.

BACKGROUND: In this study, a new crosslinking agent (CA) containing whey protein, papin, glycerin, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), was prepared. The effects of CA content (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40%, v/v) on food packaging properties, crystallinity, microstructure, and antioxidant properties of pectin-CA and chitosan-CA composite films were analyzed. The results of this research offer a theoretical basis for engineering improved films for food packing. RESULTS: Pectin-CA (30%) and chitosan-CA (40%) composite films showed the best light transmission, water retention, breathability, plasticity, and antioxidant activity. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that these composite films exhibited a uniform and homogeneous structure without obvious pores. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that the amino acids and EGCG in CA were bonded to the film substrate (pectin/chitosan) via electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and covalent bonding, which led to an improvement in the film's properties. CONCLUSION: The CA has broad application prospects in food packaging as a cross-linking agent and antioxidant. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Naphthofluorescein-based organic nanoparticles with superior stability for near-infrared photothermal therapy.

Photothermal agents (PTAs) based on organic small molecules with near-infrared (NIR) absorption (700-900 nm) have attracted increasing attention in cancer photothermal therapy (PTT). However, NIR organic PTAs often suffer from poor stability. Fluorescein and its derivatives have been widely used in biological imaging and sensing due to their minimal cytotoxicity. But fluorescein and its derivatives have not been used in PTT because most of them don't have NIR absorption. In this work, two NIR naphthofluorescein derivatives, namely NFOM-1 and NFOM-2, were synthesized. In contrast to NFOM-1, NFOM-2 possesses an intramolecular hydrogen bonding network, which extends the absorption to the NIR region and significantly improves the photostability. NFOM-2 was encapsulated into an amphiphilic polymer (DSPE-mPEG2000) to obtain NFOMNPs as PTAs. Compared to the organic molecule NFOM-2, the absorption of NFOMNPs is broadened and further red-shifted to fit an 808 nm light source. Moreover, NFOMNPs exhibit good photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE, 40.4%, 808 nm, 1.0 W cm-2), remarkable photostability and physiological stability, and significant PTT efficacy in vitro and in vivo was achieved. In other words, this study provides an intramolecular hydrogen bond network strategy and a fluorescein-based molecular platform to construct ultra-stable PTAs for efficient NIR PTT.

An ultrasensitive CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots@SiO2-based electrochemiluminescence sensing platform using an organic electrolyte for aflatoxin B1 detection in corn oil.

Mycotoxins contamination, especially aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in edible oils, is a health hazard. Therefore, AFB1 trace analysis methods are urgently needed. Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a popular sensing method because of its low background interference and high sensitivity. However, existing ECL assays for AFB1 detection are based on aqueous rather than oil systems. Herein, we report a CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots (MAPB QDs)@SiO2-based ECL sensor for AFB1 quantification in corn oil using an organic electrolyte. The luminophore loading and stability of the MAPB QDs@SiO2 particles were significantly improved compared to those of bulky MAPB materials, resulting in an enhanced ECL response. Further, exploiting molecular imprinting technology, an ECL sensor for AFB1 detection with an ultra-low detection limit of 8.5 fg/mL was prepared. The reliability of the sensor was confirmed by comparable recoveries of corn oil samples with those obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography, indicating its potential for food safety evaluation.

HDAC3i-Finder: A Machine Learning-based Computational Tool to Screen for HDAC3 Inhibitors.

Histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) is a potential drug target for treatment of human diseases such as cancer, chronic inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases and diabetes. Machine learning (ML) as an essential cheminformatics approach has been widely used for QSAR modeling. However, none of them has been applied to HDAC3. To this end, we carefully compiled a set of 1098 compounds from the ChEMBL database that have been assayed against HDAC3 and calculated three different sets of molecular features for each compound, i. e. two-dimensional Mordred descriptors, MACCS keys (166 bits) and Morgan2 fingerprints (1024 bits). Five ML classifiers, i. e. k-Nearest Neighbour (KNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random forest (RF), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and Deep Neural Network (DNN) were trained on each feature set and optimized for classification. A total of 15 models were generated and carefully compared, among which the best-performing one was the XGBoost model based on the Morgan2 fingerprints, i. e. XGBoost_morgan2. Evaluated on a well-curated benchmarking set named MUBD-HDAC3, this model achieved a high early ROC enrichment (ROCE0.5 %: 41.02). A further retrospective screening of an annotated chemical library in PubChem demonstrated that the best model could identify 8 novel-scaffold HDAC3 inhibitors while assaying only 1 % of the compounds. To make this model accessible for the scientific community, we developed a python GUI application named HDAC3i-Finder to facilitate prospective screening for HDAC3 inhibitors. The source code of HDAC3i-Finder is available at https://github.com/jwxia2014/HDAC3i-Finder.

Dietary and serum selenium in coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality: An international perspective.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to explore the associations of dietary selenium and serum selenium concentration with coronary heart disease (CHD) prevalence and all-cause mortality among participants in United States. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Using data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2006, 17867 individuals were included. Logistic regression analyses were used to explore the associations between dietary selenium intake and serum selenium concentration and prevalent of CHD. Multivariable Cox regression was used to identify the association between dietary selenium intake and all-cause mortality. The nonlinear relationships were assessed using generalized additive models. RESULTS: A U-shaped association between dietary intake of selenium and all-cause mortality was observed. Compared with the lowest quartile, the second quartile of dietary intake of selenium was inversely associated with all-cause mortality (Hazard ratio [HR]: 0.802, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.658, 0.977, p=0.029). There was no evidence of association between dietary selenium intake and CHD risk (Odds ratio [OR]: 1.001, 95% CI: 0.999, 1.003, p=0.206). Furthermore, serum selenium concentration was negatively associated with CHD risk (OR: 0.989, 95% CI: 0.981, 0.997, p=0.006). Comparing with the lowest quartile, participants with the highest serum selenium concentration had a statistically significant decreased prevalence of CHD, with OR (95% CI) of 0.417 (0.259, 0.669) (p<0.001). The smoothing curve also showed a non-linear relationship between serum selenium and risk of CHD. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis suggested that a higher serum selenium concentration was associated with reduced risk of CHD, and that the relationship was non-linear. In addition, an appropriate dietary selenium intake might reduce all-cause mortality.

Vaginal delivery in women with COVID-19: report of two cases.

BACKGROUND: During the ongoing global outbreak of COVID-19, pregnant women who are susceptible to COVID-19 should be highly concerned. The issue of vertical transmission and the possibility of neonatal infection is a major concern. CASE PRESENTATION: Case 1: A 35-year-old pregnant woman with a gestational age of 37 weeks and 6 days was admitted to our hospital at the point of giving birth. Except for the abnormalities in her chest CT image, she was asymptomatic. She had an uncomplicated spontaneous vaginal delivery, and her infant was discharged home for isolation. Because of the positive result of the maternal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 obtained on the 2nd day after sampling, we transferred the mother to the designated hospital and followed up with her by telephone interviews. Luckily, it was confirmed on February 23 that the newborn did not develop any COVID-19 symptoms after observation for 14 days after birth. Case 2: Another pregnant woman, with a gestational age of 38 weeks and 2 days, was also admitted to our hospital because of spontaneous labor with cervical dilation of 5 cm. Since she had the typical manifestations of COVID-19, including cough, lymphopenia, and abnormal chest CT images, she was highly suspected of having COVID-19. Based on the experience from case 1, we helped the mother deliver a healthy baby by vaginal delivery. On the 2nd day after delivery, the maternal nasopharyngeal swab result was positive, while the infant's result was negative. CONCLUSION: There is still insufficient evidence supporting maternal-fetal vertical transmission for COVID-19-infected mothers in late pregnancy, and vaginal delivery may not increase the possibility of neonatal infection.

Pyridoxine induces glutathione synthesis via PKM2-mediated Nrf2 transactivation and confers neuroprotection.

Oxidative stress is a major pathogenic mechanism in Parkinson's disease (PD). As an important cellular antioxidant, glutathione (GSH) balances the production and incorporation of free radicals to protect neurons from oxidative damage. GSH level is decreased in the brains of PD patients. Hence, clarifying the molecular mechanism of GSH deficiency may help deepen our knowledge of PD pathogenesis. Here we report that the astrocytic dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) regulates GSH synthesis via PKM2-mediated Nrf2 transactivation. In addition we find that pyridoxine can dimerize PKM2 to promote GSH biosynthesis. Further experiments show that pyridoxine supplementation increases the resistance of nigral dopaminergic neurons to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced neurotoxicity in wild-type mice as well as in astrocytic Drd2 conditional knockout mice. We conclude that dimerizing PKM2 may be a potential target for PD treatment.

Isolation and structural characterization of a non-competitive α-glucosidase inhibitory polysaccharide from the seeds of Litchi chinensis Sonn.

In this study, a novel homogeneous polysaccharide (LSP-W-4, MW = 6.70 kDa) was isolated and purified from the seeds of Litchi chinensis Sonn. Monosaccharide composition analysis indicated that LSP-W-4 is a heteropolysaccharide consisting of arabinose, mannose, glucose and galactose in a molar ratio of 6.33:3.88:10.35:1.00. A detailed structural analysis revealed that LSP-W-4 has a backbone consisting of 1,4-α-Glcp and 1,4-ß-Manp, as well as four branched chains including of T-α-Galp, T-α-Araf, α-Araf-(1 â†’ 5)-α-Araf-(1 â†’ and α-Araf-(1 â†’ 5)-α-Araf-(1 â†’ 5)-α-Araf-(1 â†’ attached to O6 of 1,4-ß-Manp and 1,4-α-Glcp. LSP-W-4 exhibited significant inhibitory activity both against yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and mammalian (rat-intestinal acetone powder) α-glucosidase, with IC50 values of 75.24 µM and 66.97 µM, respectively, with both such inhibitory activities being more powerful than those of acarbose. A kinetic analysis revealed that LSP-W-4 inhibited the activities of both yeast and mammalian α-glucosidase in a typical non-competitive manner, with KM values of 0.43 mmol/L and 0.53 mmol/L, respectively.

Switching to a "turn-on" fluorescent probe for selective monitoring of cyanide in food samples and living systems.

A fluorescent probe (TPA-BTD-MT) was designed to monitor cyanide ions (CN-) with a "turn-on" response, changing from "turn-off" behavior due to the structural change. TPA-BTD-MT exhibited high selectivity for sensing CN- in several food samples and was successfully used for imaging CN- in living cells and animals with strong "turn-on" fluorescence.

Triptonide acts as a novel antiprostate cancer agent mainly through inhibition of mTOR signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: The increasing incidence of prostate cancer (PCa) indicates an urgent need for the development of new effective drugs in PCa therapy. Triptonide has been reported to have a strong inhibition activity in cancers through screening of Chinese herbal medicine. This study aims to investigate the effects of triptonide on anti-PCa activity and its mechanisms. METHODS: Three human advanced PCa cell lines PC3, DU145, and LNCap, and a human normal prostate epithelial cell line RWPE were treated with a range (0, 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, and 320 nM) of triptonide concentrations for 72 hours respectively. Then, cell viability was assessed by cell counting kit-8. PCa cells were treated with different doses (0-20 nM) of triptonide for 72 hours. Cell cycle and apoptosis were assessed by flow cytometry assays. Nude mice bearing human PCa xenografts were intraperitoneally injected daily with either triptonide (10 mg/kg/d) or phosphate-buffered saline as a control for 35 days. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed by an Illumina Hiseq Sequencing platform and confirmed by a real-time polymerase chain reaction. Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis, and ingenuity pathway analysis were used to analyze RNA-seq results. RESULTS: Triptonide effectively inhibits the proliferation of human PCa cells PC3, DU145, and LNCap in vitro with their IC50 values as 11.961, 10.259, and 12.012 nM, respectively. Triptonide (10 mg/kg) potently inhibits the growth of PCa cell xenografts in vivo at an inhibition rate of over 97.95%. Treatment with triptonide (5 nM) significantly promotes cell apoptosis and retaining cell-cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. RNA-seq data revealed that total of 936 genes were upregulated or downregulated in triptonide treated. Moreover, the phosphorylation of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and the downstream protein p70S6K were both inhibited, most obviously in PCa cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that triptonide can efficaciously suppress PCa growth in vitro and in vivo via inhibiting the phosphorylation of mTOR and the activities of related downstream signaling pathways.

Hypoglycemic effect and mechanism of a pectic polysaccharide with hexenuronic acid from the fruits of Ficus pumila L. in C57BL/KsJ db/db mice.

In this study, a particular pectic polysaccharide (FPLP) was extracted and purified from the fruits of Ficus pumila Linn. through boiling water extraction, alcohol precipitation, diethylaminoethyl-Sepharose Fast Flow chromatography and Superdex™ G-75 gel filtration chromatography. Analysis of high-performance gel permeation chromatography, FTIR, GC-MS, methylation and 1D/2D NMR spectroscopy revealed that FPLP (Mw: 34.69kDa) is a linear (1,4)-α-d-galacturonic acid binding 1.30% branched chain hexenuronic acid with 23.34% methyl esterification. Treatment with FPLP ameliorated hyperglycaemia in association with an improvement in hepatic glycogen metabolism in C57BL/KsJ db/db mice. The activation of IRS-1/PI3K/Akt/GSK3ß/GS insulin signalling pathway and AMPK/GSK3ß/GS signalling pathway and the regulation of glucokinase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glucose-6-phosphatase expressions involved in hepatic glycogenesis and glycogenolysis were considered the therapeutic mechanisms of FPLP. These results provide a new insight for investigating the effects of pectic polysaccharides on blood glucose control and suggest that FPLP is a promising nutraceutical for treatment of T2DM.

Structure analysis of a heteropolysaccharide from Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz. and anticomplementary activity of its sulfated derivatives.

A homogenous water-soluble polysaccharide, DPSW-A, with a deduced chemical structure was extracted from the herb Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz. Moreover, 80.813-kDa DPSW-A is composed of three types of monosaccharide, namely rhamnose, arabinose, and galactose, at a molar ratio of 1.0:10.7:11.9. The main chain of DPSW-A contains Terminal-Galp, 1,3-Galp, 1,6-Galp, 1,3,6-Galp, and 1,2,4-Rhap; the branched chain contains Terminal-Araf, 1,5-Araf, and 1,3,5-Araf. The sulfated derivatives prepared from DPSW-A showed inhibitory effects on complement activation through the classical pathway (CH50: Sul-DPSW-A, 3.94±0.43µg/mL; heparin, 104.40±3.82µg/mL) and alternative pathway (AP50: Sul-DPSW-A, 42.76±0.46µg/mL; heparin, 43.42±0.22µg/mL). Mechanism studies indicated that Sul-DPSW-A inhibited complement activation by blocking C1q, C1r, C1s, and C9, but not C2, C3, C4, and C5. In addition, Sul-DPSW-A displayed limited anticoagulant effects. These results suggest that Sul-DPSW-A prepared from DPSW-A is valuable for treating diseases caused by excessive complement system activation.

[Syndrome Features of Chinese Medicine in Hyperlipidemia Patients of Han, Uyghur, Kazakh Na- tionalities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region].

Objective To observe distribution laws and features of syndrome types of Chinese medicine (CM) in hyperlipidemia patients of Han, Uyghur, Kazakh nationalities in Xinjiang Uyghur Auton- omous Region. Methods Using cluster random sampling, 1 410 hyperlipidemia patients (18 -70 years old ) were recruited from Urumqi, Turpan, Altay, Ili, Aksu, Hetian in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Re- gion. The general condition, susceptible factors, classification of blood lipids, complications, syndromes of CM, tongue figure, etc. clinical data were investigated using self-formulated Epidemiological Investiga- tion Questionnaire on Susceptible Factors in Different Nationalities of Hyperlipemia Patients in Xinjiang (abbreviated as Questionnaire thereafter). Factor analysis and cluster analysis were performed. Results Cronbach's coefficient for the 54 syndrome items in Questionnaire was 0.891, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) 0. 897, Sig <0.05 in Bartlett's sphericity test. Seventeen common factors were obtained using principal component analysis (PCA). Totally 54 common symptoms of hyperlipidemia were screened, which were then divided into 17 groups with 1 -6 symptoms in each group. F4 (soreness and weakness of waist and knees, sour pain in joints and muscles, body numbness, heavy body sensation, cold limbs), F5 (frequent and clear nocturia, dysuria,-dribble of urine, frequent urination at night), F10 (thirsty, no desire for water, tastelessness, hydroadipsia) , F12 (a white complexion with puffiness, hid- ing fever, hypoactive sexual desire) , and F17 (enuresis) were merged as Shen yang deficiency (SYD) ; F2 (fatigue, drowsiness, depression, spiritlessness, fatigue and disinclination to talk) and F15 (poor ap- petite) were merged as Pi-qi deficiency (PQD) ; F3 (dry mouth and dry pharynx, thirsty, propensity for water, bitter mouth, greasy mouth, stingy mouth, irritability and upset) and F16 (dark red tongue proper, greasy tongue fur) were merged as damp-heat trapped in Pi (DHTP). Results of cluster analysis showed that Pi-Shen deficiency (PSD) was most often seen in hyperlipidemia, and main syndrome types were sequenced from high to low as Pi-Shen deficiency type (46. 2%, 652/1 410) , blockage of cardiac vessels type ( 31. 1% , 438/1 410 ), phlegm and blood stasis internal resistance type ( 13. 3% , 187/1 410), Pi-deficiency induced damp abundance type (8. 3%, 123/1 410), Gan-Shen yin deficiency type (0. 7%, 10/1 410). Conclusions Deficiency syndrome was dominant in hyperlipidemia patients of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Phlegm turbidity, damp heat, and etc. were often complicated. The complex situation was manifested to be involved in multiple organs, qi-blood-fluid mixed disease.

Improvement in the neural stem cell proliferation in rats treated with modified "Shengyu" decoction may contribute to the neurorestoration.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: "Shengyu" decoction, a traditional Chinese medicine, has been used to treat diseases with deficit in "qi" and "blood". The modified "Shengyu" decoction (MSD) used in the present study was designed to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the basis of the "Shengyu" decoction, in which additional four herbs were added. Many ingredients in these herbs have been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment of brain injury. The present study was performed to evaluate the neurorestorative effect and the underlying mechanisms of MSD on the rat brain after a TBI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TBI was induced in the right cerebral cortex of adult rats using Feeney's weight-drop method. Intragastrical administration of MSD (1.0 ml/200 g) was begun 6h after TBI. The neurological functions and neuronal loss in the cortex and hippocampus were determined. The levels of nerve growth-related factors GDNF, NGF, NCAM, TN-C, and Nogo-A and the number of GFAP(+)/GDNF(+), BrdU(+)/nestin(+), BrdU(+)/NeuN(+) immunoreactive cells in the brain ipsilateral to TBI were also measured. Moreover, the influences of MSD on these variables were observed at the same time. RESULTS: We found that treatment with MSD in TBI rats ameliorated the neurological functions and alleviated neuronal loss. MSD treatment elevated the expression of GDNF, NGF, NCAM, and TN-C, and inhibited the expression of Nogo-A. Moreover, MSD treatment increased the number of GFAP(+)/GDNF(+), BrdU(+)/nestin(+), and BrdU(+)/NeuN(+) immunoreactive cells in the cortex and hippocampus. CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that MSD treatment in TBI rats could improve the proliferation of neural stem/progenitor cells and differentiation into neurons, which may facilitate neural regeneration and tissue repair and thus contribute to the recovery of neurological functions. These effects of modified "Shengyu" decoction may provide a foundation for the use of MSD as a prescription of medicinal herbs in the traditional medicine to treat brain injuries in order to improve the neurorestoration.

[Anti-motion sickness efficacy of the extracted mixture of Chinese medical herbs and its influence on the blood level of hormones].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the anti-motion sickness efficacy and influence on the blood level of some hormones of a Chinese prescription composed of 10 herbs such as spina date seed. METHODS: According to the report by Cramptom and Lucot, SD rats and Beagle dogs were rotated around a horizontal axis, and the rat behavior of pica for Kaolin and the latency to vomit in dog were observed. In addition, guinea pigs were rotated around a vertical axis, and the nystagmus was recorded. Blood levels of corticosterone, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) in rats were measured with radioimmunoassay. The influences of the extracted mixture of herbs on these variables were simultaneously investigated. RESULTS: Compared with control group, oral administration of the extracted mixture of herbs: (1) significantly inhibited the rat behavior of pica for Kaolin and prolonged the latency to vomit in dog dose-dependently; (2) decreased the frequency of nystagmus and mean slow phase speed in rat; (3) reduced the elevation of corticosterone, ACTH, CRH and AVP in rat blood induced by rotatory stimulation; and (4) these effects of the extracted mixture of herbs were almost identical to dimenhydrinate. CONCLUSION: (1) The extracted mixture of Chinese Medicinal Herbs we used could inhibit motion sickness effectively. (2) This drug could reduce the blood levels of hormones of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and AVP elevated by provocative rotatory stimulation.