Coronary Heart Disease and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome： Interpretation and Reflection Based on Simultaneous Treatment of Heart and Lung in Traditional Chinese Medicine / 中国实验方剂学杂志

As the overweight and obese population is growing， the incidence of obstructive sleep apnea is rising， and most of the cases are complicated with coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. The two diseases affect each other and seriously endanger the patients' health， becoming a major public health problem of global concern. It is of great clinical importance to explore the combination of Chinese and Western medicine in the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Researchers have explored the relationship between the two based on traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） theory and found that the two diseases belong to the TCM disease categories of chest impediment and snoring， respectively， and their co-morbidity is associated with the abnormal physiological functions of the heart and lungs. The failure of the heart to govern blood leads to the generation of blood stasis， and that of the lung to govern Qi movement leads to the generation of phlegm. The accumulation of phlegm and blood stasis in the chest causes chest impediment and snoring due to obstruction of the airway. This paper discusses the internal linkage between the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in Chinese and Western medicine from the TCM theory of heart-lung correlation. Furthermore， this paper proposes the treatment principles of simultaneously treating the heart and lung and activating blood and resolving phlegm， aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the clinical prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease complicated with obstructive sleep apnea.

Rapid authentication of different herbal medicines by heating online extraction electrospray ionization mass spectrometry / 药物分析学报

The rapid and accurate authentication of traditional Chinese medicines(TCMs)has always been a key scientific and technical problem in the field of pharmaceutical analysis.Herein,a novel heating online extraction electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(H-oEESI-MS)was developed for the rapid and direct analysis of extremely complex substances without the requirement for any sample pretreatment or pre-separation steps.The overall molecular profile and fragment structure features of various herbal medicines could be completely captured within 10-15 s,with minimal sample(＜0.5 mg)and solvent consumption(＜20 μL for one sample).Furthermore,a rapid differentiation and authentication strategy for TCMs based on H-oEESI-MS was proposed,including metabolic profile characterization,characteristic marker screening and identification,and multivariate statistical analysis model validation.In an analysis of 52 batches of seven types of Aconitum medicinal materials,20 and 21 key compounds were screened out as the characteristic markers of raw and processed Aconitum herbal medicines,respectively,and the possible structures of all the characteristic markers were comprehensively identified based on Com-pound Discoverer databases.Finally,multivariate statistical analysis showed that all the different types of herbal medicines were well differentiated and identified(R2X＞0.87,R2Y＞0.91,and Q2＞0.72),which further verified the feasibility and reliability of this comprehensive strategy for the rapid authentication of different TCMs based on H-oEESI-MS.In summary,this rapid authentication strategy realized the ultra-high-throughput,low-cost,and standardized detection of various complex TCMs for the first time,thereby demonstrating wide applicability and value for the development of quality standards for TCMs.

A novel biological sources consistency evaluation method reveals high level of biodiversity within wild natural medicine: A case study of Amynthas earthworms as "Guang Dilong"

For wild natural medicine, unanticipated biodiversity as species or varieties with similar morphological characteristics and sympatric distribution may co-exist in a single batch of medical materials, which affects the efficacy and safety of clinical medication. DNA barcoding as an effective species identification tool is limited by its low sample throughput nature. In this study, combining DNA mini-barcode, DNA metabarcoding and species delimitation method, a novel biological sources consistency evaluation strategy was proposed, and high level of interspecific and intraspecific variations were observed and validated among 5376 Amynthas samples from 19 sampling points regarded as "Guang Dilong" and 25 batches of proprietary Chinese medicines. Besides Amynthas aspergillum as the authentic source, 8 other Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) were elucidated. Significantly, even the subgroups within A. aspergillum revealed here differ significantly on chemical compositions and biological activity. Fortunately, this biodiversity could be controlled when the collection was limited to designated areas, as proved by 2796 "decoction pieces" samples. This batch biological identification method should be introduced as a novel concept regarding natural medicine quality control, and to offer guidelines for in-situ conservation and breeding bases construction of wild natural medicine.

Classic mechanisms and experimental models for the anti-inflammatory effect of traditional Chinese medicine.

Inflammation is a common disease involved in the pathogenesis, complications, and sequelae of a large number of related diseases, and therefore considerable research has been directed toward developing anti-inflammatory drugs for the prevention and treatment of these diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat inflammatory and related diseases since ancient times. According to the review of abundant modern scientific researches, it is suggested that TCM exhibit anti-inflammatory effects at different levels, and via multiple pathways with various targets, and recently a series of in vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory models have been developed for anti-inflammation research in TCM. Currently, the reported classic mechanisms of TCM and experimental models of its anti-inflammatory effects provide reference points and guidance for further research and development of TCM. Importantly, the research clearly confirms that TCM is now and will continue to be an effective form of treatment for many types of inflammation and inflammation-related diseases.

Mechanistic analysis for the origin of diverse diterpenes in Tripterygium wilfordii

Tripterygium wilfordii is a valuable medicinal plant rich in biologically active diterpenoids, but there are few studies on the origins of these diterpenoids in its secondary metabolism. Here, we identified three regions containing tandemly duplicated diterpene synthase genes on chromosomes (Chr) 17 and 21 of T. wilfordii and obtained 11 diterpene synthases with different functions. We further revealed that these diterpene synthases underwent duplication and rearrangement at approximately 2.3-23.7 million years ago (MYA) by whole-genome triplication (WGT), transposon mediation, and tandem duplication, followed by functional divergence. We first demonstrated that four key amino acids in the sequences of TwCPS3, TwCPS5, and TwCPS6 were altered during evolution, leading to their functional divergence and the formation of diterpene secondary metabolites. Then, we demonstrated that the functional divergence of three TwKSLs was driven by mutations in two key amino acids. Finally, we discovered the mechanisms of evolution and pseudogenization of miltiradiene synthases in T. wilfordii and elucidated that the new function in TwMS1/2 from the terpene synthase (TPS)-b subfamily was caused by progressive changes in multiple amino acids after the WGT event. Our results provide key evidence for the formation of diverse diterpenoids during the evolution of secondary metabolites in T. wilfordii.

Phytochemical and pharmacological progress on Syringa oblata, a traditional Mongolian medicine / 中草药·英文版

Syringa oblata is a traditional Mongolian medicine mainly distributed in the Helan Mountains (the boundaries of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia, China) and the north of Yan Mountains (Aohan Qi, Inner Mongolia, China). It is clinically used to treat diseases caused by Heyi, such as heartache and heat pathogen in the heart. Phytochemical studies on S. oblata revealed the presence of iridoids, lignans, triterpenes, phenylpropanoids, phenylethanoids, and volatile components. Pharmacological investigations revealed a broad spectrum of bioactivities, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and hepatoprotective effects. This article summarized the chemical components and pharmacological activities of S. oblata, providing a scientific rationale for its bioactive constituents, quality control, and utilization as an important medicine.

Investigation of herbal medicine resources in Laos / 国际中医中药杂志

This paper collects information on the species resources of medicinal plants in Laos through various methods such as literature collation and analysis, sample line survey, visits and surveys, and initially obtains the medicinal plant resources in Laos, the use of folk herbs, and traditional medicine knowledge archives. It is found that Laos is rich with wild medicinal plant resources. There are 2 165 species (including varieties) belonging to 1 014 genera of 214 families, including 57 species belonging to 40 genera of 29 families of ferns, 32 species belonging to 17 genera of 8 families of gymnosperms, and 2 076 species belonging to 957 genera of 177 families of angiosperms. And, there are 108 kinds of medicinal materials currently circulatingin the market. Herbal resources is widely used in Laos, and many fresh herbs in the market have the special effects of relieving cough and promoting salivation, eliminating dampness, dispelling summer heat, nourishing yin and cooling blood.The medicinal materials for alleviating rheumatism and strengthening waist and knees in the market are with good prospects for development and utilization, so the development and management should be strengthened. China and Laos can conduct in-depth research and strengthen experience exchanges on traditional medicine experience.

Black Ginseng and Its Saponins: Preparation, Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Effects.

Black ginseng is a type of processed ginseng that is prepared from white or red ginseng by steaming and drying several times. This process causes extensive changes in types and amounts of secondary metabolites. The chief secondary metabolites in ginseng are ginsenosides (dammarane-type triterpene saponins), which transform into less polar ginsenosides in black ginseng by steaming. In addition, apparent changes happen to other secondary metabolites such as the increase in the contents of phenolic compounds, reducing sugars and acidic polysaccharides in addition to the decrease in concentrations of free amino acids and total polysaccharides. Furthermore, the presence of some Maillard reaction products like maltol was also engaged. These obvious chemical changes were associated with a noticeable superiority for black ginseng over white and red ginseng in most of the comparative biological studies. This review article is an attempt to illustrate different methods of preparation of black ginseng, major chemical changes of saponins and other constituents after steaming as well as the reported biological activities of black ginseng, its major saponins and other metabolites.

Molecular mechanism of seed dormancy release induced by fluridone compared with cod stratification in Notopterygium incisum.

BACKGROUND: Notopterygium incisum is an important Chinese medicinal plant. Its mature seeds have underdeveloped embryos and are physiological dormant. We found the seeds with full developed embryos can germinate after treated by fluridone (FL), an inhibitor of abscisic acid (ABA). In order to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying seed dormancy release by FL, we compared the transcriptomic changes in dormancy release induced by two different methods, FL and cold stratification (CS) in N. incisum. We further analyzed the gene expression patterns involved in seed germination and dormancy using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR. RESULTS: RNA-sequence analysis revealed more dramatic changes in the transcriptomes of FL than those in CS, particularly for genes involved in the biosynthesis and regulation of gibberellins (GAs) and ABA. The down-regulation of ABA biosynthesis genes and the dramatic up-regulation of NiCYP707As, an ABA catabolic gene, contributed to the reduced ABA levels in FL. The increased GA3 levels in CS-treated seeds were due to the up-regulation of NiGA3OX. Both NiABI5 (a positive ABA regulator) and NiGAI (a negative regulator of GA) were down-regulated in FL and CS. The upregulation of strigolactones (SLs; the metabolites with the same precursor as ABA) biosynthesis and regulatory genes in both FL- and CS-treated seeds indicates that SLs contribute positively to seed dormancy release in N. incisum. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that FL- and CS-seed dormancy release possibly depends on two totally different mechanisms: alleviation of the effects of ABA and potentiation of the effects of GA, respectively. However, NiABI5 and NiGAI probably function as common factors integrating the effects of ABA and GA on seed dormancy release.

Protective effect of electroacupuncture on neurons autophagy in perfusion period of cerebral ischemia.

Electroacupuncture (EA) is an important treatment method in Chinese traditional medicine. The main purpose of the investigation was to explore whether EA could improve cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (CI/R) via neurons' autophagy. 4-vessel occlusion (4-VO) was applied to establish cerebral ischemia model and reperfusion 12h, 24h and 48h respectively were conduct 3h later. TTC staining was applied to assess cerebral infarction area and the concentrations of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1ß, SOD and MDA were detected by commercial kits. The expressions of autophagy-related protein LC3, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and Beclin1 were measured by Western blot. EA treatment was given at "BaiHui", "MingMen" and "ZuSanLiXue". The obtained results from TTC showed that the severity of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion was improved with EA treatment. Oxidative and inflammatory damages were also alleviated with EA intervention. Meanwhile, western blot analysis revealed the decreased levels of LC3 and Beclin1 in EA rats, as well as the elevated level of mTOR. Besides, our previous study found that EA can enhance mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme activity, reduce mitochondrial damage and inhibit neuronal apoptosis further. Thus, it is assumed that 4-VO-induced cerebral ischemia/reperfusion might be alleviated by EA through inhibiting neurons' excessive autophagy in reperfusion period.

Regionalization of Chinese Material Medical Quality Based on Maximum Entropy Model: A case study of Atractylodes lancea.

Atractylodes is an East-Asiatic endemic genera that distributed in China, Japan and Russian Far Eastern. As an important resource of medicinal plant, atractylodes has long been used as herbal medicine. To example the significant features in its trueborn quality and geographical distribution, we explored the relationships between medicine quality and habitat suitability in two classifications-lower atractylodin content than the standard of Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010) and the other has higher content. We found that the atractylodin content is negatively related to the habitat suitability for atractylodes with lower atractylodin, while the atractylodin content is positively related to the habitat suitability for those with higher atractylodin. By analyzing the distribution of atractylodeswith lower atractylodin content than the standard of Pharmacopeia, we discovered that the main ecological factors that could inhibit the accumulation of atractylodin were soil type (39.7%), soil clay content (26.7%), mean temperature in December (22.3%), Cation-exchange capacity (6%), etc. And these ecological factors promoted the accumulation of atractylodin for the atractylodes with higher atractylodin. By integrating the two classifications, we finally predicted the distribution of atractylodin content in China.Our results realized the query of atractylodes quality in arbitrary coordinates, and satisfied the actually cultivation demands of "Planting area based on atractylodin quality".

Microbial Transformation of Glycosides in Chinese Herbal Medicine / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Glycosides are the active ingredients (AIs) of many Chinese herbs and have become hot spots along with the findings of their new functions,such as anti-inflammatory,antivirus,enhanced immunity and anti-cancer.It has been found that glycosides exert their effects by converting to aglycons or other AIs in vivo.Therefore,the transformation of glycosides to the corresponding AIs in vitro becomes very important to enhance their bioavailabilities.The microbial transformation has an unparalleled advantage in the transformation of Chinese herbs in vitro for its reaction specificity,less by-products,mild reaction conditions and environmental protection.This paper summarized and prospected researches of glycosides' microbial transformation.

Study on the Specification Grade of Dioscorea opposite Based on Delphi Method / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To provide reference for the classification of the specification grade of Dioscorea opposite.METHODS:Using the Delphi method,17 experts,who were associated with the study of the distribution and clinical application of D.opposite,were selected to conduct two rounds of consultation on 18 samples of medicinal herbs.The importance of the sensory evaluation indexes of D.opposite was screened and the overall satisfaction was evaluated.The specification grade of D.oppositewas determined preliminarily.RESULTS:Totally 17 questionnaires were issued for each round of consultation,and 17 were recovered with recovery rate of 100％.According to statistical analysis,the average value of expert's authority coefficient was 0.77 +0.07,and average recurrence rate of individual review was (91.18 + 7.64)％.The average recurrence rates of group review in two rounds of consultation were (66.67 + 13.50)％ and (65.97 + 14.01)％.The influence of working life,business background and educational background on recurrence rates of group review for interviewed experts was comprehensive.The full score ratio of appearance and cross-sectional characteristics importance was more than 80％,and the average value was more than 0.8.The full score ratio and average value of iron yam were higher.CONCLUSIONS:It is accurate and scientific to evaluate the specification grade of Chinese medicinal herbs with sensory experience.The most important evaluation indicators of D.opposite were the appearance,shape and cross-sectional characteristics.And it is divided into iron yam and non-iron yam preliminarily.The iron yam grade in descending order:Henan sandy iron yam,Shandong sandy iron yam,Henan loquat iron yam.The non-iron yam grade in descending order:Henan Huaiqingfu D.opposite,Hebei Xiaobaizui D.opposite,Hebei Ma D.opposite and Shanxi Chang D.opposite.

Approaches to establish Q-markers for the quality standards of traditional Chinese medicines

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played a pivotal role in maintaining the health of Chinese people and is now gaining increasing acceptance around the global scope. However, TCM is confronting more and more concerns with respect to its quality. The intrinsic "multicomponent and multitarget" feature of TCM necessitates the establishment of a unique quality and bioactivity evaluation system, which is different from that of the Western medicine. However, TCM is investigated essentially as "herbal medicine" or "natural product", and the pharmacopoeia quality monographs are actually chemical-markers-based, which can ensure the consistency only in the assigned chemical markers, but, to some extent, have deviated from the basic TCM theory. A concept of "quality marker" (Q-marker), following the "property-effect-component" theory, is proposed. The establishment of Q-marker integrates multidisciplinary technologies like natural products chemistry, analytical chemistry, bionics, chemometrics, pharmacology, systems biology, and pharmacodynamics, etc. Q-marker-based fingerprint and multicomponent determination conduce to the construction of more scientific quality control system of TCM. This review delineates the background, definition, and properties of Q-marker, and the associated technologies applied for its establishment. Strategies and approaches for establishing Q-marker-based TCM quality control system are presented and highlighted with a few TCM examples.

High resolution melting and its application in identity study of traditional Chinese medicine / 药学学报

High resolution melting (HRM), based on melting curve analysis, requires not only saturating dyes that fluoresce in the presence of double-stranded DNA, but also higher resolution detection equipment. The melting curve is a novel method for sequence matching, genotyping and mutation scanning. The technology is simple, accurate, rapid, closed-tube, low-cost, and high-throughput, which make it gain more and more applications. This review article presents the basic principles, key factors and both the advantage and limitations of HRM. The potential application is discussed in the study of molecular identity of traditional Chinese medicine.

Restriction endonuclease digest - melting curve analysis: a new SNP genotyping and its application in traditional Chinese medicine authentication / 药学学报

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) is an important molecular marker in traditional Chinese medicine research, and it is widely used in TCM authentication. The present study created a new genotyping method by combining restriction endonuclease digesting with melting curve analysis, which is a stable, rapid and easy doing SNP genotyping method. The new method analyzed SNP genotyping of two chloroplast SNP which was located in or out of the endonuclease recognition site, the results showed that when attaching a 14 bp GC-clamp (cggcgggagggcgg) to 5' end of the primer and selecting suited endonuclease to digest the amplification products, the melting curve of Lonicera japonica and Atractylodes macrocephala were all of double peaks and the adulterants Shan-yin-hua and A. lancea were of single peaks. The results indicated that the method had good stability and reproducibility for identifying authentic medicines from its adulterants. It is a potential SNP genotyping method and named restriction endonuclease digest - melting curve analysis.

Application of synthetic biology to sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources / 药学学报

Bioactive natural products are the material bases of Chinese materia medica resources. With successful applications of synthetic biology strategies to the researches and productions of taxol, artemisinin and tanshinone, etc, the potential ability of synthetic biology in the sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources has been attracted by many researchers. This paper reviews the development of synthetic biology, the opportunities of sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources, and the progress of synthetic biology applied to the researches of bioactive natural products. Furthermore, this paper also analyzes how to apply synthetic biology to sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources and what the crucial factors are. Production of bioactive natural products with synthetic biology strategies will become a significant approach for the sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica resources.

Patent Information Analysis on Anti-influenza Traditional Medicine / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Patent documentation is a kind of high-value scientific literature, which has caught the attention of more and more scholars. In this paper, the World Traditional Medicine Patent Database (WTMPD) was used to retrieve patents of the traditional medicines used in the treatment and prevention of influenza worldwide in the past 30 years. A total of 2 423 patents were further screened by a series of processes. Finally, multi-angle analysis was carried on the dataset to form a patent analysis report on traditional anti-flu drugs. From the analysis, we found that China had a rapid increase in the number of patent applications, which was in the leading role in the world, though the number of PCT applicant from China is relatively low. A large amount of applicants from the USA, Japan, and Korea have entered into China. Pharmaceutical company is the core group of patent applicant, who had applied a lot of quality patent about their products to protect their commercial interests. Honeysuckle, licorice, isatis root, forsythia and skullcap are five kinds of herbs, which have been most frequently used in anti-influenza patents.

Comparison of Several Methods and Their Progresses on Molecular Authentication of Lonicera japonica Thunb / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Authentications of Chinese herbal medicine have a critical effect in Chinese clinical medicine. DNA molecular marker, as an important component for true or false authentication, is more and more widely used in iden-tification of Chinese medicinal materials. At the same time, many new methods for authentication of Chinese medici-nal materials are continuously emerging. But the systematically comparative analysis of these new methods is lack. The present study taking Lonicera japonica as an example, systematically compared principles, characteristics, ex-periment methods, detection time and the application scope of express sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR), polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR), DNA barcoding and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and put forward corresponding improve-ment opinions. This study can help to screen appropriate approach for rapid authentication of L. japonica and offer demonstrating to other Chinese herbal medicines.

Construction of Saccharomyces cerevisiae whole-cell biocatalyst system for conversion miltiradiene / 药学学报

Tanshinones are the bioactive components of the Chinese medicinal herb Salvia miltiorrhiza, while its biosynthetic pathway remains to be characterized. Rapid identification and characterization of the genes correlated to tanshinones biosynthesis is very important. As one of the intermediates of tanshinones biosynthesis, the ferruginol content is relative low in both root and engineered bacteria. It is urgent to construct an efficient system for conversion of miltiradiene to ferruginol to obtain large amount of ferruginol as the substrates for further identifying other downstream genes involved in tanshinones biosynthesis. In this study, we constructed the whole-cell yeast biocatalysts co-expressing miltiradiene oxidase CYP76AH1 and cytochrome P450 reductases (SmCPR1) from Salvia miltiorrhiza, and then characterized it with RT-PCR. After permeabilization, the yeast whole-cell could catalyze turnover of miltiradiene to ferruginol efficiently through single-step biotransformation with a conversion efficiency up to 69.9%. The yeast whole-cell biocatalyst described here not only provide an efficient platform for producing ferruginol in recombinant yeast but also an alternative strategy for identifying other CYP genes involved in tanshinones biosynthesis.