A magnetic beads-based ligand fishing method Coupled with UHPLC-QTOF MS for screening and identification of α-glucosidase inhibitors from Houttuynia cordata Thunb.

In this study, a method for the screening and identification of α-glucosidase inhibitors from natural products was developed. The α-glucosidase was immobilized on carboxyl terminated magnetic beads to form a ligand fishing system to screen the potential inhibitors. A total of 9 compounds were fishing out from the crude Houttuynia cordata Thunb. extract. Meanwhile, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF MS) was used for the identification of the chemical structures, including 3 chlorogenic acid isomers, 2 flavone C-glycosides and 4 flavone O-glycosides. The combination of enzyme immobilization magnetic beads and UHPLC-QTOF MS could be used for the screening of bioactive multi-components from herbs with appropriate targets. Taking the advantage of the specificity of enzyme binding and the convenience of magnetic separation, the method has great potential for rapid screening of α-glucosidase inhibitors from complicated natural product extracts.

Effect of Jiangan-Jiangzhi Pill on Gut Microbiota and Chronic Inflammatory Response in Rats with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease with high rates of occurrence. Research has found that NAFLD patients experience varying degrees of intestinal flora imbalance. There is evidence that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) positively regulates imbalances in the gut microbiota caused by liver diseases. Jiangan-Jiangzhi pill (JGJZ) is a common Chinese remedy that can treat NAFLD clinically. This article investigates how JGJZ affects NAFLD and assesses related changes in the intestinal flora. We established a NAFLD rat model by feeding them a high-fat diet (HFD) and gave different interventions. After twelve weeks, the results revealed that JGJZ decreased the total cholesterol, triglyceride, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase in the serum of NAFLD rats. Histopathological staining demonstrated that JGJZ relieved cellular fat accumulation in the liver. Inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-α) were down-regulated. Analysis of 16S rRNA demonstrated that JGJZ changed the community compositional structure of gut microbiota, characterized by a decrease in the Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio, and increased gut microbiota diversity and the abundance of dominant groups. Accordingly, our study illustrated that JGJZ exerted a better effect in treating HFD-induced NAFLD, which may be closely related to ameliorating gut microbiota dysbiosis.

Clinical effects of innovative tuina manipulations on treating cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type and changes in cerebral blood flow.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical effect, treatment times, and rheoencephalogram changes in vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis patients treated with innovative Tuina manipulations. METHODS: One hundred and twenty six cervical spondylosis patients (vertebral artery type) were randomly divided into test and control groups. Patients in the test group were treated with innovative Tuina manipulations, while those in the control group were treated with the routine Tuina manipulations according to the textbook of Chinese Massage for Acupuncture and Moxibustion majors. The clinical effects, treatment times, clinical symptoms, and cerebral blood flow were measured. RESULTS: The response to the treatment was 100% in the test group and 88.71% in the control group. Patients in the test group required (7 +/- 4) treatments before recovery, while those in the control group required (15 +/- 7) treatments before recovery (P<0.05). The clinical symptoms exhibited greater improvement in the test group compared to the control group (P<0.05). There were no differences in cerebral blood flow between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Both innovative Tuina manipulations and routine Tuina manipulations produced satisfactory therapeutic results in vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis patients. However, the innovative manipulation was more effective in improving the functional symptoms, although there were no changes in the cerebral blood flow.