A four-component combination derived from Huang-Qin Decoction significantly enhances anticancer activity of irinotecan.

Huang-Qin Decoction (HQD) is a classic prescription for diarrhea in Chinese medicine treatment. Recent studies have demonstrated that HQD and its modified formulation PHY906 could ameliorate irinotecan (CPT-11) induced gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity and enhance its anticancer therapeutic efficacy. Nevertheless, which constituents in HQD are effective is still unclear so far. The study aims to screen out the key bioactive components combination from HQD that could enhance the anticancer effect of CPT-11. First, the potential bioactive constituents were obtained through system pharmacology strategy. Then the bioactivity of each constituent was investigated synthetically from the aspects of NCM460 cell migration, TNF-α release of THP-1-derived macrophage and MTT assay in HCT116 cell. The contribution of each constituent in HQD was evaluated using the bioactive index Ei, which taken the content and bioactivity into comprehensive consideration. And then, the most contributing constituents were selected out to form a key-component combination. At last, the bioefficacy of the key-component combination was validated in vitro and in vivo. As a result, a key-component combination (HB4) consisting of four compounds baicalin, baicalein, glycyrrhizic acid and wogonin was screened out. In vitro assessment indicated that HB4 could enhance the effect of CPT-11 on inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis in HCT116. Furthermore, the in vivo study confirmed that HB4 and HQD have similar pharmacological activity and could both enhance the antitumor effect of CPT-11 in HCT116 xenograft model. Meanwhile, HB4 could also reduce the CPT-11 induced GI toxicity.

Network Pharmacology and Bioactive Equivalence Assessment Integrated Strategy Driven Q-markers Discovery for Da-Cheng-Qi Decoction to Attenuate Intestinal Obstruction.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal obstruction (IO) is a kind of acute abdomen with high morbidity and mortality. Patients suffer from poor quality of life and tremendous financial pressure. Da-Cheng-Qi decoction (DCQD), a classical purgation prescription, has clinically been proven to be an effective treatment for IO. PURPOSE: Network pharmacology integrated with bioactive equivalence assessment was used to discover the quality marker (Q-marker) of DCQD against IO. METHODS: As there is hardly any targets recorded in database, thus the collection of IO targets was conducted by searching those of alternative diseases which have similar pathological symptoms with IO. In order to improve the reliability of the obtained targets, IO metabolomics data was introduced. Active compounds combination (ACC) was focused as potential Q-markers via component-target network analysis and function query from the identified components corresponding to the common targets. Bioequivalence between ACC and DCQD was assessed from the aspects of intestine motility (somatostatin secretion), inflammation (IL-6 secretion) and injury (wound healing assay) in vitro and was further validated in ileus rat model. PPI network analysis of core targets followed by gene pedigree classification and experimental validation confirmed the potential intervention pathway. RESULTS: A combination of 11 ingredients, including emodin, physcion, aloe-emodin, rhein, chrysophanol, gallic acid, magnolol, honokiol, naringenin, tangeretin, and nobiletin was finally confirmed bioequivalence with DQCD to some extent and could serve as Q-markers for DCQD to attenuate IO. PI3K/AKT was verified as a possible affected pathway that DCQD exerted the effectiveness against IO. CONCLUSION: For the disease with few recorded targets, searching those of alternative diseases which have similar pathological symptoms could be a feasible and effective approach. The proposed network pharmacology integrated bioactive equivalence evaluation paradigm is efficient to discover Q-marker of herbal formulae.

The Efficacy of Acupuncture for Treating Depression-Related Insomnia Compared with a Control Group: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture as monotherapy and as an alternative therapy in treating depression-related insomnia. Data Source. Seven databases were searched starting from 1946 to March 30, 2016. Study Eligibility Criteria. Randomized-controlled trials of adult subjects (18-75 y) who had depression-related insomnia and had received acupuncture. Results. 18 randomized-controlled clinical trials (RCTs) were introduced in this meta-analysis. The findings determined that the acupuncture treatment made significant improvements in PSQI score (MD = -2.37, 95% CI -3.52 to -1.21) compared with Western medicine. Acupuncture combined with Western medicine had a better effect on improving sleep quality (MD = -2.63, 95% CI -4.40 to -0.86) compared with the treatment of Western medicine alone. There was no statistical difference (MD = -2.76, 95% CI -7.65 to 2.12) between acupuncture treatment and Western medicine towards improving the HAMD score. Acupuncture combined with Western medicine (MD = -5.46, CI -8.55 to -2.38) had more effect on improving depression degree compared with the Western medicine alone. Conclusion. This systematic review indicates that acupuncture could be an alternative therapy to medication for treating depression-related insomnia.

[Effects of retinol on expressions of epidermal growth factor, stem cell factor, colony-stimulating factor 1 and leukemia inhibitory factor in human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate effects of retinol on the expressions of epidermal growth factor (EGF), stem cell factor (SCF), colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF1) and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) in cultured human umbilical-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs). METHODS: Human UCMSCs were isolated from human umbilical cord and identified for immunophenotypes. The cells were then cultured in DMEM/F12 media supplemented with 12% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 12% FBS+1 µmol/L retinol, 15% knockout serum replacement (KSR) and 15% KSR+ 1 µmol/L retinol. The expressions of the cytokines EGF, SCF, CSF1 and LIF in the cells were detected using RT-PCR and ELISA. RESULTS: The isolated cells exhibited characteristic immunophenotypes of human UCMSCs and expressed EGF, CSF1 and SCF at both mRNA and protein levels but not LIF protein. Retinol (1 µmol/L) significantly promoted the expressions of SCF and CSF1 at both mRNA and protein levels but did not result in changes of EGF and LIF expressions in human UCMSCs. CONCLUSION: Retinol at the concentration of 1 µmol/L can promote expression of SCF and CSF1 in human UCMSCs in vitro.

[FTIR spectroscopic characterization of chromium-induced changes in root cell wall of plants].

Due to its wide industrial use, chromium is considered a serious environmental pollutant. Contamination of soil and water by chromium (Cr) is of recent concern. Chromium mainly accumulates in root in plants, and the change in compounds of the root cell wall have a close relation with the Cr accumulation. Compared with the other identification methods, the identification of the Chinese traditional and herbal drugs using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer with OMNI collector is simple and convenient, fast and accurate. In the present paper, the spectra of cell wall of Cr-treated root and control of Eichhornia crassipes and Alternanthera philoxeroides were determined. Absorption peaks were identified to the corresponding functional groups and half-quantitative analysis was also used. The results showed that a significant shift of -OH absorption peaks can be seen when comparing the FTIR spectra of control and Cr-treated plants, and the absorbency of -OH and COO- groups went up in E. crassipes root cell wall while droped in A. philoxeroides root cell wall. It is suggested that -OH and COO groups were referred in binding Cr6+ in aqueous solutions, and this may be included in the mechanism of Cr accumulation in E. crassipes roots. Therefore, FTIR spectrometry could be widely used to monitor changes in chemical composition of plant parts under stresses and environmental restoration.

[Application of HATR-FTIR spectroscopy to the analysis of quality mensuration of rhizoma Atractylodes].

The present paper used many kinds of mensuration of FTIR spectroscopy to determine traditional Chinese drugs--rhizoma atractylodis macrocephalae. Comparing the horizontal attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectra (HATR-FTIR) of xylem and outer layer parts of cuticle indicates that there are more butenolide and its derivatives in outer layer parts of cuticle. Much more chemical materials could be found in fresh sample than in drying sample, possibly due to the decreased amount of naphtha in the drying sample. The HATR-FTIR of xylem of rhizoma atractylodis macrocephalae and its confusable varieties were transformed into second derivative FTIR to make sure whether the peak location is consistent. As a result, the difference is significant.

[FTIR spectra-principal component analysis of roots of Polygonum cuspidatum from different areas].

Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. is an important Chinese traditional medicine, and has wide distribution in China. Based on their infrared fingerprint spectra, Polygonum cuspidatum root samples from 7 geographical origins could be divided into 6 classes with principal component analysis. The classification was well correlated to their geographical origins and weather. In the same class, the chemical components of P. cuspidatum are similar to each other, which can be considered as the criterion for evaluating the quality of P. cuspidatum. The results showed that their characteristic infrared spectra were similar in the range of 4000-1700 cm(-1), but varied significantly for different groups and kinds of P. cuspidatum samples in the range of 1700-900 cm(-1). The method is rapid and simple, and could be applied to evaluate the quality of this traditional Chinese medicine. It is one of the methods in the quality control of traditional Chinese medicines.

[Comparative study on trace elements in flos Chrysanthemum and flos Chrysanthemum indici].

The contents of elements Ni, Zn, Mn, Cu, Mg, Fe, Ca and Pb in flos chrysanthemi and flos chrysanthemi indici were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The recovery rates obtained by standard addition method were between 94.20% and 110.50%, and the RSDs were lower than 4.12%. The results of the determination show that flos chrysanthemi is rich in the inorganic elements such as Ni, Zn, Fe and Pb, and flos chrysanthemi indici is rich in the inorganic elements such as Mn and Ca. The results will provide scientific data for the study on the elements in flos chrysanthemi and flos chrysanthemi indici and on their relativity of efficacy of medicine.

[Classification of Panax quinquefolium L. and Panax ginseng C. A. Mey. based on FTIR analysis with SVM].

The support vector machine (SVM) is a new learning technique based on the statistical learning theory. In the present paper, forty Panax quinquefolium L. samples were used as experimental materials. The classification models were established using Fourier transform infrared spectra(FTIR)-SVM training method with the intention of identifying whether the Panax quinquefolium L. samples are genuine or they are just Panax ginseng C. A. Mey. samples. The thirty samples in training set were identified by the classifying models with an accurate rate of 100%, while the ten estimate samples had an accurate rate of 90%. The research result shows the feasibility of establishing the models with FTIR-SVM method to identify Panax quinquefolium L. samples and Panax ginseng C. A. Mey.