[Overview of Meta-analysis of Lianhua Qingwen preparations in treatment of viral diseases].

This study aims to obtain higher-level evidence by overviewing the Meta-analysis of Lianhua Qingwen preparations in the treatment of viral diseases including influenza, coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), and hand, foot and mouth disease(HFMD). CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, China Clinical Trial Registry(ChiCTR), PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched for the Meta-analysis about the treatment of viral diseases with Lianhua Qingwen preparations from the database establishment to April 1, 2022. After literature screening and data extraction, AMSTAR2 and the grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluations(GRADE) system were used to assess the methodological quality and evidence quality, respectively, and then the efficacy and safety outcomes of Lianhua Qingwen preparations in the treatment of viral diseases were summarized. Thirteen Meta-analysis were finally included, three of which were rated as low grade by AMSTAR2 and ten as very low grade. A total of 75 outcome indicators were obtained, involving influenza, COVID-19, and HFMD. According to the GRADE scoring results, the 75 outcome indicators included 5(6.7%) high-level indicators, 18(24.0%) mediate-level indicators, 25(33.3%) low-level evidence indicators, and 27(36.0%) very low-level indicators.(1)In the treatment of influenza, Lianhua Qingwen preparations exhibited better clinical efficacy than other Chinese patent medicines and Ribavirin and had similar clinical efficacy compared with Oseltamivir. Lianhua Qingwen preparations were superior to other Chinese patent medicines, Oseltamivir, and Ribavirin in alleviating clinical symptoms. They showed no significant differences from Oseltamivir or conventional anti-influenza treatment in terms of the time to and rate of negative result of viral nucleic acid test.(2)In the treatment of COVID-19, Lianhua Qingwen preparation alone or combined with conventional treatment was superior to conventional treatment in terms of total effective rate, main symptom subsidence rate and time, fever clearance rate, duration of fever, time to fever clearance, cough subsidence rate, time to cough subsidence, fatigue subsidence rate, time to fatigue subsidence, myalgia subsidence rate, expectoration subsidence rate, chest tightness subsidence rate, etc. Lianhua Qingwen preparations no difference from conventional treatment in terms of subsiding sore throat, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite, headache, and dyspnea. In terms of chest CT improvement rate, rate of progression to severe case, cure time, and hospitalization time, Lianhua Qingwen alone or in combination with conventional treatment was superior to conventional treatment.(3)In the treatment of HFMD, Lianhua Qingwen Granules was superior to conventional treatment in terms of total effective rate, average fever clearance time, time to herpes subsidence, and time to negative result of viral nucleic acid test.(4)In terms of safety, Lianhua Qingwen preparations led to low incidence of adverse reactions, all of which were mild and disappeared after drug withdrawal. The available evidence suggests that in the treatment of influenza, COVID-19, and HFMD, Lianhua Qingwen preparations can relieve the clinical symptoms, shorten the hospitalization time, and improve the chest CT. They have therapeutic effect and good safety in the treatment of viral diseases. However, due to the low quality of available studies, more high-quality clinical trials are needed to support the above conclusions.

[Screening and identification of key enzyme genes for steroidal saponin biosynthesis in Dioscorea zingiberensis under low phosphorus stress].

To investigate the responses of key enzymes involved in steroidal saponin biosynthesis of Dioscorea zingiberensis to low phosphorus stress, we designed three treatments of severe phosphorus stress, moderate phosphorus stress, and normal phosphorus level. The D. zingiberensis plants were collected at the early, middle, and late stages of treatment. The content of total steroidal saponins in different tissues of D. zingiberensis was determined by spectrophotometry for the identification of the critical stage in response to low phosphorus stress. BGI 500 sequencing platform was employed to obtain the transcript information of D. zingiberensis samples at the critical stage of low phosphorus stress, and then a transcriptome library was constructed. The correlation between the expression of genes involved in steroidal saponin biosynthesis and the content of total steroidal saponins was analyzed for the screening of the key enzyme genes in response to low phosphorus stress. Further, the expression patterns of these genes were analyzed by real-time fluorescence PCR(qRT-PCR). The content of total steroidal saponins in D. zingiberensis had obvious tissue specificity under low phosphorus stress, and the early stage of stress was particularly important for D. zingiberensis to respond to low phosphorus stress. A total of 101 593 unigenes were obtained by transcriptome sequencing, of which 77.35% were annotated in NT, NR, SwissProt, KOG, GO, and KEGG. A total of 256 transcripts of known key enzyme genes in the biosynthetic pathway of steroidal saponins were identified. The expression levels of 69 transcripts encoding 18 catalytic enzymes were significantly correlated with the content of total steroidal saponins. The qRT-PCR results showed that several key enzyme genes presented different expression patterns in four tissues under low phosphorus stress. The results indicated that the content of total steroidal saponins and the expression of key enzyme genes regulating steroidal saponin biosynthesis in D. zingensis changed under low phosphorus stress. This study provides the biological information for elucidating the molecular mechanism of steroidal saponin biosynthesis in D. zingensis exposed to low phosphorus stress.

[Domestic clinical application of vascular dementia scales].

To analyze the domestic clinical application of vascular dementia scales, and provide the basis for the refinement of clinical scales. VIP, SinoMed, Wanfang and CNKI databases were searched by computer to analyze the clinical application of vascular dementia scales published in Chinese Core Periodicals in Library of Peking University, CSSCI and CSCD, with time limit from database establishment to August 31, 2020. According to the inclusion or exclusion criteria, the combination of Note Express software and manual search was used to complete the literature duplicate detection and screening. According to the research needs, the relevant data were extracted and a new database was established. In this study, a total of 4 246 related literatures were initially searched, 2 048 repetitive literatures were eliminated, 1 484 literatures were manually screened out, and finally 714 literatures and 44 scales were included. The total using frequency of scales was 2 660. The results of descriptive analysis showed that there were many kinds of clinical scales for vascular dementia. In order to avoid the repeated use of scales with similar functions, it is correct to include the possible influences such as the purpose of use, way, frequency and function of the scales into reference factors of scale selection according to the disease diagnostic criteria. It is necessary to develop the scales with traditional Chinese medicine characteristic for objective clinical evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine.

Effects of chelerythrine, a specific inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2, on acute inflammation in mice.

Chelerythrine (CHE), a quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloid, which is an agent in traditional Chinese medicine exhibits a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects. In this study, we examined the anti-inflammatory activities and mechanism of CHE in vivo and in vitro, respectively. Further, in the analgesic test, CHE also showed pronounced inhibition of the acetic acid-induced writhing response. These results clearly suggested that CHE is a bioactive agent which has a significant anti-inflammatory action, which may be relevant to the inhibition of the release/production of exudates and prostaglandin E(2) mediated through cyclooxygenase-2 regulation.

Chinese medicine and its modernization demands.

As a typical naturally derived drug, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has developed for several thousands of years and accumulated abundant human pharmacological information and experience to form an integrated theory system. However, the problems of lower product quality, substandard codes and standards, and under-enhancement of fundamental research have restricted its further development and acceptance internationally. In this review, we explain the origin and developmental history of TCM, species involved in TCM, and their distributions in biotaxy. According to the status and problems, it is concluded that TCM modernization has become necessary and urgent. Modernization of TCM means the combination of TCM with modern technology, modern academic thoughts, and modern scientific culture, in which the most important point is to elucidate the active component of TCM, especially the material foundation of compound prescriptions and their pharmacodynamic mechanisms. Technology of analytical chemistry (HPLC, HPCE, HSCCC, etc.) and molecular biology (patch clamp, gene clamp, gene chip, fluorescent probe, DNA TUNEL assay, in situ hybridization, etc.) are useful tools to realize the modernization of TCM. Based on those studies and achievements and coupled with computer technology, all TCM products will achieve digitalization and normalization. TCM modernization will provide the world with useful reference information on traditional medicines.

[Study on stability of baicalin and baicalein in Rat plasma by HPLC-ECD].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the stability of baicalin and baicalein in buffered aqueous solutions and mouse plasma in order to discuss the degradation mechanism and the method of disposing samples. METHOD: HPLC-ECD was used to determine baicalin and baicalein in different conditions, and the disposing samples methods were selected to stabilize them. RESULT: Baicalin and baicalein in the buffered aqueous solution at pH 7.4 was more stable than that in the mouse plasma. After adding Vit C in the buffered aqueous solution, the stability of baicalin and baicalein could be improved obviously and their remained percents were 102% and 100%. The stability of baicalin and baicalein could be enhanced distinctly in the mouse plasma only when adding Vit C and 1 mol x L(-1) HCl, and furthermore their remained percentage was up to 98% and 103%. CONCLUSION: The stability of baicalin and baicalein is related to the oxidation and enzyme degradation and it can be improved by adding Vit C and 1 mol x L(-1) HCl in the solution.

[The effect of tetrandrine on the expression of the P170, LRP and TOPO II in S180's tumor cell induced by chemotherapy in the mice with acquired multi-drug resistance].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of tetrandrine on the P170 production expressed by multi-drug resistance gene, lung resistant protein (LRP), and topoisomeras II and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism. METHOD: Cellular model of multi-drug resistance was established in S180 tumor cell by means of the scheme of PFC chemotherapy at the dosage lower than that with curative effect. P170, LRP and TOPO II were measured by flow cytometry after the mouse model was treated with tetrandrine for 4 weeks. RESULT: tetrandrine obviously reduced the enhancement of express of P170, LRP and the activity of TOPO II in the tumor cells with multi-drug resistance induced by chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Tetrandrine significantly inhibits the multi-drug resistance of tumor cells induced by chemotherapy via diminishing both the expression of multi-drug resistance gene and the activity of topoisomeras II.