Impact of Molecular Weight Variations in Dendrobium officinale Polysaccharides on Antioxidant Activity and Anti-Obesity in Caenorhabditis elegans.

This research investigates the impact of Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides (DOP) with different molecular weights on antioxidant effects, lifespan enhancement, and obesity reduction, utilizing both in vitro analyses and the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model. Through a series of experiments-ranging from the extraction and modification of polysaccharides, Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), and analysis of composition to the evaluation of antioxidant capabilities, this study thoroughly examines DOP and its derivatives (DOP5, DOP15, DOP25) produced via H2O2-Fe2+ degradation. The results reveal a direct relationship between the molecular weight of polysaccharides and their bioactivity. Notably, DOP5, with its intermediate molecular weight, demonstrated superior antioxidant properties, significantly extended the lifespan, and improved the health of C. elegans. Furthermore, DOP15 appeared to regulate lipid metabolism by affecting crucial lipid metabolism genes, including fat-4, fat-5, fat-6, sbp-1, and acs-2. These findings highlight the potential application of DOP derivatives as natural antioxidants and agents against obesity, contributing to the development of functional foods and dietary supplements.

Efficacy and safety of Dachaihu Decoction for acute pancreatitis: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Dachaihu Decoction (DCD) is a traditional herbal formula widely used for treating acute pancreatitis (AP) in China. However, the efficacy and safety of DCD has never been validated, limiting its application. This study will assess the efficacy and safety of DCD for AP treatment. METHODS: Relevant randomized controlled trials of DCD in treating AP will be searched through Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, Wanfang Database, VIP Database, and Chinese Biological Medicine Literature Service System database. Only studies published between the inception of the databases and May 31, 2023 shall be considered. Searches will also be performed in the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Preprint databases and grey literature sources such as OpenGrey, British Library Inside, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, and BIOSIS preview will also be searched for relevant resources. The primary outcomes to be assessed will include mortality rate, rate of surgical intervention, proportion of patients with severe acute pancreatitis transferred to ICU, gastrointestinal symptoms, and the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score. Secondary outcomes will include systemic complications, local complications, the normalization period of C-reactive protein, length of stay in the hospital, TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 levels, and adverse events. Study selection, data extraction, and assessment of bias risk will be conducted independently by two reviewers using the Endnote X9 and Microsoft Office Excel 2016 software. The risk of bias of included studies will be assessed by the Cochrane "risk of bias" tool. Data analysis will be performed using the RevMan software (V.5.3). Subgroup and sensitivity analysis will be performed where necessary. RESULTS: This study will provide high-quality current evidence of DCD for treating AP. CONCLUSION: This systematic review will provide evidence of whether DCD is an effective and safe therapy for treating AP. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration number CRD42021245735. The protocol for this study was registered at PROSPERO, and is available in the S1 Appendix. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021245735.

College of American Pathologists Tumor Regression Grading System for Long-Term Outcome in Patients with Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network's Rectal Cancer Guideline Panel recommends American Joint Committee of Cancer and College of American Pathologists (AJCC/CAP) tumor regression grading (TRG) system to evaluate pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Yet, the clinical significance of the AJCC/CAP TRG system has not been fully defined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a multicenter, retrospectively recruited, and prospectively maintained cohort study. Patients with LARC from one institution formed the discovery set, and cases from external independent institutions formed a validation set to verify the findings from discovery set. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis, log-rank test, and Cox regression model. RESULTS: The discovery set (940 cases) found, and the validation set (2,156 cases) further confirmed, that inferior AJCC/CAP TRG categories were closely /ccorrelated with unfavorable survival (OS, DFS, LRFS, and DMFS) and higher risk of disease progression (death, accumulative relapse, local recurrence, and distant metastasis) (all p < .05). Significantly, pairwise comparison revealed that any two of four TRG categories had the distinguished survival and risk of disease progression. After propensity score matching, AJCC/CAP TRG0 category (pathological complete response) patients treated with or without adjuvant chemotherapy displayed similar survival of OS, DFS, LRFS, and DMFS (all p > .05). For AJCC/CAP TRG1-3 cases, adjuvant chemotherapy treatment significantly improved 3-year OS (90.2% vs. 84.6%, p < .001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated the AJCC/CAP TRG system was an independent prognostic surrogate. CONCLUSION: AJCC/CAP TRG system, an accurate prognostic surrogate, appears ideal for further strategizing adjuvant chemotherapy for LARC. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends the American Joint Committee of Cancer and College of American Pathologists (AJCC/CAP) tumor regression grading (TRG) four-category system to evaluate the pathologic response to neoadjuvant treatment for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer; however, the clinical significance of the AJCC/CAP TRG system has not yet been clearly addressed. This study found, for the first time, that any two of four AJCC/CAP TRG categories had the distinguished long-term survival outcome. Importantly, adjuvant chemotherapy may improve the 3-year overall survival for AJCC/CAP TRG1-3 category patients but not for AJCC/CAP TRG0 category patients. Thus, AJCC/CAP TRG system, an accurate surrogate of long-term survival outcome, is useful in guiding adjuvant chemotherapy management for rectal cancer.

Responses of plant productivity and soil nutrient concentrations to different alpine grassland degradation levels.

Although grassland degradation simultaneously affects plant productivity and soil nutrient concentrations, the relationship between plant productivity and soil nutrient concentrations during the process of grassland degradation is not yet well documented. A 4-year survey in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was conducted to simultaneously investigate the relationships between plant productivity and soil nutrient concentrations in an alpine grassland at an overall degradation level and individual degradation levels. Our results showed that the total plant, sedge, and forb biomasses decreased, whereas the grass and legume biomasses first increased and then decreased as the level of alpine grassland degradation increased. Soil organic carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), available N, and available P concentrations also decreased with the increase in degradation level. Our results also showed that plant productivity was positively correlated with soil nutrient concentrations (soil organic C, total T, total P, available N, available P) at an overall degradation level, whereas plant productivity was positively correlated with only the soil organic C concentration at each degradation level. Our findings suggested that the alpine grassland degradation conditions had different effects on the plant productivity of four functional groups (sedges, grasses, legumes, forbs) and affected the relationship between plant productivity and soil nutrient concentrations.

Antidiabetic Effect of High-Chromium Yeast Against Type 2 Diabetic KK-Ay Mice.

High chromium yeast has attracted many researchers for its high efficiency and high safety among chromium supplements. The preventive effect of oral high-chromium yeast on diabetes was assessed using KK-AY mice. Sixteen-wk-old type 2 diabetic KK-AY mice were divided into five groups and orally administered with two types of drying processed high-chromium yeast, chromium picolinate at 1000 µg Cr/kg/d, metformin (positive control), and normal yeast (negative control) for 13 weeks. The spray-dried high-chromium yeast significantly delayed the onset of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic KK-AY mice (P < 0.05) and significantly improved fasting blood glucose, TG(triglyceride), and TCHO(total cholesterol) . Histopathological analysis showed that the spray-dried high-chromium yeast led to high affinities for the stains to the ß-cells in the islets of Langerhans and alleviated hepatic steatosis. High-chromium yeast could be a potential candidate for nutritional supplement to ameliorate diabetes. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Chromium plays an important role in fat and carbohydrate metabolism. The result show that spray-dried high chromium yeast significantly delayed the onset of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic KK-AY mice. As one of chromium supplements, the purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of high chromium yeast on the type 2 diabetes and drying method on its bioactivity, which will be useful for research and development of high-chromium yeast and improvement of pharmacological activity-based quality control.

Anti-influenza effect and action mechanisms of the chemical constituent gallocatechin-7-gallate from Pithecellobium clypearia Benth.

Host cdc2-like kinase 1 (CLK1) is responsible for the alternative splicing of the influenza virus M2 gene during influenza virus infection and replication that has been recognized as a potential anti-influenza virus target. In this study, we showed that gallocatechin-7-gallate (J10688), a novel CLK1 inhibitor isolated from Pithecellobium clypearia Benth, exerted potent anti-influenza virus activity in vivo and in vitro. ICR mice were intranasally infected with a lethal dose of H1N1. Administration of J10688 (30 mg·kg-1·d-1, iv, for 5 days) significantly increased the survival rate of the H1N1-infected mice to 91.67% and prolong their mean survival time from 5.83 ± 1.74 days to 13.66 ± 1.15 days. J10688 administration also slowed down body weight loss, significantly alleviated influenza-induced acute lung injury, reduced lung virus titer, elevated the spleen and thymus indexes, and enhanced the immunological function. We further explored its anti-influenza mechanisms in the H1N1-infected A549 cells: as a novel CLK1 inhibitor, J10688 (3, 10, 30 µmol/L) dose-dependently impaired synthesis of the viral proteins NP and M2, and significantly downregulated the phosphorylation of splicing factors SF2/ASF and SC35, which regulate virus M2 gene alternative splicing. As a novel CLK1 inhibitor with potent anti-influenza activity in vitro and in vivo, J10688 could be a promising antiviral drug for the therapy of influenza A virus infection.

Network pharmacology-based analysis of Chinese herbal Naodesheng formula for application to Alzheimer's disease.

Naodesheng (NDS) formula, which consists of Rhizoma Chuanxiong, Lobed Kudzuvine, Carthamus tinctorius, Radix Notoginseng, and Crataegus pinnatifida, is widely applied for the treatment of cardio/cerebrovascular ischemic diseases, ischemic stroke, and sequelae of cerebral hemorrhage, etc. At present, the studies on NDS formula for Alzheimer's disease (AD) only focus on single component of this prescription, and there is no report about the synergistic mechanism of the constituents in NDS formula for the potential treatment of dementia. Therefore, the present study aimed to predict the potential targets and uncover the mechanisms of NDS formula for the treatment of AD. Firstly, we collected the constituents in NDS formula and key targets toward AD. Then, drug-likeness, oral bioavailability, and blood-brain barrier permeability were evaluated to find drug-like and lead-like constituents for treatment of central nervous system diseases. By combining the advantages of machine learning, molecular docking, and pharmacophore mapping, we attempted to predict the targets of constituents and find potential multi-target compounds from NDS formula. Finally, we built constituent-target network, constituent-target-target network and target-biological pathway network to study the network pharmacology of the constituents in NDS formula. To the best of our knowledge, this represented the first to study the mechanism of NDS formula for potential efficacy for AD treatment by means of the virtual screening and network pharmacology methods.

Review of Anemone raddeana Rhizome and its pharmacological effects.

The chemical compositions of Anemone raddeana Rhizome, a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, were reviewed, along with its bioactivity and pharmacological properties and method improvements of extracting and detecting triterpenoid saponins. A. raddeana Rhizome is used to treat neuralgia and rheumatism, and is rich in triterpenoid saponins, most of which are pentacyclic, with oleanane as the nucleus. So far, 37 triterpenoid saponins have been determined from the herb. Its reported bioactivity and pharmacological properties have been described as anticancerous, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, anticonvulsive, antihistaminic, and sedative. It has also been used for the induction of the humoral immune response and treatment of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis. However, the herb also has hemolytic effects and can be toxic, which limits its clinical application. Further studies are needed on the pharmaceutical functions, mechanisms, and immunological responses to contribute to the herb's clinical applications.

[Network pharmacology study of Xiaoxuming Decoction based on vasodilatory and vasoconstrictory related GPCR targets].

In this study, bioinformatics methods such as molecular docking and network pharmacology were adopted to establish Xiaoxuming Decoction (XXMD) "compound-vasodilatory and vasoconstrictory related G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) targets" network, then the vascular function regulatory effective components and the potential targets of XXMD were analyzed. Based on the XXMD herb sources, the chemical structures of the compounds were retrieved from the national scientific data sharing platform for population and health pharmaceutical information center, TCMSP database and the latest research literatures. The chemical molecular library was established after class prediction and screening for medicinal and metabolic properties. Then, five kinds of vasodilatory and vasoconstrictory related GPCR crystal structure including 5-HT receptors (5-HT1AR, 5-HT1BR), AT1R, ß2-AR, hUTR and ETB were retrieved from RCSB Protein Data Bank database or constructed by homology modeling of Discovery Studio 4.1 built-in modeling tools. After virtual screening by Libdock molecular docking, the highest rated 50 compounds of each target were collected and analyzed. The collected data were further used to construct and analyze the network by Cytoscape 3.4.0. The results showed that most of the chemical composition effects were associated with different vasodilatory and vasoconstrictory related GPCR targets, while a few effective components could be applied to multiple GPCR targets at the same time, therefore forming synergies and vasorelaxant effects of XXMD.

Sesquiterpenes from the whole plants of Parasenecio roborowskii.

Six eremophilane-type (parasenolide A-F) and an eudesmane-type (parasenin) sesquiterpenoids, along with eight known sesquiterpenes, were isolated from the whole plants of Parasenecio roborowskii. The structures and absolute configurations of new compounds were elucidated using extensive spectroscopic analysis, including HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR experiments, the CD exciton chirality methods, and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. All isolated compounds were evaluated for cytotoxicity against five human cancer (HeLa, HepG2, K562, MDA231, and NCI-H460) cell lines and a murine melanoma B16 F10 cell line by MTT assay. Compounds 1-15 showed cytotoxic activities, especially compounds 3, 4, 8, 10, and 12. These five compounds showed broad spectrum activities against all the tested cancer cell lines with IC50 ranging from 9.2 to 35.5µM. The study supports that eremophilenolides and eudesmane-type sesquiterpenes occur mainly in the genus Parasenecio and can be used as a chemosystematic marker of the genus.

Salidroside's Protection Against UVB-Mediated Oxidative Damage and Apoptosis Is Associated with the Upregulation of Nrf2 Expression.

BACKGROUND: Salidroside is the major active component of Rhodiola rosea, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine used for protection against ultraviolet (UV) radiation. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated whether salidroside can protect skin from ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced oxidative damage in human immortalized HaCaT keratinocytes and the skin of guinea pigs. METHODS: Using HaCaT cell models, the effects of salidroside on oxidative damage and possible regulatory factors [including NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), NAD(P)H-quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1)] were examined. In addition, the regulatory effects of salidroside on apoptotic sunburn cells (SBCs) and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)-positive epidermal cells on UVB-exposed guinea pig skin were also investigated. RESULTS: We found that salidroside pretreatment upregulated Nrf2 translocation to the nucleus and transcription activity in HaCaT cells, as reflected by the increased nuclear accumulation of Nrf2 as well as the gene and protein expression of downstream Nrf2 antioxidants, including NQO1 and HO-1. In addition, we also found that pretreatment with salidroside reactive oxygen species (ROS) in irradiated HaCaT cells. The oral administration of salidroside (0.1% w/w) to guinea pigs inhibited the UVB-mediated formation of apoptotic SBCs and 8-OHdG-positive epidermal cells in the skin of guinea pigs. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that UVB-induced oxidative damage can be prevented by salidroside with upregulation of nuclear Nrf2 expression.

Sex differences in colonization of gut microbiota from a man with short-term vegetarian and inulin-supplemented diet in germ-free mice.

Gnotobiotic mouse model is generally used to evaluate the efficacy of gut microbiota. Sex differences of gut microbiota are acknowledged, yet the effect of recipient's gender on the bacterial colonization remains unclear. Here we inoculated male and female germ-free C57BL/6J mice with fecal bacteria from a man with short-term vegetarian and inulin-supplemented diet. We sequenced bacterial 16S rRNA genes V3-V4 region from donor's feces and recipient's colonic content. Shannon diversity index showed female recipients have higher bacteria diversity than males. Weighted UniFrac principal coordinates analysis revealed the overall structures of male recipient's gut microbiota were significantly separated from those of females, and closer to the donor. Redundancy analysis identified 46 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) differed between the sexes. The relative abundance of 13 OTUs were higher in males, such as Parabacteroides distasonis and Blautia faecis, while 33 OTUs were overrepresented in females, including Clostridium groups and Escherichia fergusonii/Shigella sonnei. Moreover, the interactions of these differential OTUs were sexually distinct. These findings demonstrated that the intestine of male and female mice preferred to accommodate microbiota differently. Therefore, it is necessary to designate the gender of gnotobiotic mice for complete evaluation of modulatory effects of gut microbiota from human feces upon diseases.

Correlation between secondary thrombosis in epileptic patients and serum levels of folate and vitamin B12.

Epilepsy is a chronic brain dysfunction syndrome and nervous system disease whose pathogenesis remains to be determined. The aim of the present study was to analyze the correlation between secondary thrombosis and the serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 in epileptic patients, as well as to determine whether the supplementation of folate and vitamin B12 was associated with a decreased incidence of thrombosis, and provide the basis for novel clinical treatment. A total of 37 patients, diagnosed as epileptic with secondary thrombosis between April 2012 and April 2014, were included in the treatment group. A total of 37 epileptic patients without secondary thrombosis were included in the control group. The serum levels of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 in the two groups and in the epileptic patients with intracranial thrombosis or peripheral thrombosis were compared. According to the Guidance of Epilepsy, the patients in the two groups were administered antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) with the supplementation of folate tablet (0.4 mg/day) and vitamin B12 tablet (100 µg/day). These indicators and the incidence of thrombosis in the two groups were compared after 1 year. The serum levels of homocysteine in the two groups were higher than normal, and the levels in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group. The serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 were not associated with the serum level of homocysteine (P>0.05). The logistic regression analysis revealed that the serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 were independent risk factors for epilepsy with secondary thrombosis [folate: odds ratio (OR)=0.635, P=0.038; vitamin B12: OR=0.418, P=0.042]. The differences in the serum levels of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 in the epileptic patients with intracranial thrombosis or peripheral thrombosis were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The serum levels of homocysteine in the two groups, were significantly decreased, while the levels of folate and vitamin B12 were significantly increased. The differences in the serum levels of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 in the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The differences in the incidence of thrombosis in the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). In conclusion, the serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 were independent of serum homocysteine, and were the dependent risk factors for primary epilepsy with secondary thrombosis. The supplementation of folate and vitamin B12 may be beneficial for the prevention of epilepsy with secondary thrombosis, making it valuable in application.

[Study on the Fingerprint of Kingkong Zedoary Turmeric Oil].

OBJECTIVE: To study the fingerprint of Zedoary Turmeric Oil (ZTO) as the bulk drug of Kingkong Elemene for making it safe, effective, stable, and controllable. METHODS: Fingerprints were detected by gas chromatography. ß-elemene peak was regarded as reference peak (S). The relative peak area of each common peak and the relative retention time were calculated. With a total of modes for reference, the fingerprints of 10 batches of Kingkong ZTO were detected, and their similarity was calculated by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) fingerprint similarity calculation software. RESULTS: The determination method was stable and reliable. Totally 19 common characteristic peaks of Kingkong ZTO was found. The fingerprint similarity of these batches of Kingkong ZTO were not lower than 0.96. CONCLUSIONS: Gas chromatography for detecting the fingerprint of Kingkong ZTO was reliable and repeatable. The established fingerprint of Kingkong ZTO could guarantee the quality stability and safety of different product batches.

Moxibustion is an Alternative in Treating Knee Osteoarthritis: The Evidence From Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common disorder in elderly. There is no known cure for KOA, and thus therapeutic strategies of alleviating symptoms are increasingly emphasized. Moxibustion has been widely used to treat KOA; however, results are inconclusive. The aim of our study is to critically reassess the effects of moxibustion on KOA.We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM) through 25 November 2015. Two independent reviewers selected studies and abstracted information, as well as assessed the risk of bias using Cochrane risk of bias tool. The random-effects meta-analyses were performed based on abstracted data.We initially captured 163 citations and added 4 records through checking review. After critical appraisal, 13 RCTs were included. Meta-analyses indicated that moxibustion is not statistically different from oral drug in improving the response rate (MD = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.00, 1.20; P = 0.05), alleviating pain and improving physical function. Our meta-analysis also found that moxibustion is superior to usual care and sham moxibustion in reducing WOMAC score (MD = 7.56; 95% CI = 4.11, 11.00; P = 0.00), pain and function, as well as increasing QoL. Moreover, most AEs caused by moxibustion can heal without medical care.We concluded that moxibustion treatment is equal to the oral drugs and intra-articular injections and may be an alternative in treating patients with KOA.

[Chemical constituents from ripe fruit of Cornus officinalis].

To investigate the chemical compounds from the fruit of Cornus officinalis, six compounds were isolated and determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis as 6'-O-acetyl-7α-O-ethyl morroniside (1), (-)-isolariciresinol 3α-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside(2), apigenin (3), cirsiumaldehyde(4), p-coumaric acid (5), caffeic acid (6). Compound 1 was a new iridoid glucoside,and compounds 2-4 were obtained from the Cornus genus for the first time. Compounds 2-6 were evaluated for the viability of PC12 cells when exposed in conditions of oxygen and glucose deprivation. The MTT results showed that compound 4 increased cell viability moderately in OGD/R treated PC12 cells at the concentration of 1.0 µmol•L⁻¹.

[Network pharmacology study of effective constituents of traditional Chinese medicine for Alzheimer's disease treatment].

This study aims to investigate the network pharmacology of Chinese medicinal formulae for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.Machine learning algorithms were applied to construct classifiers in predicting the active molecules against 25 key targets toward Alzheimer's disease(AD).By extensive data profiling, we compiled 13 classical traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) formulas with clinical efficacy for AD. There were 7 Chinese herbs with a frequency of 5 or higher in our study. Based on the predicted results, we built constituent-target, and further construct target-target interaction network by STRING(Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins) and target-disease network by DAVID(Database for Annotation,Visualization and Integrated Discovery) and gene disease database to study the synergistic mechanism of the herbal constituents in the Chinese traditional patent medicine. By prediction of blood-brain penetration and validation by TCMsp (traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology) and Drugbank, we found 7 typical multi-target constituents which have diverse structure. The mechanism uncovered by this study may offer a deep insight into the action mechanism of TCMs for AD. The predicted inhibitors for the AD-related targets may provide a good source of new lead constituents against AD.

Fastigial nucleus stimulation regulates neuroprotection via induction of a novel microRNA, rno-miR-676-1, in middle cerebral artery occlusion rats.

Previous studies have shown that fastigial nucleus stimulation (FNS) reduces tissue damage resulting from focal cerebral ischemia. Although the mechanisms of neuroprotection induced by FNS are not entirely understood, important data have been presented in the past two decades. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a newly discovered group of non-coding small RNA molecules that negatively regulate target gene expression and are involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and cell apoptosis. To date, no studies have demonstrated whether miRNAs can serve as mediators of the brain's response to FNS, which leads to endogenous neuroprotection. Therefore, this study investigated the profiles of FNS-mediated miRNAs. Using a combination of deep sequencing and microarray with computational analysis, we identified a novel miRNA in the rat ischemic cortex after 1 h of FNS. This novel miRNA (PC-3p-3469_406), herein referred to as rno-miR-676-1, was upregulated in rats with cerebral ischemia after FNS. In vivo observations indicate that this novel miRNA may have antiapoptotic effects and contribute to neuroprotection induced by FNS. Our study provides a better understanding of neuroprotection induced by FNS. MicroRNA (miRNA) is defined as a small non-coding RNA that fulfills both the expression and biogenesis criteria. Here, we describe a novel miRNA in the rat ischemic cortex expressed after 1 h of fastigial nucleus stimulation (FNS). The miRNA was functionally characterized by secondary structure, quantitative expression, the conservation analysis, target gene analysis, and biological functions. We consider rno-miR-676-1 to be a true microRNA and present evidence for its neuroprotective effects exerted after induction by FNS.

Antithrombotic effects of the effective components group of Xiaoshuantongluo formula in vivo and in vitro.

The present study was designed to investigate the antithrombotic effects and underlying mechanisms of the effective components group (ECG) of Xiaoshuantongluo recipe (XECG) and to further verify the rationality and feasibility of ECG-guided methodology in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research. The arterial thrombosis model induced by ferric chloride (FeCl3) oxidation and the venous thrombosis model induced by inferior vena cava ligation were established to evaluate the antithrombotic potential of XECG. Our results indicated that XECG significantly prolonged the time to occlusion, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and prothrombin time (PT), and markedly inhibited adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation in the 20% FeCl3-induced arterial thrombosis model. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was significantly increased and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) were dramatically decreased in the plasma of arterial thrombosis rats after XECG treatment for 12 days. Furthermore, XECG markedly reduced the weight of thrombus formed by inferior vena cava ligation. Additionally, XECG exhibited 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity and protective effect on mitochondrial lipid peroxidation. In summary, XECG played an important role in the prevention of thrombosis through interacting with multiple targets, including inhibition of platelet aggregation and coagulation and repression of oxidative stress. The ECG-guided methodology was validated as a feasible tool in TCM research.

Trace-chitosan-wrapped multi-walled carbon nanotubes as a new sorbent in dispersive micro solid-phase extraction to determine phenolic compounds.

This report describes the use of trace-chitosan-wrapped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CS-MWCNTs) as a sorbent material in dispersive micro solid-phase extraction (DMSPE), which was combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry to analyze phenolic compounds in chrysanthemum tea and a chrysanthemum beverage. In this study, for the first time, CS-MWCNTs were used as a sorbent for this microextraction mode. Moreover, the proposed method exhibits the advantages of simplicity, rapidity, small sample amount and ease of operation. Furthermore, all of the important parameters that affect the extraction efficiency, such as the sorbent, pH, extraction time and type of elution solvent, were investigated and optimized in the DMSPE. Under the optimized extraction condition, the limit of detection, which was calculated based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, was 0.22-16.19ngmL(-1). Satisfactory recovery values of 89-106% were obtained for the tested samples. The results show that the developed method was successfully applied to determine the content of chlorogenic acid and flavonoids in complex chrysanthemum samples.