Molecular identification and efficacy analysis of herbs at Orussey Herbal Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia / 中国中药杂志

Cambodia is rich in medicinal plant resources. One hundred and thirty-three medicinal material samples, including the hole herb, root, stem/branch, leaf, flower, fruit, seed, and resin, were collected from the Orussey Herbal Market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and then authenticated by ITS and psbA-trnH. A total of 46 samples were identified based on ITS sequences, belonging to 24 families, 40 genera, and 42 species. A total of 100 samples were identified by psbA-trnH sequences to belong to 42 families, 77 genera, and 84 species. A total of 103 samples were identified by two DNA barcodes. According to the morphological characteristics of the medicinal materials, 120 samples classified into 50 species, 86 genera, and 86 families were identified, and the majority of them were from Zingiberaceae, Fabaceae, and Acanthaceae. Such samples have been commonly used in traditional Cambodian medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Unani medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and ethnomedicine, but different medical systems focus on different functional aspects of the same medicinal material. The results of this study have demonstrated that DNA barcoding has a significant advantage in identifying herbal products, and this study has provided basic data for understanding the traditional medicinal materials used in Cambodia.

Comparison of anti-inflammatory effects of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos based on network pharmacology / 中草药·英文版

Objective: In Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) history, Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos were used clinically as one drug, but now they are admitted as two herbal medicines in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 edition). This study used network pharmacology to investigate whether the two can be used interchangeably for the treatment of inflammatory diseases in TCM clinical practice. Methods: Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos were compared in the inflammation mechanism including core targets, Gene Ontology (GO), pathway and principle chemical components by the method of network pharmacology. Results: Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos shared in six targets accounting for 66.7% of the entire core targets and more than half of the GO terms and pathways are similar. Organic acids are dominent compounds responsible for anti-inflammatory effects. Three of the compounds that bind to core targets including luteolin, quercetin and kaempferol, are shared in both herbs. Conclusion: Due to high similarity between Lonicerae Japonicae Flos and Lonicerae Flos, we believe that they can be used interchangeably for the inflammation in clinical treatment.

Establishment of traceability system of Chinese medicinal materials' quality / 中国中药杂志

The quality of Chinese medicinal materials relates greatly to the clinical curative effect and security. In order to ensure the quality and safety of Chinese medicinal materials, a systematic and operable traceability system needs to be established. It can realize the whole process of quality and safety management of Chinese medicinal materials "from production to consumption" through recording and inquiring information and recalling defective products, which is an important direction for the future development of traditional Chinese medicine. But it is still at the exploration and trial stage. In this paper, a framework of Chinese medicinal materials' quality and safety traceability system was established on the basis of the domestic and international experience about the construction of food and agricultural products traceability systems. The relationship between traceability system of Chinese medicinal materials' quality and GAP, GMP, GSP was analyzed, and the possible problems and the corresponding solutions were discussed.

Chemical constituents of Kadsura oblongifolia and evaluation of their toxicity / 药学学报

To study the chemical constituents of K. oblongifolia, silica gel column chromatography, MCI and Sephadex LH-20 were used to separate the 70% acetone extract of the stems of K. oblongifolia. The structures of the isolated compounds have been established on the basis of physicochemical and NMR spectroscopic evidence as well as ESI-MS in some cases. Twenty compounds were obtained and identified as heteroclitalignan A (1), kadsulignan F (2), kadoblongifolin C (3), schizanrin F (4), heteroclitalignan C (5), kadsurarin (6), kadsulignan O (7), eburicol (8), meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid (9), kadsufolin A (10), tiegusanin M (11), heteroclitin B (12), (7'S)-parabenzlactone (13), angeloylbinankadsurin B (14), propinquain H (15), quercetin (16), kadsulignan P (17), schizanrin G (18), micrandilactone C (19) and (-)-shikimic acid (20). Compouds 1, 5, 8, 11-15, 18 and 20 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Toxicity of compounds 1-10 were evaluated with zebrafish model to observe the effect on its embryonic development and heart function. The results showed that compounds 7, 9 and 10 caused edema of zebrafish embryo and decreased the heart rate of zebrafish, which exhibited interference effect on heart development of zebrafish.

Chemical constituents of Conioselinum vaginatum / 中国中药杂志

Sixteen compounds were isolated from Conioselinum vaginatum by silica column chromatography over silica gel and Sephadex LH-20, as well as recrystallization. On the basis of their physical and chemical properties and spectral data, their structures were identified as ligustilide (1), 1,3-dilinolein (2), coniferaldehyde (3), myristicin (4), stigmasterol (5), beta-sitosterol (6), vanillin (7), pregnenolone (8), bergapten (9), xanthotoxin (10), methyl indole-3-carboxylate (11), ferulic acid (12), (E)-3-methoxy-4,5-methylenedioxy-cinnamic alcohol (13), p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (14), 3-methoxy-4,5-methylenedioxy-acetophenone (15), and alpha-(ethoxymethyl)-4-hydroxy- benzenemethanol (16). Among them, compound 15 was a new natural product, and compounds 2, 3, 10, 11, 14, and 16 were obtained from this genus for the first time.

[Study the effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza monomer IH764-3 on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase in lungs of rats exposed to Paraquat (PQ)].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the expression of the matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and membrane-type 1 metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) in lung of rats exposed to paraquat (PQ) and the effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza monomer IH764-3 on above expression. METHODS: Ninety adult healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the control group (group A, 6 rats), the exposure group (group B, 42 rats) and the group treated by Salvia miltiorrhiza monomer IH764-3 (group C, 42 rats). The group B and C were treated intragastrically with 1ml of PQ (50 mg/kg), and the group A was treated intragastrically with normal saline. The group C was treated intraperitoneally with 1 ml Salvia miltiorrhiza monomer IH764-3 at the dose of 40 mg/kg a day. The group A and B were treated intraperitoneally with 1 ml normal saline day. The expression of MMP-2 and MT1-MMP was detected on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th and 35th days after exposure for all groups. RESULTS: As compared with the expression level (0.305 ± 0.045) of MMP-2 mRNA in group A, the expression levels of MMP-2 mRNA in Group B significantly increased, which were 0.654 ± 0.077, 0.623 ± 0.051, 0.637 ± 0.024, 0.533 ± 0.043 and 0.552 ± 0.050 on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st days after exposure, respectively (P < 0.01). As compared with group A, the the expression levels of MMP-2 mRNA on the 1st, 3rd, 7th days in Group C slightly increased, but the expression levels of MMP-2 mRNA on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st days in Group C were 0.523 ± 0.074, 0.567 ± 0.097, 0.514 ± 0.058, 0.359 ± 0.018 and 0.374 ± 0.020, respectively, which were significantly lower than those in group B (P < 0.01). As compared with the expression level (0.391 ± 0.058) of MT1-MMP mRNA in group A, the expression levels of MT1-MMP mRNA in Group B significantly increased, which were 0.796 ± 0.021, 0.762 ± 0.043, 0.590 ± 0.010, 0.803 ± 0.076 and 0.680 ± 0.034 on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th and 21st days after exposure, respectively (P < 0.01). As compared with group A, the expression levels of MT1-MMP mRNA in Group C significantly increased, which were 0.594 ± 0.010, 0.653 ± 0.044 and 0.564 ± 0.009 on the 1st, 3rd and 21st days after exposure, respectively (P < 0.01). The expression levels of MT1-MMP mRNA in Group C were significantly lower than those in group B (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The expression changes of MMP-2 and MT1-MMP genes of lungs in rats intragastrically exposed to PQ could result in the unbalance the synthesis and degradation of ECM, which may be a cause of lung fibrosis. The Salvia miltiorrhiza monomer IH764-3 could affect the expression of MMP-2 and MT1-MMP genes to a certain extent, resulting in the reduction of lung fibrosis.