Molecular mechanisms of Chengshi Beixie Fenqing Decoction based on network pharmacology: pivotal roles of relaxin signaling pathway and its associated target proteins against Benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common disease that affects the quality of life of middle-aged and older men. We investigated the therapeutical effects of Chengshi Beixie Fenqing Decoction (CBFD), a classic traditional Chinese medicine prescription, on BPH through in vivo model and network pharmacology. Bioactives in CBFD were detected through UPLC-Q-Tof-MS/MS and GC-MS, and filtered by the modified Lipinski's rule. Target proteins associated with the filtered compounds and BPH are selected from public databases. Venn diagram identified the overlapping target proteins between the bioactives-interacted target proteins and the BPH-targeted proteins. The bioactive-protein interactive networking of BPH was analyzed through the KEGG pathway on STRING to identify potential ligand-target and visualized the rich factors on the R packet. After that, the molecular docking test (MDT) was performed between bioactives and target proteins. It showed that the mechanism of CBFD against BPH was related to 104 signaling pathways of 42 compounds. AKT1, 6-demethyl-4'-methyl-N-methylcoclaurine and relaxin signaling pathways were selected as a hub target, key bioactivitie and hub signaling pathway, respectively. In addition, three major compounds, 6-demethyl-4'-methyl-N-methylcoclaurine, isoliensinine and liensinine, had the highest affinity on MDT for the three crucial target proteins, AKT1, JUN and MAPK1. These proteins were associated with the relaxin signaling pathway, which regulated the level of nitric oxide and is implicated in both BPH development and CBFD. We concluded that the three key bioactivities found in Plumula nelumbinis of CBFD may contribute to improving BPH condition by activating the relaxin signaling pathways.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Traditional Chinese medicines and natural products targeting immune cells in the treatment of metabolic-related fatty liver disease.

MAFLD stands for metabolic-related fatty liver disease, which is a prevalent liver disease affecting one-third of adults worldwide, and is strongly associated with obesity, hyperlipidemia, and type 2 diabetes. It encompasses a broad spectrum of conditions ranging from simple liver fat accumulation to advanced stages like chronic inflammation, tissue damage, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. With limited approved drugs for MAFLD, identifying promising drug targets and developing effective treatment strategies is essential. The liver plays a critical role in regulating human immunity, and enriching innate and adaptive immune cells in the liver can significantly improve the pathological state of MAFLD. In the modern era of drug discovery, there is increasing evidence that traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, natural products and herb components can effectively treat MAFLD. Our study aims to review the current evidence supporting the potential benefits of such treatments, specifically targeting immune cells that are responsible for the pathogenesis of MAFLD. By providing new insights into the development of traditional drugs for the treatment of MAFLD, our findings may pave the way for more effective and targeted therapeutic approaches.

Generation of traditional Chinese medicine prescription driven by generative artificial intelligence GPT-4 / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety and suitability of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions generated by generative artificial intelligence （AIGC）， and to provide research ideas for empowering the traditional Chinese medicine industry with AIGC. METHODS Using the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia and the 5th edition of Traditional Chinese Medicine as corpus， GPT-4 and the real-time networking model developed based on GPT-4 （referred to as the “networking model”） were used for deep learning. The clinical cases included in the consensus of traditional Chinese medicine experts in recent years were extracted manually to regenerate prescriptions based on diagnosis using the GPT-4 model and networking model； traditional Chinese medicine experts conducted blind evaluation and scoring of GPT-4 generated prescriptions， networking model generated prescriptions， and expert consensus prescriptions. At the same time， Turing testing was used to evaluate whether the GPT-4 model and networking model had the same ability as human intelligence. RESULTS The average score of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions generated by the GPT-4 model showed no statistically significant difference compared to manual prescriptions （P＞0.05）， while the average score of prescriptions generated by the networking model showed no statistically significant difference compared to traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions generated by the GPT-4 model （P＞0.05）. The proportion of model-generated prescriptions mistakenly judged as manual prescriptions in the Turing test was 51.11%. CONCLUSIONS The traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions generated by the GPT-4 model have reached a certain level of safety and suitability， and the GPT-4 model has passed the Turing test. The introduction of AIGC in the diagnosis and treatment process may provide technical support for the rational use of clinical traditional Chinese medicine.

Systematic review of Kaixinsan in treating depression: Efficacy and pharmacological mechanisms.

Introduction: Kaixinsan (KXS) has been in use as an effective classic formulation of traditional Chinese medicine for depression. However, its active components and action mechanism against depression remain elusive. The purpose of this study was to summarize and evaluate the efficacy and potential pharmacological mechanisms of KXS in antidepressant treatment. Materials and methods: Reports on the use of KXS in the treatment of depression were systematically collected from PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chongqing VIP, and Wanfang Data from the establishment to July 2022, including those on mood disorders in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Meta-analysis was conducted with the Review Manager 5.3 software. Online datasets, traditional Chinese medicine system pharmacological analysis platform, GeneCards, online Mendelian inheritance in man, and DisGeNET were used to investigate the depression-related genes. The gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichments were performed to construct the 'component-target-pathways' network using Metascape online analyses. Result: Ten studies were included in the analysis. Meta-analysis showed that both low-dose KXS (SMD = 19.66, Z = 7.96, and I 2 = 42%) and high-dose KXS (SMD = 23.84, Z = 8.46, and I 2 = 13%) could increase the sucrose preference in depression models. In addition, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) (SMD = 10.91, Z = 2.95, and I 2 = 50%) returned to normal level after the treatment at low dose KXS. In network pharmacology, 50 active components and 376 gene targets were screened out. AKT1, GAPDH, ALB, TNF, and TP53 were the core target proteins. GO analysis showed that KXS mainly treats depression in biological processes such as response to drugs, cellular calcium ion homeostasis, and regulation of chemical synaptic signal transmission. KEGG results show that the mechanism of action of KXS in treating depression is through neural activity ligand-receptor interaction, the calcium signaling and CAMP signaling pathways. Discussion: The study reveals the active components and potential molecular mechanism of KXS in the treatment of depression and provides evidence for future basic research.

Network Pharmacology and Data Mining Approach Reveal the Medication Rule of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome/Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a common disorder that affects women of reproductive age. It is characterized by periodic mental and somatic symptoms such as irritability, depression, and breast pain during the luteal phase. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is the most severe form of PMS. In recent years, the incidence of PMS/PMDD has been increasing year after year. However, due to the complex symptoms and ambiguous classification of PMS/PMDD, the limitations of present treatments, such as their poor efficacy rate, have become increasingly apparent. With its unique benefits such as syndrome differentiation and high cure rate, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has sparked new diagnosing and treating of PMS/PMDD. This study uses data mining methods, and statistical analysis revealed that Xiaoyao San and Chaihu Shugan San were the commonly used TCM to treat PMS/PMDD. A detailed investigation of regularly used single herbs revealed that most TCM is used as cold herbs that penetrate the liver meridian, with predominant bitter, sweet, and pungent flavors. The network pharmacology method analyzes the interactions between diseases, targets, and herbs. Meanwhile, the deep action targets and molecular mechanisms of 10 commonly used herbs for the treatment of PMS/PMDD are studied, revealing that it involves several ingredients, many targets, and different pathways. This interaction provides insight into the mechanism of action of TCM in the synergistic treatment of PMS/PMDD. It is now clear that we can begin treating PMS/PMDD with TCM using the target and mechanism revealed by the abovementioned findings in the future. This serves as an essential reference for future research and clinical application of TCM in the treatment of PMS/PMDD.

Chemical profile and potential mechanisms of Huo-Tan-Chu-Shi decoction in the treatment of coronary heart disease by UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS in combination with network pharmacology analysis and experimental verification.

Huo-Tan-Chu-Shi Decoction (HTCSD), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription within Guangdong Provincial TCM Hospital (the largest TCM hospital in China), is used for effective clinical treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD) caused by phlegm-dampness syndrome with high incidence in the hot and humid climate of Lingnan region. However, its chemical components responsible for the therapeutic effects remain unclear, which restricts its application and further development. Hence, a detailed workflow, combing with UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS, network pharmacology analysis and experimental verification, was proposed and applied to characterize the chemical profile and potential mechanism of HTCSD against CHD. As a result, a total of 130 components from all six composed herbal medicines were characterized in a rapid and sensitive manner through UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS, of which 33 compounds were unambiguously confirmed with reference standards. Consequently, based on the integrated pharmacology network of "herbs-chemicals-targets-pathways-therapeutic effects", four chemicals (magnoflorine, menisperine, 13-hydroxyberberine, luteolin) with four CHD related targets (SRC, MAPK1, EGFR and AKT1) were considered as the key components and targets of HTCSD in the treatment of CHD. Furthermore, the effect of HTCSD was confirmed in animal experiments by enhancing the phosphorylation of MAPK, and the published literature and molecular binding results suggested that magnoflorine and luteolin tended to be the critical compounds involved in the process. Taken together, the characterization of chemical profile combined with network pharmacology analysis and experimental verification not only provided an efficient insight into the overall chemical profile of HTCSD but also revealed the potential pharmacological components and mechanisms of HTCSD against CHD, which laid a necessary chemical and biological basis for the discovery of in vivo bioactive components and the further revelation of functionary mechanism.

The discovery of Q-markers of Qiliqiangxin Capsule, a traditional Chinese medicine prescription in the treatment of chronic heart failure, based on a novel strategy of multi-dimensional "radar chart" mode evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Qiliqiangxin Capsule (QLQX), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription, is especially used for clinical treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF) in China. However, the holistic quality control of QLQX has not been well established due to lack of system research on the quality marker (Q-marker). PURPOSE: In this study, a new strategy of multi-dimensional "radar chart" mode was proposed to overcome the problem that traditional methods cannot evaluate the multiple properties of Q-markers comprehensively and visually, and the strategy was successfully applied to discover the Q-markers of QLQX. METHODS: First, nineteen prototypes that entered the in vivo systemic circulation were selected out as the candidate Q-markers based on our previous studies of chemical and in vivo metabolic profiles. Then, their contents in QLQX were quantitatively analyzed by UHPLC-MS/MS, and the bioactivities on the H9c2 cardiomyocytes cell model was evaluated. The network of in vivo component-target closely related to CHF was further constructed. Finally, a multi-dimensional "radar chart" mode was developed and corresponding Regression Area (RA) and Coefficient Variation (CV) were calculated after data standardization and integration visually based on the Q-marker related multiple characteristics (including the compatibility contribution of herbal medicines, the content, the bioactivity, the in vivo predicted bioavailability and the degree of network pharmacology of candidate components in the TCM prescription). RESULTS: By comparison of RA and CV of the chemicals in the "radar chart", seven compounds mainly from King and Minister herbs (songorin, calycosin-7-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside, astragaloside, tanshinone IIA, ginsenoside Re, hesperidin and alisol A) were screened out as the Q-markers of QLQX, showing the reasonable compatibility contribution and high content in QLQX, preferable pharmacological effect on CHF, as well as good bioavailable characteristics and high target hits in system pharmacology. CONCLUSION: The Q-marker discovery of QLQX in this study laid an important foundation for its quality control improvement, and the mode standardized the abstract definitions of Q-marker and realized the comprehensive assessment of multiple properties of Q-marker in TCM prescriptions, which has a reference value for revealing the Q-marker in the quality control researches of TCM prescriptions.

Characterization of chemical profile and quantification of representative components of DanLou tablet, a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, by UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS combined with UHPLC-TQ-MS.

DanLou tablet (DLT), a famous traditional Chinese medicine prescription (TCMP) consisting of 10 herbal medicines, is extensively used for the treatment of angina pectoris and acute coronary syndrome in China. However, active chemical constituents responsible for the therapeutic effects still remain unclear, due to the fact that the complex composition in DLT have not been holistically clarified. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the chemical profile and simultaneously quantify the representative components in DLT. First, 157 chemical constituents including flavonoids, triterpenoids, tanshinones, lactones, phenolic acids, paeoniflorins and the other types of components were detected, among which 39 were exactly identified by comparing their retention times and MS fragmentation behaviors with those of authentic standards by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS). Moreover, 33 representative components were simultaneously quantified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TQ-MS), which were selected based on following three principles: qualitative and quantitative markers in the Chinese Pharmacopeia (2015 edition), bioactive components possessing cardiovascular-related in vivo or in vitro activities and those derived from 10 consisted herbs in DLT with a diversity of representative structure types. The method was validated in terms of linearity, precision, repeatability and recovery and successfully applied for the quality evaluation of 20 batches of DLT samples. Further chemometric analysis indicated that danshensu and salvianolic acid B were the most significant quantitative markers for the content fluctuation of DLT. In summary, the chemical profiles of DLT were systematically characterized and a practical quantitative method combined with chemometrics was developed to evaluate the intrinsic quality of multiple DLT samples in this study. The present work would be helpful for guaranteeing the safety, efficacy, and controllability in clinical medication of DLT.

In vivo metabolic profiles of Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang, a famous traditional Chinese medicine prescription, in rats by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry.

Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang (BZYQT), a famous traditional Chinese medicine prescription (TCMP), has been extensively used for conditioning sub-health status and diseases caused by spleen-qi deficiency in China for over 700 years. BZYQT is prevalent not only in China, but also in Japan and South Korea for the clinical treatment of chronic diseases, such as fatigue, tuberculosis and loss of appetite after surgery. However, due to a lack of research on the holistic metabolism of BZYQT, the in vivo bioactive components of BZYQT remain unclear, hindering further study of its in vivo mechanism of action and quality control. In the present study, a four-step integrated strategy based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was established to systematically screen the in vivo xenobiotics of BZYQT. Ultimately, a total of 162 xenobiotics (59 prototypes and 103 metabolites) were identified or tentatively characterized, including 48 in plasma, 147 in urine and 58 in feces, while the in vivo metabolic profile of atractylenolide III (a major component of BZYQT) was elucidated for the first time. The xenobiotics of BZYQT mainly included flavonoids from Astragali Radix, Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and Citrus reticulatae Pericarpium; lactones from Angelicae Sinensis Radix and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma; and triterpenoid saponins from Cimicifugae Rhizoma. After oral administration, BZYQT-related components underwent diverse metabolic pathways. Among them, flavonoids mainly underwent glucuronidation, sulfation and demethylation, while lactones mainly underwent hydroxylation and acetylcysteine conjugation, and deglycosylation was the major metabolic reaction of saponins. Our investigation gives a comprehensive analysis of the metabolic characteristics of BZYQT and will provide an important basis for further studying the pharmacokinetics of BZYQT to explore its in vivo disposal features and discover its in vivo bioactive components.

[Rapid screening of anti-osteoporosis active ingredients from Liuwei Dihuang Decoction by osteoblast membrane chromatography/ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry].

A method was established for determination of potential anti-osteoporosis ingredients from Liuwei Dihuang Decoction by osteoblast cell membrane chromatography/ultra-performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CMC/UPLC-TOF/MS). The osteoblasts were used as the source of cell membrane for the preparation of CMC stationary phase. An osteoblast CMC column (10 mm×2 mm) was prepared by coating silica gel (0.05 g) with cell membrane. The active ingredients in the aqueous extract of Liuwei Dihuang Decoction (90 g/L) were first screened by CMC. Water was used as the mobile phase, and the flow rate was 0.20 mL/min. Then, the eluates of the CMC were qualitatively analyzed by UPLC-TOF/MS using a WATERS ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column (10 mm×2 mm). Acetonitrile-water was used as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.40 mL/min. This method could quickly and selectively identify 16 potential anti-osteoporotic active ingredients from Liuwei Dihuang Decoction. Due to high catalpol content in Liuwei Dihuang Decoction and its good affinity with CMC column, catapol was selected for in vivo and in vitro pharmacological examinations. It was found that catalpol (1-10 µmol/L) could significantly promote the proliferation of osteoblasts in a dose-dependent manner. It also significantly increased the area of bone staining in osteoporosis zebrafish model. The osteoblast CMC/UPLC-TOF/MS method could quickly screen the anti-osteoporosis active ingredients in complex traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, and had the advantages of simple operation, high efficiency and high sensitivity.

New MS network analysis pattern for the rapid identification of constituents from traditional Chinese medicine prescription Lishukang capsules in vitro and in vivo based on UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS.

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) has recently been widely used in qualitative analyses of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions. However, a poor understanding of detected mass spectral data has rendered data processing difficult and time-consuming. Efficient and widespread data analysis methods focused on identifying both phytochemical compounds and metabolites of TCM prescriptions have rarely been described. In this study, a new MS network analysis pattern that uses model drug Lishukang (LSK) capsules to accelerate the data processing of TCM preparations is developed. The MS network analysis pattern integrates intrinsic structural correlations of phytochemical compounds and structural information derived from mass spectrometry to identify the same types of compounds from a raw data stream. As a result, five MS networks of flavones and flavone glycosides, alkaloids, phenolic acids, saponins and benzylester glucosides in LSK are preliminarily established. 278 compounds, including 9 potential novel compounds are identified or tentatively assigned based on MS networks. Furthermore, 57 potential metabolites of LSK are identified in rat plasma, and potential metabolic pathways are investigated under the guidance of MS networks in vitro. The MS network analysis pattern serves as an integral solution for identifying phytochemical compounds and metabolites of TCM prescriptions. The investigations of LSK also provide essential data for its further study.

[Modern research progress of traditional Chinese medicine based on integrative pharmacology].

Integrative pharmacology (IP) is a discipline that studies the interaction, integration and principle of action of multiple components with the body, emphasizing the integrations of multi-level and multi-link, such as "whole and part", "in vivo and in vitro", "in vivo process and activity evaluation". After four years of development and practice, the theory and method of IP has received extensive attention and application.In order to better promote the development of IP, this paper systematically reviews the concepts, research contents, research methods and application fields about IP.

Modern research progress of traditional Chinese medicine based on integrative pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

Integrative pharmacology (IP) is a discipline that studies the interaction, integration and principle of action of multiple components with the body, emphasizing the integrations of multi-level and multi-link, such as "whole and part", " and ", " process and activity evaluation". After four years of development and practice, the theory and method of IP has received extensive attention and application.In order to better promote the development of IP, this paper systematically reviews the concepts, research contents, research methods and application fields about IP.

[Discussion on clinical problems about bases of new drug of traditional Chinese medicine development].

In view of the industry lacking of sufficient analyses on the bases of project establishment about the new drugs of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) during their applying for the clinical research, from the perspective of clinical evaluation, this paper reviewed and analyzed the present situation and development paths of new drugs of TCM in recent years. Through the analyses of the rationality of formulations, human use experiences and clinical studies, the paper puts forward the countermeasures to solve these difficulties during the technical evaluation of new drugs of TCM in order to improve the new drugs' clinical research.

Discussion on clinical problems about bases of new drug of traditional Chinese medicine development / 中国中药杂志

In view of the industry lacking of sufficient analyses on the bases of project establishment about the new drugs of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) during their applying for the clinical research, from the perspective of clinical evaluation, this paper reviewed and analyzed the present situation and development paths of new drugs of TCM in recent years. Through the analyses of the rationality of formulations, human use experiences and clinical studies, the paper puts forward the countermeasures to solve these difficulties during the technical evaluation of new drugs of TCM in order to improve the new drugs' clinical research.

Study on Prescription Regularity of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Cirrhosis Based on Machine Learning / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

This study was aimed to use machine learning techniques for the prescription regularity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of liver diseases in order to provide a reference basis for clinical treatment as well as research and development of new drugs.According to the prescription data of liver disease treatment of the last two years in the hepatology department of a triple-A TCM hospital,the related structure between drugs was firstly found by the complex structure of drugs.And then,association rule,cluster analysis and other unsupervised machine learning methods were used.The prescription regularity of TCM in the treatment of cirrhosis was received through the comparison and analysis.The results showed that there were 589 prescriptions with 257 types of Chinese medicine herbs.The high frequency drug combination included 2 items of 12,3 items of 15,4 items of 14;support ＞ 10％,confidence ＞ 90％ of the association rule include "dried tangerine peel,medicated leaven → largehead atractylodes rhizome," "polyporus umbellatus,dried tangerine peel → largehead atractylodes rhizome" and other 34;through cluster analysis,it showed that Chinese medicine was mainly classified by 5 characteristics.The machine learning result was the same as the constructed complex network.It was concluded that the combination of complex network and machine learning methods in the exploration of prescription regularity of TCM in the treatment of cirrhosis were feasible.It provided clinical treatment of cirrhosis and clues for finding new prescription in the treatment of cirrhosis.

Relation Extraction of Traditional Chinese Medicine Prescription and Disease Based on Literature Abstracts Data / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

This paper studied the correlation between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription and disease based on machine learning.This paper selected TCM literature abstract data in the TCM category of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database by crawler technology.After data cleaning,lexicon building,word segmentation and other related basic pre-treatment work,it uses natural language processing technique to extract the feature of the web text data,constructs the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification model,and extracts the relation between TCM prescription and disease.The results showed that among 1073581 abstracts,204780 sentences,which included both TCM prescription and the disease according to dictionaries,were filtered.The SVM classification model whose feature is constructed by constituency parser is in a better accuracy,which achieved 87％.Applying the SVM model in filtered sentences,this study obtained the relation triples between TCM prescription and the disease.It was concluded that by using the method of machine learning to extract relation on abstract data from the CNKI database,the extracted relation triples of TCM prescription and disease will take a positive effect on the research of disease treatment by TCM prescription.

Analysis on Traditional Chinese Medicine Prescription Patterns in 3609 Patients with Osteoarthritis Based on The Real World / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used as a complementary approach for osteoarthritis treatment.This article is based on the real world.The implicit prescription patterns behind TCM formulae were examined by association rules mining and cluster analysis,so as to explore the Chinese medicinal compatibility patterns or rules in osteoarthritis treatment.This study was based on real-world data from the hospital information system (HIS).Chinese medicinal prescriptions of hospitalized patients with osteoarthritis from June 2012 to June 2016 were collected from the Department of Rheumatism and Immunology,the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine.TCM was listed according to the selected medicinal formulae and the added information was organized to establish a database.The frequency and association rules of prescription patterns were analyzed using the SPSS Modeler 14.2 Data Mining System.Cluster analysis of prescription patterns was also analyzed.An initial statistical analysis was carried out to categorize herbs according to their natures,flavors,channel tropisms and functions.Based on categorization,frequencies of occurrence were computed.At the same time,the relationship between TCM and immune and inflammatory markers was analyzed.The results showed that the main prescriptive features from the selected formulae of the mining data were that,(1) warm or cold herbs,sweet or bitter herbs,and with the channel tropism of spleen channel are the most frequently prescribed herbs in 3609 medicinal formulae;(2) herbs with blood-activating and stasis-resolving,restoring vital energy,water-eliminating and damp-removing,heat-clearing and or expelling wind-damp functions are frequently prescribed;(3) association rule analysis extracted three frequently used pairs of herbs,which are Hong Hua & Tao Ren (98.90％),Pu Gong Ying & Bai Hua She She Cao (97.88％),Fu Ling & Ze Xie (92.63％);(4) association rule between TCM and immune-inflammation index showed that the pair of Du Huo and Chen Pi was associated with increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme.The pair of Mai Ya and Dan Shen was associated with decreased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP),erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),complement component 3 (C3),complement component 4 (C4),immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG).The pair of Mai Ya and Fu Ling was associated with decreased immunoglobulin M (IgM).It was concluded that osteoarthritis was closely related to spleen deficiency.These prescriptions focus on herbs for qi-nourishing and spleen-invigorating,blood-activating and stasis-resolving,spleen-invigorating and dampness-eliminating,heat-clearing and detoxicating which seems to be the key element in the treatment process.Meanwhile,the use of restoring vital energy herbs and spleen-strengthening herbs also forms the basis of prescription patterns.

Protective effect of the traditional Chinese medicine prescription, Jiu Nao Yi Zhi water extract, on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line / 中国比较医学杂志

Objective To observe the protective effect of the traditional Chinese medicine prescription, Jiu Nao Yi Zhi water extract, on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line, its effect on expression of insulin signal transduction pathway, and to explore the related mechanisms.Methods SH-SY5Y cells cultured in vitro, were divided into control group, Jiu Nao Yi Zhi No.1 prescription group and No.3 prescription group.The doses were 0.0625 mg/mL, 0.125 mg/mL, 0.25 mg/mL, 0.5 mg/mL and 1 mg/mL.The thiazolyl blue ( MTT) metabolic rate of each group was determined.The dose of 0.125 mg/mL was chosen for cell immunofluorescence analysis, and to observe the expression of insulin receptor substrates-1 ( IRS-1 ) , cAMP response element binding protein ( CREB ) , and the factors of insulin signal transduction pathway.Results Compared with the control group, MTT metabolic rates of the Jiu Nao Yi Zhi groups were significantly increased (P<0.05), and the cell morphology was much better in those groups, cell body more plump, well-adherent and neurite extensions were observed.The expressions of IRS-1 and CREB were higher than that in the control group.Conclusions The traditional Chinese medicine prescription Jiu Nao Yi Zhi water extract can protect neurons by promoting nerve cell growth, and improving the expression of IRS-1 and CREB, the factors of insulin signal transduction pathway.

Metabolites profile of Xian-Ling-Gu-Bao capsule, a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, in rats by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry analysis.

Xian-Ling-Gu-Bao capsule (XLGB), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine prescription (TCMP), is widely used for the treatment of osteoporosis. However, due to lack of metabolism research, the effective material of XLGB is still unknown. It entails a huge obstacle for the clinical-safe medication administration and quality control of XLGB. To explore the metabolic fate of multiple components of XLGB, herein, we proposed a "representative structure based homologous xenobiotics identification" (RSBHXI) strategy based on ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) and mass defect filter (MDF) technique. A total of 147 XLGB-related xenobiotics were identified or tentatively characterized in rat biofluids after oral administration of XLGB, including 134 (57 prototype components and 77 metabolites) in plasma, 93 (37 prototype components and 56 metabolites) in urine and 118 (46 prototype components and 72 metabolites) in bile. Our results indicated that prenylated flavonol glycosides from Herba epimedii, prenylated flavonoids from Fructus psoraleae, saponins from Radix dipsaci and Rhizoma anemarrahenae, as well as tanshinones from Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae were major absorbed chemical components of XLGB. Hydrolysis, glucuronidation and sulfation were major metabolic reactions of XLGB. As more xenobiotics were detected in bile than those in urine, it demonstrated that multiple components of XLGB underwent comprehensive hepatobiliary excretion. The present study expands our knowledge about the metabolism of XLGB which will be conducive to revealing its in vivo pharmacological material basis. In addition, the application of RSBHXI strategy provides a new approach for metabolite identification of TCMPs and other complex mixture.