Simultaneous determination of five compounds of fried Radix Paeoniae Alba extract in beagle dogs plasma by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry and its application in a pharmacokinetic study.

In this present study, we developed a reliable and simple ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) assay for the simultaneous quantification of paeoniflorin, albiflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, benzoylpaeoniflorin and isomaltopaeoniflorin in beagle dog plasma. We also analyzed the pharmacokinetics of those components after oral administration of fried Radix Paeoniae Alba (FRPA) in beagle dogs. Plasma samples were processed by protein precipitation with methanol. Chromatographic separation was performed with a Waters HSS-T3 C18 column (100 × 2.1 mm, 1.8 µm, kept at 40°C) using multiple reaction monitoring mode. A gradient elution procedure was used with solvent A (0.02% formic acid-water) and solvent B (0.02% formic acid-acetonitrile) as mobile phases. Method validation was performed as US Food and Drug Administration guidelines, and the results met the acceptance criteria. The method we establish in this experiment was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study after oral administration of FRPA extract to beagle dogs.

Characterization and transcriptomic analyses of the toxicity induced by toosendanin in Spodoptera frugipreda.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a destructive agricultural pest that seriously threatens global food security. Insecticide resistance of this pest has gradually formed in recent years due to improper usage, and alternative methods are badly needed. Toosendanin (TSN) is a botanical compound with broad-spectrum insecticidal activities against many pests. However, the effects of TSN on S. frugiperda are still unclear. In this study, the growth inhibition phenomenon, including weight loss and prolonged developmental duration, in the larvae with TSN exposure was clearly observed. Compared to the control group, a total of 450 and 3314 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by RNA-Seq in the larvae groups treated with 10 and 20 mg/kg TSN, respectively. Furthermore, the DEGs involved in the juvenile hormone and ecdysone signal pathways and downstream processes, including detoxifying enzyme genes, chitin synthesis and metabolism genes, and cuticular protein genes, were found. Our findings suggest that TSN regulates the expression of key genes in juvenile hormone and ecdysone signal pathways and a series of downstream processes to alter the hormone balance and cuticle formation and eventually inhibit larval growth, which laid the foundation for the molecular toxicological mechanism research of TSN on S. frugiperda larvae.

[Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials of Eye-acupuncture Therapy for Patients with Post-stroke Insomnia].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of eye-acupuncture therapy for post-stroke insomnia. METHODS: Sixty patients (45-70 years in age) with post-stroke insomnia were randomized into eye-acupuncture group and routine acupuncture (body acupuncture) group (30 cases in each). Patients of the eye-acupuncture group were treated by acupuncture stimulation of bilateral Shangjiao (Upper-energizer) and Xin (Heart) regions and those of the routine acupuncture group treated by acupuncture stimulation of Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Anmian (EX-HN 16), etc. After Deqi, the filiform needles were retained for 20 min, and the treatment in both groups was conducted once a day, with 15 days being one therapeutic course and 2 courses altogether. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) including the subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction, and total PSQI score was used to evaluate the overall sleep quality. The clinical efficacy was assessed according to the "Guiding Principles of Clinical Trials for New Drugs of Traditional Chinese Medicine" formulated by Chinese Ministry of Health. RESULTS: Following the treatment, of the two 30 cases in the eye-and routine acupuncture groups, 21 and 9 experienced a marked improvement in their symptoms, 8 and 17 were effective, and 1 and 4 invalid, with the effective rate being 96.7% and 86.7%, respectively. The PSQI scores of the subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction, and the total PSQI score were all significantly decreased in comparison with pre-treatment in each group (P<0.01). The therapeutic effect of the eye-acupuncture was markedly superior to those of routine acupuncture in reducing sleep latency, sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction (P<0.05), but without significant differences between the two groups in the effective rate, sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep efficiency and total PSQI score (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both eye-acupuncture and routine acupunture are effective in the treatment of post-stroke insomnia, and the eye-acupuncture is better than routine acupuncture in reducing sleep latency, improving sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction.