[Ten-year Trend Analysis of Eutrophication Status and the Related Causes in Lake Hongze].

In order to propose pertinent suggestions regarding eutrophication control for Lake Hongze, we used monthly monitoring data from 2011 to 2020 to elucidate the spatiotemporal changing characteristics of eutrophic status and the relevant driving factors. As the main river entering Lake Hongze, River Huaihe experienced an increase in permanganate index and a decrease in TN in the last 10 years. Meanwhile, Secchi depth, TP, and permanganate index increased, whereas TN and Chl-a concentration decreased significantly in Lake Hongze. As a result, the eutrophic status TLI index of Lake Hongze declined over the past 10 years. The change trend of TLI in Lake Hongze differed spatially. As the main water passage of River Huaihe, the algal biomass was lower in the eastern region than that in the other two lake regions, regardless of the relatively high nutrient concentration, due to the short water retention time. Furthermore, the water quality of River Huaihe improved; thus, the TLI index decreased significantly in the eastern lake region. The northern region had a high coverage of aquatic vegetation, which not only reduced the concentration of water nutrients but also provided a habitat for zooplankton and fish, effectively inhibiting algal growth. Thus, the TLI index was lowest among the three lake areas and showed a downward trend over the last 10 years. In the western region, the algal biomass was the highest due to the intensification of phosphorus release from sediment in summer. Thus, the TLI index was the highest and had not improved in the past 10 years. There were also significant seasonal differences in the TLI of Lake Hongze, which was highest in summer, due to the relatively high algal biomass. Moreover, the algal biomass in summer was mainly affected by the concentration of nitrate. According to the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of eutrophic status and the impacting factors in Lake Hongze, corresponding measures for eutrophication control should be taken for different seasons and lake areas.

Evaluation of nine active components of Lu-Jiao Fang in normal and hypertrophic rat myocardia via LC-MS/MS.

Lu-Jiao Fang (LJF), a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, can improve the cardiac function of chronic heart failure (CHF) patients; however, knowledge about the cardiac distribution of LJF, especially in CHF animal models, is rather limited. This work aimed to explore the cardiac distribution of LJF in pressure overload-induced CHF rats at the last gavage administration of LJF after 30 weeks of treatment. LC-MS/MS methods for analyzing nine active components (i.e. loganin, hesperidin, epimedin C, icariin, psoralen, isopsoralen, baohuoside I, morroniside and specnuezhenide) of LJF in cardiac tissue samples were established, and the components were then analyzed in left ventricular wall (LVW) and right ventricular wall (RVW) in parallel at same time point postdose for three dose groups. The results showed that most analytical component levels in LVW (hypertrophic myocardium) were only 39-74% of those in RVW (normal myocardium); however, psoralen and isopsoralen levels in LVW were equal to or even greater than the levels in RVW, suggesting that the hypertrophic myocardium tissue affinity of psoralen and isopsoralen might overcome the negative effect of decreased blood flow on distribution. This study indicated that the pathological state may influence drug distribution, and the efficacy of psoralen and isopsoralen for improving CHF deserves further investigation.

[Preparation and pharmacokinetic evaluation of long-acting injectable oily suspensions for ophiopogonis radix polysaccharide MDG-1].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate in vivo pharmacokinetics of Ophiopogonis Radix polysaccharide MDG-1 oily suspension injection prepared with different prescriptions in rats, and explore the feasibility of the long-acting drug delivery of MDG-1 Injection by using the oily suspension drug release system. METHOD: MDG-1 microparticles were prepared by the anti-solvent precipitation method. Their size and size distribution were characterized. Castor oil with a high viscosity or aluminum stearate were added into soybean oil with a low viscosity, in order to prepare oily media with different viscosities, detect their rheological properties and screen out superior prescriptions for in vivo evaluation. RESULT: The average size of microparticles was 21.81 microm, and the span between them was 2.63. The in vivo evaluation was conducted for prescriptions of mixed oil (soybean oil/castor oil, 2: 3) and soybean oils gelled by 2% and 4% aluminium stearate. Among them, the prescription of soybean gelled by 4% aluminium stearate could significantly reduce C(max) and prolong the apparent t1/2, with the MDG-1 release time of several days. CONCLUSION: It is feasible to achieve the long-acting MDG-1 drug delivery by using oily media with a high viscosity.