[Application of remote sensing technology in medicinal plant resources].

The sustainable use of medicinal plants is the foundation of the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) and the acquisition of information on medicinal plants is the basis for the development of TCM. The traditional methods of investigating medicinal plant resources are disadvantageous in strong subjectivity and poor timeliness, making it difficult to real-time monitor medicinal plant resources. In recent years, remote sensing technology has become an important means of obtaining information on medicinal plants. The application of this technology has made up for the shortcomings of traditional methods. The open-access remote sensing data with medium spatial resolution satellites provide an opportunity for extracting information on medicinal plant resources. This study firstly introduced the principles of remote sensing technology, summarized the satellites and the parameters commonly used in the field of medicinal plant resources, and compared the survey methods of remote sensing technology with traditional methods. Secondly, it reviewed the applications of remote sensing technology in the extraction of information on the cultivation of medicinal plants and the common methods for extracting the planting structure information of medicinal plants based on remote sensing technology. Thirdly, the applications of remote sensing technology in the investigation and monitoring of medicinal plants were further analyzed with the research objects divided into wild and cultivated medicinal plants according to the characteristics of the habitats. Finally, it pointed out the key unsolved technical problems in the remote sensing monitoring of medicinal plant resources, and proposed solutions for the intelligent information processing of medicinal plants based on remote sensing big data, which is expected to provide references for the development of remote sensing technology in derivative application in medicinal plant resources.

Future development of Good Agricultural Practice in China under globalization of traditional herbal medicine trade.

Traditional herbal medicine (THM) is an important part of the traditional Chinese medicine culture. Due to its high medicinal potential, it should not only serve for the Chinese people's medical use, but also contribute to the world medicine, THM for the international market must be standardized and large-scale, and produced according to the "Good Agriculture Practice" (GAP). The quality of THM directly affects the patient's treatment status and safety of use. Therefore, the quality assurance of THM runs through the entire process of research and development, production and clinical practice. The standardized production and cultivation of THM is the starting point of the THM industry chain and plays a decisive role in the economic development of the THM industry. This article summarizes the development history, limitations and future development of GAP, and clarifies the opportunities for THM in the rapid development of the international and domestic Chinese medicine industry. In addition, analyzing the deficiencies that were existing in the former GAP implementation process and by suggesting science-based quality measures, it is hoped to stipulate improved GAP guidelines in the future and to lay the foundation for a modern THM international trade.

Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Applications of Radix Astragali.

Radix Astragali (RA), a traditional Chinese medicine from the dried root of Astragalus species, is widely distributed throughout the temperate regions of the world. The major bioactive constituents of RA are triterpene glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, and alkaloids, and these compounds mostly exert pharmacological activities on the cardiovascular, immune, respiratory, and hepatic systems. This review summarizes the recent studies on RA and provides a comprehensive summary regarding the status of resources, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, clinical application, and patent release of RA. We hope this review can provide a guidance for further development of therapeutic agents from RA.

Saposhnikovia divaricata-An Ethnopharmacological, Phytochemical and Pharmacological Review.

Saposhnikovia divaricata (Turcz.) Schischk., a perennial herb belonging to the family Umbelliferae, is widely distributed in Northeast Asia. Its dried root (Radix Saposhnikoviae) is used as a Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of immune system, nervous system, and respiratory diseases. Phytochemical and pharmacological studies have shown that the main constituents of S. divaricata are chromones, coumarins, acid esters, and polyacetylenes, and these compounds exhibited significant anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, antiproliferative, antitumor, and immunoregulatory activities. The purpose of this review is to provide comprehensive information on the botanical characterization and distribution, traditional use and ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of S. divaricata for further study concerning its mechanism of action and development of better therapeutic agents and health products from S. divaricata.

Evaluation of antioxidant capacity and immunomodulatory effects of cottonseed meal protein hydrolysate and its derivative peptides for hepatocytes of blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala).

Two in vitro trials were conducted to identify a peptide with antioxidant activity and immunoenhancement from cottonseed meal protein hydrolysate (CPH) for fish. Primary hepatocytes of Megalobrama amblycephala were treated with CPH. In experiment 1, CPH significantly increased aspartate aminotransferase (GOT), alanine aminotransferase (GPT), total superoxide dismutase (t-SOD), catalase (CAT), and lysozyme activities, as well as up-regulated SOD, CAT, antimicrobial peptides 1 (Leap 1) and Leap 2 mRNA levels (p < 0.05). However, CPH significantly down-regulated the expression of NADPH oxidase-2 (NOX2), Kelch-like-ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and BTB and CNC homolog 1 (Bach1) mRNA (p < 0.05) in fish hepatocytes. Experiment 2 showed that the molecular mass of CPH was distributed mainly in the 700-1024 Da range. Peptide 1 (P1) and P2 significantly decreased GOT and GPT activities in conditioned medium (p < 0.05); however, P4 and P6 did not affect GOT and GPT activities (p > 0.05). Furthermore, P4 significantly increased hepatocyte GOT, GPT, t-SOD, CAT levels and lysozyme activities (p < 0.05), up-regulated SOD, CAT, Leap1 and Leap2 mRNA expression levels, and down-regulated the expression of Nrf2 and NOX2 mRNA (p < 0.05) in fish hepatocytes. The above results indicated that CPH and P4 enhanced hepatocyte metabolism, as well as improved antioxidant capacities and innate immunity of blunt snout bream hepatocytes.

Who are the users of a traditional Chinese sanfu acupoint herbal patching therapy in China?: A cross-sectional survey.

Sanfu acupoint herbal patching (SAHP) is a unique traditional Chinese medicine therapy, which has become popular for preventing acute attack of respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in many regions of mainland China. However, the knowledge about its users is lacking, especially the characteristics of the users and their experience and perspectives.To investigate the demographics of users, conditions for its use and the previous experience of SAHP, as well as users' perspectives to provide baseline information for its practice.A cross-sectional consecutive-sample survey was conducted at outpatient departments from 3 traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in northern China. Each participant completed a questionnaire, after informed consent. Data description and analyses were done using SPSS 20.0.Among 949 SAHP users from 3 hospitals, female was predominant (n = 592; 62.4%), aged from 2 to 96 years (median = 52 years). 64.7% (380/587) of regular users have applied consecutively for 3 years or over, and the self-perceived satisfaction rates of respiratory diseases were from 45.9% to 77.7%. Positive attitude toward traditional Chinese medicine was the top reason for choosing SAHP. 42.4% of users held a motivation of being cured by SAHP and with great outcome expectancy on SAHP (70.8%).SAHP users were mainly female adults or elderly population; more than half were regular users, who predominantly used SAHP for various chronic respiratory diseases during their stable stage. The majority of users expressed satisfaction to previous SAHP for their respiratory diseases. 42.4% of users held a motivation of being cured by SAHP and with great outcome expectancy on SAHP (70.8%). The findings from this survey deserve further clinical trials for their clinical effectiveness.

Ginsenoside Rb1: The new treatment measure of myasthenia gravis.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by fatigue and muscle weakness. Ginseng is used in the treatment of MG. Ginsenoside Rb1 (G-Rb1), the most abundant ginsenoside in ginseng root, has been proved to be immune regulatory in various diseases. In this study, we investigated the effects and mechanisms of G-Rb1 in treatment for MG in a rat model. Our data showed that G-Rb1 treatment markedly ameliorated the symptoms of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) rats, decreased the percentage of Th17 cells in mononuclear cells (MNCs), and increased the number of Treg and Th2 cells in MNCs. We also found that G-Rb1 treatment decreased the serum level of anti-R97-116 peptides IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies. Our findings provide strong evidence that G-Rb1 treatment has immune regulatory effects in EAMG rats, which indicate that G-Rb1 may be employed as a therapeutic medication for MG.

Clinical effects of a standardized Chinese herbal remedy, Qili Qiangxin, as an adjuvant treatment in heart failure: systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Qili Qiangxin capsule is a standardized Chinese herbal treatment that is commonly used in China for heart failure (HF) alongside conventional medical care. In 2014, Chinese guidelines for the treatment of chronic HF highlighted Qili Qiangxin capsules as a potentially effective medicine. However, there is at present no high quality review to evaluate the effects and safety of Qili Qiangxin for patients with HF. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis and followed methods described in our registered protocol [PROSPERO registration: CRD42013006106]. We searched 6 electronic databases to identify randomized clinical trials (RCTs) irrespective of blinding or placebo control of Qili Qiangxin used as an adjuvant treatment for HF. RESULTS: We included a total of 129 RCTs published between 2005 and 2015, involving 11,547 patients, aged 18 to 98 years. Meta-analysis showed no significant difference between Qili Qiangxin plus conventional treatment and conventional treatment alone for mortality (RR 0.53, 95 % CI 0.27 to 1.07). However, compared with conventional treatment alone, Qili Qiangxin plus conventional treatment demonstrated a significant reduction in major cardiovascular events (RR 0.46, 95 % CI 0.34 to 0.64) and a significant reduction in re-hospitalization rate due to HF (RR 0.49, 95 % CI 0.38 to 0.64). Qili Qiangxin also showed significant improvement in cardiac function measured by the New York Heart Association scale (RR 1.38, 95 % CI 1.29 to 1.48) and quality of life as measured by Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MD -8.48 scores, 95 % CI -9.56 to -7.39). There were no reports of serious adverse events relating to Qili Qiangxin administration. The majority of included trials were of poor methodological quality. CONCLUSIONS: When compared with conventional treatment alone, Qili Qiangxin combined with conventional treatment demonstrated a significant effect in reducing cardiovascular events and re-hospitalization rate, though not in mortality. It appeared to significantly improve quality of life in patients with HF and data from RCTs suggested that Qili Qiangxin is likely safe. This data was drawn from low quality trials and the results of this review must therefore be interpreted with caution. Further research is warranted, ideally involving large, prospective, rigorous trials, in order to confirm these findings.

Curcumin ameliorates experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis by diverse immune cells.

Curcumin is a traditional Asian medicine with diverse immunomodulatory properties used therapeutically in the treatment of many autoimmune diseases. However, the effects of curcumin on myasthenia gravis (MG) remain undefined. Here we investigated the effects and potential mechanisms of curcumin in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG). Our results demonstrated that curcumin ameliorated the clinical scores of EAMG, suppressed the expression of T cell co-stimulatory molecules (CD80 and CD86) and MHC class II, down-regulated the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-17, IFN-γ and TNF-α) and up-regulated the levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, shifted the balance from Th1/Th17 toward Th2/Treg, and increased the numbers of NKR-P1(+) cells (natural killer cell receptor protein 1 positive cells, including NK and NKT cells). Moreover, the administration of curcumin promoted the differentiation of B cells into a subset of B10 cells, increased the anti-R97-166 peptide IgG1 levels and decreased the relative affinity indexes of anti-R97-116 peptide IgG. In summary, curcumin effectively ameliorate EAMG, indicating that curcumin may be a potential candidate therapeutic agent for MG.