Regulatory effect of traditional Chinese medicines on signaling pathways of process from chronic atrophic gastritis to gastric cancer.

Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG), a common disease of digestive system, is an extremely important cause of gastric cancer (GC). The occurrence and development of CAG involves the abnormality of multiple signaling pathways. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) has the advantages of mild action, multi-target and small adverse reaction, etc., which broadens the way for the treatment of the disease, and TCMs can play a therapeutic role by regulating multiple signaling pathways. In this review, based on the related experiments of TCMs and Chinese herbal compounds in recent years, the related literatures were searched and 10 kinds of signaling pathways involved were summarized, in order to provide a reference for further research on reversing or delaying the progress of CAG and preventing gastric cancer.

Traditional Chinese medicine against COVID-19: Role of the gut microbiota.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and it has become a public health concern worldwide. In addition to respiratory symptoms, some COVID­19 patients also show various gastrointestinal symptoms and even consider gastrointestinal symptoms to be the first manifestation. A large amount of evidence has shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection could disrupt the gut microbiota balance, and disorders of the gut microbiota could aggravate the condition of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, maintaining the gut microbiota balance is expected to become a potential new therapeutic target for treating COVID-19. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has significant effects in all stages of the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. It can adjust the gut microbiota and is an ideal intestinal microecological regulator. This review summarizes the advantages and clinical efficacy of TCM in the treatment of COVID-19 and expounds on the relationship between TCM and the gut microbiota, the relationship between COVID-19 and the gut microbiota, the mechanism of gut microbiota disorders induced by SARS-CoV-2, the relationship between cytokine storms and the gut microbiota, and the role and mechanism of TCM in preventing and treating COVID-19 by regulating the gut microbiota to provide new research ideas for TCM in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

The effect of Baduanjin exercise on the quality of life in patients recovering from COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the number of COVID-19 patients has been on the rise. With the improvement of diagnosis and treatment level in various countries, more and more patients have recovered. Baduanjin exercise is a traditional Chinese health care method with a long history, easy-to-learn, and remarkable effect. It is not subject to the constraints of the field and can be practiced at any time. It can be used as an alternative therapy for COVID-19 rehabilitation patients. At present, there are no relevant articles for systematic review. METHODS: We will retrieve a randomized controlled trial of Baduanjin exercise for COVID-19 from the beginning to July 2020. The following databases are areas of concern: Published randomized Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central), PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Wan-fang Database-controlled trials in Chinese and English related to Baduanjin exercise and COVID-19 were included. The main result was the effect of Baduanjin exercise on the quality of life in patients recovering from COVID-19. Secondary results to accompany symptoms (such as muscle pain, cough, sputum, runny nose, sore throat, chest tightness, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea), disappearance rate, 2 consecutive (not on the same day) COVID-19 negative rate of nucleic acid test results, the quality of life improved, improve CT images, the average hospitalization time, severe form of common clinical cure rate and mortality. RESULTS: The results of this study will provide researchers in the field of COVID-19 with a current synthesis of high-quality evidence. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this study will provide evidence for judging whether Baduanjin exercise is an effective intervention for the quality of life of rehabilitative patients. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020199443.

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Accumulation Mechanism of Anthocyanins in Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) Cotyledons and Flowers.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is a valuable crop which can produce multiple human beneficial secondary metabolites, for example, the anthocyanins in sprouts and flowers. However, as the predominant group of visible polyphenols in pigmentation, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the anthocyanin biosynthesis within buckwheat. In this study, a comparative transcriptome analysis of green and red common buckwheat cultivars was carried out through RNA sequencing. Overall, 3727 and 5323 differently expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in flowers and cotyledons, respectively. Through GO and KEGG analysis, we revealed that DEGs in flowers and cotyledons are predominately involved in biosynthesis of anthocyanin. A total of 42 unigenes encoding 11 structural enzymes of the anthocyanin biosynthesis were identified as DEGs. We also identified some transcription factor families involved in the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Real-time qPCR validation of candidate genes was performed in flowers and cotyledons, and the results suggested that the high expression level of structural genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway promotes anthocyanin accumulation. Our results provide the insight understanding for coloration of red common buckwheat.

Cytological and Proteomic Analysis of Wheat Pollen Abortion Induced by Chemical Hybridization Agent.

In plants, pollen grain transfers the haploid male genetic material from anther to stigma, both between flowers (cross-pollination) and within the same flower (self-pollination). In order to better understand chemical hybridizing agent (CHA) SQ-1-induced pollen abortion in wheat, comparative cytological and proteomic analyses were conducted. Results indicated that pollen grains underwent serious structural injury, including cell division abnormality, nutritional deficiencies, pollen wall defect and pollen grain malformations in the CHA-SQ-1-treated plants, resulting in pollen abortion and male sterility. A total of 61 proteins showed statistically significant differences in abundance, among which 18 proteins were highly abundant and 43 proteins were less abundant in CHA-SQ-1 treated plants. 60 proteins were successfully identified using MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. These proteins were found to be involved in pollen maturation and showed a change in the abundance of a battery of proteins involved in multiple biological processes, including pollen development, carbohydrate and energy metabolism, stress response, protein metabolism. Interactions between these proteins were predicted using bioinformatics analysis. Gene ontology and pathway analyses revealed that the majority of the identified proteins were involved in carbohydrate and energy metabolism. Accordingly, a protein-protein interaction network involving in pollen abortion was proposed. These results provide information for the molecular events underlying CHA-SQ-1-induced pollen abortion and may serve as an additional guide for practical hybrid breeding.

Transcriptome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Potato Circular RNAs in Response to Pectobacterium carotovorum Subspecies brasiliense Infection.

Little information about the roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) during potato-Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasiliense (Pcb) interaction is currently available. In this study, we conducted the systematic identification of circRNAs from time series samples of potato cultivars Valor (susceptible) and BP1 (disease tolerant) infected by Pcb. A total of 2098 circRNAs were detected and about half (931, 44.38%) were intergenic circRNAs. And differential expression analysis detected 429 significantly regulated circRNAs. circRNAs play roles by regulating parental genes and sponging miRNAs. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment of parental genes and miRNAs targeted mRNAs revealed that these differentially expressed (DE) circRNAs were involved in defense response (GO:0006952), cell wall (GO:0005199), ADP binding (GO:0043531), phosphorylation (GO:0016310), and kinase activity (GO:0016301), suggesting the roles of circRNAs in regulating potato immune response. Furthermore, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) found that circRNAs were closely related with coding-genes and long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs). And together they were cultivar-specifically regulated to strengthen immune response of potato to Pcb infection, implying the roles of circRNAs in reprogramming disease responsive transcriptome. Our results will provide new insights into the potato-Pcb interaction and may lead to novel disease control strategy in the future.

Novel nanoparticles with Cr3+ substituted ferrite for self-regulating temperature hyperthermia.

For hyperthermia to be used under clinical conditions for cancer therapeutics the temperature regulation needs to be precise and accurately controllable. In the case of the metal nanoparticles used for such activities, a high coercivity is a prerequisite in order to couple more energy in a single heating cycle for efficient and faster differential heating. The chemically stable Co-Zn ferrite nanoparticles have typically not been used in such self-regulating hyperthermia temperature applications to date due to their low Curie temperature usually accompanied by a poor coercivity. The latter physical property limitation under clinically applied magnetic field conditions (frequency: 100 kHz, intensity: 200 Oe) restricts the transfer of a reasonable heat energy, and thus limits the hyperthermia efficiency. Here, we report a novel Cr3+ substituted Co-Zn ferrite (Zn0.54Co0.46Cr0.6Fe1.4O4), whose Curie temperature and coercivity values are 45.7 °C and 174 Oe, respectively. Under clinically acceptable magnetic field conditions, the temperature of these nanoparticle suspensions can be self-regulated to 44.0 °C and, most importantly with a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 774 W kg-1, which is two-fold higher than the SAR standard for magnetic nanoparticles used in hyperthermia (300 W kg-1). The evaluation of the in vitro cytotoxicity of the nanoparticles reports a low toxicity, which points to a novel set of magnetic nanoparticles for use in self-regulating hyperthermia.

[Responses of the Benthic Diatom Community to Nutrients and the Identification of Nutrient Thresholds in Three Aquatic Ecoregions of the Huntai River, Northeast China].

Benthic diatom communities and nutrient gradients were investigated from 287 sampling sites in three aquatic ecoregions (AE) of the Huntai River to characterize the spatial distribution of nutrients and the benthic diatom communities. Locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) was used to analyze the thresholds for nitrogen and phosphorus. The results showed that:① The concentration of ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus significantly differs in the three AEs, and shows a tendency of AEⅠ < AE Ⅱ < AE Ⅲ. ② To reveal the structure of benthic diatom communities, various benthic diatom indexes, including the sportive diatom percentage, sensitive diatom percentage, stipitate diatom percentage, Pielou evenness index, specific polluosensitivity index (IPS), biological diatom index (IBD), and generic diatom index (IDG) were analyzed. The sportive diatom percentage varied significantly in AEI, AEⅡ, and AE Ⅲ, with the highest percentage observed in AEⅢ and the lowest in AEⅠ. However, the other six indexes exhibited an opposite trend. All revealed that AE Ⅲ has been seriously damaged, while AEⅠ is less disturbed than AEⅡ and AE Ⅲ. ③ LOWESS fitting curves show thresholds for ammonia nitrogen (NH4+ -N) in the three aquatic ecoregions as 0.13, 0.30, and 1.98 mg·L-1, respectively and for total phosphorous (TP) were 0.04, 0.06, and 0.20 mg·L-1. All results were tested by independent-sample T tests. This study will provide assistance for effectively protecting the benthic diatom community in different aquatic ecoregions and also provide a theoretical basis for water management.

Draft genome of the peanut A-genome progenitor (Arachis duranensis) provides insights into geocarpy, oil biosynthesis, and allergens.

Peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), a legume of South American origin, has high seed oil content (45-56%) and is a staple crop in semiarid tropical and subtropical regions, partially because of drought tolerance conferred by its geocarpic reproductive strategy. We present a draft genome of the peanut A-genome progenitor, Arachis duranensis, and 50,324 protein-coding gene models. Patterns of gene duplication suggest the peanut lineage has been affected by at least three polyploidizations since the origin of eudicots. Resequencing of synthetic Arachis tetraploids reveals extensive gene conversion in only three seed-to-seed generations since their formation by human hands, indicating that this process begins virtually immediately following polyploid formation. Expansion of some specific gene families suggests roles in the unusual subterranean fructification of Arachis For example, the S1Fa-like transcription factor family has 126 Arachis members, in contrast to no more than five members in other examined plant species, and is more highly expressed in roots and etiolated seedlings than green leaves. The A. duranensis genome provides a major source of candidate genes for fructification, oil biosynthesis, and allergens, expanding knowledge of understudied areas of plant biology and human health impacts of plants, informing peanut genetic improvement and aiding deeper sequencing of Arachis diversity.

[Pharmacokinetics of magnolol and honokiol in Weichang'an pill].

To conduct multiple-reaction monitoring(MRM) quantitative analysis with high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry method, establish the quantification method of magnolol and honokiol in blood sample under negative ion mode with ibuprofen as internal standard, investigate the pharmacokinetic process of lignans constituents after oral administration of Weichang'an pill(WCA) at different doses, and provide theoretical basis to further reveal the material basis of WCA's anti-diarrhea effect. In the plasma samples, the linear relationship was good over the concentration range of 5.25 to 1 344.00 µg•L ⁻¹ for magnolol and 10.08 to 2 580.00 µg•L ⁻¹ for honokiol. The results of precision, stability, and extraction recovery tests showed that the determination method of plasma concentration for such compositions was stable and reliable. Dose-dependence was shown for magnolol and honokiol in the plasma concentration-time profile. The results indicated that the time to reach the maximum plasma concentration(Tmax) for lignanoids was 0.55-1.42 h, when the maximum plasma concentration(Cmax) could reach 996.36-2 330.96,189.87-1 469.43 µg•L ⁻¹ respectively for magnolol and honokiol. The lignanoids could be absorbed rapidly in the blood after oral administration of WAC pills, providing experimental basis to prove rapid and long-acting anti-diarrhea effect of WAC pills after oral administration.

Comparative studies of mitochondrial proteomics reveal an intimate protein network of male sterility in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Plant male sterility has often been associated with mitochondrial dysfunction; however, the mechanism in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has not been elucidated. This study set out to probe the mechanism of physiological male sterility (PHYMS) induced by the chemical hybridizing agent (CHA)-SQ-1, and cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) of wheat at the proteomic level. A total of 71 differentially expressed mitochondrial proteins were found to be involved in pollen abortion and further identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of fight/time of flight mass spectrometry). These proteins were implicated in different cellular responses and metabolic processes, with obvious functional tendencies toward the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the mitochondrial electron transport chain, protein synthesis and degradation, oxidation stress, the cell division cycle, and epigenetics. Interactions between identified proteins were demonstrated by bioinformatics analysis, enabling a more complete insight into biological pathways involved in anther abortion and pollen defects. Accordingly, a mitochondria-mediated male sterility protein network in wheat is proposed; this network was further confirmed by physiological data, RT-PCR (real-time PCR), and TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling) assay. The results provide intriguing insights into the metabolic pathway of anther abortion induced by CHA-SQ-1 and also give useful clues to identify the crucial proteins of PHYMS and CMS in wheat.

Abnormal development of tapetum and microspores induced by chemical hybridization agent SQ-1 in wheat.

Chemical hybridization agent (CHA)-induced male sterility is an important tool in crop heterosis. To demonstrate that CHA-SQ-1-induced male sterility is associated with abnormal tapetal and microspore development, the cytology of CHA-SQ-1-treated plant anthers at various developmental stages was studied by light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferasemediated dUTP nick end-labelling (TUNEL) assay and DAPI staining. The results indicated that the SQ-1-treated plants underwent premature tapetal programmed cell death (PCD), which was initiated at the early-uninucleate stage of microspore development and continued until the tapetal cells were completely degraded; the process of microspore development was then blocked. Microspores with low-viability (fluorescein diacetate staining) were aborted. The study suggests that premature tapetal PCD is the main cause of pollen abortion. Furthermore, it determines the starting period and a key factor in CHA-SQ-1-induced male sterility at the cell level, and provides cytological evidence to further study the mechanism between PCD and male sterility.

Pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of five bufadienolides from the Shexiang Baoxin Pill following oral administration to mice.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Shexiang Baoxin Pill (SBP) is a well-known composite formula of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases such as angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. Bufadienolides are major active compounds of Venenum Bufonis, which is one of the seven materiamedicas that comprise the Shexiang Baoxin Pill. Previous pharmacokinetics studies of bufadienolides have typically used a single medicinal material delivered to rats. In this study, we have chosen the mouse, a more proper animal model than the rat, to investigate the in vivo pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of bufadienolides from the Shexiang Baoxin Pill. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The concentrations of bufadienolides in plasma and tissues were identified using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS). The samples were prepared by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate, and the separation of bufadienolides was achieved using an ACQUITY HSS T3 column by gradient elution using water (containing 0.1% formic acid) and acetonitrile as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using non-compartmental analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that the five bufadienolides were rapidly absorbed and distributed into the body. The pharmacokinetic curve showed double peaks after oral administration. The major tissue depots for resibufogenin, bufalin, and bufotalin in mice were the intestines, lung and kidney, whereas the major tissue depots of gamabufotalin and arenobufagin were the intestines, liver and kidney. CONCLUSION: The information gained from this research provides a meaningful insight for the clinical applications of the Shexiang Baoxin Pill.

Simultaneous determination of seven bufadienolides in rat plasma after oral administration of Shexiang Baoxin Pill by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry: application to a pharmacokinetic study.

A liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry method was described for the simultaneous determination of resibufogenin, bufalin, gamabufotalin, telibufagin, arenobufagin, cinobufagin and bufotalin in rat plasma. Plasma samples were pretreated by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate. Chromatographic separation was carried out on an ACQUITY HSS T3 column with gradient elution using mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid in water at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. All analytes showed good linearity over a wide concentration range (r>0.99). The lower limit of quantification was in the range of 0.5-10 ng/mL for seven bufadienolides. The mean recovery of the analytes ranged from 94.36 to 104.18%. The intra- and inter-day precisions were in the range of 1.74-13.78% and the accuracies were between 89.37 and 101.38%. The validated method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic (PK) study of the seven bufadienolides in rat plasma after oral administration of Shexiang Baoxin Pill (SBP). The selected PK marker compounds with typical efficacy/toxicity may provide a practical solution for marker compound selection and dosage design for the therapeutic drug monitoring and PK study of SBP in its clinical applications.

[Effect of Qiju Dihuang Pill on serum levels of IFN-gamma and IL-4 in pregnant women of Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Qiju Dihuang Pill (QDP) on changes of Chinese medical syndrome types in pregnant women of Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome (GSYDS), and to explore the correlation between imbalanced cytokine levels and GSYDS. METHODS: This was a random controlled trail. A total of 163 pregnant women of GSYDS at 12 -16 gestational weeks were randomly allocated into the experimental group (86 cases) and the control group (77 cases). Patients in the experimental group took QDP for 2 -4 weeks. Changes of Chinese medical syndrome types and serum interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) levels were observed and compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS: (1) Totally 41 patients (47.7%) in the experimental group were transformed to normal Chinese medical syndrome type. In the same period of the follow-ups, 9 patients (11.7%) in the control group were transformed to normal Chinese medical syndrome type, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). (2) In the experimental group, the serum level of IFN-gamma and the ratio of IFN-gamma/IL-4 in the peripheral blood were obviously lower after treatment than before treatment (P < 0.01), and obviously lower than those in the control group (P < 0.01). The level of IL-4 after treatment in the experimental group was higher than that before treatment, and also higher than that in the control group, but with no statistical difference. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that there was imbalanced IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratio in the peripheral blood of pregnant women of GSYDS. QDP might play a role in immunoregulation by affecting the IFN-gamma level.

Metabolomic analysis of biochemical changes in the plasma and urine of collagen-induced arthritis in rats after treatment with Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT oren-gedoku-to in Japanese), a classical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, is well known for the treatment of inflammatory-related diseases such as gastritis, dermatitis, and ulcerative colitis. Our previous studies have indicated that HLJDT has therapeutic potential in rheumatoid arthritis treatment. To investigate the therapeutic mechanism of a traditional Chinese medicine formula Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT oren-gedoku-to in Japanese) and its constituents combination for collagen-induced arthritis in rats using a metabolomics approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were divided into 9 groups, and drugs were administered from on the day after the onset of arthritis (day 12) until day 31 of the experiment once daily continuously. Urine and plasma were analyzed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF-MS). Partial least-squares discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) models were built to evaluate the therapeutic effects of HLJDT and its constituents combination. 15 identified CIA biomarkers were investigated to explain its therapeutic mechanism. RESULTS: Administration of HLJDT and its constituents combination in CIA rats not only significantly reduced arthritic scores and serum levels of IL-1ß but also improved histopathologic changes in joint architecture. Urinary and plasma metabolic profiling revealed that perturbation of energy metabolism, lipid metabolism, oxidative injury and some amino acids metabolism occurred in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). Our results also indicated that the disturbed urinary levels of succinic acid, citric acid, creatine, uridine, pantothenic acid, carnitine, phenylacetylglycine, allantoin and plasma levels of phenylpyruvic acid in model rats were gradually restored to normal after administration of HLJDT. The treatment of constituents combination of HLJDT group was able to restore to normal the disturbed urinary levels of citric acid, creatine, pantothenic acid, carnitine, pantothenic acid, phenylacetylglycine and plasma levels of uric acid, L-histidine, and l-phenylalanine in model rats. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that HLJDT and its constituents combination treatment can ameliorate CIA through partially regulating the perturbed energy metabolism. Our work demonstrated that metabonomics-based approach is a promising new tool to evaluate the therapeutic effects and mechanism of complex TCM prescriptions.

Simultaneous determination of fifteen constituents of jitai tablet using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole electrospray tandem mass spectrometry.

An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) method was developed for simultaneous determination of fifteen constituents in Jitai tablet (JTT), a complex Traditional Chinese Medicine prescription (TCMP) used in treating opiate addiction. Benefitting from a small particle size (1.8 µm) C18 column, accelerated analysis with satisfactory resolution, sensitivity and selectivity were achieved in a single run within 7 min with linear gradient elution of acetonitrile-0.1% (v/v) formic acid in water. The analytical signal was obtained by multiple reaction monitoring transitions via electrospray ionization source operating in both positive and negative ionization mode. The approach was validated for linearity, sensitivity, precision, repeatability, stability and recovery. All analytes showed good linearity over a wide concentration range (r > 0.99). The method limits ranged from 0.03 ng/mL to 19.35 ng/mL which are sensitive enough for quality control studies. The developed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of fifteen constituents in JTT. In conclusion, our experimental results demonstrate that UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS is a useful approach for the overall quality assessment of complex TCMPs.

The effectiveness of borneol on pharmacokinetics changes of four ginsenosides in Shexiang Baoxin Pill in vivo.

Shexiang Baoxin Pill (SBP) is a traditional Chinese medicine, widely used for cardiovascular diseases in the clinic. Ginsenosides are important effective components in SBP, but their pharmacokinetic characteristics are still not known. In this paper, we studied the pharmacokinetics of ginsenoside Rb1, Rc, Re and Rg1 in SBP and investigated the effect of borneol on the pharmacokinetic characteristic of ginsenosides based on an Agilent G6410A triple quadrupole LC/MS system. Results showed that the pharmacokinetic parameters of ginsenoside Rb1, Rc, Re and Rg1 in rat plasma after oral administration of SBP are significantly different with oral administration of SBP without Borneolum Syntheticum. Plasma pharmacokinetic profiles after oral administration of ginsenoside Rb1, Rc, Re, Rg1 and co-administration with borneol at three different ratios (10:1, 1:1 and 1:10 ginsenoside vs borneol, w/w) were also determined. It was demonstrated that borneol can elevate the plasma concentration of ginsenosides after co-admininstration.

Protective effects of Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang and its component group on collagen-induced arthritis in rats.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang is a famous Traditional Chinese medicine consisting of Rhizoma coptidis (Coptis chinensis Franch, Ranunculaceae), Radix scutellariae (Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Labiatae), Cortex phellodendri (Phellodendron amurense Rupr. Rutaceae) and Fructus gardeniae (Gardenia jasminoide Ellis, Rubiaceae) in a weight ratio of 3:2:2:3.This formula was described by Wang Tao (in the Chinese Tang Dynasty) in his treatise "Wai Tai Mi Yao". It has been used to treat inflammation, hypertension, gastrointestinal disorders, and liver and cerebrovascular diseases in the clinical practice of Traditional Chinese medicine, especially in treating inflammation for nearly two thousand years. However, the essential compounds in it have not been identified, and the mechanisms remain to be addressed. To investigate the protective effects of HLJDT and its component group (HLJDT-CG) on collagen-induced arthritis in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CIA was established in male Wistar rats with subcutaneous injection of type II bovine collagen at the base of the tail of animals. CIA rats were treated daily with oral administration of HLJDT aqueous extracts (270 mg/kg) or HLJDT-CG (40 mg/kg) once per day from day 6 to day 28. Rats in normal and vehicle control groups were given an equal volume of vehicle (0.9% saline) and 0.025 mg/kg Dexamethasone was given to the Standard group at the same time. The protective effect of them were assessed by measuring arthritis index, swelling, the cytokines such as TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-17 in serum, type II collagen antibodies, splenocyte proliferation and so on. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that treatment of CIA rat with either HLJDT aqueous extracts or HLJDT-CG not only ameliorated the symptoms of arthritis, prevented joint damage but also reduced the serum levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-17 in CIA rats. Anti-CII antibodies showed the similar trend except that of IgG1. Furthermore, HLJDT aqueous extracts and HLJDT-CG administration also suppressed CII-induced proliferative response of splenocytes. More importantly, HLJDT-CG exhibited similar pharmacological activities as HLJDT aqueous extracts in all aforementioned experiments. CONCLUSIONS: HLJDT aqueous extracts and HLJDT-CG could effectively ameliorate CII-induced arthritis and significantly suppress the immune response against CII with similar pharmacological efficacy. These findings suggest that HLJDT has therapeutic potential in RA treatment and HLJDT-CG can represent the effective-composite of HLJDT.

Metabolomic study of collagen-induced arthritis in rats and the interventional effects of huang-lian-jie-du-tang, a traditional chinese medicine.

Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with anti-inflammatory activity. The present study used a metabolomic approach based on LC-Q-TOF-MS to profile rheumatoid-arthritis- (RA-) related metabolic changes and to investigate the interventional mechanisms of HLJDT in collagen-induced arthritis rats. Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: (1) a model group, (2) a normal control group, (3) a dexamethasone group, (4) a HLJDT group, and (5) a group that received 13 components of HLJDT. Plasma samples were collected 8, 15, and 22 days after the rats were injected with bovine type II collagen. By combining variable importance in the projection values with partial least squares discriminant analysis, 18 potential biomarkers were identified in the plasma samples. The biomarkers were primarily involved in glycerophospholipid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, purine metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, and bile acid biosynthesis. Using the potential biomarkers as a screening index, the results suggest that HLJDT can potentially reverse the process of RA by partially regulating fatty acid oxidation and arachidonic acid metabolism. This study demonstrates that a metabolomic strategy is useful for identifying potential RA biomarkers and investigating the underlying mechanisms of a TCM in RA treatment.