Transcriptome profiling reveals the genes involved in tuberous root expansion in Pueraria (Pueraria montana var. thomsonii).

BACKGROUND: Pueraria is a dry root commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine or as food and fodder, and tuberous root expansion is an important agronomic characteristic that influences its yield. However, no specific genes regulating tuberous root expansion in Pueraria have been identified. Therefore, we aimed to explore the expansion mechanism of Pueraria at six developmental stages (P1-P6), by profiling the tuberous roots of an annual local variety "Gange No.1" harvested at 105, 135, 165, 195, 225, and 255 days after transplanting. RESULTS: Observations of the tuberous root phenotype and cell microstructural morphology revealed that the P3 stage was a critical boundary point in the expansion process, which was preceded by a thickening diameter and yield gain rapidly of the tuberous roots, and followed by longitudinal elongation at both ends. A total of 17,441 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by comparing the P1 stage (unexpanded) against the P2-P6 stages (expanded) using transcriptome sequencing; 386 differential genes were shared across the six developmental stages. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs shared by P1 and P2-P6 stages were mainly involved in pathways related to the "cell wall and cell cycle", "plant hormone signal transduction", "sucrose and starch metabolism", and "transcription factor (TF)". The finding is consistent with the physiological data collected on changes in sugar, starch, and hormone contents. In addition, TFs including bHLHs, AP2s, ERFs, MYBs, WRKYs, and bZIPs were involved in cell differentiation, division, and expansion, which may relate to tuberous root expansion. The combination of KEGG and trend analyses revealed six essential candidate genes involved in tuberous root expansion; of them, CDC48, ARF, and EXP genes were significantly upregulated during tuberous root expansion while INV, EXT, and XTH genes were significantly downregulated. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide new insights into the complex mechanisms of tuberous root expansion in Pueraria and candidate target genes, which can aid in increasing Pueraria yield.

Analysis on the expression of drug standards and related issues in the newly revised Drug Administration Law / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To sort out and analyze the expression and provisions of drug standards in the text of the newly revised Drug Administration Law ，and to explore the connotation and legal positioning of drug registration standards so as to provide reference for the rational application and interpretation of relevant provisions of drug standards in Drug Administration Law . METHODS Through the review of the evolution of drug standard management in China ，the legal provisions of drug standard in the Drug Administration Law were analyzed. Comparative study and literature research methods were used to analyze the legal expression and connotation of drug standards. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS There were different expressions about “national drug standards ”“drug standards ”and“quality standards ”in the current provisions of the newly revised Drug Administration Law ； the legal position of the provincial-level standard for the preparation of Chinese herbal pieces was not clear ，and there may be insufficient legal regulation in the enforcement of drug administration. It is necessary to make an administrative interpretation for the content of relevant drug standards and provisions ，and further clarify the legal attributes of drug standards in the processing of provincial Chinese herbal pieces in order to promote the standardized management of Chinese herbal pieces.

Mechanistic studies of the transport of peimine in the Caco-2 cell model

Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for its expectorant, antitussive, antiinflammatory and analgesic properties. Moreover, modern pharmacological studies have demonstrated that F. thunbergii Miq. has efficacy in the treatment of leukemia and cancers of the liver and cervix. Although the alkaloid, peimine, is largely responsible for these pharmacological effects, it has very low oral bioavailability. The aim of this study was to investigate the intestinal absorption of peimine in Caco-2 cell monolayers. Having demonstrated that peimine is non-toxic to Caco-2 cells at concentrations <200 μmol/L, the effect of peimine concentration, pH, temperature, efflux transport protein inhibitors and EDTA-Na2 on peimine transport were studied. The results show that peimine transport is concentration-dependent; that at pH 6.0 and 7.4, the P app(AP-BL) of peimine is not significantly different but the P app(BL-AP)) is; that both P app(AP-BL) and P app(BL-AP) at 4 °C are significantly higher than their corresponding values at 37 °C; that the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitors, verapamil and cyclosporin A, increase absorption of peimine; and that EDTA-Na2 has no discernible effect. In summary, the results demonstrate that the intestinal absorption of peimine across Caco-2 cell monolayers involves active transport and that peimine is a substrate of P-gp.

Review on Chemical Compositions and Clinical Application of Cultured Cordyceps militaris in Recent Five Years / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Cordyceps sinensis is an expensive and tonic-valuable famous herb in China. Due to a narrow growing distribution, a low parasitic rate and a harsh living environmental condition, its wild recourse is not abundant. In re-cent years, with the improvement of living standards, people’s awareness of health care has increased strongly. That is because of people’s over-excavation need;and the natural resources are becoming increasing scarcity. In order to meet the demand for Cordyceps, domestic researchers conducted vigorous studies. Since 1987, four or five cul-tured Cordyceps species have been developed, namely fermented Cordyceps sinensis. Through subsequent unceasing research, they were put into a lot of production, bringing a certain benefits for income and society. Currently, there are four commercial brands on the market. They are Bailing, Jinshuibao, Xinganbao and Ningxinbao. This paper summarized the studies of its chemical compositions and clinical applications on fermented Cordyceps militaris in the recent five years. It will let scholars understand its value of the cultured Cordyceps militaris more comprehen-sively and supply more information for scholars in its further research.

Pharmacokinetics of triptolide in Triptergium wilfordii microemulsion gel / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a method of determinating the plasma concentration about the triptolide in rat in vivo. And to study the pharmacokinetics of triptolide in transdermal drug delivery system of Triptergium wilfordii microemulsion gel.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The T. wilfordii tablet was regarded as the control, the plasma concentration of triptolide was determined by LC-MS/MS after different route of administration, and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by DAS.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The linear relation of triptolide was excellent within the range of 1-200 ng (r = 0.9967). The minimum detectable concentration were 0.5 microg x L(-1). It was the first-order process. And the pharmacokinetic parameters of triptolide in microemulsion gel was as follow: t(1/2) (2.4 +/- 3.00) h,tmax (6.7 +/- 1.63) h, Cmax (82.9 +/- 17.63) microg x L(-1). To compare the tablets, the microemulsion gel has a longer peak time, and maintain a longer stable plasma concentration. The AUC of tablets and microemulsion gel were (2595.3 +/- 551.15) h x microg x L(-1) and (209.9 +/- 25.34) h x microg x L(-1) and it was a significant differences between the tablet and microemulsion gel (P < 0. 01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>T. wilfordii has rapid absorption in rat in vivo and a stable and persistent plasma concentration after transdermal drug delivery. Therefore, it is rationality after transdermal drug delivery.</p>

Study on solubility of Chinese herbal compound by solubility parameter / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To demonstrate the solubility of Chinese herbal compound with solubility parameters.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The solubility parameters of Liangfu effective components and Liangfu compound were determined by inverse gas chromatograph (IGC) and group contribution. Hansen ball was plotting by HSPiP, which could be used to investigate the solubility of Liangfu effective components and Liangfu compound in different solvents. And the results were verified by approximate solubility.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Liangfu effective components and Liangfu compound could be dissolved in chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, octanol and ether, and were slightly soluble in glycerol, methanol, ethanol and propanediol, but could not be dissolved in water. They were all liposoluble, and the results were the same as the test results of the approximate solubility.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The solubility of Chinese herbal compound can be expressed by solubility parameters, and it is accurate, convenient and visual.</p>

Dermatopharmacokinetic studies of liangfu cream in mice skin / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship between deposition content and time of the active ingredients in rat skin, and investigate the dermatopharmacokinetics of Liangfu Cream.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The contents of paeonol, dictamnine, fraxinellone and glycyrrhetinic acid in rat skin were determined by HPLC. The dermatopharmacokinetics parameters were calculated by DAS software.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The dermatopharmacokinetics of paeonol and glycyrrhetinic acid were two compartment model, while that of dictamnine and fraxinellone were one compartment model: T(1/2Ka) of four active ingredients were 0.307, 0.112, 0.146, 0.216 h, respectively; T(lag) of them were 0.006, 0.123, 0.136, 0.109 h, respectively; all the Tmax of them was 0.5 h; the Cmax, were 40.163, 1.607, 6.725, 100.553 microg x cm(-3), respectively; the t(1/2beta), were 14.719, 1.262, 0.838, 234.807 h, respectively; the AUC(0-infinity), were 16.987, 2.713, 9.345, 697.000 microg x cm(-3) x h(-1), respectively; and the MRT(0-infinity) were 3.662, 1.67, 1.585, 10.897, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The skin pharmacokinetics characteristic of four ingredients in Liangfu cream is lined with the cataplasm long time.</p>

Effects of penetration enhancers on in vitro percutaneous absorption and amount retained in skin of paeonol, dictamnine, fraxinellone and glycyrrhetinic acid in Liangfu cream / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effects of different penetration enhancers on the in vitro percutaneous absorption and amount retained in skin of active ingredients in Liangfu cream and to screen out the effective accelerator.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Using improved Franz-type difusion cell and excised small mouse skin in vitro as transdermal barrier, the amount retained in skin and kinetics parameters of active ingredients such as cumulative permeation quantity, permeation rate and permeation lagged time were determined by HPLC. The enhancement ability of four different enhancers such as azone, oleic acid, transcutol P and isopropyl myristate were investigated.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>3% IPM enhanced the cumulative permeation quantity better than other penetration enhancers. The enhancive permeation multiples of paeonol, dictamnine, fraxinellone and glycyrrhetinic acid were 1.52, 1.24, 1.73 and 3.21 times (P < 0.05). The enhancive amount retained in skin multiple of glycyrrhetinic acid was 1.96 times (P < 0.05), but for other components there were no significant impacts.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The effects of penetration enhancers on the in vitro percutaneous absorption and amount retained in skin of components in Liangfu cream are different. 3% IPM which can enhance the cumulative permeation quantity of four components and amount retained in skin of glycyrrhetinic acid is the most suitable penetration enhancer for Liangfu cream.</p>