Gastrodia elata BI.:A Comprehensive Review of Its Traditional Use, Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Pharmacokinetics.

Materials and Methods: This article collects information from relevant documents, including scientific papers, books, and dissertations concerning Gastrodia elata BI. Results: To date, research on Gastrodia elata BI. has identified about 100 active compounds. Many compounds in Gastrodia elata BI. have biological activities, such as sedation and hypnosis, anticonvulsion, improvement of learning and memory, protection of neurons, antidepressive effects, lowering of blood pressure, promotion of angiogenesis, protection of cardiomyocytes, antiplatelet aggregation, anti-inflammatory activity, and amelioration of labor pains. Conclusion: Although many traditional uses of this plant have been confirmed, it is necessary to continue to study the relationship between its structure and function, clarify the mechanisms of pharmacological effects, and explore new clinical applications so as to better delineate the quality control standards for Gastrodia elata BI.

Revealing the mechanisms of Arisaema cum Bile on allergic asthma with systematic pharmacology approach-experimental validation.

Arisaema cum Bile (Dan Nanxing in Chinese, DNX) have been employed to treat allergic asthma. However, the active components and its mechanisms remain unknown. Therefore, the systematic pharmacology approach-experimental validation was performed in this study. Each 5, 6, and 10 compounds of DNX were obtained by HPLC analysis, TCMSP, and literature report, respectively. A total of 379 targets on all these compounds were acquired from Swiss Target Prediction, and 1973 targets on allergic asthma were predicated. The KEGG enrichment analysis was performed. Furthermore, a rat model of allergic asthma was established and DNX (450 mg/kg, p.o.) was given for 2 weeks. DNX treatment prevented OVA-induced pathological changes in lung cell of irregular arrange and necrotic bronchial epithelial. It also decreased inflammatory cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 of serum and BALF, and increased IL-12 and IFN-γ. The main MAPK signaling pathway predicted by KEGG enrichment was verified, as indicated by the decreased protein expression of JNK (p < 0.05 & p < 0.01), ERK (p < 0.05), and p38 MAPK (p < 0.01) in lung tissue. These findings indicated that DNX attenuated OVA-induced allergic asthma mainly by decreasing the MAPK signaling pathway.

Botanical, Traditional Use, Phytochemical, and Toxicological of Arisaematis rhizoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This review is a collection of all possible studies on AR, published in scientific journals, papers, and books. Using the papers related to Arisaematis, such as ScienceDirect, Wiley Online Library, Springer Link, Web of Science, CNKI, and WanFang Database. In this paper, the traditional uses, botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of AR were reviewed. Finally, the existing problems and research directions of the research on AR are discussed. RESULTS: Ninety-eight chemical constituents were isolated from AR. AR has a wide range of pharmacological effects, such as the effects on the central nervous system and cardiovascular system. It also has anti-tumor, sedative, analgesic, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, antiarrhythmic, anticoagulant, and other effects. It is also considered an effective drug for in vitro and in vivo validation. CONCLUSIONS: AR is an excellent traditional medicinal plant in China. Pharmacological studies support the traditional use of AR and may verify the folk use of AR in the treatment of different diseases. The anti-tumor effect of AR has been widely concerned by scholars at home and abroad. It has become a hot spot in recent years and has made great contributions to the survival and development of human beings. Although it has a high value of comprehensive utilization, its development and utilization are far from enough. Therefore, the comprehensive development of AR is worthy of further analysis.

Botanical and Traditional Uses and Phytochemical, Pharmacological, Pharmacokinetic, and Toxicological Characteristics of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen: A Review.

Ziziphi Spinosae Semen (ZS, the seeds of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chou) is used as a traditional Chinese medicine referred to as Suan zao ren (). This paper aims to provide a systematic review of its traditional uses and its botanical, phytochemical, pharmacological, pharmacokinetic, and toxicological characteristics. The future development and research prospects for ZS have also been discussed in detail. To date, over 150 compounds have been identified in this plant, including terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, fatty acids, volatile oils, polysaccharides, and others. Both extracts and purified compounds have excellent biological activities, especially sedative and hypnotic effects. Other effects include ameliorating effect of learning and memory, anti-inflammation, antioxidation, blood pressure and lipid lowering, antiaging, and antitumor effects. Thus, this traditional Chinese medicine can be used to treat many diseases such as insomnia, forgetfulness, headaches, and dizziness. Although many of the traditional uses of ZS are well established, the relationship between structure and function still needs to be further studied. In order to better pave the way for research and the establishment of quality control standards for ZS, it will be very important to elucidate its pharmacological mechanisms of action and explore new clinical effects.

[Extraction kinetics of volatile oil from galangal by steam distillation].

To reveal the extraction regularity of volatile oil from galangal by GC-MS analysis. The volatile oil in galangal was extracted by steam distillation. The extract was collected every 30 min, the oil part and the water part were separated. GC-MS was used to analyze the extraction liquid collected at different time periods. A total of 140 volatile components were obtained by GC-MS analysis. Among them, the main components were eucalyptus oil alcohol, alpha-pine oil alcohol and 4-terpene alcohol; 22 special components were dissolved in water, 77 special components were dissolved in oil and 41 components were dissolved in both oil and water. With the increase of specific components in water, the content of Eucalyptus in water increased in a linear manner. The increase of eucalyptus oil further promoted the dissolution or dispersion of alpha PN in water, and the change of specific components in oil was positively correlated with the content of Eucalyptus and alpha-terpilenol in oil. The results of principal component analysis show that the physical and chemical properties of the compounds were important factors affecting the distribution of components. PC1 (molecular weight, melting point, boiling point positive correlation), PC2 (negative correlation of refractive index) and PC3 (positive correlation of water solubility) were the main components that lead to the differences in composition distribution. The process of extracting volatile oil from galangal through steam distillation was affected by the physical and chemical properties of volatile components. Some components were specifically distributed in the fragrance and volatile oil system. The endemic components of aromatic water increased the content of the main components in the water system, which may lead to the "emulsification", reduction of the yield and low quality of the volatile oil.

A novel method for the discrimination of Hawthorn and its processed products using an intelligent sensory system and artificial neural networks.

Hawthorn (CFS) has commonly been applied as an important traditional Chinese medicine and food for thousands of years. The raw material of CFS is commonly processed by stir-frying to obtain yellow (CFY), dark brown (CFD), and carbon dark (CFC) colored products, which are used for different clinical uses. In this study, an intelligent sensory system (ISS) was used to obtain the color, gas, and flavor samples data, which were further employed to develop a novel and accurate method for the identification of CFS and its processed products using principal component analysis. Moreover, this research developed a model of an artificial neural network, which could be used to predict the total organic acid, total flavonoids, citric acid, hyperin, and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural via determination of the color, odor, and taste of a sample. In conclusion, the ISS and the artificial neural network are useful tools for rapid, accurate, and effective discrimination of CFS and its processed products.