[Research progress on functional soft candy of traditional Chinese medicine].

Functional soft candy of traditional Chinese medicine( TCM) can be used to supplement vitamins,enhance immunity,assist in lowering blood sugar,assist in lowering blood lipid,assist in lowering blood pressure,relax the bowel,reduce weight and fight againstoxidation.It has attracted much attention due to its effective improvement in the bad taste and incompatibility of traditional medicines.TCM functional soft candy and health food made by gel,sweetener and Chinese herbal medicines( which can be used both as food and medicine) approved by the State Food and Drug Administration were selected as the research objects in this paper.We combed and analyzed the research situation of health food dosage forms and effects,the functional factors of TCM functional soft candy,gelatin,sweetener,production process,and quality evaluation,etc.,and then,we discussed their existing problems and development prospects.After reviewing the relevant literature on TCM functional soft candy and health food researches published in recent years,we analyzed and summarized their dosage forms,health effects,gels,sweeteners,production process,quality evaluation and safety.The following problems in the research of TCM functional soft candy were pointed out: for examples,differences in the sensory evaluation of soft candy;whether the combination of several similar gels and sweeteners had an effect on human health; the lack of laws and regulations in health foods and the lack of uniform standards for quality evaluation.In summary,TCM functional soft candy is a new type of health food,which changes the dosage form of health food based on capsules and tablets.This move conforms to the physiological and psychological needs of consumers.Therefore,it is in line with the requirement of " Health China 2030" Planning Outline.

Codelivery of doxorubicin and elacridar to target both liver cancer cells and stem cells by polylactide-co-glycolide/d-alpha-tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate nanoparticles.

PURPOSE: Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) are a subpopulation of cancer cells that are responsible for the initiation, progression, drug resistance, recurrence, and metastasis of liver cancer. Recent studies have suggested that the eradication of both LCSCs and liver cancer cells is necessary because the conversion of cancer stem cells (CSCs) to cancer cells occasionally occurs. As ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are overexpressed in both CSCs and cancer cells, combined therapies using ABC transporter inhibitors and chemotherapy drugs could show superior therapeutic efficacy in liver cancer. In this study, we developed poly(lactide-co-glycolide)/d-alpha-tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate nanoparticles to accomplish the simultaneous delivery of an optimized ratio of doxorubicin (DOX) and elacridar (ELC) to target both LCSCs and liver cancer cells. METHODS: Median-effect analysis was used for screening of DOX and ELC for synergy in liver cancer cells (HepG2 cells) and LCSCs (HepG2 tumor sphere [HepG2-TS]). Then, nanoparticles loaded with DOX and ELC at the optimized ratio (NDEs) were prepared by nanoprecipitation method. The cytotoxicity and colony and tumor sphere formation ability of nanoparticles were investigated in vitro, and the tissue distribution and antitumor activity of nanoparticles were evaluated in vivo. RESULTS: We demonstrated that a DOX/ELC molar ratio of 1:1 was synergistic in HepG2 cells and HepG2-TS. NDEs were shown to exhibit significantly increased cytotoxic effects against both HepG2 and HepG2-TS compared with DOX-loaded nanoparticles (NDs) or ELC-loaded nanoparticles (NEs) in vitro. In vivo studies demonstrated that the nanoparticles exhibited better tumor targeting, with NDE showing the strongest antitumor activity with lower systemic toxicity. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that NDE represented a promising combination therapy against liver cancer by targeting both liver cancer cells and CSCs.

Metabonomics delineates allergic reactions induced by Shuang-huang-lian injection in rats using ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Shuang-huang-lian Injection (SHLI) is the first successfully developed drug from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) powder for injection, since its use for the treatment of acute respiratory tract infection, pneumonia, influenza, etc. At the same time, its allergic reactions have also emerged, which limits clinical applications. However, few scholars pay attention to the mechanism of allergic reactions. In this present study, metabonomics technology was used to explore the changes in endogenous metabolites in urine of the rat model of SHLI induced allergic reaction; we and analyzed the metabolites, metabolic pathway, and the mechanism which were closely related to the allergic reactions. The levels of serum histamine and tryptase were examined and changes in histomorphology were also observed. Based on the UPLC-Q-TOF/MS metabonomics, we carried out the pattern recognition analysis, selected potential biomarkers associated with allergic reactions, and explored the pathological mechanism for SHLI induced allergic reaction, which laid the foundation for the safety research of SHLI. Our results showed that SHLI increased the levels of serum histamine and tryptase in rats with allergic reaction; we determined 15 biomarkers in rat allergic reaction model induced by SHLI and found multiple metabolic pathways involved, such as metabolism of linolenic acid, phenylalanine, amino acid, 2-oxo acid, and purine and other metabolic pathways.

Codelivery of salinomycin and doxorubicin using nanoliposomes for targeting both liver cancer cells and cancer stem cells.

AIM: To develop salinomycin-loaded nanoliposomes (SLN), doxorubicin-loaded nanoliposomes (DLN) and nanoliposomes codelivering salinomycin and doxorubicin (SDLN) to target both liver cancer cells and cancer stem cells. MATERIALS & METHODS: The characterization and antitumor activity of SLN, DLN and SDLN were evaluated. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: The doxorubicin/salinomycin sodium mole ratio of 1:1 had the best synergistic combination index value, and was chosen as the drug ratio in SDLN. SDLN could maintain the drug ratio between 1:1 and 3:1 in 12 h in vivo. SDLN and SLN + DLN showed the best tumor inhibitory rate, and could significantly decrease the percentage of liver cancer stem cells in vivo. SDLN and SLN + DLN may serve as an effective approach to treat liver cancer.

[Metabolomics of bovine serum albumin-induced allergic reactions based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS].

The metabonomic techniques were used to study the changes in endogenous metabolites between urines of rats in normal physiological conditions and bovine serum albumin induced allergic reactions, identify potential biomarkers associated with allergic reactions, and then analyze the metabolic pathways and the metabolic mechanisms of allergic reactions. The bovine serum albumin-induced allergic reactions in rats were adopted as a model to detect histamine and tryptase in rat serum and observe the issue morphology of lungs and trachea in rats. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS was applied in metabonomic analysis on urines between control group and allergic reaction model group. Principal component analysis(PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA) were applied to observe the differences in metabolic profiling between urines of the two groups and select differential metabolites. There were significant differences in metabolism spectrum between the model group and the control group. Totally 14 differential metabolites and 4 major metabolic pathways were screened out. The metabonomic research method for urines of rats with bovine serum albumin-induced allergic reactions based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS was established in this study. It was speculated that the mechanism of bovine serum albumin-induced allergic reactions may involve biosynthesis of isoflavone and folic acid and metabolism of tryptophan, nicotinic acid and nicotinamide. It lays a foundation for further exploration of the application of metabolomics in drug allergy reaction studies.

Urinary metabonomics study on toxicity biomarker discovery in rats treated with Xanthii Fructus.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Xanthii Fructus (XF) is commonly called "Cang-Erzi" in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and widely used for the treatment of sinusitis, headache, rheumatism, and skin itching. However, the clinical utilization of XF is relatively restricted owing to its toxicity. AIM OF THE STUDY: To discover the characteristic potential biomarkers in rats treated with XF by urinary metabonomics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) was applied in the study. The total ion chromatograms obtained from control and different dosage groups were distinguishable by a multivariate statistical analysis method. RESULTS: The greatest difference in metabolic profile was observed between high dosage group and control group, and the metabolic characters in rats treated with XF were perturbed in a dose-dependent manner. The metabolic changes in response for XF treatment were observed in urinary samples, which were revealed by orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA), and 10 metabolites could be served as the potential toxicity biomarkers. In addition, the mechanism associated with the damages of lipid per-oxidation and the metabolic disturbances of fatty acid oxidation were investigated. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that metabonomics analysis in urinary samples may be useful for predicting the toxicity induced by XF.