Classic mechanisms and experimental models for the anti-inflammatory effect of traditional Chinese medicine.

Inflammation is a common disease involved in the pathogenesis, complications, and sequelae of a large number of related diseases, and therefore considerable research has been directed toward developing anti-inflammatory drugs for the prevention and treatment of these diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat inflammatory and related diseases since ancient times. According to the review of abundant modern scientific researches, it is suggested that TCM exhibit anti-inflammatory effects at different levels, and via multiple pathways with various targets, and recently a series of in vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory models have been developed for anti-inflammation research in TCM. Currently, the reported classic mechanisms of TCM and experimental models of its anti-inflammatory effects provide reference points and guidance for further research and development of TCM. Importantly, the research clearly confirms that TCM is now and will continue to be an effective form of treatment for many types of inflammation and inflammation-related diseases.

Effects of different cleaning treatments on heavy metal removal of Panax notoginseng (Burk) F. H. Chen.

The quality and safety of Panax notoginseng products has become a focus of concern in recent years. Contamination with heavy metals is one of the important factors as to P. notoginseng safety. Cleaning treatments can remove dust, soil, impurities or even heavy metals and pesticide residues on agricultural products. But effects of cleaning treatments on the heavy metal content of P. notoginseng roots have still not been studied. In order to elucidate this issue, the effects of five different cleaning treatments (CK, no treatment; T1, warm water (50°C) washing; T2, tap water (10°C) washing; T3, drying followed by polishing; and T4, drying followed by tap water (10°C) washing) on P. notoginseng roots' heavy metal (Cu, Pb, Cd, As and Hg) contents were studied. The results showed that heavy metal (all five) content in the three parts all followed the order of hair root > rhizome > root tuber under the same treatment. Heavy metal removals were in the order of Hg > As > Pb > Cu > Cd. Removal efficiencies of the four treatments were in the order of T2 > T1 > T3 > T4. Treatments (T1-T4) could decrease the contents of heavy metal in P. notoginseng root significantly. Compared with the requirements of WM/T2-2004, P. notoginseng roots' heavy metal contents of Cu, Pb, As and Hg were safe under treatments T1 and T2. In conclusion, the cleaning process after production was necessary and could reduce the content of heavy metals significantly. Fresh P. notoginseng root washed with warm water (T2) was the most efficient treatment to remove heavy metal and should be applied in production.

Effects of balanced fertilization and soil amendment on growth and yield of sanqi in continuous cropping / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the solution of continuous cropping obstacle of Panax notoginseng.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The effects of balanced fertilization and soil amendment on the emergence rate, survival rate, growth and yield of P. notoginseng were studied with a pot culture experiment in 3-year-interval continuous cropping soil.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The result showed that the content of total N, total P, available N, available P and other available components in continuous cropping soil were higher than those in fresh soil while available K and the rate of K/N were declined, and available Cu and some other micro elements were lack. The way of balanced fertilization "low N + fused calcium-magnesium-phosphate fertilizer + high K + lime + micro elements" would significantly enhance the rate of survival, biomass and yield. It also promoted the growth of P. notoginseng in continuous cropping. The bagasse could relieve the continuous cropping obstacle obviously, the survival rate was improved for 31.6% and the yield of medicinal materials was 19.5%. The fly ash had also some effect in relieving the continuous cropping obstacle.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The overall results suggested that the adequate fertilization plan is the applying lime, reducing N, applying calcium-magnesium-phosphate fertilizer, improving K and supplying mircoelement as well as applying bagasse to resolve the problem of continuous cropping obstacle of P. notoginseng.</p>

Effects of soil water content on seedlings growth and active ingredients of Salvia miltiorrhiza / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>In order to provide a scientific water management for the standardized cultivation, the effects of soil water content on the seedlings growth and active ingredients of S. miltiorrhiza were studied.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>A water stress experiment with pot culture was applied to study the effects of different soil water content on the seedlings growth, biomass and the accumulation of tanshinone, salvianolic acid B and mineral nutrition of S. miltiorrhiza.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Soil water content had serious influence on the growth, yield, outer appearance and inner quality of S. miltiorrhiza when the soil was under severe drought or with too much water. But the shoot and root biomass of S. miltiorrhiza was increased significantly under mild drought. As well as the content and cumulant of dihydrotanshinone I , cryptotanshinone, tanshinone I , tanshinone IIA and salvianolic acid B in root of mild drought were increased. It also enhanced the P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn, Cu and Fe contents of S. miltiorrhiza under mild drought.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The overall results from the experiment suggest that the appropriate soil water content is 55% to 60% in seedling stage of S. miltiorrhiza. And it will be strongly recommended that the ridge culture and suitable soil moisture management must be carry out in production of S. miltiorrhiza in order to improve the yield and quality of medicinal materials.</p>

Status and prospective on nutritional physiology and fertilization of Panax notoginseng / 中国中药杂志

Sanqi, Panax notoginseng, is a famous traditional Chinese herb, which has more than 400 years cultivation history in China. This paper has reviewed the studies on the suitable growing soil conditions for Sanqi, mineral nutrition effects on Sanqi, and the effects of nutrients uptake on the yield and quality of Sanqi by applying fertilizer. Thereafter, research needed to be put further efforts in the future has raised for discussion, and outlined the following topics for further research like the mechanism of mineral nutrition, methods of nutrients deficiency diagnosis on site, suitable cultivated soil grading special fertizer development, disease resistance, and fertilization recommended by soil testing.

Diversity and cluster analysis on agronomic traits of Artemisia annua germplasm resources in Yun-Gui plateau / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the diversity of germplasm resources of Artemisia annua and provide the basis for improving utilization of germplasm resources, the agronomic traits of germplasm resources of A. annua were studied in Yun-Gui plateau.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The agronomic traits of 67 A. annua germplasm resources were measured by the visual observation and measurement methods. And the germplasm resources were clustered using flexible-beta method to analysis their genetic background.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The result showed that 67 germplasm resources had a relatively wide variation on the 22 agronomic traits. Among 22 agronomic traits, the dry weight of branch had the greatest coefficient of variation, which was 53. 63, and the next were the dry weight of leaf, total plant weight, the length of pinnules and the length of leaflet, which were 42.74, 41.61, 39.54 and 39.22 respectively. The smallest coefficient of variation was the leaf corlor. Based the result of cluster analysis, these 67 germplasm resources were classed into 5 groups, and each group had its respective character. The first group showed early-maturing resources, dwarf stalk, slender rod, long bipinnata, high leaf-stem ratio and moderate leaf weight The third group showed late-maturing resources, tall and thick stalk, much-branch, bushy accessory pinna, high leaf weight and yield. The fifth group showed very late-maturing resources, strong lateral shoot, high leaf yield.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There were significant genetic difference and diversity in the germplasm resources of A. annua. The result of cluster analysis showed that the resources of group 1, group 3 and group 5 were suitable as breeding material of A. annua.</p>

Effects of phosphate fertilizer on active ingredients and antioxidant activities of Chrysanthemum morifolium / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>In order to provide a scientific fertilizer application for the standardized cultivation, the effects of phosphate (P) fertilizer on the active ingredients and antioxidant activities of Chrysanthemum morifolium were studied.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Pot experiment was adopted to study the effects of P supply on the yield and the content of flavonoids, chlorogenic acid, soluble sugar, soluble amino acids and crude protein of C. morifolium flower. And effects of P supply on the hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, superoxide anion radical scavenging activity, and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity of flower were researched too.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The yield of C. morifolium dry flower increased 129. 94% when P fertilizer was applied. Appropriate application of P fertilizer could also significantly improve the content and accumulation of total flavonoids, chlorogenic acid and soluble sugar in C. morifolium. Thus, the inhibition rates of hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion radical and DPPH free radical of C. morifolium was increased. When the level of P supply exceeded 0.20 g P2O5 per plant, P had also negative influence on the yield and the content of active ingredients and the scavenging activity of hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion radical and DPPH free radical of C. morifolium. Furthermore, there were significant positive correlations between the content of total flavonoids and chlorogenic acid and the inhibition rate of hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion radical and DPPH free radical, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Appropriate application of P fertilizer could be beneficial to the increase the active components and antioxidant activity of C. morifolium. And recommended level of P fertilizer is 0.26-0.28 g x kg(-1).</p>

Effects of mineral nutrition on metabolism of flavonoids in medicinal plants / 中国中药杂志

Flavonoids are an important effective component of traditional Chinese medicine, which are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. The biosynthesis of flavonoid in plants is affected and regulated by various environmental factors. For a necessary environmental factor to plant growth and development, mineral nutrients are paid more and more attention on the regulation to the metabolism of flavonoids in medicinal plants. In this paper, an overview of flavonoids biosynthetic pathway, and the macroelements, microelements and rare earth elements on the metabolism of flavonoids in medicinal plants are presented. And the regulation mechanism of them are also analyzed and discussed.

Correlation and path analysis on artemisinin content and yield with different agronomic traits of Artemisia annua / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To provide the basis for improving utilization of Artemisia annua germplasm resources and breeding variety, the interrelations between artemisinin content, artemisinin yield and agronomic traits of A. annua were studied.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The artemisinin content and each agronomic trait of 63 A. annua germplasm resources were measured by the visual observation and measurement methods. And the correlation analysis, regression analysis and path analysis were adopted.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The result showed that there were significant differences in the artemisinin content and yield of 63 germplasm resources from the main production region of A. annua. Correlation analysis showed that there were significantly positive correlation between leaf weight and artemisinin yield with stem and branch characters, but there were negative correlation between artemisinin content with leaf characters of A. annua plant. The artemisinin content of A. annua increased with the increasing of primary branch number, bottom secondary branch number, and bottom stem diameter, etc. On the other hand, it decreased with the increasing of top secondary branch number, secondary leaf axis length, and bottom branch diameter, etc. The artemisinin yield of A. annua increased with the increasing of artemisinin content, leaf weight, and bottom secondary branch number, etc., and decreased with the increasing of bottom branch diameter, middle secondary branch number, and stem weight, etc. Path analysis showed that the primary branch number and bottom secondary branch number had a direct positive effect on the artemisinin content of A. annua. But the top secondary branch number had a direct negative effect on the artemisinin content of A. annua. The leaf weight and artemisinin content had a direct positive effect on the artemisinin yield and the ratio of leaf/stem, branch weight and stem weight had a direct negative effect.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>On the breeding A. annua variety, it can take into account both high leaf yield and high artemisinin content. And it was strongly recommend that the plant with moderate plant height and crown, shortness pinnae and secondary leaf axis, less middle and top secondary branch, strong stem, higher primary branch number and bottom secondary branch number, and higher ratio leaf/stem could be selected for breeding new varieties with high leaf yield and high artemisinin content.</p>

Characteristics of accumulation and distribution of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium in Chrysanthemum morifolium / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the characteristics of dry matter accumulation and N, P, K, Ca and Mg accumulation and distribution of Chrysanthemum morifolium.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The sampling were carried out on the different growing time of C. morifolium, and the amount of dry matter and the content of N, P, K, Ca and Mg in all parts of the plant were measured.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The dry matter accumulation was lineally increased with the absorption and accumulation of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg. In different growing periods, the accumulation and distribution of mineral nutrition were different in C. morifolium. The mineral nutrition was mostly in the leaf of the plant in the vegetative period. When the growth changed from vegetative growth to reproductive growth, the mineral nutrition was transferred and distributed into bud, flower and root shoot. And the period of flower bud differentiation of C. morifolium was the period of maximal accumulation of dry matter and showed the maximum efficiency of N, P and K nutrition. For production of 100 kg dry flower 4.13 kg N, 0.37 kg P, 5.03 kg K, 3.03 kg Ca and 0.81 kg Mg were needed. And the ratio of them was 1:0.09:1.22:0.73:0.20.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The period of flower bud differentiation is the most crucial period in the growth of C. morifolium. And it must pay attention to the supply of mineral nutrition and moisture of plant to promote flower formation and dry matter accumulation in this period. It is strongly recommended that the phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be early applied, the nitrogenous fertilizer should be applied dividedly, and the calcium magnesium fertilizers are also applied properly.</p>

Theory and practice of bionic cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

The bionic cultivation of medicinal plant is an ecological cultivation pattern, which is adopting ecological engineering and modern agricultural techniques to simulate the natural ecosystem of wild medicinal plant community, and has been given greater attention on the agriculture of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It is also the cross subject that combines Chinese traditional medicine, agronomy, horticulture, ecology, agricultural engineering and management. Moreover, it has significant technology advantages of promoting the sustainable utilization of medicinal plant resources, improving the ecological environment and harmonizing man and nature. So it's important to develop the bionic cultivation of TCM.