Treatment advice of small molecule antiviral drugs for elderly COVID-19 / 中国药理学通报

COVID-19 has been prevalent for three years. The virulence of SARS-CoV-2 is weaken as it mutates continuously. However, elderly patients, especially those with underlying diseases, are still at high risk of developing severe infections. With the continuous study of the molecular structure and pathogenic mechanism of SARS-CoV-2, antiviral drugs for COVID-19 have been successively marketed, and these anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs can effectively reduce the severe rate and mortality of elderly patients. This article reviews the mechanism, clinical medication regimens, drug interactions and adverse reactions of five small molecule antiviral drugs currently approved for marketing in China, so as to provide advice for the clinical rational use of anti-SARS-CoV-2 in the elderly.

Morphological, microscopic, multiple-component assay and fingerprinting based systematic research on quality evaluation of Moutan Cortex(Paeonia suffruticosa) / 中国中药杂志

The purpose of this study was to combine morphological, microscopic, UHPLC multiple-component assay and fingerprinting studies in order to evaluate the quality of Moutan Cortex (MC) systematically. The root system of Paeonia suffruticosa was measured to compare the morphological variation and the chemical composition of different grades of MC was discussed according to previous studies. The difference between the main microscopic features of MC powder and the xylem powder is dramatic, the MC powder contains great amount of starch granules and clusters of calcium oxalate, while the xylem powder displays considerable vessels. Interestingly, the growth rings of P. suffruticosa was first reported in the xylem of the root transection, this can help to determine the growth years of the plant. Moreover, through the assay of 16 component, MC produced in Tongling and Bozhou in Anhui province were compared, content of PGG in MC produced in Bozhou was significantly higher than MC produced in Tongling (<0.01). MC with different growth years, MC with xylem and unprocessed MC and MC decoction pieces were compared respectively by combining the results of 16 compounds assay and fingerprinting. It is proposed that the quality evaluation standard include the assay of paeoniflorin. Above all, the holistic quality difference can be evaluated more comprehensively by combining multiple analytical methods.

Chemical constituents from Bidens bipinnata / 中国中药杂志

To investigate the chemical constituents of the whole plants of Bidens bipinnata, the separation and purification of constituents were performed by chromatography on macroporous resin, silica gel, MCI and Sephadex LH-20. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data as quercetin (1), quercetin-3-0-alpha-L-rhamnoside (2), keampferol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3), keampferol-3-O-alpha-L-rhamnoside (4), 3', 5-dyhydroxy-3, 6, 4'-trimethoxyl -7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside flavonoid (5), 7, 8, 3', 4'-tetraflavanone(6), (2S)- and (2R)-isookanin-7-O-beta-D- glucopyranoside (7a/7b), (2S)- and (2R)-3'-methoxy-isookanin-8-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (8a/8b), 6, 7, 3', 4'-tetrahydroxyaurone(9), maritimetin (10), esculetin (11), 3-O-caffeoyl-2-methyl-d-erythrono-1, 4-lactone (12), (7S, 8R) balanophonin-4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (13), eugenyl-O-beta-apiofuranosyl-( 1"-6') -O-beta-glucopyranoside (14), and (+)-syringaresinol-4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (15). Compounds 8, 13, 14, and 15 were isolated from this genus for the first time. Compounds 1 and 6 were potent inhibitors against HSC-T6 cells in vitro and compounds 1, 2, 6, and 7 were capable of decreasing the inflammatory cytokine production of macrophage cells in vitro.

Studies on antitumor activity of rhEndostatin / 药学学报

<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the inhibitory effect of recombinant human endostatin (rhEndostatin) on endothelia cell proliferation and tumor growth.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>MTT assay was applied to examine the anti-proliferation of rhEndostatin on human embryo umbilical cord vascular endothelial cell ECV304 and human cancer cell HCT-8, BGC803 and EJ. Xenotrasplanted nude mice models with human cancer and experimental implanted tumor mice model were used to evaluate rhEndostatin's antitumor activity.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>rhEndostatin was shown to inhibit the proliferation of ECV304 cells and the IC50 is about 7 x 10(-6) g.L-1. No inhibition was observed in HCT-8, BGC803 and EJ cells at 1 x 10(-4) g.L-1 rhEndostatin. rhEndostatin was shown to inhibit human xenograft in nude mice with human gastric cancer BGC803 and breast cancer B37 when administered subcutaneously at 5, 10, 20 mg.kg-1.d-1 for 24 days in a dose-dependent manner. Mouse hepatoma H22 was also suppressed when given rhEndostatin subcutaneously 20 mg.kg-1.d-1 for 9 days, but it showed no inhibitory effect on Lewis lung carcinoma and B16 melanoma.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>These results indicate that rhEndostatin can inhibit the growth of xenotransplanted human tumors in nude mice and certain murine tumor. The action mechanisms may be that it can inhibit endothelial cell proliferation, thereby inhibiting the formation of new blood vessel in tumor, leading the tumor to stop grow.</p>