Mechanism of biological actions of quercetin based on biomolecular network / 药学学报

The mechanism of biological actions of quercetin was studied by using metabolomic method and biomolecular network. HPLC-MS was used to analyze the serum metabolome in rats of blank group and quercetin administration group rats, and MS data were processed by MATLAB software. With multivariate statistical analysis of serum metabolite profiles, a clear separation among blank group and quercetin administration group was achieved, potential biomarkers were selected according to the parameters of variable importance in the projection (VIP) and identified according to MS information and database retrieval. Four compounds, related enzymes, action targets and metabolic pathways had been confirmed, namely retinoic acid and RARbeta, arachidonate and COX-2, 3, 5-diodotyrosine and TPO, uridine diphosphate glucose and PDEs. The mechanism of quercetin enhancing ability of retinoic acid on the induction of RARbeta, activating TPO, using as COX-2 and PDEs inhibitor was approved by biomolecular network and related literatures. In this study, a mechanism of multiple biological actions of quercetin was evaluated at the level of the biomolecular network, metabolomics and biomolecular network can be used to investigate the biological effects mechanism of quercetin, which provided a new method to further revealing mechanism of drug action.

A new investigative technique for tumor spheres: egg-white-paraffin embedding technique / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective To explore a new long-term efficient embedding technique of tumor spheres.Methods Tumor spheres,mainly composed of cancer stem cells,were cultured from glioblastoma tissues.The fifth generation of tumor spheres was chosen for egg-white-paraffin embedding and section.Then,those tumor sphere slices were observed by HE staining,immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining.And the immunofluorescence results of these tumor sphere slices were compared with those tumor spheres kept with traditional methods.Results Immunofluorescence results showed that tumor spheres kept with traditional methods looked blurry,and the positive cells and the positive protein expression sites in the cells could not be displayed.HE staining demonstrated that the tumor sphere slices had well-distributed intact spheres and coloring cells with high karyoplasm contrast.Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining of tumor sphere slices showed clear background,from which positive cells and positive locus could be easily displayed; therefore,semi-quantitative analysis of the positive cells could be performed.Conclusion Egg-white-paraffin embedding technique of the tumor sphere slices can reduce experimental errors and cut down the costs,which enjoys its advantage as compared with traditional embedding technique of the tumor sphere slices.

Effect of quercetin on neural stem cell proliferation in the subventricular zone of rats after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of quercetin on the proliferation of neural stem cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of rats after focal cerebral ischemia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>An adult rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was established by placement of an intraluminal filament at the origin of the MCA. Quercetin was administered intraperitoneally in the rats at a dose of 50 mg/kg every 3 days starting at 6 h after MCAO, and BrdU (50 mg/kg daily) was also injected intraperitoneally starting at 4 h after MCAO. BrdU-positive cells in the SVZ were counted at 7, 14 and 21 days after MCAO.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the sham-operated group, the rats in the ischemic model group showed significantly increased BrdU-positive cells in the ipsilateral SVZ 7 days after MCAO, reaching the peak level on day 14 and beginning to decrease on day 21 (P<0.05). The number of ipsilateral BrdU-positive cells in quercetin group was significantly greater than that in the model group on days 7, 14 and 21 (P<0.05), and maintained the high level on day 21.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Quercetin can maintain a high level of neural stem cell proliferation in the SVZ after focal cerebral ischemia in adult rats.</p>

Effect of quercetin on gene expression in glucose-oxygen deprived astrocytes / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective To study the effect of quercetin on gene expression in glucose-oxygen deprived astrocytes using large-scale oligo microarray technology.Methods Astrocytes were primarily cultured in vitro and divided into ischemia and hypoxia group and ischemia and hypoxia plus quercetin treatment(50 μmol/L)group; ischemia and hypoxia cells from these 2 groups were induced by anaerobic culture for 4 h,and then,the nutrient solutions were added into each group,respectively.Twenty-four h after that,cDNA microarray was employed to select the differentially expressed genes in the 2 groups,and these genes were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR.Results The cDNA microarray indicated that the expressions of 180 genes had significant changes at the mRNA level between ischernia and hypoxia group and ischemia and hypoxia plus quercetin treatment group,of which 49 genes were up-regulated and 131 were down-regulated.One hundred and forty-eight differentially expressed genes were confirmed by RT-PCR,including 34 up-regulated genes and 114 down-regulated genes,which showed that 82.2％(148/180)genes that matched with the results of cDNA microarray.Conclusion Gene expression profiling by large-scale oligo microarray provides good understanding of the molecular mechanism of quercetin in glucose-oxygen deprived astrocytes,and laids the foundation for investigating the influence of quercetin and astrocytes in hypoxic-ischemic brain damage.

Multi-central randomized controlled investigation on the massage for supplementing qi and removing obstruction in the Governor Vessel for treatment of infantile diarrhea due to spleen deficiency / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To make multi-central clinical evaluation of the massage for supplementing qi and removing obstruction in the Governor Vessel for treatment of infantile diarrhea due to spleen deficiency.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>By using multi-central, randomized and controlled method, 275 cases were randomly divided into an observation group (n = 137) and a control group (n = 138). The observation group were treated by the massage for supplementing qi and removing obstruction in the Governor Vessel, and the control group by routine massage therapy in Tuina Science, a teaching material for college and school of TCM. After treatment for 7 days, their therapeutic effects were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The cured rate was 83.2% in the observation group and 69.6% in the control group with a signifi cant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05), the former being better than the latter. The mean cured time was (3.22 +/- 1.04) days in the observation group and (4.20 +/- 1.11) days in the control group with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05), the former being shorter than the latter.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The massage for supplementing qi and removing obstruction in the Governor Vessel has a definite therapeutic effect on infantile diarrhea due to spleen deficiency, with rapid effect.</p>