The effect of Jiegeng decoction on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice based on metabolomics / 药学学报

One of the traditional prescriptions for treating lung diseases, Jiegeng decoction (JGT), is still unknown in terms of its chemical makeup and mechanism. In this study, Q-Exactive-Orbitrap MS technology was used to identify the chemical constituents of JGT, and metabolomics was used to examine the effect of JGT on metabolites in the lung tissue of mice with acute lung injury (ALI) model. The potential biomarkers were screened by fold change (FC) > 1.5 or FC < 0.67 and P < 0.05, and enriched for metabolic pathways. A total of 40 compounds, including triterpenoid saponins, flavonoids and glycosides, were identified by mass spectrometry analysis of JGT. All animal experiments were approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. TCM-LAEC2021106). The results showed that JGT improved the lung coefficient, and lung tissue morphology of mice with ALI, lowered the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and reduced myeloperoxidase (MPO) content in lung tissue. The metabolomic results showed that JGT could regulate 22 metabolites associated with ALI, among which leukotriene D4, docosapentaenoic acid, hypoxanthine, L-5-oxoproline, and other metabolites were mainly associated with the body′s inflammatory response and oxidative stress, and were enriched in the pathways of glutathione metabolism, purine metabolism, and primary bile acid biosynthesis. This study analyzed the potential mechanism of JGT in the treatment of ALI through metabolomics, providing an important theoretical basis for the clinical application of JGT.

Application of multiple chemical and biological approaches for quality assessment of Carthamus tinctorius L. (safflower) by determining both the primary and secondary metabolites.

BACKGROUND: The florets of Carthamus tinctorius L. (safflower) serve as the source of a reputable herbal medicine targeting gynecological diseases. Conventional investigations regarding the quality control of safflower, however, mainly focused on the secondary metabolites with primary metabolites ignored. PURPOSE: To holistically evaluate the quality difference of safflower samples collected from five different producing regions by multiple chemical and biological approaches with both the primary and secondary metabolites considered. METHODS: A precursor ions list-triggered data-dependent MS2 approach was established by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/Q-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap MS) to comprehensively identify the secondary metabolites from safflower. Primary metabolites were identified by various 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. Similarity evaluation and quantitative assays of all the characterized primary metabolites and a quinochalcone C-glycoside (QCG) marker, hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), were performed by quantitative 1H NMR (qNMR) using an external standard method. Multiple in vitro models with respect to the antioxidant, anti-platelet aggregation, and antioxidant stress injury effects, were assayed to determine the efficacy differences. RESULTS: Totally thirteen primary metabolites (including one nucleoside, two sugars, five organic alkali/acids, and five amino acids) and 135 secondary metabolites (97 QCGs and 38 flavonoids) could be identified or tentatively characterized from safflower. Good chemical consistency was observed between the commercial safflower samples and a standard safflower sample, with similarity varying in the range of 0.95‒0.99. The results from qNMR-oriented quantitative experiments (thirteen primary metabolites and HSYA) and biological assays indicated the quality of safflower samples from Xinjiang (XJ-2 and XJ-4), Hunan (HuN-1 and HuN-2), and Sichuan (SC), was comparable to the standard safflower sample. CONCLUSION: The integration of multiple chemical (using two analytical platforms, UHPLC/Q-Orbitrap MS and NMR) and biological (four in vitro models) approaches by determining both the primary and secondary metabolites demonstrated a powerful strategy that could facilitate the holistic quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine.

Correlation between gut microbiota and behavior symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the composition of gut microbiota and its correlation with the severity of behavior symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).@*METHODS@#A total of 30 children with ASD were enrolled as the ASD group, and 20 healthy children matched for age and sex were enrolled as the healthy control group. Related clinical data were analyzed. The V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene in fecal samples were sequenced. The severity of behavior symptoms in children with ASD was assessed using the autism behavior checklist. The Spearman's correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between gut microbiota and the severity of behavior symptoms in children with ASD.@*RESULTS@#There was a significant difference in the composition of gut microbiota between the two groups. Compared with the healthy control group, the ASD group had significant reductions in Shannon index and Shannoneven index (P<0.05), as well as a significant reduction in the percentage of Firmicutes and a significant increase in the percentage of Acidobacteria in feces (P<0.05). In the ASD group, the dominant bacteria were Megamonas, Megasphaera, and Barnesiella, while in the healthy control group, the dominant bacteria were Eubacterium_rectale_group, Ezakiella, and Streptococcus. In the children with ASD, the abundance of Megamonas was positively correlated with the scores of health/physical/behavior and language communication (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The development of ASD and the severity of behavior symptoms are closely associated with the composition of gut microbiota.

Study on 1H-NMR fingerprinting of Rhodiolae Crenulatae Radix et Rhizoma / 中国中药杂志

Nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) fingerprint of Rhodiola rosea medicinal materials was established, and used to distinguish the quality of raw materials from different sources. Pulse sequence for water peak inhibition was employed to acquire 1H-NMR spectra with the temperature at 298 K and spectrometer frequency of 400.13 MHz. Through subsection integral method, the obtained NMR data was subjected to similarity analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). 10 batches raw materials of Rhodiola rosea from different origins were successfully distinguished by PCA. The statistical results indicated that rhodiola glucoside, butyl alcohol, maleic acid and alanine were the main differential ingredients. This method provides an auxiliary method of Chinese quality approach to evaluate the quality of Rhodiola crenulata without using natural reference substances.

Chemical constituents from the roots of Goniothalamus cheliensis / 中草药

Objective: To study the chemical constituents in the roots of Goniothalamus cheliensis. Methods: Silica gel, ODS, and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatographic techniques were used to isolate and purify the chemical constituents and their structures were elucidated by spectral analyses. Results: Seven compounds were isolated and identified as acetylgoniofupyrone A (1), protocatechuic acid (2), pinocembrin (3), pinoresinol (4), goniodiol (5), 8-epi-goniotriol (6), and cardiobutanolide (7). Conclusion: Compound 1 is a new goniofupyrone-type of styryllactone, named acetylgoniofupyrone A.

Polyketides from a marine sponge-derived fungus Mycelia sterilia and proton-proton long-range coupling.

A series of polyketide-originated metabolites (1-5) were isolated from a marine sponge-derived fungus Mycelia sterilia. Of these, 1-3 were new compounds. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods as (4R*, 5S*, 6S*, 8S*, 13R*)-1-(2,8-dihydroxy-1,2,6-trimethyl-1,2,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-naphthalen-1-yl)-3-methoxy-propan-1-one (1), 4,8-dihydroxy-7-(2-hydroxy-ethyl)-6-methoxy-3,4-dihydro-2H-naphthalen-1-one (2) and 1-methyl-naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (3). In 1, the proton-proton long-range coupling phenomenon claimed attention and was discussed.