Inhibiting tumour metastasis by DQA modified paclitaxel plus ligustrazine micelles in treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a kind of malignant tumour characterized as uncontrolled cell growth in lung. These malignant cell growth can spread beyond the lung by process of metastasis into other tissues or parts of the body. In this study, we developed dequalinium (DQA) modified paclitaxel plus ligustrazine micelles to destroy vasculogenic mimicry (VM) channels and inhibit tumour metastasis. In vitro assays showed that the targeting micelles with centralized particle size distribution showed not only vigoroso cytotoxicity on A549 cells but also strong inhibition on VM channels and tumour metastasis. Mechanism studies indicated that the DQA modified paclitaxel plus ligustrazine micelles could down-regulate the expressions of VEGF, MMP2, TGF-ß1 and E-cadherin in A549 cells. In vivo assays indicated that the targeting drug-loaded micelles could enhance the accumulation of chemotherapeutic drugs at tumour sites and exhibit strong tumour inhibitory activity with negligible toxicity. Hence, the DQA modified paclitaxel plus ligustrazine micelles developed in this study may provide a potential strategy for treatment of NSCLC.

Multi-component quantitative analysis combined with chromatographic fingerprint for quality assessment of Onosma hookeri / 中国中药杂志

A method for simultaneous determination of the shikonin, acetyl shikonin and β, β'-dimethylpropene shikonin in Onosma hookeri and the chromatographic fingerprint was estabished by HPLC-DAD on an Agilent Zorbax SB-column with a gradient elution of acetonitrile and water at 0.8 mL x min(-1), 30 degrees C. The quality assessment was conducted by comparing the content difference of three naphthoquinone constituents, in combination with chromatographic fingerprint analysis and systems cluster analysis among 7 batches of radix O. hookeri. The content of the three naphthoquinone constituents showed wide variations in 7 bathces. The similarity value of the fingerprints of sample 5, 6 and 7 was above 0.99, sample 2 and 3 above 0.97, sample 3 and 4 above 0.90, and other samples larger than 0.8, which was in concert with the content of three naphthoquinone constituents. The 7 samples were roughly divided into 4 categories. The results above indicated that the using of this medicine is complex and rather spotty. The established HPLC fingerprints and the quantitative analysis method can be used efficiently for quality assessment of O. hookeri.

Normal light and fluorescence microscopy for authentication of Delphinii Brunoniani Herba of Tibet / 药学学报

Dried herb of Delphinium brunonianum Royle (Ranunculaceae) has long been used under the herbal name "Xiaguobei" (Delphinii Brunoniani Herba) in traditional Tibetan medicine and prescribed for the treatment of influenza, itchy skin rash and snake bites. In order to find a useful and convenient method for the identification of microscopic features, the technique of fluorescence microscopy was applied to authenticate "Xiaguobei" of Tibet. The transverse sections of stem and leaf, as well as the powder of "Xiaguobei" were observed to seek for typical microscopic features by normal light and fluorescence microscopy. A style-like, single-cell glandular hair containing yellow secretions on the leaf, young stem and sepal of "Xiaguobei" was found. Under the fluorescence microscope, the xylem and pericycle fiber group emitted significant fluorescence. This work indicated that fluorescence microscopy could be an useful additional method for the authentication work. Without the traditional dyeing methods, the main microscopic features could be easily found by fluorescence microscopy. The results provided reliable references for the authentication of "Xiaguobei".