Realgar (α-As4S4) Treats Myelodysplastic Syndromes through Reducing DNA Hypermethylation / 中国结合医学杂志

DNA hypermethylation is an epigenetic modification that plays a critical role in the oncogenesis of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Aberrant DNA methylation represses the transcription of promotors of tumor suppressor genes, inducing gene silencing. Realgar (α-As4S4) is a traditional medicine used for the treatment of various diseases in the ancient time. Realgar was reported to have efficacy for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). It has been demonstrated that realgar could efficiently reduce DNA hypermethylation of MDS. This review discusses the mechanisms of realgar on inhibiting DNA hypermethylation of MDS, as well as the species and metabolisms of arsenic in vivo.

Application and Prospect of Platelet Multi-Omics Technology in Study of Blood Stasis Syndrome / 中国结合医学杂志

The abnormality of platelet function plays an important role in the pathogenesis and evolution of blood stasis syndrome (BSS). The explanation of its mechanism is a key scientific issue in the study of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and treatment. System biology technology provides a good technical platform for further development of platelet multi-omics, which is conducive to the scientific interpretation of the biological mechanism of BSS. The article summarized the pathogenesis of platelets in BSS, the mechanism of action of blood activating and stasis resolving drugs, and the application of genomics, proteomics, and metabonomics in platelet research, and put forward the concept of "plateletomics in BSS". Through the combination and cross-validation of multi-omics technology, it mainly focuses on the clinical and basic research of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases; through the interactive verification of multi-omics technology and system biology, it mainly focuses on the platelet function and secretion system. The article systematically explains the molecular biological mechanism of platelet activation, aggregation, release, and other stages in the formation and development of BSS, and provides a new research idea and method for clarifying the pathogenesis of BSS and the mechanism of action of blood activating and stasis resolving drugs.

Regulatory Effect of Quyu Huatan Tongmai Prescription on Intestinal Microflora in Golden Hamster with Hyperlipidemia / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the regulatory effect of Quyu Huatan Tongmai prescription on intestinal mircoflora of hyperlipidemia golden hamster and scientific evidence for the compatibility. MethodSyrian golden hamsters were randomized into normal， model， prescription， stasis-dispelling （Quyu）， phlegm-dissolving （Huatan）， and detoxification （Jiedu） groups， with 8 in each group. Hyperlipidemia in golden hamsters was induced by high-fat diet （4 weeks）. Then hamsters in the Quyu group （1.11 g·kg-1）， Huatan group （0.39 g·kg-1）， Jiedu group （0.07 g·kg-1）， and prescription group （1.42 g·kg-1） were given （ig） corresponding drugs and those in the normal group and the model group received （ig） distilled water of equivalent volume， once a day for 6 weeks. Serum lipids were determined， and hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the pathological morphology of the liver. Feces were collected for 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing of intestinal flora. ResultCompared with normal group， the model group demonstrated increase in body weight （P<0.05， P<0.01） and blood lipids （P<0.01）， decrease in intestinal flora diversity （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and variation of the relative abundance of intestinal flora at phylum， family， and genus levels （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， Quyu Huatan Tongmai prescription controlled the body weight change， reduced the serum triglyceride （TG）， total cholesterol （TC）， and low density lipoprotein cholesterol/high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio （LDL-C/HDL-C） （P<0.05， P<0.01）， improved the structure of intestinal flora， decreased the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroides （P<0.01）， raised the abundance of Bacteroidaceae， Porphyromonadaceae， Rikenellaceae， and Pasteurella （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and lowered the relative abundance of Coriobacterium （P<0.05） in hyperlipidemia golden hamsters. All the split prescriptions improved blood lipids and intestinal flora of the hamsters and particularly， the lipids-lowering effect of the Jiedu group and the regulation of flora in the Huatan group were closer to those of the prescription group. ConclusionQuyu Huatan Tongmai prescription and the split prescriptions all alleviated the hyperlipidemia of golden hamsters to different degrees possibly by regulating intestinal flora structure and improving intestinal microecology. The effect of the prescription group was most significant， and coming in second was the Huatan group. This study also provides scientific evidence for the effect of Quyu Huatan Tongmai prescription.

Research progress of change of platelet in blood stasis syndrome and effect of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

The traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndrome of blood stasis refers to blood stagnation in meridians and viscera, with the main symptoms of pain, mass, bleeding, purple tongue, and unsmooth pulse. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are among the major chronic diseases seriously harming the health of the Chinese. Among the coronary heart disease and stroke patients, most demonstrate the blood stasis syndrome. Platelet is considered to be one of the necessary factors in thrombosis, which closely relates to the TCM syndrome of blood stasis and the occurrence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The clinical and laboratory research on platelet activation and aggregation has been paid more and more attention. Its purpose is to treat and prevent blood stasis syndrome. In this study, the authors analyzed the research on the dysfunctions of platelets in blood stasis syndrome, biological basis of TCM blood stasis syndrome, and the effect of blood-activating stasis-resolving prescriptions on platelets, aiming at providing a reference for exploring the mechanism of platelet intervention in the treatment of TCM blood stasis syndrome and the pathways and targets of Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of the syndrome.

Metabonomics: A Useful Tool to Reveal Underlying Relationships between Altered Chinese Medicine Syndromes and Ultrafiltration in Treatment of Heart Failure / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To reveal the underlying relationships between Chinese medicine (CM) syndromes and ultrafiltration (UF) in the treatment of heart failure based on a metabonomic approach.@*METHODS@#Seventeen acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) patients were enrolled, and their CM syndromes before and after UF were collected. In addition, their venous plasma collected before and after UF was used for liquid chromatographmass spectrometer-based metabonomic analysis. Both reversed phase liquid chromatography and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography were used to analyze the plasma samples. Partial least-squares to latent structure-discriminant analyses were used for data analysis.@*RESULTS@#An obvious difference was observed pre- and post-treatment. A total of 17 potential biomarkers associating with alterd syndromes with UF including hypoxanthine, 1-methylhistidine, phytosphingosine, O-decanoyl-R-carnitine, etc. were screened out, showing a significant change after UF. The major adjusted metabolic pathways were purine metabolism, histidine metabolism, leucine and isoleucine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, carnitine shuttle, sphingolipid metabolism and phospholipid metabolism.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Metabonomic approach is a useful tool to identify potential biomarkers of altered syndromes link to UF and could provide a theoretical basis for further research on the therapeutic mechanism of UF combined with CM.

Metabonomics Analysis of Sailuotong Capsules in Treatment of Acute Cerebral Ischemia in Rats / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To explore the mechanism of Sailuotong capsules in treating acute cerebral ischemia from the perspective of metabonomics. Method:A total of 24 SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, including sham-operated group, model group and Sailuotong group (33 mg·kg-1). The rat model of acute multiple cerebral infarction was established by injecting fluorescent microspheres into internal carotid artery. After the successful operation, rats in Sailuotong group were administered by duodenal injection immediately, and the dosage volume was 2 mL·kg-1. Endogenous metabolites in rat brain tissues of each group were determined by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. The relevant data and biomarkers were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Result:The analysis of pattern recognition indicated that the metabolite profiles in model group and sham-operated group were separated obviously, and ten biomarkers related to acute cerebral ischemia were also identified. Compared with the sham-operated group, contents of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), fumaric acid, glutathione, dehydroascorbic acid, aspartic acid and S-adenosylhomocysteine were decreased, while the contents of arginine, citrulline, saccharopine and hydantoin-5-propionic acid were increased in the model group. Meanwhile, the ten abnormal biomarkers mentioned above got restoration in Sailuotong group. Conclusion:The main regulated metabolic pathways of Sailuotong capsules are NAA metabolism, arginine metabolism, energy metabolism, oxidative stress, etc.

Study on fragmentation pathways of three ginkgolides by mass spectrometry / 中国中药杂志

The fragmentation pathways of the three ginkgolides (ginkgolides A, ginkgolides B, ginkgolides C) have been studied with high resolution and high mass accuracy using quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry in negative ion mode in this paper. The results indicate that the three ginkgolides have similar fragmentation pathways, including four kinds of common cleavage pathways and one common characteristic ion. In high quality regions, the typical fragmentation pathways of the three ginkgolides are lactone ring opening with continuous loss of CO, CO₂,and loss of H₂O. In low quality regions, the common characteristic fragment ion of the three ginkgolides at 72.993 6 is formed by C rings cleavage. Also, the common fragment ions of ginkgolides A and ginkgolides B at 141.018 8, 125.023 8, 113.024 0, 97.029 1 are formed by A rings cleavage. The study of fragmentation pathways could be adopted for the structural identification of the ginkgolides and their metabolites.

Pharmacokinetics research of Tianlongtongxin formula in rat / 药学学报

Tianlongtongxin (TLTX) formula is composed of six Chinese herbs including Rhodiola rosea L., Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Chuanxiong Rhizoma and so on. It has been mainly used in the treatment of chest-Bi syndrome in the clinics. To investigate the material foundation and provide reference for clinical dosage regimen, the pharmacokinetics of seven components in the rat plasma were studied after oral administration of TLTX. A high sensitive method was established to determine the seven active components from TLTX in rat plasma based on the LC-MS/MS technique. The method met the requirements of preclinical pharmacokinetic study, through the investigation of linearity, specificity, recovery, accuracy, precision and stability. After administration of TLTX at 4.5 g·kg-1 dose, all of the components were detectable in the plasma after 5 min. The concentration peaks were observed at 0.11-4.67 h respectively after administration with great difference in levels. The AUC of salidroside was significantly higher than other components, suggesting it as a main active component in TLTX formula. The observations provide scientific evidence for the rationality of salidroside as monarch drug in the formula.