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OBJECTIVE@#Flavonoids are the bioactive compounds in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), in which chalcone synthase (CHS) is the first limiting enzyme. However, it is unclear that which chalcone synthase genes (CHSs) are participated in flavonoids biosynthesis in C. tinctorius. In this study, the CHSs in the molecular characterization and enzyme activities were investigated.@*METHODS@#Putative chalcone biosynthase genes were screened by the full-length transcriptome sequences data in C. tinctorius. Chalcone biosynthase genes in C. tinctorius (CtCHSs) were cloned from cDNA of flowers of C. tinctorius. The cloned gene sequences were analyzed by bioinformatics, and their expression patterns were analyzed by real-time PCR (RT-PCR). The protein of CtCHS in the development of flowers was detected by polyclonal antibody Western blot. A recombinant vector of CtCHS was constructed. The CtCHS recombinant protein was induced and purified to detect the enzyme reaction (catalyzing the reaction of p-coumaryl-CoA and malonyl-CoA to produce naringin chalcone). The reaction product was detected by HPLC and LC-MS.@*RESULTS@#Two full-length CtCHS genes were successfully cloned from the flowers of safflower (CtCHS1 and CtCHS3), with gene lengths of 1525 bp and 1358 bp, respectively. RT-PCR analysis showed that both genes were highly expressed in the flowers, but the expression of CtCHS1 was higher than that of CtCHS3 at each developmental stage of the flowers. WB analysis showed that only CtCHS1 protein could be detected at each developmental stage of the flowers. HPLC and LC-MS analyses showed that CtCHS1 could catalyze the conversion of p-coumaryl-CoA and malonyl-CoA substrates to naringin chalcone.@*CONCLUSION@#CtCHS1 is involved in the biosynthesis of naringin chalcone in safflower.
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Nasal preparations have unique advantages in drug delivery and are widely used in the treatment of local and systemic diseases. Nasal administration of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has a long history in China. In recent years， nasal preparations of TCM have attracted wide attention. Based on the information about nasal preparations of TCM from the database of National Medical Products Administration （NMPA）， Yaozh.com and China National Knowledge Internet （CNKI） in the recent 30 years， the formulation， the listed products， commonly used TCM， pharmaceutical excipients， clinical application and safety research of modern nasal preparations of TCM were summarized and expounded. Focusing on many problems in the development of modern nasal preparations of TCM， such as inaccurate dosage of some products， incomplete quality standard system of pharmaceutical excipients， imperfect safety evaluation， lack of research and development of nasal drug delivery devices and so on， the possible solutions and prospects were put forward from the aspects of optimizing the extraction and separation process of TCM， the quality control and application method of pharmaceutical excipients， the development of new dosage forms， the safety evaluation of nasal administration of TCM， and the design and development of nasal administration devices. The aim is to provide ideas for the development of nasal preparations of TCM and provide scientific basis for its sustainable utilization.
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OBJECTIVE@#To study the use of Chinese medicine (CM) in cancer patients in southern China.@*METHODS@#A total of 1,950 cancer patients finished questionnaires in four provinces in southern China. The survey included socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of participants, dosage forms, efficacy, and side effects.@*RESULTS@#The study results showed that cancer patients with higher education (>12 years) were more likely to accept the treatment of Chinese herbs. There were 54.61% (1,065 cases) of patients chose Chinese herbs for the initial treatment and 14.46% (282 cases) chose Chinese herbs as monotherapy. Most patients (54.51%, 1,063 cases) continuously used CM for more than 6 months, and a few of them (212 cases) used CM for up to 3 years. All kinds of dosage forms of CM had been used, including CM decoction, CM patent prescription and CM injection. Concerning the efficacy in the view of patients, 40.31% (786 cases) believed that it would be effective to take Chinese herbs before they starting the anti-cancer treatment, and the percentage increased to 81.08% after 1-month CM treatment. The effect of Chinese herbs was mainly demonstrated by symptom relief and improvement of quality of life, and 8.31% (162 cases) of patients experienced control of tumor growth and decreased tumor markers. Furthermore, only 14.31% (279 cases) participants reported that they experienced side effects during CM treatment.@*CONCLUSION@#This large scale investigation reflects the current situation of domestic CM usage objectively and comprehensively, which might provide new ways for cancer treatment.
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Rhei Radix et Rhizoma was first recorded in Shennong Ben Cao Jing, with a wide range of pharmacological activities. Autoimmune disease is a kind of disease that damages the tissue structure and function of immune cells and their components due to the impairment of immune tolerance function, including atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune thyroiditis, ulcerative colitis, type 1 diabetes and IgA nephropathy. In recent years, clinical and experimental studies show that Rhei Radix et Rhizoma has potential therapeutic effects on autoimmune diseases. Under the guidance of the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, this paper reviews therapeutic and intervening effects of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and its main active ingredient anthraquinone on autoimmune diseases. It also puts forward new study directions in view of the existing problems in studies of rhubarb and its anthraquinone, with the aim to provide reference for clinical treatment and scientific studies of effect of Rhei Radix et Rhizomaon autoimmune diseases.
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Animals , Anthraquinones , Autoimmune Diseases/drug therapy , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Rheum , RhizomeABSTRACT
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays an important role in the fight against coronavirus diseasef-2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. A total of 241 Chinese patent medicines and 242 prescriptions were recommended by the state and 26 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. A total of 53 varieties of commonly used medicinal materials were selected by analysis, of which 20 were common key varieties in medicinal materials of Chinese patent medicines and prescriptions, including Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Forsythiae Fructus, Pogostemonis Herba, etc. At the same time, some cold-quilt medicines and ethnic medicines also played an important role in the epidemic. By evaluating the supply and regeneration ability of the key varieties of TCM resources under the current COVID-19 epidemic situation, means of the source, regeneration cycle, medicinal parts, new production and market information of 53 kinds of TCM at present, it is suggested that the artificial cultivation of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and Paeoniae Radix Rubra can be strengthened, the development of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos, Isatidis Radix and other domestic medicinal materials can be controlled. In response to the change in market demand, the production variety structure and planting area of Chinese medicinal materials were timely adjusted to improve the quality standard and safety index of Chinese medicinal materials, and in order to provide ideas for the rational allocation of TCM resources and the development of Chinese medicinal materials industry under the epidemic situation.
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Objective: To qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the terpene-conjugated curcuminoid compound- Bisabolocurcumin ether (BCE) in Curcuma species. Methods: UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS was used to establish a qualitative analysis of BCE, and its distribution in Curcuma species was studied. UPLC was used to establish quantitative analysis of BCE and three main curcuminoids in three Curcuma species (Rhizoma Curcumae Longae, HuangsiYujin, Curcuma phaeocaulis), in order to study the difference of BCE content in different Curcuma species and its content difference with other curcuminoids. Results: In the qualitative analysis, by analyzing the primary, secondary pyrolysis fragments and the cracking law of BCE, it was found that only Jianghuang and HuangsiYujin contained it, but BCE could not be detected in the PengEzhu. In the quantitative analysis, BCE and the three main curcuminoids had good linear relationship in their linear range (r ≥ 0.999 3); The average recovery rates were in range of 99.407%-113.631%, and RSD < 4%. It was found that the content of three curcuminoids in Jianghuang were significantly higher than the other two herbs, and the content of BCE in the three herbs was very different. The BCE content in Jianghuang was four times than that of HuangsiYujin. Conclusion: The qualitative and quantitative analysis methods established in this study can provide reference for the discovery and analysis of more novel BCE structure’s compounds, and provide a basis for improving the quality standards of Curcuma species.
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Pharmaceutics of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) is a comprehensive applied discipline integrating theory with practice, and it is a main core course of the undergraduate major of TCM with the characteristics of combining inheritance with innovation, theory with practice, integration with specialty. According to the characteristics of this curriculum and the current research situation of teaching model, this paper proposes to construct the " Fang-Zheng-Ji-Dao" characteristic teaching model of Pharmaceutics of TCM, and the construction, implementation strategies and methods of the model were elaborated in order to provide new ideas and methods for the innovation of the teaching model of Pharmaceutics of TCM.
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Objective: To Compare the difference of the intestinal absorption kinetics of volatile oil of Sichuan genuine herb Curcuma phaeocaulis before and after vinegar processing. Methods: Rat model of systemic intestinal perfusion were established and were divided into four groups including volatile oil of C. phaeocaulis group, volatile oil of C. phaeocaulis processed with vinegar group, volatile oil of C. phaeocaulis added with curcuminoids group and volatile oil of C. phaeocaulis processed with vinegar added with curcuminoids group to investigate the absorption of effective constituents of germacrone and furanodiene in the intestinal segements, and calculate the absorption rate constant (Ka), absorption half-life (t1/2), and absorption rate per unit time (P). Results: The results showed that the absorption degree and Ka value of volatile oil of C. phaeocaulis after vinegar processing was less than that before vinegar processing. The degree and Ka value of volatile oil after addition of curcuminoids was less than that before compatibility. Conclusion: C. phaeocaulis after processing with vinegar could alleviate drug property through delaying the absorption of volatile oil to stabilize the blood concentration, with view to meeting the need of clinical safety ad effectivity.
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Objective To study the correlation between the heavy metal elements and the genuineness of Curcum. Methods ICP-MS technique was used to determine the difference of heavy metal elements content in 20 batches of Curcumae Rhizoma, Curcumae Longae Rhizoma, and Curcumae Radix in different original regions and different original plants, and study the effect of water extraction on heavy metal elements content. The relationship between heavy metals content and genuineness in medicinal materials and the distribution change of trace elements in the decoction process from slices into the decoction were studied by systematic cluster analysis. Results The medicinal herbs of the same origin can be grouped together, and the three medicinal herbs which were different medicinal parts of the same original plants could be separated clearly. For the Curcumae Rhizoma from different original plants, C. phaeocaulis and C. kwangsiensis produced from different places have more similar characteristics, and had more similar enrichment of heavy metal elements. The content of heavy metal elements in different producing areas and different original plants tablets were different: Cu > Pb > Cd > As > Hg; Results indicated that heavy metal element of Chinese medicinal materials in the process of decoction had low dissolution rate, and the content of each element changed greatly after decoction. The element content of dissolution was As > Pb > Hg > Cu > Cd, which showed that the content of Cu was greater than other elements in the original slices, but its dissolution rate was low. Conclusion The content of heavy metals in Curcuma from different habitats was obviously different, and it had certain regularity with the varieties of medicinal materials and distribution of producing areas. The origin environment has asignificant effect on the enrichment of heavy metal elements, and the selective enrichment ability of heavy metal elements in different varieties is different. Heavy metal elements distribution changes in the process of decoction from slices into the decoction showed that the content of heavy metals in slices could have no positive correlation with that in patients with oral decoction, and each element had low dissolution rate, which reveals the scientificity and rationality of the clinical application of Chinese materia medica into traditional Chinese medicine decoction, and provides reference for the limited standard content of heavy metals.
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To compare the differences of essential oils extracted from Curcumae Rhizoma with different origins. The TIC of the essential oils of Curcumae Rhizoma from three different origins recorded by CP(2010) , were investigated by GC-MS combined with automated mass spectral deconvolution and identification system(AMDIS),steps as follow： firstly, overlapped peaks were resolved by AMDIS,secondly, NIST11.L standard MS spectral database combined with retention index were used to assist qualitative analysis, thirdly, the peak area of each split peak were determined by choosing the characteristic fragment ion peak, finally, the relative percentage contents of each compounds were determined through peak area normalization method. The results showed that the components of the essential oils of Curcumae Rhizoma from three origins were different from each other at various degree. In conclusion, the types and content of essential oils could be an indicator to evaluate the quality of Curcumae Rhizoma from different origins and its geoherbalism.
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Chinese herbs are mostly used to make decoction, which would form precipitation after standing for cooling and abandoned by patients. Processing with vinegar can change the property of the herbal pieces, such as the transfer rate of heavy metal into decoction. To analyze the transfer rate change of heavy metal in the decoction and precipitation of Curcuma phaeocaulis before and after processing with vinegar, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to establish the determination method on five heavy metals in C. phaeocaulis, including Copper (Cu), arsenic (As), chromium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), using microwave to digest the samples, indium (In) as the internal standard, and national level standard material tea leaves GBW10016 (GSB-7 tea) as the quality control standard material. Then, the content of five heavy metals in the herbal pieces, decoction and five heavy metals of 6 representative batches of C. phaeocaulis and their vinegar-processing products was determinated. After computation, the transfer rates of heavy metals in the decoction and precipitation of C. phaeocaulis Val. before and after the processing with vinegar were obtained. The results showed that, after the processing with vinegar, total transfer rate of Pb and Hg was decreased significantly; total transfer rate of Cd and Cu was slightly decreased; total transfer rate of As was slightly increased, however heavy metals in all the precipitation were decreased. The results indicated that processing with vinegar had certain influence on heavy metal transfer rate, with certain synergistic and attenuated effect.
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Curcumin, the medically active component from Curcuma longa (Turmeric), is widely used to treat inflammatory diseases. Protein interaction network (PIN) analysis was used to predict its mechanisms of molecular action. Targets of curcumin were obtained based on ChEMBL and STITCH databases. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) were extracted from the String database. The PIN of curcumin was constructed by Cytoscape and the function modules identified by gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis based on molecular complex detection (MCODE). A PIN of curcumin with 482 nodes and 1688 interactions was constructed, which has scale-free, small world and modular properties. Based on analysis of these function modules, the mechanism of curcumin is proposed. Two modules were found to be intimately associated with inflammation. With function modules analysis, the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin were related to SMAD, ERG and mediation by the TLR family. TLR9 may be a potential target of curcumin to treat inflammation.
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This study aims to develop a method for determination of beta-elemene, curcumol, germacrone and neocurdione in the volatile oil of Curcuma phaeocaulis, and to provide the basis of the quality control method for the volatile oil of C. phaeocaulis and the related preparations. Based on GC-MS, the 4 main compounds were simultaneously determined, with the internal standard n-tridecane. The Agilent 19091S-433 column (0.25 microm x 250 microm x 30 m) was adopted at the temperature of 250 degrees C, the programmed temperature method (60 degrees C for 1 min, 5 degrees C x min x to 110 degrees C for 5 min, 1 degrees C x min(-1) to 140 degrees C, 5 degrees C x min(-1) to 160 degrees C, 10 degrees C x min(-1) to 240 degrees C) was used. Helium gas was used as the carrier gas at a constant flow rat of 1 mL x min(-1), with an injection volume of 1 RL. Mass spectra were taken at 70 eV; the ion-source temperature was 200 degrees C. The relation time and character acteristic ions for each target compound were determined by full scan mode and SIM, and m/z 85.1, 93.1, 121.1, 107.1 and 180.1 were the detection ions of n-tridecane, beta-elemene, curcumol, germacrone and neocurdione. As a result, beta-elemene, curcumol, germacrone and neocurdione were all detected with good separation. They were all in a good linear relationship within each concentration scope. The average recovery rates were in the range of 98.2%-101%. So, the method can be used to control the quality of the volatile of C. phaeocaulis Val. and the preparations related.
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Acetic Acid , Chemistry , Curcuma , Chemistry , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry , Methods , Oils, Volatile , Chemistry , Plant Oils , Chemistry , Sesquiterpenes , Sesquiterpenes, GermacraneABSTRACT
According to the current situations and development of (TCMIs), the author of the article reveals the scientific connotation of TCMIs in theory, preparations and clinic application, and points out that TCMIs are an innovative and breakthrough of conventional dosage forms of traditional Chinese medicines, the combination of traditional theory and modern technology as well as a type of modern dosage form with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicines, which conforms to the principle of including the essence and excluding the wastes for traditional Chinese medicine preparations, meets the demands for quick-acting of traditional Chinese medicines and guides one of the development orientation of traditional Chinese medicines. In the meantime, an analysis was also made on key issues, such as adverse reactions of TCMIs, modern clinical application, special drug delivery route and diversity of components and ingredients.
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Humans , Drug Delivery Systems , Methods , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Exanthema , Injections , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Methods , Nausea , Product Surveillance, Postmarketing , Methods , VomitingABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The effect of chronic stress on cognitive functions has been one of the hot topics in neuroscience. But there has been much controversy over its mechanism. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic multiple stress on spatial learning and memory as well as the expression of Fyn, BDNF and TrkB in the hippocampus of rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Adult rats were randomly divided into control and chronic multiple stressed groups. Rats in the multiple stressed group were irregularly and alternatively exposed to situations of vertical revolution, sleep expropriation and restraint lasting for 6 weeks, 6 hours per day with night illumination for 6 weeks. Before and after the period of chronic multiple stresses, the performance of spatial learning and memory of all rats was measured using the Morris Water Maze (MWM). The expression of Fyn, BDNF and TrkB proteins in the hippocampus was assayed by Western blotting and immunohistochemical methods. The levels of Fyn and TrkB mRNAs in the hippocampus of rats were detected by RT-PCR technique.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The escape latency in the control group and the stressed group were 15.63 and 8.27 seconds respectively. The performance of spatial learning and memory of rats was increased in chronic multiple stressed group (P < 0.05). The levels of Fyn, BDNF and TrkB proteins in the stressed group were higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The results of immunoreactivity showed that Fyn was present in the CA3 region of the hippocampus and BDNF positive particles were distributed in the nuclei of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells as well as DG granular cells. Quantitative analysis indicated that level of Fyn mRNA was also upregulated in the hippocampus of the stressed group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Chronic multiple stress can enhance spatial learning and memory function of rats. The expression of Fyn, BDNF and TrkB proteins and the level of Fyn mRNA are increased in the stessed rat hippocampus. These suggest that Fyn and BDNF/TrkB signal transduction pathways may participate in the process of the enhanced learning and memory during chronic multiple stress.</p>