Recent Progress on Pharmaceutical Properties of Extracellular Vesicles from Mesenchymal Stem Cells--Review / 中国实验血液学杂志

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been officially approved in many countries to treat graft-versus-host disease, autoimmune disorders and those associated with tissue regeneration after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Studies in recent years have confirmed that MSC acts mainly through paracrine mechanism, in which extracellular vesicles secreted by MSC (MSC-EV) play a central role. MSC-EV has overwhelming advantages over MSC itself in the setting of adverse effects in clinical application, indicating that MSC-EV might take the place of its parent cells to be a potentially therapeutic tool for "cell-free therapy". The pharmaceutical properties of MSC-EV largely depend upon the practical and optimal techniques including large-scale expansion of MSC, the modification of MSC based on the indications and the in vivo dynamic features of MSC-EV, and the methods for preparing and harvesting large amounts of MSC-EV. The recent progresses on the issues above will be briefly reviewed.

Three new cucurbitane-type triterpenoid glycosides from Citrullus colocynthis and their anti-inflammatory activity / 中国中药杂志

Three new cucurbitane-type triterpenoid glycosides were separated from the ethyl acetate extract of Citrullus colocynthis by a variety of chromatographic techniques. According to the data of NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and/or comparison with the reported data, the three novel cucurbitane-type triterpenoid glycosides were identified as colocynthenin E(1), colocynthenin G(2), and colocynthenin H(3). The cell inflammation model was established with RAW264.7 macrophages exposed to lipopolysaccharide and then used to determine the anti-inflammatory activities of the three compounds. Compounds 2 and 3 showed mild anti-inflammatory activities with the IC_(50) of 48.21 and 40.11 μmol·L~(-1), respectively, compared with that(IC_(50)=7.57 μmol·L~(-1)) of the positive control dexamethasone.

Application of Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound in Evaluation of Renal Function for Patients with Spinal Cord Injury Complicated with Hydronephrosis / 中国康复理论与实践

Objective:To apply contrast-enhanced ultrasound in renal function evaluation for patients with spinal cord injury complicated with hydronephrosis. Methods:From October, 2015 to November, 2018, 23 patients with spinal cord injury complicated with hydronephrosis and renal disfunction (spinal cord injury group) and 19 cases of normal kidneys (control group) accepted contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and the image was analyzed with software. The region of interest (ROI) in the renal cortex, and the time intensity curve was drawn. Logistic regression was performed with time to initial peak (TTP), peak intensity (DPI), slope of ascending time (A), area under the curve (AUC) as the independent variable and renography as the dependent variable. The data was analyzed with ROC. Results:There was no significant difference in serum creatinine and ureophil between two groups (P > 0.05). TTP was longer (t = 5.068, P < 0.001), and A and AUC were lower (t > 3.784, P < 0.01) in the spinal cord injury group than in the control group. AUC was the factor related to renography (P < 0.01). The smaller the AUC was, the greater the likelihood of kidney damage was. The sum of sensitivity and specificity was 1.759 and the corresponding AUC was 982.518 dBS. Conclusion:Contrast-enhanced ultrasound can evaluate renal function of patients with spinal cord injury complicated with hydronephrosis. The decrease in AUC of the time-intensity curve indicates that the renal function is impaired.

Research progress on chemical constituents of Citrullus colocynthis and their pharmacological effects / 中国中药杂志

Citrullus colocynthis is widely distributed in the desert regions of the world. C. colocynthis has shown to improve constipation, liver diseases, jaundice, typhoid fever, diabetes and asthma in traditional use. As a kind of exterritorialy medicinal material, C. colocynthis has been used in China and introduced successfully. The main active ingredients of C. colocynthis are cucurbitacin, flavonoids, alkaloids and phenolic acids, which have been proven to have antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-pathogenic microorganisms and anti-cancer activities in modern pharmacological research. This paper reviews the traditional application, chemical composition and pharmacological effects of C. colocynthis, and provides reference for the in-depth study for the efficacy and mechanism of different components of C. colocynthis.

Research progress of chemical constituents and biological activities of essential oil of Pistacia lentiscus / 中国中药杂志

Pistacia lentiscus,which belongs to foreign medicine resources,is widely distributed in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern area. The essential oils are a mixture of several volatile compounds mainly monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes obtained from different parts of P. lentiscus by hydrodistillation. The variability of chemical composition,biological activities and content of essential oil is strongly affected by extraction technology,environmental and sex factors. It is indicated that essential oils of P. lentiscus have kinds of biological activities such as antibacterial,anticancer,anti-atherogenesis,antioxidant,anti-inflammatory and insecticidal activities.Many scholars hold the opinion that combination of different components with synergistic and/or additive actions should account for their biological activities. Due to its diverse efficacy and special taste,the essential oil of P. lentiscus has been extensively used in medicine,food and cosmetics industries. A mini review of chemical constituents and biological activities of essential oil of P. lentiscus in the past20 years is made here to provide valuable reference for the construction of " the Belt and Road".

Chemical constituents from traditional Uighur herbal medicine Elaeagnus angustifolia flowers / 中国中药杂志

Seven aromatic glycosides (1-7), including four phenylethanol glycosides, one phenylmethanol glycoside, one phenylpropane glycoside and one benzoside, were isolated from the methanolic extract of Uighur Medicine Elaeagnus angustifolia flowers. Their structures were elucidated based on the analysis of spectroscopic data (1D, 2D NMR and HR-MS). Compound 1 is a new compound, named as angustifol A. Six known compounds were identified as 2-phenylethyl-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(2), salidroside (3), vanillic acid 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(4), vanilloloside (5), (Z)-isoconiferin (6), 2-phenylethyl-6-O-α-L-arabinofuranosyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (7). Compounds 2-7 were isolated from the genus Elaeagnus for the first time. In vitro anti-inflammatory assays revealed that none of these compounds showed good COX inhibitory activities.