ABSTRACT
Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma （STRER） is a commonly used Chinese medicine in clinical practice， which has the effects of clearing heat， removing the toxin， alleviating edema， and relieving sore throat. In recent years， the clinical reports of STRER-induced poisoning have gradually increased， with neurotoxicity and hepatotoxicity as the main characteristics of the acute attack. Timely treatment will lead to the good prognosis， but long-term or high-dose administration will cause irreversible damage. Therefore， the safety of clinical use of STRER should be highlighted. The chemical components in STRER mainly include alkaloids， flavonoids， triterpenoids， triterpenoid saponins， and polysaccharides， as well as small amounts of proteins， organic acids， and trace elements， where alkaloids both serve as the important material basis for the pharmacodynamic action and the main substances causing toxicity. The adverse events induced by STRER and its alkaloids include nerve injury, Hepatic injury, cardiovascular injury, kidney injury and reproductive injury， and gastrointestinal reaction. Quinolizidine alkaloids are the main toxic components， mainly including matrine， oxymatrine， cytisine， sophocarpine， oxysophocarpine， sophoridine， sophoramine， and lehmannine. Many studies have been carried out on the toxicity of different extracts and alkaloids of STRER in China and abroad， but there are no comprehensive and detailed reports on the toxicity mechanism of alkaloids in STRER. As a Chinese medicine， STRER is widely used. It's an urgent problem to clarify the material basis and mechanism of toxicity caused by STRER and reduce the toxicity for good clinical application. The present study reviewed the components of alkaloids， toxicity， and toxic mechanism of extracts and alkaloids in STRER to provide the basis for further development and clinical safe and effective application of STRER.
ABSTRACT
Snake bite is a common acute and severe disease in tropical and subtropical regions, and its public health importance has been largely neglected. Snake venom is a complex mixture of active proteins, polypeptides, and other toxins. Many of these components can target multiple ion channels, cell receptors, and membrane transporters. Compared with traditional small molecule drugs, the proteins and polypeptides from snake venom have stronger specificity and affinity to targets and are especially suitable for novel drug design. The current studies show that snake venom and its components have great potential for development as leading compounds of new drugs. In this paper, the recent advances in main components, toxic effects, and detoxification strategies of snake venom, as well as its pharmacological activities and medical application are reviewed. The aim is to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment of snake bite and development of new drugs based on snake venom.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To study the expression of interferon-λ1 (IFN-λ1) in respiratory epithelial cells in children with human rhinovirus (HRV) infection.@*METHODS@#Sputum samples and nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from the children who were hospitalized due to acute respiratory infection from February to October, 2017. Bacterial culture was performed, and nucleic acid test was performed for 11 respiratory pathogens. A total of 90 children with positive HRV alone were enrolled as the HRV infection group, and 95 children with positive respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) alone were enrolled as the RSV infection group. A total of 50 healthy children who underwent outpatient physical examination during the same period of time and had negative results for all pathogen tests were enrolled as the healthy control group. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from all groups, and quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure viral load and the mRNA expression of IFN-λ1.@*RESULTS@#In the HRV infection group, there was no significant difference in the mRNA expression of IFN-λ1 between boys and girls and across all age groups (P>0.05). In the HRV infection group, there was no correlation between the mRNA expression of IFN-λ1 and HRV load (P>0.05). The mRNA expression of IFN-λ1 in the HRV infection group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (P<0.05), but significantly lower than that in the RSV infection group (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#HRV can induce the expression of IFN-λ1 in respiratory epithelial cells, suggesting that IFN-λ1 may play an important role in anti-HRV infection in children.