Exploring Mechanism of Renshen Guben Oral Liquids in Treating Renal Fibrosis Based on Metabolomics and Network Pharmacology / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of Renshen Guben oral liquids（RGOL） in treatment of mice with renal fibrosis based on metabolomics and network pharmacology. MethodC57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group， model group and RGOL group， 12 mice in each group. Except for the control group， mice in the other groups were induced into unilateral ureteral obstruction（UUO） model by UUO. After preparation of the model， an aqueous solution of 4.2 g·kg-1 extract powder was administered by gavage to RGOL group for 14 d， and an equal amount of distilled water was administered by gavage to the control and model groups. After the last administration on the 14th day， urine was collected and detected by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry（UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS） with 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution as mobile phase A， and acetonitrile-isopropanol（70∶30） as mobile phase B for gradient elution（0-1 min， 5%B； 1-5 min， 5%-30%B； 5-9 min， 30%-50%B； 9-11 min， 50%-78%B； 11-13.5 min， 78%-95%B； 13.5-14 min， 95%-100%B； 14-16 min， 100%B； 16-16.1 min， 100%-5%B； 16.1-18 min， 5%B）， column temperature of 40 ℃， flow rate of 0.4 mL·min-1， electrospray ionization（ESI）， collection range of m/z 50-900. Through network pharmacology， the targets of components in RGOL and the targets of renal fibrosis were analyzed interactively， and the key components and key targets were screened by network topology analysis， and DAVID platform was used to predict the signaling pathways of RGOL for the treatment of renal fibrosis. ResultA total of 7 differential metabolites involving 8 metabolic pathways were identified in RGOL for the treatment of renal fibrosis. The network pharmacology revealed that 36 key components in RGOL were related to 7 differential metabolites， mainly ginsenosides， notoginsenosides and nucleotides. Based on the herbs-components-targets-pathways network， a total of 23 key targets related to the treatment of renal fibrosis by RGOL were highlighted， which together with the differential metabolites were involved in linoleic acid metabolism， arginine biosynthesis， tricarboxylic acid cycle（TCA）， arginine and proline metabolism and other pathways. ConclusionBased on metabolomics and network pharmacology， this study preliminarily identified 7 differential metabolites， 36 potential pharmacodynamic components and 23 key targets and 4 key pathways in RGOL for the treatment of renal fibrosis， providing an experimental basis for the clinical application and mechanism study of this preparation.

ETCM v2.0: An update with comprehensive resource and rich annotations for traditional Chinese medicine

Existing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-related databases are still insufficient in data standardization, integrity and precision, and need to be updated urgently. Herein, an Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine version 2.0 (ETCM v2.0, http://www.tcmip.cn/ETCM2/front/#/) was constructed as the latest curated database hosting 48,442 TCM formulas recorded by ancient Chinese medical books, 9872 Chinese patent drugs, 2079 Chinese medicinal materials and 38,298 ingredients. To facilitate the mechanistic research and new drug discovery, we improved the target identification method based on a two-dimensional ligand similarity search module, which provides the confirmed and/or potential targets of each ingredient, as well as their binding activities. Importantly, five TCM formulas/Chinese patent drugs/herbs/ingredients with the highest Jaccard similarity scores to the submitted drugs are offered in ETCM v2.0, which may be of significance to identify prescriptions/herbs/ingredients with similar clinical efficacy, to summarize the rules of prescription use, and to find alternative drugs for endangered Chinese medicinal materials. Moreover, ETCM v2.0 provides an enhanced JavaScript-based network visualization tool for creating, modifying and exploring multi-scale biological networks. ETCM v2.0 may be a major data warehouse for the quality marker identification of TCMs, the TCM-derived drug discovery and repurposing, and the pharmacological mechanism investigation of TCMs against various human diseases.

Development and strategy analysis of Chinese herbal medicine in Germany / 国际中医中药杂志

Germany owns the largest herbal market in Europe and has the world's leading R&D capabilities for herbal medicine products. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) spreaded to Germany hundreds of years ago. Since the beginning of the 20th century, China and Germany have signed a series of agreements to support traditional medicine cooperation, and the exchange of herbs between China and Germany has become more frequent, bringing opportunities for CHM to enter into Germany. In recent years, China and Germany have gained progress in the fields of CHM research and trade, etc. However, there are differences in the understanding of herbal medicines, quality standard evaluation, usage, and medication rules between the two countries. By doing SWOT analysis of the development of CHM in Germany, this paper suggested to promote Sino-German medical exchanges and build a community of common health for mankind through strengthening the clinical application of CHM, finding new ways of CHM entering into German market, and building an international talent team of traditional Chinese medicine.

A comprehensive review of integrative pharmacology-based investigation: A paradigm shift in traditional Chinese medicine

Over the past decade, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has widely embraced systems biology and its various data integration approaches to promote its modernization. Thus, integrative pharmacology-based traditional Chinese medicine (TCMIP) was proposed as a paradigm shift in TCM. This review focuses on the presentation of this novel concept and the main research contents, methodologies and applications of TCMIP. First, TCMIP is an interdisciplinary science that can establish qualitative and quantitative pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics (PK-PD) correlations through the integration of knowledge from multiple disciplines and techniques and from different PK-PD processes

Application of ADME process in vivo in combination with network pharmacology in study of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

Application of network pharmacology in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) will be benefit for clarifying active components and mechanism of action of TCM and increase the study level of new drug of Chinese medicine. ADME process can identify drug components from TCM and obtain the possible metabolites which can clarify active components in vivo. For the complexity of active constituents of TCM, it indicated that the ADME process will be the precondition for application of network pharmacology in TCM. This paper introduced the study ideas of the combination of ADME process in vivo and network pharmacology.

Study on absorption ingredients of yuanhuzhitong pill by everted intestinal sac method / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an everted intestinal sac method for determining absorption ingredients of yuanhuzhitong pill and study absorption characteristics of major chemical constituents of yuanhuzhitong pill.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The everted intestinal sac model was adopted. Intestinal sac fluid samples at different time points after administration of three concentrations of Yuanhuzhitong pill were collected and determined by HPLC. The accumulative absorbed doses of active constituents were calculated, while the proportion between samples of yuanhuzhitong pill and absorption ingredients was compared.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Eight ingredients of Yuanhuzhitong pill can be detected in intestinal sac, they are protopine, palmatine, coptisine, imperatorin, berberine, byakangelicin, alpha-allocryptopine and tetrahydropalmatine. The absorption rate constants (Ka) of eight constituents increased in jejunum and ileum with the increase in concentration of Yuanhuzhitong pill extracts (P < 0. 05), indicating a passive absorption.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>As ingredients are selectively absorbed in intestinal sac, the everted intestinal sac method is selected to assess the intestinal absorption characteristics of ingredients of Yuanhuzhitong prescription.</p>

Advance of pharmacological studies on Valeriana jatamansi / 中国中药杂志

As a traditional Chinese medicine, Valeriana jatamansi has a long history of application in China. It is widely distributed and commonly adopted by many ethnic groups. In particular, its roots have a wide range of medicinal value. With the increasingly more attention on it from domestic and foreign researchers, there have been more and more studies on its pharmacological activity and mechanism. This essay summarizes domestic and foreign reports on its pharmacological activity and mechanism.

Key Techniques and Application Progress of Molecular Pharmacognosy / 中草药·英文版

At the boundary between pharmacognosy and molecular biology, molecular pharmacognosy has developed as a new borderline discipline. This paper reviews the methods, application, and prospect of molecular pharmacognosy. DNA marker is one of genetic markers and some molecular marker methods which have been successfully used for genetic diversity identification and new medicinal resources development. Recombinant DNA technology provides a powerful tool that enables scientists to engineer DNA sequences. Gene chip technique could be used in determination of gene expression profiles, analyses of polymorphisms, construction of genomic library, analysis of mapping, and sequencing by hybridization. Using the methods and theory of molecular biology and pharmacognosy, molecular pharmacognosy represents an extremely prospective branch of pharmacognosy and focuses on the study of systemic growth of medicinal plants, identification and evaluation of germplasm resources, plant metabolomics and production of active compounds. Furthermore, the great breakthrough of molecular pharmacognosy could be anticipated on DNA fingerprint analysis, cultivar improvement, DNA identification, and a global DNA barcoding system in the future.

Exploration on scientific connotation of compatibility of Zuojin Wan based on "disease-syndromes-formulas-medicines" binding mode / 中国中药杂志

"Disease-syndromes-formulas-medicines" binding mode is benefit to reveal the scientific connotation of the compatibility and mechanism of classical prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In this article, Zuojin Wan was used as a model prescription, with the etiology and pathogenesis of liver-fire invading stomach in TCM, and modern pathological and pharmacological interpretation, the compatibility, nature-flavour, channel tropism, the active substance and pharmacology of Zuojin Wan were explained, in order to reveal the compatibility, nature-flavour and channel tropism of Zuojin Wan, and to provide ideas for the development of modern compound prescription.

Analysis on changes of chemical compounds in different processed products of Euodiae fructus / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship among processing methods and chemical compounds.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>HPLC was used to compare the difference between pre and post processing. The main peaks in chromatogram were identified and divided into groups of chemical compounds. The contents of identified compounds and groups of chemical compounds were also analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The chromatographic peaks were divided into three groups of chemical compounds that were flavonoid glocosides, uinazoline alkaloids and bitter principle, indoloquinazoline alkaloids. The contents of flavonoid glocosides were reduced in each processed product, and that in hot-water processing product were the least. The contents of all three groups of chemical compounds were decreased in Coptidis Rhizoma processing products. The dissolving release of quinolones alkaloids were increased in wine, salt, Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and ginger processing products.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Different processing methods caused different changes of chemical compounds.</p>

Simultaneous Analysis of Thirteen Bioactive Components in Evodia rutaecarpa and Its Varieties by HPLC-DAD-MS / 中草药·英文版

Objective To control the quality of Evodia rutaecarpa better. Methods An HPLC-DAD-MS/MS method was established for the rapid and efficient identification of bioactive constituents and for simultaneous quantitative analysis of four bioactive ingredients including evodiamine, rutaecarpine, dehydroevodiamine, and evodin in E.rutaecarpa, which was applied to evaluating eight samples of E. rutaecarpa and its varieties from different areas.Results Thirteen potentially bioactive constituents including one flavonoid glycoside, one limonin, four indoloquinazoline alkaloids, and seven quinolone alkaloids were identified in all samples and the contents of dehydroevodiamine, evodine, evodiamine, and rutaecarpine varied widely from 0.10% to 0.51%, 0.49% to 3.12%,0.07% to 1.56%, and 0.10% to 0.69%, respectively. Conclusion This method is found to be convenient, fast,accurate, and it is facilitated to improve the quality control standard of E. rutaecarpa and related products.

HPLC fingerprint of Euodiae Fructus / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a HPLC fingerprint for quality evaluation of fructus Euodiae rutaecarpa, and to perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of its main constituents.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The 10 batches of samples were analyzed by HPLC linear gradient elution method and evaluated by similarity evaluation and system cluster analysis. The common peaks in chromatographic fingerprint were identified by LC-DAD-MS.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The HPLC fingerprint of Euodiae Fructus showed 32 characteristic peaks, among them 13 peaks were identified, and 2 constituents were quantified.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The HPLC fingerprint established could reflect the main constituents of Euodiae Fructus, and could combine with content determination to take an overall control of Euodiae Fructus.</p>