Large- scale prospective clinical study on prophylactic intervention of COVID-19 in community population using Huoxiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid and Jinhao Jiere Granules / 中国中药杂志

To scientifically evaluate the intervention effect of Chinese medicine preventive administration(combined use of Huo-xiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid and Jinhao Jiere Granules) on community population in the case of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), a large cohort, prospective, randomized, and parallel-controlled clinical study was conducted. Total 22 065 subjects were included and randomly divided into 2 groups. The non-intervention group was given health guidance only, while the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) intervention group was given two coordinated TCM in addition to health guidance. The medical instructions were as follows. Huoxiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid: oral before meals, 10 mL/time, 2 times/day, a course of 5 days. Jinhao Jiere Granules: dissolve in boiling water and take after meals, 8 g/time, 2 times/day, a course of 5 days, followed up for 14 days, respectively. The study found that with the intake of medication, the incidence rate of TCM intervention group was basically maintained at a low and continuous stable level(0.01%-0.02%), while the non-intervention group showed an overall trend of continuous growth(0.02%-0.18%) from 3 to 14 days. No suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case occurred in either group. There were 2 cases of colds in the TCM intervention group and 26 cases in the non-intervention group. The incidence of colds in the TCM intervention group was significantly lower(P<0.05) than that in the non-intervention group. In the population of 16-60 years old, the incidence rate of non-intervention and intervention groups were 0.01% and 0.25%, respectively. The difference of colds incidence between the two groups was statistically significant(P<0.05). In the population older than 60 years old, they were 0.04% and 0.21%, respectively. The incidence of colds in the non-intervention group was higher than that in the intervention group, but not reaching statistical difference. The protection rate of TCM for the whole population was 91.8%, especially for the population of age 16-60(95.0%). It was suggested that TCM intervention(combined use of Huoxiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid and Jinhao Jiere Granules) could effectively protect community residents against respiratory diseases, such as colds, which was worthy of promotion in the community. In addition, in terms of safety, the incidence of adverse events and adverse reactions in the TCM intervention group was relatively low, which was basically consistent with the drug instructions.

Analysis of classical prescription Jinshui Liujun Jian based on ancient literature / 中国中药杂志

To provide the ancient literary evidence support for the clinical application and development of classical prescription based on systematical collection and analysis of the ancient Chinese medical literature containing Jinshui Liujun Jian, including its origin and development. Bibliometric analysis was used and information of Jinshui Liujun Jian in ancient Chinese medical literature was then collected for statistical analysis of formula compositions, main indications, dosage, preparation methods, etc. A total of 151 valid items of data were obtained from 48 ancient Chinese medicine books. Jinshui Liujun Jian was first recorded in Jingyue Quanshu written by ZHANG Jiebin. This prescription consisted of Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata, Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Pinelliae Rhizome, Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Poria and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizome Praeparata cum Melle, and it was mainly used to treat the deficiency of lung and kidney, edema and excess production of phlegm, or Yin deficiency in the old, insufficient blood-qi, wind-cold evil, cough and disgusting, asthma and excessive phlegm. Doctors in later dynasties mostly followed the prescription compositions, dosages and indications in Jingyue Quanshu, and extended the clinical application of this prescription.

Comparative study on contents of four alkaloids in homologous herbal medicines--Arecae Pericarpium and Arecae Semen / 中国中药杂志

To establish a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for simultaneous determination of four alkaloids(arecoline， guvacoline， arecaidine， and guvacine) in Arecae Pericarpium (AP) and Arecae Semen (AS), and compare the contents of these four alkaloids between different medicinal parts. The chromatographic conditions were as follows:Welch SCX（4.6 mm×250 mm， 5 μm）column, with acetonitrile-0.2% phosphoric acid solution (adjusted to pH 3.85-3.90 with ammonium hydroxide) at 50:50 as the mobile phase, at a flow rate of 0.5 mL·min⁻¹. The column temperature was set at 35 °C, and the detection wavelength was 215 nm. The results of content determination in 7 batches of AS and 10 batches of AP showed that, the contents of 4 alkaloids in AS (arecaidine 0.020%-0.045%, guvacine 0.031%-0.086%, arecoline 0.194%-0.346%, and guvacoline 0.065%-0.094%) were generally higher than those in AP (arecaidine 0.10%-0.032%, guvacine 0.006%-0.029% arecoline 0.00%-0.070%, and guvacoline 0.00%-0.020%), and most of the APs had no arecoline and arecaidine at all in fruit peel. The above results indicated that different alkaloids can be used to distinguish the different medicinal parts of Arera catechu. Arecoline， guvacoline， arecaidine， and guvacine can be used as the quality control markers of AS, while for AP, only arecaidine and guvacine were needed.