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ObjectiveTo establish an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry（UHPLC-QqQ-MS） for determination of the active ingredients in Erdongtang， and to predict the targets and pathways of anti-insulin resistance action of this formula. MethodThe analysis was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column（2.1 mm×100 mm， 1.7 μm） with the mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution（A）-acetonitrile（B） for gradient elution（0-3 min， 90%-87%A； 3-6 min， 87%-86%A； 6-9 min， 86%-83%A； 9-11 min， 83%-75%A； 11-18 min， 75%-70%A； 18-19 min， 70%-52%A； 19-22 min， 52%A； 22-25 min， 52%-5%A； 25-27 min， 5%-90%A； 27-30 min， 90%A）. The contents of active ingredients in Erdongtang was detected by electrospray ionization（ESI） and multiple reaction monitoring（MRM） mode under positive and negative ion modes. On this basis， network pharmacology was applied to predict the targets and pathways of Erdongtang exerting anti-insulin resistance effect. ResultThe 20 active ingredients in Erdongtang showed good linear relationships within a certain mass concentration range， and the precision， stability， repeatability and recovery rate were good. The results of determination showed that the ingredients with high content in 15 batches of samples were baicalein（1 259.39-1 635.78 mg·L-1）， baicalin（1 078.37-1 411.52 mg·L-1）， the ingredients with medium content were mangiferin（148.59-217.04 mg·L-1）， timosaponin BⅡ（245.10-604.89 mg·L-1）， quercetin-3-O-glucuronide（89.30-423.26 mg·L-1）， rutin（46.91-1 553.61 mg·L-1）， glycyrrhizic acid（55.97-391.47 mg·L-1）， neomangiferin（37.45-127.03 mg·L-1）， nuciferine（0.89-63.48 mg·L-1）， hyperoside（6.96-136.78 mg·L-1）， liquiritin（30.89-122.78 mg·L-1）， liquiritigenin（26.64-110.67 mg·L-1）， protodioscin（58.57-284.26 mg·L-1）， the ingredients with low content were wogonin（7.16-20.74 mg·L-1）， pseudoprotodioscin（5.49-22.96 mg·L-1）， ginsenoside Rb1（7.31-23.87 mg·L-1）， ginsenoside Rg1（10.78-28.33 mg·L-1）， ginsenoside Re（7.78-24.76 mg·L-1）， ophiopogonin D（2.08-4.29 mg·L-1）， methylophiopogonanone A（0.74-1.67 mg·L-1）. The results of network pharmacology indicated that the mechanism of anti-insulin resistance exerted by Erdongtang might be related to the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B（PI3K/Akt） signaling pathway. ConclusionThe established UHPLC-QqQ-MS has the advantages of simple sample processing， strong exclusivity and high sensitivity， and can simultaneously determine the contents of the main ingredients from seven herbs in Erdongtang， which can lay the foundation for the development of Erdongtang compound preparations. The results of the network pharmacology can provide a reference for the mechanism study of Erdongtang in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
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ObjectiveTo study the correlation between the content of active ingredients of Aurantii Fructus in different main production areas and soil factors， so as to provide a theoretical basis for implementing ecological regulation of soil， improving the quality of Aurantii Fructus， and revealing the origin of genuine medicinal materials. MethodThe content of naringin， neohesperidin， total flavonoids， volatile oil， total nitrogen， total phosphorus， total potassium， and 17 soil factor-related indicators in 25 batches of Aurantii Fructus from different production areas were determined. The main soil factors affecting the content of active ingredients of Aurantii Fructus were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis， principal component analysis， and grey correlation analysis. ResultThe pH value of the soil is between 4.83 and 8.21， and the soil is weakly acidic and neutral in general. Soil fertility exceeds the average. Pearson correlation analysis shows that the soil factors most related to the four active ingredients of Aurantii Fructus are total phosphorus， available copper， available zinc， exchangeable magnesium， available sulfur， available phosphorus， and available molybdenum. Principal component analysis shows that total nitrogen， alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen， organic matter， available phosphorus， and available zinc are the main characteristic factors in soil. Grey correlation analysis shows that the main soil factors affecting the active ingredients of Aurantii Fructus are total phosphorus， total nitrogen， available zinc， available copper， exchangeable magnesium， and pH. ConclusionIn the cultivation of Aurantii Fructus， the medicinal material quality of Aurantii Fructus could be improved by adjusting the level of beneficial factors in the soil and improving the soil texture.
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Fibrosis， a tumor-like lesion between benign tissue and malignant tumor， mostly occurs in the liver， kidney， heart， lung， bone marrow and other organs and tissues. It can affect almost every organ and eventually induce multiple organ failure and cancers， seriously endangering human life. It will be of great importance to prevent cancer if the disease can be opportunely blocked in the fibrotic stage. The pathogenesis of fibrosis is still not completely clear. It is of great clinical significance to study the occurrence， development， and mechanism of fibrosis as well as to screen new therapeutic targets. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 （EZH2） is mainly located in the nucleus and involved in the formation of the polycomb repressive complex 2. EZH2 is a methyltransferase which makes the lysine on position 27 of histone H3 （H3K27me3） undergo trimethyl modification induces gene silencing through classical or nonclassical actions， so as to inhibit or activate transcription. EZH2 plays a critical role in cell growth， proliferation， differentiation， and apoptosis， which is regulated by different targets and signaling pathways. EZH2 regulates the transformation of myofibroblasts and participates in the fibrosis of multiple organs. Recent studies have shown that EZH2 plays a role in fibrosis-related pathophysiological processes such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition， oxidative stress， and inflammation. EZH2 as the target of fibrosis， EZH2 inhibitors， and EZH2-related traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） formula and active compounds have gradually become hot research directions. EZH2 may be a powerful target for organ fibrosis. Exploring the structure， function， and distribution of EZH2， the role of EZH2 in fibrosis， the EZH2 inhibitors， and TCM formulas and active components targeting EZH2 has great meanings. This paper reviews the research progress in EZH2 and fibrosis， providing new ideas for the diagnosis， treatment， and drug development of fibrosis.
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Herbal medicines are presently widely used in developed and developing countries for health care due to their affordability, accessibility and availability. Objective: The microbial quality of selected herbal remedies sold in open markets in Owerri, South Eastern, Nigeria was studied. Methods: The samples were bulked according to type and then serially diluted. The spread plate technique was used in inoculating the samples on the appropriate culture medium and then incubated. Standard laboratory protocols for microbiological studies and biochemical tests were employed for the identification of the microorganisms present in the samples. Results: The presence of bacterial species namely Bacillus, Corynebacterium, Micrococcus, Enterococcus and Staphylococcus spp was recorded. They were all gram positive and bacterial counts ranged from 1.0 x 106 to 7.8 x 107cfu/ml. Fungal isolates included Mucor, Saccharomyces and Penicillium spp. and fungal counts ranged from 3.0x103 to 1.3x108 cfu/ml respectively. Conclusion: The presence of these microorganisms in herbal remedies do not only make them hazardous, but might also change the physical, chemical and natural properties of the herbal remedies by altering the contents of active ingredients or converting them to toxic products. The production and consumption of herbal remedies should be properly supervised and monitored to ensure that only good quality products get to the consumers.
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Cerebral hemorrhage accounts for about 10%-15% of all strokes， and its pathogenesis is complex. Currently， the main clinical treatment is mainly medical symptomatic treatment， including the use of antihypertensive drugs， hypoglycemic drugs， and hemostatic drugs， and surgical treatment is required in some cases， but there is still a lack of effective treatment. In recent years， traditional Chinese medicine and proprietary Chinese medicine have been widely accepted for their stable efficacy， high safety， and low cost. Rhei Radix et Rhizoma is one of the most commonly used herbal medicines for the treatment of cerebral hemorrhage. This paper summarizes the relevant literature on the treatment of cerebral hemorrhage with Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and finds that its active ingredients are mainly anthraquinones， such as emodin， Rhei Radix et Rhizoma acid， and Rhei Radix et Rhizoma phenol. The herbal formulas are Da Chengqitang， Shengdi Dahuangtang， Liangxue Tongyufang， and Naoxueshu oral liquid. The effects involve protecting the blood-brain barrier， promoting hematoma absorption， reducing inflammation levels， decreasing lactic acid accumulation at the bleeding site， and increasing the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factors. The pathways involved include aquaporin 4 （AQP4）， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt）， extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 （ERK1/2）， Toll-like receptor 4 （TLR4）， nuclear transcription factor-κB （NF-κB）， nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 （Nrf2）， and Wnt3a/β-linked protein pathway. This paper summarizes the progress of clinical studies and animal experiments on the treatment of cerebral hemorrhage with active ingredients of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and herbal compounds containing Rhei Radix et Rhizoma， so as to provide a reference for the treatment protocol of cerebral hemorrhage.
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Diabetic nephropathy （DN） has become one of the main causes of end-stage renal disease，and its pathogenesis is still unclear. Currently，it is believed to be closely related to kidney injury mediated by various factors such as autophagy disorder under the condition of high glucose，oxidative stress and inflammation. Mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR） signaling pathway is crucial for protein synthesis and autophagy regulation，which plays an important role in the occurrence and development of DN. In recent years，the research on the prevention and treatment of DN with traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has made important progress. Plenty of evidence has shown that the active ingredients of TCM can enhance autophagy，improve oxidative stress and inflammation，inhibit cell apoptosis and abnormal proliferation by regulating mTOR signaling pathway，so as to relieve pathological changes in the kidney such as podocyte injury，glomerular basement membrane thickening，mesangial tissue abnormalities and renal tubule dysfunction，thereby reducing proteinuria and improving renal function. All of the above are of great significance for delaying the progression of DN. This article systematically summarizes the research progress of saponins，flavonoids，polyphenols，alkaloids， terpenoids and other active ingredients of TCM intervening in DN through mTOR signaling pathway，in order to provide some reference for further basic research and the development of new drugs.
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In this study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight high resolution mass spectrometer(UPLC-Q-TOF-HRMS) was used to investigate the effects of the active ingredients in Periploca forrestii compound on spleen metabolism in rats with collagen-induced arthritis(CIA), and its potential anti-inflammatory mechanism was analyzed by network pharmacology. After the model of CIA was successfully established, the spleen tissues of rats were taken 28 days after administration. UPLC-Q-TOF-HRMS chromatograms were collected and analyzed by principal component analysis(PCA), orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA), and MetPA. The results showed that as compared with the blank control group, 22 biomarkers in the spleen tissues such as inosine, citicoline, hypoxanthine, and taurine in the model group increased, while 9 biomarkers such as CDP-ethanolamine and phosphorylcholine decreased. As compared with the model group, 21 biomarkers such as inosine, citicoline, CDP-ethanolamine, and phosphorylcholine were reregulated by the active ingredients in P. forrestii. Seventeen metabolic pathways were significantly enriched, including purine metabolism, taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and cysteine and methionine metabolism. Network pharmacology analysis found that purine metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and cysteine and methionine metabolism played important roles in the pathological process of rheumatoid arthritis. This study suggests that active ingredients in P. forrestii compound can delay the occurrence and development of inflammatory reaction by improving the spleen metabolic disorder of rats with CIA. The P. forrestii compound has multi-target and multi-pathway anti-inflammatory mechanism. This study is expected to provide a new explanation for the mechanism of active ingredients in P. forrestii compound against rheumatoid arthritis.
Subject(s)
Rats , Animals , Periploca , Cysteine , Cytidine Diphosphate Choline , Network Pharmacology , Phosphorylcholine , Metabolomics , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy , Biomarkers , Glycerophospholipids , Methionine , Purines , Chromatography, High Pressure LiquidABSTRACT
Natto is a soybean product fermented by natto bacteria. It is rich in a variety of amino acids, vitamins, proteins and active enzymes. It has a number of biological activities, such as thrombolysis, prevention of osteoporosis, antibacterial, anticancer, antioxidant and so on. It is widely used in medicine, health-care food, biocatalysis and other fields. Natto is rich in many pharmacological active substances and has significant medicinal research value. This paper summarizes the pharmacological activities and applications of natto in and outside China, so as to provide references for further research and development of natto.
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Heterologous biomimetic synthesis of the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is a new mode of resource acquisition and has shown great potential in the protection and development of TCM resources. According to synthetic biology and by constructing biomimetic microbial cells and imitating the synthesis of active ingredients in medicinal plants and animals, the key enzymes obtained from medicinal plants and animals are scientifically designed and systematically reconstructed and optimized to realize the heterologous synthesis of the active ingredients in microorganisms. This method ensures an efficient and green acquisition of target products, and also achieves large-scale industrial production, which is conducive to the production of scarce TCM resources. Additiona-lly, the method playes a role in agricultural industrialization, and provides a new option for promoting the green and sustainable deve-lopment of TCM resources. This review systematically summarized the important progress in the heterologous biomimetic synthesis of TCM active ingredients from three research areas: biosynthesis of terpenoids, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, alkaloids and other active ingredients, key points and difficulties in heterologous biomimetic synthesis, and biomimetic cells with complex TCM ingredients. This study facilitated the application of new generation of biotechnology and theory to the development of TCM.
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Animals , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Biomimetics , Plants, Medicinal , AlkaloidsABSTRACT
The active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)are the foundation for the efficiency of TCM and the key to the formation of Dao-di herbs. It is of great significance to study the biosynthesis and regulation mechanisms of these active ingredients for analyzing the formation mechanism of Daodi herbs and providing components for the production of active ingredients in TCM by synthetic biology. With the advancements in omics technology, molecular biology, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, etc., the analysis of biosynthetic pathways for active ingredients in TCM is rapidly progressing. New methods and technologies have promoted the analysis of the synthetic pathways of active ingredients in TCM and have also made this area a hot topic in molecular pharmacognosy. Many researchers have made significant progress in analyzing the biosynthetic pathways of active ingredients in TCM such as Panax ginseng, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, and Tripterygium wilfordii. This paper systematically reviewed current research me-thods for analyzing the biosynthetic functional genes of active ingredients in TCM, elaborated the mining of gene elements based on multiomics technology and the verification of gene functions in plants in vitro and in vivo with candidate genes as objects. Additionally, the paper summarized new technologies and methods that have emerged in recent years, such as high-throughput screening, molecular probes, genome-wide association studies, cell-free systems, and computer simulation screening to provide a comprehensive reference for the analysis of the biosynthetic pathways of active ingredients in TCM.
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Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Artificial Intelligence , Biosynthetic Pathways , Computer Simulation , Genome-Wide Association StudyABSTRACT
To explore the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to biosynthesis of active ingredients in wolfberry fruits of different varieties of Lycium barbarum L. and reveal the molecular mechanism of the differences of active ingredients, we utilized Illumina NovaSeq 6000 high-throughput sequencing technology to conduct transcriptome sequencing on the fruits of 'Ningqi No.1' and 'Ningqi No.7' during the green fruit stage, color turning stage and maturity stage. Subsequently, we compared the profiles of related gene expression in the fruits of the two varieties at different development stages. The results showed that a total of 811 818 178 clean reads were obtained, resulting in 121.76 Gb of valid data. There were 2 827, 2 552 and 2 311 DEGs obtained during the green fruit stage, color turning stage and maturity stage of 'Ningqi No. 1' and 'Ningqi No. 7', respectively, among which 2 153, 2 050 and 1 825 genes were annotated in six databases, including gene ontology (GO), Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) and clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (KOG). In GO database, 1 307, 865 and 624 DEGs of green fruit stage, color turning stage and maturity stage were found to be enriched in biological processes, cell components and molecular functions, respectively. In the KEGG database, the DEGs at three developmental stages were mainly concentrated in metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and plant-pathogen interaction. In KOG database, 1 775, 1 751 and 1 541 DEGs were annotated at three developmental stages, respectively. Searching the annotated genes against the PubMed database revealed 18, 26 and 24 DEGs related to the synthesis of active ingredients were mined at the green fruit stage, color turning stage and maturity stage, respectively. These genes are involved in carotenoid, flavonoid, terpenoid, alkaloid, vitamin metabolic pathways, etc. Seven DEGs were verified by RT-qPCR, which showed consistent results with transcriptome sequencing. This study provides preliminary evidences for the differences in the content of active ingredients in different Lycium barbarum L. varieties from the transcriptional level. These evidences may facilitate further exploring the key genes for active ingredients biosynthesis in Lycium barbarum L. and analyzing their expression regulation mechanism.
Subject(s)
Flavonoids/metabolism , Fruit/genetics , Gene Expression Profiling/methods , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Lycium/metabolism , Metabolic Networks and Pathways , TranscriptomeABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo study the effect of a microbial compound fertilizer on the growth， quality， and soil properties of Andrographis paniculata and provide a basis for its application in the cultivation and production of A. paniculata. MethodThrough five treatment tests in pots， the control group （CK， no fertilization）， the treatment A group （chemical fertilization）， the treatment B group （microbial fertilization at 2.5 g·kg-1 soil）， the treatment C group （microbial fertilization at 7.5 g·kg-1 soil）， and the treatment D group （microbial fertilization at 12.5 g·kg-1 soil） were established. The effects of a compound microbial fertilizer on the agronomic properties， the content of active ingredients， the number of rhizosphere soil bacteria， Actinomycetes， and fungi， and soil physicochemical properties of A. paniculata were studied. ResultAs compared with the CK group and the treatment A group， the plant height， leaf number， leaf area， and above-ground and below-ground fresh weight of A. paniculata were significantly increased after microbial fertilization， with differences in different growth periods. The effect of the compound microbial fertilizer on the content of andrographolide， dehydrated andrographolide， neandrographolide， and 14-deoxyandrographolide differed. The content of andrographolide significantly increased by 26.13% and 13.23% in the treatment C group， respectively， as compared with the CK group and the treatment A group （P<0.05）. The content of neandrographolide increased with the increasing amount of microbial fertilizer， and the content in the treatment D group increased by 9.06% and 50.33%， respectively， as compared with the CK group and the treatment A group （P<0.05）， which was the most obvious. The content of 14-deoxyandrographolide in the treatment B group significantly increased by 42.04% and 1.74%， respectively， as compared with the treatment A group and the CK group （P<0.05）. The content of dehydrated andrographolide content in the treatment B group increased most significantly， significantly increasing by 11.73% and 27.74%， respectively， as compared with the CK group and the treatment A group （P<0.05）. The soil pH of the treatment B， C， and D groups was higher than that of the CK group and the treatment A group. The content of total nitrogen and effective phosphorus increased most significantly in the treatment B group， and the content of fast-acting potassium increased most significantly in the treatment D group. The application of the compound microbial fertilizer increased the number of rhizosphere soil bacteria and Actinomycetes， which was significantly higher than that in the CK group and the treatment A group （P<0.05）， and increased with the increase of applied amount. The number of fungi decreased with the increase of the compound microbial fertilizer application， which was significantly different from that in the CK group （P<0.05）. The fungi/bacteria of all treatment groups were significantly lower than those of the CK group （P<0.05） and increased with the increase of microbial fertilizer application. ConclusionThe application of the compound microbial fertilizer transforms the plant-soil-microbial system in a benign direction， which is beneficial to the growth of A. paniculata and the accumulation of active ingredients.
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@#Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the main complications of diabetes, and also the leading cause of the end-stage renal disease (ESRD).The main clinical manifestations are albuminuria and decreased glomerular filtration rate.DKD seriously affects the quality of life of sufferers and places a huge financial burden on them. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has accumulated rich experience in treating DKD.This paper analyzed and summarized the recent treatment of DKD with traditional Chinese medicine from three aspects: active ingredients of TCM, TCM pairs and TCM prescriptions, so as to provide new ideas for the majority of researchers in experimental research.
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Knee osteoarthritis （KOA） is a common degenerative joint disease in the middle-aged and elderly. The incidence of KOA is rising as the population aging aggravates and the obese population grows. KOA seriously affects the health and daily life of the patients. The commonly used drugs for the symptomatic treatment of KOA include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs， cartilage protective drugs， and opioid analgesics， which have limited therapeutic effects and induce obvious adverse drug reactions. Eucommiae Cortex is one of the commonly used Chinese herbal medicines for the treatment of KOA， while its pharmacological material basis and mechanism remain unclear， which limits its clinical application. The active ingredients of Eucommiae Cortex for treating KOA mainly include iridoids （geniposide， aucubin）， lignans （pinoresinol diglucoside）， flavonoids （quercetin， astragaloside， baicalein， hyperoside， and kaempferol）， phenylpropanoids （chlorogenic acid）， and polysaccharides. These compounds regulate the levels of inflammatory cytokines， inhibit oxidative stress， protect chondrocytes， balance the synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix， and control the progression of KOA via the mitogen-activated protein kinase， nuclear factor-κB， phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B， and Janus kinase 1/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 signaling pathways. This paper introduces the mechanisms of Eucommiae Cortex and its active components in the treatment of KOA， aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the development of new drugs for KOA.
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Chinese medicine self-assembly nano-strategies（CSAN） is to utilize the self-assembly property of Chinese medicine components， so that the Chinese medicine components can self-assemble to form structurally stable nano-preparations through non-covalent interactions. The formation of Chinese medicine self-assembly nano-preparations is often a synergistic result of a variety of non-covalent interactions， and many Chinese medicine monomers are susceptible to self-assembly due to their structural characteristics， and the phenomenon of self-assembly of Chinese medicine is also common in the decoction of single or compound Chinese medicine， which has attracted the attention of researchers. It is found that CSAN can improve the solubility and bioavailability of active components in Chinese medicine， which is of positive significance for the development and application of insoluble components of Chinese medicine. The self-assembly phenomenon of Chinese medicine decoction is closely related to the therapeutic efficacy， and the study of self-assembly phenomenon of Chinese medicine will bring a new perspective for the explanation of the mechanism of Chinese medicine decoction. At the same time， traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） has unique advantages in the field of anti-tumor. The application of CSAN in the field of oncology can not only exert the anti-tumor effect of the active components of Chinese medicine directly， but also act as a natural nano-carrier to carry chemotherapy drugs for combination chemotherapy， improve the targeting of drugs， enhance the anti-tumor efficacy， and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy， which has excellent anti-tumor potential. The preparation method of Chinese medicine self-assembly nano-preparations is simple， low cost， and has better safety than traditional nano-preparations， which is conducive to the promotion of the clinical transformation of nano-preparations， and also helps to provide new strategies and perspectives for promoting the modernization of TCM. Therefore， based on a large number of researches in this field in recent years， this paper reviewed the formation mechanism， different assembly forms， formation conditions and stability of Chinese medicine self-assembly nano-preparations by searching databases such as China national knowledge infrastructure（CNKI）， PubMed， WanFang data and VIP， and summarized the application of CSAN in different tumor therapies， providing a reference for further research on CSAN.
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Ulcerative colitis （UC） is a chronic recurrent inflammatory bowel disease which primarily affects the colonic mucosa. The UC patients mainly present diarrhea， abdominal pain， tenesmus， and mucous bloody stools， and even malnutrition and systemic symptoms in severe cases， with rising incidence， which has a significant impact on the health and quality of life of patients. The pathogenesis of UC is not clear， and the Western medical therapies include sulfasalazine， glucocorticoids， and immunosuppressants， which， however， have side effects and unsatisfactory effects. Chinese medicine with high safety， mild adverse reactions， and a multi-component， multi-target， and multi-pathway treatment manner has garnering increasing attention. Therefore， finding the Chinese medicine to treat UC has become a hot spot. Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma is one of the commonly used Chinese herbal medicines， with the effects of tonifying spleen and reinforcing qi， clearing heat and detoxifying， dispelling phlegm and relieving cough， relieving pain， and harmonizing medicines. Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma mainly contains glycyrrhizic acid， glycyrrhetinic acid， diammonium glycyrrhizinate and other active ingredients. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma has anti-inflammatory， antioxidant， antimicrobial， and immunomodulatory activities. According to statistics， Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma is among the top three Chinese herbal medicines for the treatment of UC. The recent years have witnessed progress in the treatment of UC with Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and the related prescriptions. The present study summarized the mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory， immunomodulatory， intestinal flora-regulating， cell apoptosis-inducing， and oxidative stress-reducing effects of the key chemical constituents （glycyrrhetinic acid， diammonium glycyrrhizinate， polysaccharide， glycyrrhetinic acid， and isoglycyrrhizin） and compound prescriptions of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma. The findings provide a solid foundation for further development and clinical application of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma.
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As the research of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） on knee osteoarthritis （KOA） is progressing， researchers have discovered that a variety of Chinese medicines can delay the progress of KOA by regulating signaling pathways at the molecular level. The Chinese medicines and their active ingredients mentioned in this article are associated with the signaling pathways in KOA. They can regulate the levels of targeted molecules via different signaling pathways to inhibit cartilage inflammatory cytokine， apoptosis， and cartilage matrix degradation and promote chondrocyte autophagy， so as to reduce the synovial inflammatory edema and delay cartilage degeneration. This paper systematically reviews the studies about the TCM intervention of KOA. Baicalein can reduce the inflammatory cytokines and apoptosis and promote the autophagy of chondrocytes by blocking the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/protein kinase （PI3K/Akt） signaling pathway. Cornuside I can decrease the phosphorylation activity of Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 （JAK2/STAT3） pathway to reduce synovial inflammation and delay cartilage matrix degeneration. Salvianolic acid A can reduce inflammation and cartilage matrix degradation by inhibiting the phosphorylation of the nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） pathway. Emodin can reduce the activity of Wnt/β-catenin pathway to inhibit the decomposition of collagen and proteoglycan. Myristicoside can inhibit apoptosis by blocking the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase （p38 MAPK） signaling pathway. Akebia saponin D can enhance the activity of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase 1（Nrf2/HO-1） pathway to inhibit oxidative stress in chondrocytes. The saponins in Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix reduce cartilage matrix degradation by enhancing the transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β）/Smad signaling pathway. Crocin inhibits the cartilage inflammation and apoptosis factor increase by stimulating the activity of hippo-Yes-associated protein （Hippo-YAP）. Ligustrazine blocks the Notch pathway to improve the morphology and abnormality of chondrocytes. Oleanolic acid reduces the destruction and degeneration of cartilage matrix via the estrogen signaling pathway. The above summary aims to provide references for future clinical and experimental research on KOA.
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Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma （ESCC）， the predominant histological strain of esophageal cancer in China， is complex in pathogenesis and may be associated with mutations in several genes and dysregulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK） pathway， the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K） pathway， etc. MAPK signaling pathway can be activated by growth factors， proto-oncogenes， and oxidative stress， thus participating in biological functions such as cell proliferation， differentiation， migration， and apoptosis. More evidence shows that the MAPK signaling pathway plays an important role in the occurrence and development of ESCC and is expected to become an effective target for the treatment of ESCC. The classical MAPK family consists of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 （ERK1/2）， c-Jun N-terminal kinases 1/2/3 （JNK1/2/3）， p38 α/β/γ/δ， and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 （ERK5）. Each pathway consists of three cascade sequentially phosphorylated and activated protein kinase systems. The activation of the ERK1/2 pathway is related to the proliferation， migration， drug resistance， and apoptosis inhibition of ESCC. JNK， p38， and ERK5 pathways seem to show bidirectional regulation， and there is signal integration between MAPK internal pathways. Chemotherapeutic drugs for esophageal cancer often have side effects and are prone to drug resistance， so it has become a new idea to find effective and low-toxic drug alternatives. Studies have found that flavonoids， terpenoids， alkaloids， saponins， phenols， and other active ingredients in Chinese medicine can play an anti-ESCC effect by targeting the MAPK pathway， which is mainly reflected in inhibiting proliferation， migration， and invasion， inducing cycle arrest， promoting apoptosis， reversing drug resistance， etc. Therefore， this paper reviewed the regulatory role of the MAPK signaling pathway in ESCC and the research progress in active ingredients of Chinese medicine in regulating MAPK pathway against ESCC to provide references for the mechanism research and new drug development of Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer.
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Due to the special physiological and pathological characteristics of gliomas, most therapeutic drugs are prevented from entering the brain. To improve the poor prognosis of existing therapies, researchers have been continuously developing non-invasive methods to overcome barriers to gliomas therapy. Although these strategies can be used clinically to overcome the blood‒brain barrier (BBB), the accurate delivery of drugs to the glioma lesions cannot be ensured. Nano-drug delivery systems (NDDS) have been widely used for precise drug delivery. In recent years, researchers have gathered their wisdom to overcome barriers, so many well-designed NDDS have performed prominently in preclinical studies. These meticulous designs mainly include cascade passing through BBB and targeting to glioma lesions, drug release in response to the glioma microenvironment, biomimetic delivery systems based on endogenous cells/extracellular vesicles/protein, and carriers created according to the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines. We reviewed these well-designed NDDS in detail. Furthermore, we discussed the current ongoing and completed clinical trials of NDDS for gliomas therapy, and analyzed the challenges and trends faced by clinical translation of these well-designed NDDS.
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Hepatoma is one of the most common malignant tumors of digestive system worldwide， and a main factor leading to cancer-related deaths. Its incidence is increasing year by year， posing a serious threat to human health. Currently， hepatoma is mainly treated by surgical resection， liver transplantation， radiation and drugs， but there are certain adverse reactions and problems of high recurrence rate and low survival rate. Chinese medicine has unique advantages in improving the comprehensive curative effect of hepatoma and reducing adverse reactions. With a variety of active ingredients， Chinese medicine can induce hepatoma cell apoptosis， inhibit the proliferation， migration and reverse multidrug resistance through multiple targets， thus exerting anti-hepatoma effect. It has become an important means for the prevention and treatment of hepatoma as well as a rich resource for anti-hepatoma drug research and development. Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway， one of the most classical pathways in cancer， is involved in tumor cell proliferation， cell cycle， migration， invasion and tumor angiogenesis. Recently， many studies have reported that the active ingredients of Chinese medicine can play an anti-hepatoma role through this pathway. Therefore， this paper summarized the domestic and foreign literature in recent years， analyzed the relationship between wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and the specific mechanism of hepatoma occurrence and development， and combed the literature on the effect of flavonoids， terpenoids， alkaloids， polysaccharides and other active ingredients of Chinese medicine on inducing hepatoma cell apoptosis， regulating cell cycle and inhibiting the invasion and metastasis through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. In addition， the paper summarized the research progress of relevant active ingredients of Chinese medicine against hepatoma， to explore their specific mechanism against hepatoma through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway， so as to provide theoretical reference for further development of anti-hepatoma drugs.