Comparison of flower buds and leaves of Tussilago farfara L. by UHPLC-Q Extractive Hybrid Quadrupole Orbitrap MS / 药学学报

The flower bud of Tussilago farfara L. has been commonly used in the treatment of cough, bronchitis and asthmatic disorders in the Traditional Chinese Medicine. In Europe, the leaves were also used as herbal drugs with similar pharmacological activities. In order to utilize the leaves, it is important to conduct the chemical comparison between the flower buds and the leaves. In this study, ultra high liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with Q Exactive high resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) was used to compare the chemical composition of the flower buds and leaves of T. farfara L. forty three metabolites were identified by the combination of targeted and untargeted approach. The results suggest that the sesquiterpenes, such as tussilagone and 7β-(3'-ethyl-cis-crotonoyloxy)-1α-(2'-methylbutyryloxy)-3(14)-dehydro-Z-notonipetranone were higher in the flower buds. While the phenylpropanoids, such as cholorgenic acid and isochlorogenic acid were higher in the leaves. The flavonoids, such as hyperin and quercetin exhibited no difference between the flower buds and leaves, while the rutin and kaempferol were higher in the flower buds. The leaves and flower buds had similar chemical components, and the phenylpropanoids, which were closely related with the antitussive and expectorant activities, were found at higher concentrations in the leaves. The results presented here laid the basis for the rational utilization of the leaves of T. farfara L.

Investigation of the potentially effective components of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae based on “in vitro to in vivo” translation approach / 药学学报

The study aims to investigate the effective components of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae (SZR) in nourishing the heart and tranquilizing the mind. A method of ultra high liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with Q Exactive high resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) was developed. Based on the UV spectra, retention time and MS spectra, 25 compounds of SZR extract were identified or tentatively characterized, including 12 flavonoids, 8 triterpenoids saponins, 2 fatty acid and 3 alakoids. The study illuminated the major chemical components. Twenty bioactive components were determined in rat urine after oral administration of SZR extract by "in vitro to in vivo" translation approach, including 16 prototype compounds and 4 metabolites. Spinosin, swertisin, jujuboside A and B were considered as the effective and active constituents in SZR of the sedative and hypnotic effects, which emodies characteristics of multiple components. It was beneficial exploration for searching the effective and active constituents of SZR in nourishing the heart and tranquilizing the mind.

Effect of deactivation of enzymes on chemical composition of Forsythiae Fructus using 1H-NMR-based metabolomics approach / 中草药

Objective: To investigate the effect of deactivation of enzymes on chemical composition of Forsythiae Fructus using NMR based metabolomics approach. Methods: 1H-NMR-based metabolomics approach combined with multivariate statistical analysis was used to investigate the differential metabolites between raw Forsythiae Fructus (RF) and Forsythiae Fructus with deactivation of enzymes (DF). And degradation pathway of significant metabolites was inferred by biosynthetic pathway. Results: Twenty-four metabolites were identified in the 1H-NMR spectrum of Forsythiae Fructus, and principal component analysis (PCA) showed clear separation between RF and DF. The S-plot of orthogonal partial least square discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA) revealed that ten compounds contributed to the separation of RF and DF, and the levels of forsythiaside A, forsythiaside C, phillyrin, rutin, and surcose were higher in DF than those in RF, while the levels of rengyol, rengyoside, rengyolone, α-glucose, and β-glucose were higher in RF than those in DF. Moreover, the degradation of forsythiaside A into rengyol was proposed. Conclusion: This study reveals the chemical effect of deactivation of enzymes on Forsythiae Fructus in a holistic manner, which confirms rationality and necessity of deactivation of enzymes during the processing of Forsythiae Fructus. This study also serves as a basis for the bioactive compounds and quality standards research of Forsythiae Fructus.

Rationality of commodity criteria and traditional breeding of Polygala tenuifolia based on agronomic traits and determination of chemical components / 中国中药杂志

The agronomic traits (plant height, root diameter, root length, first lateral root height, lateral root amount, root weight) of 18 Polygala tenuifolia samples with different agronomic traits were analyzed, respectively. HPLC was used to analyze three main characteristic components including tenuifolin, polygalaxanthone Ⅲ, and 3,6'-disinapoyl sucrose. At last, the correlation between six agronomic traits and three main characteristic components were analyzed by scatter plot. We found no significant correlation between root diameter and three main characteristic components. There were no obvious correlations between tenuifolin and the remaining five agronomic traits. Short root length and first lateral root height as well as high lateral root amount resulted in high levels of polygalaxanthone Ⅲ in P. tenuifolia samples. High levels of 3,6'-disinapoyl sucrose were observed in P. tenuifolia samples with longer root. So, the current commodity criteria and traditional breeding of P. tenuifolia did not conform to pharmacopoeia standards, which excellent medicinal materials should have high contents of the main characteristic components. It was urgent to revise the current commodity criteria and breeding methods.

NMR-based analysis of water soluble extracts of different Astragali Radix / 药学学报

Water soluble extract (WSE) is an important index for the quality evaluation of Astragali Radix (AR). In this study, the WSE of the wild AR from Shanxi province (SX) and the cultivated AR from Gansu Province (GS) were compared. The WSEs of two types of AR were determined according to the appendix of Chinese pharmacopoeia. Then the WSEs were subjected to NMR analysis, and the obtained data were analyzed using HCA, PCA, OPLS-DA, microarray analysis, and Spearman rank analysis. In addition, the Pearson correlation of differential metabolites were also calculated. The results showed that the WSE content of GS-AR (37.80%) was higher than that of SX-AR (32.13%). The main constituent of WSE was sucrose, and other 18 compounds, including amino acids, organic acids, were also detected. Multivariate analysis revealed that SX-AR contained more choline, succinic acid, citric acid, glutamate, taurine and aspartate, while GS samples contained more sucrose, arginine and fumaric acid. In addition, the Pearson correlations between different metabolites of the two types of AR also showed apparent differences. The results suggested that the WSE of two types of AR differs not only in the content, but also in the chemical compositions. Thus, the cultivation way is important to the quality of AR. This study supplied a new method for the comparison of extract of herbal drugs.

Expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in glioma / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression and significance of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma) in human glioma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemical staining for PPAR gamma was performed using biopsy specimens of human glioma of various histological types. Expression of PPAR gamma and GFAP in glioma cell lines SWO-38, U251 and SHG-44 were analyzed using Western blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunohistochemical study showed that PPAR gamma was expressed in glioma tissues with positive rate of 37.5%. Western blotting and RT-PCR showed that PPAR gamma was expressed in both glioma cell lines SWO-38 and U251, but not in SHG-44 cells. However, high expression of GFAP was detected in SHG-44 cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>PPAR gamma is associated with carcinogens of glioma. Actived PPAR gamma by agonist may be a novel approach to the treatment of glioma.</p>

Clinical observation on treatment of albuminuria in patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome in puerperium by Xiaobai Decoction / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effects of Xiaobai Decoction (XBD) in reducing albuminuria and shortening the duration of albuminuria in patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome (PIH) in puerperium.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighty-five patients were given the conventional treatment with magnesium sulfate for relieving convulsion and lowering hypertension, at the same time, the treated group was given XBD additionally with the modification according to the symptoms. The treatment course for both groups was 14 days. Routine test of midstream urine was performed every three days, and 24 h-urinary protein was measured every week.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The therapeutic effect on the 43 patients of the treated group was markedly effective in 11 (25.6 % ), effective in 26 (60.4%) and ineffective in 6 cases (14.0%), the total effective rate being 86.0%; while in the 42 patients of the control group, the corresponding numbers were 5 (11.9%), 21 (50.0%), 16 (38.1%) and 61.9%, respectively, the efficacy of the former was significantly better (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>XBD is a simple, safe and effective drug for reducing albuminuria and shortening the duration of albuminuria in puerperium of PIH patients.</p>

Expression of c-fos in rat brain as a prelude marker of central nervous system injury in response to methylmercury-stimulation / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To probe into the prelude marker of central nervous system injury in response to methyl mercury chloride (MMC) stimulation and the signal transduction molecular mechanism of injury in rat brain induced by MMC.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of c-fos mRNA in brain and the expression of c-FOS protein in cortex, hippocampus and ependyma were observed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocytochemical methods. The control group was injected with physiological saline of 0.9%, while the concentrations for the exposure groups were 0.05 and 0.5, 5 mg/kg MMC respectively, and the sampling times points were 20, 60, 240, 1440 min.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of c-FOS protein in cortex and hippocampus increased significantly, the accumulation of mercury in the brain induced by 0.05 mg/Kg MMC for 20 min had no significant difference compared with the control group. The mean value was 0.0044 mg/Kg, while the protein c-FOS expression had significant difference compared with the control group (P < 0.01). More sensitive expression occurred in hippocampus and cortex, but not in ependyma. Conclusion The expression of c-FOS protein in cortex and hippocampus can predict the neurotoxicity of MMC in the early time, and immediately early gene (IEG) c-fos participates in the process of brain injury induced by MMC.</p>

Rice from mercury contaminated areas in Guizhou Province induces c-jun expression in rat brain / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Mercury (Hg), as one of the priority pollutants and also a hot topic of frontier environmental research in many countries, has been paid higher attention in the world since the middle of the last century. Guizhou Province (at N24 degrees 30'-29 degrees 13', E103 degrees 1'-109 degrees 30', 1 100 m above the sea level, with subtropical humid climate) in southwest China is an important mercury production center. It has been found that the mercury content in most media of aquatics, soil, atmosphere and in biomass of corns, plants and animals, is higher than the national standard. The present study aims to explore the influence of mercury pollution on the health of local citizens.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The effect of rice from two mercury polluted experimental plots of Guizhou Province on the expression of c-jun mRNA in rat brain and c-jun protein in cortex, hippocampus and ependyma was observed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunocytochemical methods.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The results showed that the mercury polluted rice induced expression of c-jun mRNA and its protein significantly. Selenium can reduce Hg uptake, an antagonism between selenium and mercury on the expression of c-jun mRNA and c-jun protein.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>c-jun participates in the toxicity process of brain injury by mercury polluted rice, the expression of c-jun mRNA in brain, and c-jun protein in rat cortex and hippocampus can predict neurotoxicity of mercury polluted rice. People should be advised to be cautious in eating any kind of Hg-polluted foods. To reveal the relationship between c-jun induction and apoptosis, further examinations are required.</p>