Plasma components of Danzhi Xiaoyao Formula and its mechanism of action in treating perimenopausal depression based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS~E integrated with network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

In this study, ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS~E) was used to analyze the plasma components of Danzhi Xiaoyao Formula after oral administration. Forty-nine plasma components were found in the serum of rats by comparing the compound extract, drug-containing serum, and blank serum. Components, such as 6-hydroxycoumarin, poricoic acid F, deoxoglabrolide, 30-norhederagenin, kanzonol R, 3',6'-di-O-galloylpaeoniflorin, 16α-hydroxytrametenolic acid, 16-deoxyporicoic acid B, 3-O-acetyl-16α-hydroxytrametenolic acid, and 16α,25-dihydroxydehydroeburiconic acid, were first found in rat serum. Behavioral tests, including the tail suspension test, novel object recognition test, and novelty-suppressed feeding test, were conducted for behavioral analysis. It was confirmed that this formula had therapeutic effects on perimenopausal depression. Furthermore, in combination with the network pharmacology method, 53 core targets including MAPK1, HRAS, AKT1, EGFR, and ESR1 were screened, and these targets participated in 165 signaling pathways, including PI3K-AKT, AMPK, VEGFA, MAPK, and HIF-1. In summary, the potential effects of Danzhi Xiaoyao Formula in treating perimenopausal depression are associated with mechanisms in accelerating inflammation repair, improving neuroplasticity, affecting neurotransmitters, regulating estrogen levels, and promoting new blood vessel formation.

Tumor invasion inhibition of thiophene substituted long chain chalcones / 中国药理学通报

Aim To elucidate the structure-activity re-lationship between a new class of long chain chalcone compounds and tumor invasion. Methods The basic idea of the research was to enhance the specificity by prolonging the molecular structure. Based on the lead compound TSAHC, the thiophene was used as the main derivative at the carbonyl groups to obtain six new chalcones. Then we evaluated the anti-tumor activities of the compounds and the expression of key protein MMP-2 of the tumor invasion. Finally, six new com-pounds were docked to the protein by the SYBYL soft-ware. Results The structures of the six compounds were confirmed by H-NMR and MS. Among them, compound 2,3 showed fine capability to inhibit tumor invasion. The docking results also showed that the sul-fonamide and thiophene groups of the compounds had positive contribution to the target binding of the com-pounds. Conclusion Cell experiments and molecular docking show that the long chain modification of chal-cone by using thiophene as a derivative group can sig-nificantly enhance the anti-tumor invasion.