Analysis of Excretion Behavior of GK-A from Ginkgo Semen in Urine and Bile of Rats / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective::To investigate excretion of GK-A, a antitussive compound separated from Ginkgo Semen, in the urine and bile of rats. Method::UPLC-MS/MS was used to determine the concentration of GK-A in rat urine and bile samples. The separation was performed on a C18 column, the mobile phase consisted of 0.1%formic acid aqueous solution (A) and acetonitrile (B) for gradient elution (0-1 min, 95%A; 1-3 min, 95%-85%A; 3-7.5 min, 85%-40%A; 7.5-8 min, 40%A). The detection was carried out by a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in the positive ion mode with an electrospray ionization (ESI). Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode was employed. After intragastric administration of GK-A, the urine and bile samples were collected at different time points, and the contents of GK-A in the samples were determined, and the cumulative excretion and cumulative excretion rate were calculated. Result::After 72 h of administration, the cumulative excretion of GK-A in urine was (12.35±2.69) μg, and the cumulative excretion rate was (0.58±0.13)%. Meanwhile, after 24 h of administration, the cumulative excretion of GK-A in bile was (55.16±29.22) μg, and the cumulative excretion rate was (1.57±0.83)%. Only a small amount of GK-A was excreted from urine and bile of rats with a slow speed. Conclusion::After intragastric administration, the excretion of GK-A in rat urine and bile is not the main elimination pathway.

Chinese medicine theory research on syndrome new drug development--research on intervention modes of Chinese medicine based on ancient literature / 中国中药杂志

Disputes about the research and development of syndrome traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) new drug in Guidance for syndrome TCM new drug development still exist, including the fact that it is unclear whether the compound TCM preparations just targeting a sort of syndrome is in line with the TCM theory and that it is obscure what are clinical advantages of syndrome new drug as compared with new drug targeting both disease and syndrome. Based on TCM classical theory, dating back to intervention opinions of successive dynasties, theory of three-dimensional N levels was proposed from the aspects of intervention modes, intervention latitudes and formulae to illustrate that the syndrome TCM new drug is in line with TCM theory. As for the first dimension, the intervention modes of TCM could be classified into targeting disease, targeting pathology and targeting symptoms, and the basic elements were extracted as constitution, disease, pathogenesis, pathology, location, symptoms, Western medicine pathology and Western medicine indicators. Among them, the mode targeting TCM constitution and the mode targeting pathology provided the theoretical possibility of TCM syndrome new drug, while the mode targeting disease was suitable for disease syndrome new drug. As for the second dimension, the intervention latitudes were summarized, including Yin-Yang, Qi-blood-body fluid, viscera, meridian, tri-jiao, Wei-Qi-Ying-blood, six channels, and local part. The relatively broad latitudes such as Yin-Yang, Qi-blood-body fluid, and meridian might be suitable for the development of TCM syndrome new drug. As for the third dimension, the TCM formulae could be divided into four types according to the range of indications, including broad indications, viscera pathogenesis indications, disease-targeting indications and symptom-targeting indications. The first two types were suitable for TCM syndrome new drug development, while the disease-targeting indication type fit for disease-syndrome new drug. According to theory of three dimensional N levels, the clinical orientation of syndrome TCM new drugs and their advantages over disease-syndrome new drugs were as follows: syndrome TCM new drugs may be considered for novel disease without clear basic pathogenesis or advance regulation, complicated diseases, complicating diseases, geriatric disease and ba-lancing TCM constitution.

Research progress and application strategy on network pharmacology in Chinese materia medica / 中草药

Chinese materia medica (CMM) is a complex system with multiple components, multiple targets and multiple pathways. CMM and its compound prescription for the treatment of diseases follow the thought of holistic view. As an important part in systems biology, network pharmacology is a new subject to reveal the role of traditional Chinese medicine in regulating the organism network at the system level, its characteristics of integrality, systematicness and emphasis on drug interactions are consistent with the basic features of traditional Chinese medicine. It has built a bridge for the study of the relationship between traditional Chinese medicine and modern pharmacology. The paper summarizes the present application status and existing problem of network pharmacology in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, and systematically describes the research thinking, key technology and application method and strategy of network pharmacology. It is the purpose to provide the guidance and reference for the reveal of the modern scientific connotation of traditional Chinese medicine with the network pharmacology.

Consideration on cardiotoxicity and clinical safety evaluation method of Chinese materia medica / 中草药

Traditional Chinese medicine has developed for thousands of years, and its clinical application has unique advantages. It is generally believed that Chinese medicine (CM) has few toxic and side effects and it is safe. However, in recent years, more and more clinical cases and basic research reports about hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and cardiotoxicity of CM have been reported. Therefore, we also increasingly concerned about the toxicity of Chinese materia medica (CMM). Cardiotoxicity assessment is an important index that must be considered before clinical trials of drugs. It also plays an important role in the research and development of new Chinese medicines and the standardized application of clinical safety of CM. Then, how to identify the cardiotoxicity of CMM, grasp the clinical characteristics, detection indicators, evaluation methods, and diagnostic elements are the main problems we are facing. In this paper, we summarized many researches and pre-clinical evaluation techniques of cardiotoxicity of CMM in recent years, and discussed and considered the clinical evaluation methods of cardiotoxicity of CMM.

Research progress on natural products with selective inhibition against 11β-HSD1 / 中草药

11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) is a metabolic enzyme of glucocorticoid. Growing evidence suggests that inhibiting over-expression of 11β-HSD1 and reducing partial effects of glucocorticoid could be the strategy to treat type 2 diabetes, as well as metabolic syndrome. Researching and developmenting selective 11β-HSD1 inhibitors may become a new direction. As natural products (NPs) have represented a cornerstone of pharmaceutical research, literatures on the development of natural products with selective inhibition against 11β-HSD1 published during the last 10 years were selected, and the inhibitors were classified according to the way how to find them. This paper will provide reference for the further research on the selective 11β-HSD1 inhibitors.

Our Opinion on the Execution of the Pharmaceutical Patent Law in China / 中国药房

In view of the fact that the Pharmaceutical Patent Law will be put into effect in China,the authors suggest that the development of new drugs in China should be relied mainly rather on creating than on copying. However,some of the effective drugs should be still modelled on foreign products. We should pay great attention to the research work on pharmaceutical preparations and the development of Chinese patent medicine, intermediates of preparation and reagents.