Establishment of multiple evidence-integrated evaluation and prediction method for "toxic" Chinese medicines / 中国中药杂志

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) carries the experience and theoretical knowledge of the ancients, and the use of "toxic" Chinese medicines is a major feature and advantage of TCM. "Toxic" Chinese medicines have unique clinical value and certain medication risk under the guidance of TCM theories such as compatibility for detoxification and treatment based on syndrome differentiation. In recent years, the safety events of Chinese medicines have occurred frequently, which has made the safety of Chinese medicine a public concern in China and abroad. However, limited by conventional cognitive laws and technical methods, basic research on toxicity of Chinese medicines fails to be combined with the clinical application. As a result, it is difficult to identify the clinical characteristics of, predict toxic and side effects of, or form a universal precise medication regimen for "toxic" Chinese medicines, which restricts the clinical application of them. In view of the problem that the toxicity of "toxic" Chinese medicines is difficult to be predicted and restricts the clinical application, the evidence-based research concept will provide new ideas for safe applcation of them in clinical practice. The integrated development of multiple disciplines and techniques in the field of big data and artificial intelligence will also promote the renewal and development of the research models for "toxic" Chinese medicines. Our team tried to propose the academic concept of evidence-based Chinese medicine toxicology and establish the data-intelligence research mode for "toxic" Chinese medicines and the intelligent risk prediction method for medicinal combination in the early stage, which provided methodological supports for solving the above problem. Thus, on the basis of summarizing the research status and problems of the clinical medication regimen of "toxic" Chinese medicines, our team took the evidence-based toxicology of TCM as the core concept, and tried to construct the multiple-evidence integrated evaluation and prediction method for "toxic" Chinese medicine, so as to guide the establishment of the non-toxic medication regimen of "toxic" Chinese medicines. Specifically, through the analysis of multivariate data obtained from the basic research, the evidence-based toxicology database of Chinese medicines and the individualized "toxicity-effect" intelligent prediction platform were built based on the disease-syndrome virtual patients, so as to identify the clinical characteristics and risks of "toxic" Chinese medicines and develop individualized medication regime. This study is expected to provide a methodological reference for the establishment of medication regimen and risk prevention strategy for "toxic" Chinese medicines. The method established in this study will bridge clinical research and basic research, enhance the transformation of the scientific connotation of attenuated compatibility, promote the development of evidence-based Chinese medicine toxicology, and ensure the clinical safety of "toxic" Chinese medicines.

Discovery and activity verification of reniformin A as an anti-tumor leading compound / 中国中药杂志

Reverse prediction and molecular docking techniques were employed to evaluate the feasibility of reniformin A(RA) as an anti-tumor leading compound. Based on the reverse prediction, network pharmacology was used to construct a "disease-compound-target-pathway" network. Thirty-nine tumor-related targets of RA were predicted, which participated in the regulation of multiple cellular activities such as apoptosis, cell cycle, and tumor metastasis, and regulated estrogen signal transduction and inflammatory response. Discovery Studio 2020 was adopted for molecular docking and toxicity prediction(TOPKAT). As revealed by the results, the binding affinity of RA with the tumor-related targets ABL1, ESR1, SRC and BCL-XL was stronger than that of oridonin(OD), while its mutagenicity, rodent carcinogenesis, and oral LD_(50) in rats were all inferior to that of OD. Furthermore, in vitro experiments were performed to confirm the anti-tumor activity of RA, and the mechanism was preliminarily discussed. The results demonstrated that RA was superior to OD in cytotoxicity, inhibition of cell colony formation, and induction of apoptosis. RA, possessing potent anti-tumor activity, is expected to be a new anti-tumor leading compound.

Real-time toxicity prediction of stewing system using extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Due to numerous obstacles such as complex matrices, real-time monitoring of complex reaction systems (, medicinal herb stewing system) has always been a challenge though great values for safe and rational use of drugs. Herein, facilitated by the potential ability on the tolerance of complex matrices of extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, a device was established to realize continuous sampling and real-time quantitative analysis of herb stewing system for the first time. A complete analytical strategy, including data acquisition, data mining, and data evaluation was proposed and implemented with overcoming the usual difficulties in real-time mass spectrometry quantification. The complex Fuzi (the lateral root of )-meat stewing systems were real-timely monitored in 150 min by qualitative and quantitative analysis of the nine key alkaloids accurately. The results showed that the strategy worked perfectly and the toxicity of the systems were evaluated and predicated accordingly. Stewing with trotters effectively accelerated the detoxification of Fuzi soup and reduced the overall toxicity to 68%, which was recommended to be used practically for treating rheumatic arthritis and enhancing immunity. The established strategy was versatile, simple, and accurate, which would have a wide application prospect in real-time analysis and evaluation of various complex reaction systems.

Studies on the degradation impurity of linezolid tablets by UFLC-MS/MS / 药学学报

A method of ultra flow liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS) was developed to elucidate the impurity of linezolid tablets. Linezolid was subjected to forced degradation under hydrolytic (acid, base and neutral), oxidative, photolytic and thermal. The structure identification of the degra­dation products and the fragmentation patterns for the related impurities were analyzed. A total of four degra­dation impurities were characterized, impurity 1 is (S)-1-amino-3-((3-fluoro-4-morpholinophenyl)amino)propan-2-ol, impurity 2 is (S)-4-(4-(5-(acetamidomethyl)-2-oxo-oxazolidin-3-yl)-2-fluorophenyl)morpholine 4-oxide, impurity 3 is (S)-5-(aminomethyl)-3-(3-fluoro-4-morpholinophenyl)oxazolidin-2-one, impurity 4 is (R)-N-(3-((3-fluoro-4-morpholinophenyl)amino)-2-hydroxypropyl)acetamide. Acid degradation induced impurity 3 and impurity 4, base degradation induced impurity 1 and impurity 4, oxidation degradation induced impurity 2, hydrolysis degradation induced impurity 4. The study also determined calibration factor using impurity references, and the calibration factors were found to be 1.3, 1.4, 0.9 and 1.1, respectively. The toxicity of the degradation impurities was predicted by web-based prediction system. The results from this study provide an important reference in quality control and evaluation of linezolid.

A stability-indicating LC–MS/MS method for zidovudine: Identification, characterization and toxicity prediction of two major acid degradation products / 药物分析学报

Zidvovudine (AZT) is a nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), a class of anti-retroviral drug. A stability-indicating assay method for AZT was developed in line with ICH guideline. Successful separation of AZT and its degradation products was achieved by gradient elution mode on reverse phase C18 column using 10 mM ammonium acetate: acetonitrile as the mobile phase at 0.8 mL/min flow rate, 25 μL injection volume, 30 °C column temperature and 285 nm detection wavelength. Two major acid degradation products were identified and characterized by liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectro-metry (LC–ESI/MS/MS) and accurate mass measurements. The probable mechanisms for the formation of degradation products were identified based on a comparison of the fragmentation pattern of the [M + H] + ions of AZT and its degradation products. One of the degradation products, DP-1, was isolated by semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using Waters XBridge Prep C18 (250 mm×10 mm, 5 μm). Degradation products showed higher toxicity compared to the drug in some models assessed by TOPKAT software. The method validation was performed with respect to robustness, specificity, linearity, precision and accuracy as per ICH guideline Q2 (R1).

Sida tuberculata (Malvaceae): a study based on development of extractive system and in silico and in vitro properties

Sida tuberculata (Malvaceae) is a medicinal plant traditionally used in Brazil as an antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agent. Here, we aimed to investigate the different extractive techniques on phytochemical parameters, as well as to evaluate the toxicity and antioxidant capacity of S. tuberculata extracts using in silico and in vitro models. Therefore, in order to determine the dry residue content and the main compound 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) concentration, extracts from leaves and roots were prepared testing ethanol and water in different proportions. Extracts were then assessed by Artemia salina lethality test, and toxicity prediction of 20E was estimated. Antioxidant activity was performed by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenger assays, ferric reducing power assay, nitrogen derivative scavenger, deoxyribose degradation, and TBARS assays. HPLC evaluation detected 20E as main compound in leaves and roots. Percolation method showed the highest concentrations of 20E (0.134 and 0.096 mg/mL of extract for leaves and roots, respectively). All crude extracts presented low toxic potential on A. salina (LD50 >1000 µg/mL). The computational evaluation of 20E showed a low toxicity prediction. For in vitro antioxidant tests, hydroethanolic extracts of leaves were most effective compared to roots. In addition, hydroethanolic extracts presented a higher IC50 antioxidant than aqueous extracts. TBARS formation was prevented by leaves hydroethanolic extract from 0.015 and 0.03 mg/mL and for roots from 0.03 and 0.3 mg/mL on egg yolk and rat tissue, respectively (P<0.05). These findings suggest that S. tuberculata extracts are a considerable source of ecdysteroids and possesses a significant antioxidant property with low toxic potential.