Effect of Baihe Dihuang Decoction on synaptic plasticity of hippocampus in rats with anxious depression / 中国中药杂志

To explore the effect of Baihe Dihuang Decoction on the synaptic plasticity of hippocampal neurons in rats with anxious depression. Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, venlafaxine group(6.75 mg·kg~(-1)), high-dose Baihe Dihuang Decoction group(8.64 g·kg~(-1)) and low-dose Baihe Dihuang Decoction group(4.32 g·kg~(-1)). Chronic restraint stress(6 h) combined with corticosterone(ih, 30 mg·kg~(-1)) was used to establish an anxious depression model, and 7 days after modeling, the administration started and continued for 21 days. The anxiety and depression-like behaviors of the rats were evaluated. Golgi-Cox staining and electron microscopy were used to observe the morphology and ultrastructural changes of synaptic dendrites. Immunofluorescence was used to detect the expression of hippocampal synaptic plasticity protein synapsin-1 and postsynaptic density protein 95(PSD-95). Western blot method was used to detect the expression of functional protein synaptophysin(SYP) and synaptic Ras GTPase activating protein(SynGap). The results showed that the rats in the model group had obvious anxiety and depression-like behaviors, the hip-pocampal dendritic spine density and branch length were reduced, the number of synapses was cut, and the internal structure was da-maged. The average fluorescence intensity of synapsin-1 and PSD-95 was significantly reduced and the expression of SYP and SynGap also decreased. High-dose Baihe Dihuang Decoction could significantly improve the anxiety and depression-like behaviors of model rats, relieve synaptic damage, and increase the expression of synapsin-1, PSD-95, SYP, and SynGap proteins. Therefore, we believe that Baihe Dihuang Decoction can improve anxiety and depression behaviors by regulating the synaptic plasticity of hippocampal neurons.

Baihe Dihuangtang Improves Hippocampal Neuron Damage in Anxious Depression Model Rats by Inhibiting NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the anti-anxious depression mechanism of Baihe Dihuangtang from the NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain 3 （NLRP3） inflammasome. Method:Fifty SD rats were randomly divided into normal group， model group， venlafaxine group （13.5 mg·kg^-1）， Baihe Dihuangtang high and low dose group （16，4 g·kg^-1）， with 10 rats in each group. Chronic restraint stress for 28 days （6 h） combined with subcutaneous injection of corticosterone （30 mg·kg^-1） was used to establish induce an anxious depression model. From the 8th day of modeling， the rats in the normal group and the model group received distilled water， and those in groups with drug intervention were treated with corresponding drugs by gavage for 21 days. Elevated plus maze and open field test were used to evaluate the behavioral changes of rats. Enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect serum and hippocampal interleukin-1<italic>β</italic> （IL-1<italic>β</italic>）， interleukin-6 （IL-6） and interleukin-18 （IL-18） levels. Western blot were used to detect the relative expression of hippocampal NLRP3， apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD （ASC）， and Caspase-1. The pathological changes of the hippocampus were observed by hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining， the average fluorescence intensity of NLRP3， ASC， and Caspase-1 was detected by immunofluorescence. The ultrastructure of neurons was observed under electron microscopy. Result:Compared with the normal group， the model group showed reduced total entries （TE）， the ratio of open-arm entries （OE%）， the ratio of open-arm times （OT%）， and the autonomous activity score （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， significant anxiety and depression-like behaviors， increased levels of IL-1<italic>β</italic>， IL-6， and IL-18 in the serum and hippocampus （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， elevated protein expression of NLRP3， ASC， and Caspase-1 （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， activated NLRP3 inflammasomes， and injured hippocampal neurons. Compared with the model group， the high-dose Baihe Dihuangtang group showed improved anxiety and depression-like behaviors （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， and decreased levels of IL-1<italic>β</italic>， IL-6， and IL-18 in the serum and hippocampus （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）， reduced protein expression of NLRP3， ASC， and Caspase-1 （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， and alleviated hippocampal neuron damage. Conclusion:Baihe Dihuangtang can improve neuronal damage in anxious depression by inhibiting the excessive activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes.

Study on chemical constituents from Xiaoer Fupi Granules based on UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS / 中草药

Objective To clarify the chemical constituents from Xiaoer Fupi Granules and establish an effective identification method for the complex composition of Chinese material medica. Methods UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS was used to analyze the chemical constituents of Xiaoer Fupi Granules. The analysis was performed on Waters HSS T3-C18 (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.8 μm). The mobile phase consisted of 0.1% ammonium formate (A)-acetonitrile (B), which was used for gradient elution, with the flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. This objective was achieved mainly depending on the information of the accurate mass and the multistage fragment ions obtained by UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS, comparing the mass spectrometric data of the standard substance and consulting the reference literatures. Results A total of 84 compounds were identified in this study, including the flavones, glycosidics, phenoliacids, and its esters, and so on, which were attributed the herbs source of each compound. Meanwhile, an effective and quickly identification method for the glycosides, flavonoids, and polyoxyflavonoids were established based on the law of multistage mass spectrometry. Conclusion The comprehensive chemical constituents analysis of Xiaoer Fupi Granules will provide the scientific theory basis for the pharmacodyamic material basis and the quality control of this drug.

Explore mechanism of Compound Uncaria Hypotensive Tablet for hypertension based on network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

This paper aimed to predict the active ingredients and action targets of Compound Uncaria Hypotensive Tablet for hypertension based on network pharmacology, and discuss its possible "multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-pathways" mechanism for treatment of hypertension. The integrative pharmacological platform of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM-IP) was used to construct the component target-disease target network of Compound Uncaria Hypotensive Tablet, and the internet analysis method was used to screen the key nodes, on which the pathway enrichment analysis was carried out to explore its possible biological process in the treatment of hypertension. Target network analysis showed that, 35 predicted active ingredients of Compound Uncaria Hypotensive Tablet had a strong interaction with the prostaglandin endogenous peroxidase synthase (PTGS1, PTGS2), ATP synthetase (ATP1A1, ATP5A1, ATP5C1, ATP5B) and other 29 major proteins. Network enriched analysis showed that Compound Uncaria Hypotensive Tablet participated in the regulation of hypertension in different processes of pathology, through 15 pathways such as regulating blood pressure, G protein coupled receptor activation, adrenergic myocardial cell signal transduction and platelet activation. This study revealed the potential active compounds and possible mechanism of Compound Uncaria Hypotensive Tablet for treatment of hypertension, providing theoretical references for further systematic laboratory experiments on effective compounds and action mechanism of Compound Uncaria Hypotensive Tablet.

Study on phenylpropanoids and lignans from Selaginella involven / 中草药

Objective: To study the chemical constituents of phenylpropanoids and lignans in Selaginella involven and to explore their roles in the plants evolution of Selaginella P. Beauv. Methods: The chemical constituents were isolated and purified by polyamide, macroporous resin, and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and their structures were elucidated by chemical and spectroscopic methods. Results: Fifteen compounds were identified as 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-propionic acid (1), 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-methyl propionate (2), cinnamic acid (3), 3-hydroxy-1-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl) propan-1-one (4), 3-hydroxy-1-(3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl) propan-1-one (5), (+)-wikstromol (6), (-)-nortrachelogenin (7), (+)-matrairesinol (8), (5H)-2-furanone-3,4-bis[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) methyl] (9), acutissimalignan B (10), detetrahydroconidendrin (11), syringaresinol (12), 3,3',5-trimethoxy-4',7-epoxy-8,5'-neolignan-7-ene-4,9,9'-triol-9-aldehyde (13), ciwujiatone (14), and tarennone (15), respectively. Conclusion: Compounds 1-15 are isolated from this plant for the first time. Among them 1-3, 9-11, and 13-15 are isolated from the plants of Selaginella P. Beauv. for the first time. The discovery of a series of mustards, coniferyl alcohols, and their derivatives, which is the representative of phenypropanoids and lignans from S. involven, plays an important role in the development of plants in Selaginella P. Beauv..