Research status of Bovis Calculus and relevant Chinese patent medicines based on bibliometric analysis / 中国中药杂志

With scarce resources, natural Bovis Calculus is expensive and hard to meet clinical demand. At the moment, four kinds of Bovis Calculus are available on the market: the natural product, in vitro cultured product, synthesized product, and the product formed in cow after manual intervention. In this study, papers on the four kinds of Bovis Calculus products and relevant Chinese patent medicines were searched from Web of Science, PubMed, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI). CiteSpace, citexs AI, and CNKI were employed for bibliometric analysis and knowledge map analysis. On this basis, the status, trend, and focuses of research on Bovis Calculus and relevant Chinese patent medicines were summarized. The results suggested overall slow development in the research on Bovis Calculus and relevant Chinese patent medicines with three typical growth stages. It is consistent with the development of Bovis Calculus substitutes and the national policy for the development of traditional Chinese medicine. At the moment, the research on Bovis Calculus and relevant Chinese patent medicines has been on the rise. In recent years, there has been an explosion of research on them, particularly the quality control of Bovis Calculus and the Chinese patent medicines, the pharmacological efficacy of Chinese patent medicines, such as Angong Niuhuang Pills, and the comparison of the quality of various Bovis Calculus products. However, there is a paucity of research on the pharmacological efficacy and the mechanism of Bovis Calculus. This medicinal and the relevant Chinese patent medicines have been studied from diverse perspectives and China becomes outstanding in this research field. However, it is still necessary to reveal the chemical composition, pharmacological efficacy, and mechanism through multi-dimensional deep research.

Mechanism of astragaloside Ⅳ in regulating autophagy of PC12 cells under oxygen-glucose deprivation by medicating Akt/mTOR/HIF-1α pathway / 中国中药杂志

This study explored the protective effect of astragaloside Ⅳ(AS-Ⅳ) on oxygen-glucose deprivation(OGD)-induced autophagic injury in PC12 cells and its underlying mechanism. An OGD-induced autophagic injury model in vitro was established in PC12 cells. The cells were divided into a normal group, an OGD group, low-, medium-, and high-dose AS-Ⅳ groups, and a positive drug dexmedetomidine(DEX) group. Cell viability was measured using the MTT assay. Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe autophagosomes and autolysosomes, and the MDC staining method was used to assess the fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes. Western blot was conducted to determine the relative expression levels of functional proteins LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, Beclin1, p-Akt/Akt, p-mTOR/mTOR, and HIF-1α. Compared with the normal group, the OGD group exhibited a significant decrease in cell viability(P<0.01), an increase in autophagosomes(P<0.01), enhanced fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes(P<0.01), up-regulated Beclin1, LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, and HIF-1α(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and down-regulated p-Akt/Akt and p-mTOR/mTOR(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the OGD group, the low-and medium-dose AS-Ⅳ groups and the DEX group showed a significant increase in cell viability(P<0.01), decreased autophagosomes(P<0.01), weakened fluorescence intensity of autophagosomes(P<0.01), down-regulated Beclin1, LC3-Ⅱ/LC3-Ⅰ, and HIF-1α(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and up-regulated p-Akt/Akt and p-mTOR/mTOR(P<0.01). AS-Ⅳ at low and medium doses exerted a protective effect against OGD-induced autophagic injury in PC12 cells by activating the Akt/mTOR pathway, subsequently influencing HIF-1α. The high-dose AS-Ⅳ group did not show a statistically significant difference compared with the OGD group. This study provides a certain target reference for the prevention and treatment of OGD-induced cellular autophagic injury by AS-Ⅳ and accumulates laboratory data for the secondary development of Astragali Radix and AS-Ⅳ.

Comparative Analysis of Lonicera japonica Flower from Different Harvesting Periods Based on UV Fingerprint and Chemometrics / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the quality variation of Lonicera japonica flower from different harvesting periods by ultraviolet visible（UV-Vis） fingerprint combined with chemometrics. MethodTwenty-five L. japonica flower samples from five harvesting periods， including young bud stage，green bud stage，white bud stage，silver and golden flower stages， were collected， with five samples for each stage. UV-Vis fingerprints of L. japonica flower from different harvesting periods were established in the context of the optimum extraction method based on the single factor experiment. The results showed that the absorption values at 209，216，226，250，280，303，318， and 350 nm were significantly different. Moreover，after data pretreatment and normalization，multivariate statistical analyses， such as principal component analysis （PCA），partial least squares discriminant analysis （PLS-DA），and orthogonal PLS-DA （OPLS-DA）were performed by SIMCA-P+ to establish the quality variation model of L. japonicas flower from harvesting periods. ResultAs revealed by PCA and PLS-DA， L. japonicas flower samples from five harvesting periods were clustered separately and closely in a harvesting time-dependent manner， suggesting that the content of components contained in samples from different harvesting periods was highly distinct and correlated with harvesting periods. The pairwise comparison of OPLS-DA indicated that triterpenoids or volatile oils were the main components causing the changes from the young bud stage to the green bud stage，and the content of them decreased. The main components from the green bud stage to the white bud stage were triterpenoids （or iridoids），volatile oils，phenolic acids， or flavonoids，and the content of them decreased， which was consistent with the HPLC result of chlorogenic acid. From the white bud stage to the silver flower stage， the main components were iridoids （increasing in content） and triterpenoids （or volatile oils） （decreasing in content）. The main altered components from the silver flower stage to the golden flower stage were triterpenoids （or volatile oils） whose content increased. ConclusionThis method is simple and feasible， which can provide references for the quality control of Chinese medicine.

Effect and Mechanism of Prunellae Spica on Metabolic Syndrome in Rats / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveMetabolic syndrome is the inherent phenotype of many diseases， which seriously endangers the cardio-cerebrovascular system. Prunellae Spica can regulate lipid metabolism disorder in high-fat mice and inhibit the metabolic disorder of liver injury. This study analyzed the effect of Prunellae Spica on metabolic syndrome and its mechanism， and it is of great significance to find potential safe drugs from natural products. MethodIn this study， the metabolic syndrome model was induced by fructose. The metabolomics method based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS） was used to explore the effect and mechanism of Prunellae Spica on rats with metabolic syndrome. ResultPharmacological results showed that Prunellae Spica significantly reduced the body weight， blood lipid level and lipid peroxidation level and inhibited the release of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in rats with metabolic syndrome. Thus， Prunellae Spica protected the liver and maintained its normal functions. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that metabolites in the serum of rats with metabolic syndrome changed significantly， which was improved after Prunellae Spica treatment. Compared with the metabolites in normal group， 11 differential metabolic markers were found in rats with metabolic syndrome. Compared with model group， Prunellae Spica group had 8 significantly different metabolic markers， among which phosphate， pyruvic acid and succinic acid were common markers. Pathway analysis indicated that the regulatory effect of Prunellae Spica was mainly related to citrate cycle， glycolysis and gluconeogenesis， serine/threonine and glycine metabolic pathways. ConclusionPrunellae Spica can be used as a potential natural source for the treatment of metabolic syndrome. It can regulate the metabolic disorder in metabolic syndrome via energy and amino acid metabolism.