Effect of Sparganii Rhizoma-Curcumae Rhizoma-medicated serum on proliferation, apoptosis, and migration of human ectopic endometrial stromal cells: based on JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway / 中国中药杂志

Based on the Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(JAK2/STAT3) signaling pathway, this study investigated the effect of medicated serum of Sparganii Rhizoma(SR) and Curcumae Rhizoma(CR) on the proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and secretion of inflammatory factors of ectopic endometrial stromal cells(ESCs). Specifically, human ESCs were primary-cultured. The effect of different concentration(5%, 10%, 20%) of SR-, CR-, and SR-CR combination-medicated serum, and AG490 solution(50 μmol·L~(-1)) on the proliferation of ESCs was detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT) assay, and the optimal dose was selected accordingly for further experiment. The cells were classified into normal serum(NS) group, SR group(10%), CR group(10%), combination(CM) group(10%), and AG490 group. The apoptosis level of ESCs was detected by flow cytometry, and the migration ability was examined by wound healing assay. The secretion of interleukin(IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The protein levels of cysteinyl aspartate specific protei-nase-3(caspase-3), B-cell lymphoma(Bcl-2), and Bcl-2-associated X protein(Bax) and the levels of phosphorylated(p)-JAK2 and p-STAT3 were detected by Western blot. The results showed that the viability of ESCs cells was lowered in the administration groups compared with the blank serum group(P<0.01), especially the 10% drug-medicated serum, which was selected for further experiment. The 10% SR-medicated serum, 10% CR-medicated serum, and 10% CM-medicated serum could increase the apoptosis rate(P<0.01), up-regulate the protein expression of caspase-3 and Bax in cells(P<0.05 or P<0.01), down-regulate the expression of Bcl-2(P<0.01), decrease the cell migration rate(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and reduce the secretion levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and levels of p-JAK2 and p-STAT3(P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with the SR and CR groups, CM group showed low cell viability(P<0.01), high protein expression of caspase-3 and Bax(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and low protein expression of Bcl-2 and p-JAK2(P<0.05). After incubation with CM, the apoptosis rate was higher(P<0.05) and the migration rate was lower(P<0.01) than that of the CR group. The p-STAT3 protein level of CM group was lower than that of the RS group(P<0.05). The mechanism of SR, CR, and the combination underlying the improvement of endometriosis may be that they blocked JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, inhibited ESC proliferation, promoted apoptosis, weakened cell migration, and reduced the secretion of inflammatory factors. The effect of the combination was better than that of RS alone and CR alone.

Multifunctional regularity of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma in ancient and modern medicine / 中草药

This paper analyzes and summarizes the multifunctional regularity of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma (rhubarb) in ancient and modern medicine based on text data mining approach. The 7 226 ancient prescriptions containing rhubarb in traditional Chinese medicine prescription database and 736 formulas of modern Chinese medicine prescriptions containing rhubarb in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2015 edition) and Yaozhi network were screened and summarized respectively. The proportion of rhubarb in prescriptions, preparation methods, compatibility drugs, efficacy and disease attributions were determined, and the relationships between rhubarb preparation methods and efficacy, disease attributions were also explored. Through data mining, in addition to direct oral administration and mostly being used for the treatment of internal medicine diseases, rhubarb was orally taken with water decoction in ancient times while wine-treated rhubarb now commonly used in pediatrics as well to remove accumulation with purgation and clear heat and purge fire. When rhubarb plays a role in cooling blood and detoxifying, it was often used externally or taken in the form of water decoction in the past. In modern times, rhubarb is usually taken in by alcohol extraction method, and is also applied in surgery. To eliminate blood stasis and remove obstruction in the channels, wine decoction or taken with wine was used primarily in ancient times while taken orally with water decoction is focused on today, mainly for gynecology. For eliminating dampness and removing jaundice, rhubarb was mostly used orally with water decoction in the past instead of wine decoction or wine and water co-decoction nowadays, and mainly used for treating pediatric diseases. In ancient prescriptions, rhubarb was often combined with Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and now used with Scutellariae Radix. In the efficacy of eliminating blood stasis, compatibility drugs were focused on Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Cinnamomi Cortex, and Aucklandiae Radix in the past and used mostly with Paeoniae Radix and Toxicodendri Resina today. These findings provide reference for the accurate clinical use of rhubarb and the creation of related drugs.

Chemical components and pharmacological action of Aconiti Radix / 中国中药杂志

Aconiti Radix is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine( TCM) herb in clinic,with the effects in expelling wind and removing damness,warming menstruation and relieving pain. With a long medicinal history and high medicinal value,it was used for anemofrigid-damp arthralgia,arthralgia,cold hernia and anesthesia analgesia. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Aconiti Radix has a good therapeutic effect on rheumatoid arthritis,neuropathic pain and hypertension. As a well-known toxic TCM herb,its main pharmacodynamic and toxic components are alkaloids,which can lead to neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity while exerting anti-inflammatory,analgesic,anti-tumor and other pharmacodynamic effects. Therefore,it is often processed to reduce its toxicity or combined with Paeoniae Radix Alba and Stephaniae Tetrandrae Radix to achieve the purpose of reducing toxicity and increasing efficacy in clinic.In recent years,with the deepening of the study on the incompatibility of TCM represented by " eighteen incompatible herbs",there have been new findings about TCM incompatibility. It has been found complementary effect,rather than no obvious toxic and side effects after the combination with incompatible herbs of Aconiti Radix. To provide the basis for further study and clinical application of Aconiti Radix,this paper reviewed chemical components,pharmacological action,toxicity and compatibility of Aconiti Radix by consulting relevant literatures published in recent years at home and abroad. Meanwhile,this paper also described the relationship between chemical constituents,as well as anti-inflammatory,analgesic,anti-tumor and other pharmacological effects and toxicity.

Analysis on Drug Combination Rule in Mutual Restraint Based on Apriori and Clustering Algorithm / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To investigate the drug combination of mutual restraint which is one of the application of seven different combination in drug in traditional Chinese medicine. Methods With the methods of association rules and complex system entropy clustering, we analyzed the drug combinations of mutual restraint that were collected from Compendium of Material Medica, to obtain the frequence of the single drug and drug combination of mutual restraint and the association rules between them. Results The single drugs with higher frequency are Rhizoma Coptidis, Fructus Crotonis, Rhei Radix Et Rhizoma, Azurite, Rhizoma Acori Tatarinowii, etc. The drug combinations with higher frequency are Azurite and Artemisia capillaries, Fructus Crotonis and Rhizoma Coptidis, Fructus Crotonis and Soybean etc. The associative drug combinations which confidence is 1 include “Indigo juice → Fructus Crotonis”,“Indigo juice → Rhizoma Coptidis”, etc. Conclusion The drug combinations of mutual restraint mainly include mineral drugs, antipyretics, purgatives, and toxic drugs.