Acetylenic spiroketal enol ethers from Artemisia rupestris and their synergistic antibacterial effects on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Synergistic bioassay-guided isolation of the extracts of Artemisia rupestris L, which belongs to the family Asteraceae, afforded two acetylenic spiroketal enol ethers, namely rupesdiynes A (1) and B (2). Their structures were determined based on spectroscopic analysis and experimental and calculated ECD investigations. The two compounds exhibited synergistic activity and were able to reduce the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of oxacillin four-fold, with a fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) of 0.5 in combination with oxacillin against the oxacillin-resistant EMRSA-16. Biofilm formation inhibitory and Ethidium bromide (EtBr) efflux assay were further employed to verify the possible mechanism of the synergistic antibacterial effect. Additionally, molecular docking studies were conducted to investigate the binding affinities of the two compounds with penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a) of EMRSA-16. Taken together, rupesdiynes A (1) and rupesdiyne B (2) showed moderate synergistic activity against EMRSA-16 with oxacillin via inhibiting biofilm formation and efflux pump activity, respectively.

[Correlation between rhizosphere environment and content of medicinal components of Arnebia euchroma].

This study aimed to explore the correlation between rhizosphere soil microorganisms of wild Arnebia euchroma and the content of medicinal components to provide guidance for the selection of the ecological planting base. The total DNA of rhizosphere soil microorganisms of wild A. euchroma was extracted, and the microbial community structure of rhizosphere soil microorganisms was analyzed by IlluminaMiseq high-throughput sequencing technology. The content of total hydroxynaphthoquinone pigment and ß,ß'-dimethylacrylalkannin in medicinal materials was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). The physicochemical pro-perties of rhizosphere soil of wild A. euchroma in main producing areas were determined, and the correlation of soil microbial abundance with index component content and soil physicochemical properties was analyzed by SPSS software. The results showed that the species composition of rhizosphere fungi and bacteria in A. euchroma from different habitats was similar at the phylum and genus levels, but their relative abundance, richness index(Chao1), and community diversity(Simpson) index were different. Correlation analysis showed that the content of available phosphorus in soil was positively correlated with the content of total hydroxynaphthoquinone pigment and ß,ß'-dimethylacrylalkannin, and the abundance of five fungal genera such as Solicoccozyma and six bacterial genera such as Pseudo-nocardia and Bradyrhizobium was positively correlated with the content of medicinal components in medicinal materials. The abundance of Bradyrhizobium was significantly positively correlated with the content of ß,ß'-dimethylacrylalkanin. The abundance of fungi such as Archaeorhizomyces was significantly positively correlated with the content of available phosphorus in rhizosphere soil, and Bradyrhizobium was significantly negatively correlated with soil pH. Therefore, the abundance of fungi and bacteria in the rhizosphere of A. euchroma has a certain correlation with the medicinal components and the physicochemical properties of the rhizosphere soil, which can provide a scientific basis for the selection of ecological planting bases in the later stage.

[Investigation and analysis of imported medicinal materials at Chinese border ports].

Imported medicinal materials are an important part of Chinese medicinal resources. To be specific, about 10% of the around 600 commonly used Chinese medicinal materials are from abroad, and the introduction of foreign medicinal materials has promoted the development of Chinese medicine. Amid the advancement of reform and opening up and the "Belt and Road" Initiative, major headway has been made in the cross-border trade in China, bringing opportunities for the import of medicinal materials from border ports. However, for a long time, there is a lack of systematic investigation on the types of exotic medicinal materials at border ports. In the fourth national census of traditional Chinese medicine resources, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, together with several organizations, investigated the nearly 40 border ports, Chinese medicinal material markets, and border trade markets in 6 provinces/autonomous regions in China for the first time and recorded the types, sources, circulation, and the transaction characteristics of imported medicinal materials. Moreover, they invited experts to identify the origins of the collected 237 medicinal materials. In addition, the status quo and the problems of the medicinal materials were summarized. This study is expected to lay a basis for clarifying the market and origins of imported medicinal materials as well as the scientific research on and supervision of them.

Ketamine enhances dopamine D1 receptor expression by modulating microRNAs in a ketamine-induced schizophrenia-like mouse model.

The abnormal expression of the dopamine D1 receptor (DRD1) may be associated with schizophrenia. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can post-transcriptionally regulate DRD1 expression. Here, we established a ketamine-induced schizophrenia-like behavior mouse model and investigated the changes in miR-15a-3p, miR-15b-3p, miR-16-1-3p, and DRD1 in response to ketamine. Administration of high-dose ketamine for seven consecutive days to mice simulated the main symptoms of schizophrenia. The mice exhibited increasing excitability and autonomous activity and reduced learning and memory, including spatial memory. Moreover, ketamine decreased miR-15a-3p, miR-15b-3p, and miR-16-1-3p expression levels in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and miR-16-1-3p expression in the hippocampus, whereas DRD1 expression increased in these brain regions. In HT22 mouse hippocampal neuronal cells, ketamine induced a dose-dependent increase of endogenous DRD1, which was partially attenuated by a combination of miR-15b-3p and miR-16-1-3p mimics. Indeed, the miR-15b-3p and miR-16-1-3p mimics could significantly inhibit endogenous DRD1expression. We identified +72 to +78 bp (TGCTGCT) of the DRD1 3'UTR as the core regulatory region recognized by the target miRNAs. In summary, we developed a ketamine-induced schizophrenia-like behavior mouse model and found that ketamine inhibited the levels of miR-15a-3p, miR-15b-3p, miR-16-1-3p and increased DRD1 expression in mice.

[Comprehensive analysis of components in Chinese medicines derived from Apocynum venetum and Poacynum pictum in Xinjiang based on HPLC fingerprint and chemometrics].

This study established high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) fingerprints of Chinese medicines derived from Apocynum venetum and Poacynum pictum in Xinjiang and explored their composition differences with the combination of content determination, similarity analysis, cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The HPLC conditions included Phenomenex Kinetex C_(18) column(4.6 mm ×100 mm, 2.6 µm), acetonitrile-0.01% trifluoroacetic acid aqueous solution as mobile phase, gradient elution, flow rate of 0.6 mL·min~(-1), detection wavelength of 281 nm and column temperature of 25 ℃. The content of chlorogenic acid, quercetin-3-O-sophoroside, rutin, hyperin, isoquercitrin, trifolin and astragalin was determined in 31 batches of medicinal materials, and fingerprint research and chemometric analysis were performed with Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine(Version 2004 A) and SPSS 21.0. In the Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, the quality of Apocyni Veneti Folium is controlled by character identification, microscopic identification, thin layer chromatography identification and quantitative determination of hyperin. There were 21 common peaks of A. venetum and P. pictum in the HPLC fingerprints, 5 of which were identified as chlorogenic acid, hyperin, isoquercitrin, trifolin and astragalin, with their content also determined. Except for 3 batches of medicinal materials, the similarity of other 28 batches was higher than 0.83, indicating good similarity. Two categories were formed in the cluster analysis based on content determination, which showed that some differences existed in similarities between different regions of Xinjiang. The medicinal materials were ranked by quality with principal component analysis, and the results indicated that the top 15 all came from northern Xinjiang. The quality difference of A. venetum and P. pictum had a correlation with the place of origin. This study provides a reference for the analysis and evaluation of A. venetum and P. pictum from different habitats and the selection of introduction and cultivation areas.

Xanthohumol ameliorates memory impairment and reduces the deposition of ß-amyloid in APP/PS1 mice via regulating the mTOR/LC3II and Bax/Bcl-2 signalling pathways.

OBJECTIVES: Xanthohumol (XAN) is a unique component of Humulus lupulus L. and is known for its diverse biological activities. In this study, we investigated whether Xanthohumol could ameliorate memory impairment of APP/PS1 mice, and explored its potential mechanism of action. METHODS: APP/PS1 mice were used for in vivo test and were treated with N-acetylcysteine and Xanthohumol for 2 months. Learning and memory levels were evaluated by the Morris water maze. Inflammatory and oxidative markers in serum and hippocampus and the deposition of Aß in the hippocampus were determined. Moreover, the expression of autophagy and apoptosis proteins was also evaluated by western blot. KEY FINDINGS: Xanthohumol significantly reduced the latency and increased the residence time of mice in the target quadrant. Additionally, Xanthohumol increased superoxide dismutase level and reduced Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-1ß levels both in serum and hippocampus. Xanthohumol also significantly reduced Aß deposition in the hippocampus and activated autophagy and anti-apoptotic signals. CONCLUSIONS: Xanthohumol effectively ameliorates memory impairment of APP/PS1 mice by activating mTOR/LC3 and Bax/Bcl-2 signalling pathways, which provides new insight into the neuroprotective effects of Xanthohumol.

Flavonoids from Artemisia rupestris and their synergistic antibacterial effects on drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

This study seeks to discover flavonoids from a traditional Chinese herb, Artemisia rupestris L., with synergistic antibacterial effects against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Five flavonoids, artemetin (1), chrysosplenetin (2), pachypodol (3), penduletin (4) and chrysoeriol (5) were obtained by various column chromatographic methods. Their chemical structures were determined on the basis of comprehensive spectroscopic analysis and comparison with literature data. Three of the compounds (2, 4 and 5) exhibited synergistic activity when combined with norfloxacin against SA1199B, an effluxing fluoroquinolone-resistant strain. The fractional inhibitory concentration indices (FICIs) of 2, 4 and 5 in combination with norfloxacin were 0.375, 0.079 and 0.266 respectively, suggesting synergy. Compound 5 also showed synergistic effects against EMRSA-15 and EMRSA-16 when combined with ciprofloxacin and oxacillin exhibiting FICIs of 0.024 and 0.375 respectively. Real time ethidium bromide (EtBr) efflux assay, qRT-PCR and molecular docking were employed to explore the mechanisms of the synergistic effects.

Synergistic Antitumor Effect of 5-Fluorouracil Combined with Constituents from Pleurospermum lindleyanum in Hepatocellular Carcinoma SMMC-7721 Cells.

BACKGROUND: A Chinese folk medicine plant Pleurospermum lindleyanum possesses pharmacological activities of heat-clearing, detoxifying and preventing from hepatopathy, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and high altitude sickness. We isolated and characterized its constituents to investigate its synergistic effects against human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the synergistic anti-cancer activities of isolates from P. lindleyanum with 5-FU on hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells in vitro and their primary mechanisms. METHODS: Sequential chromatographic techniques were conducted for the isolation studies. The isolate's structures were established by spectroscopic analysis as well as X-ray crystallographic diffraction. Growth inhibition was detected by MTT assay. The isobologram method was used to assess the effect of drug combinations. Flow cytometry and western blot were used to examine apoptosis and protein expression. RESULTS: A new coumarin (16), along with sixteen known compounds, were isolated from the whole plant of P. lindleyanum and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Four coumarins (2, 3, 5, and 16), two flavonoids (8 and 9) and three phytosterols and triterpenes (12-14) were found to synergistically enhance the inhibitory effect of 5-FU against SMMC-7721 cells. Among them, compounds 3 and 16 exhibited the best synergistic effects with IC50 of 5-FU reduced by 16-fold and 22-fold possessing the minimum Combination Index (CI) 0.34 and 0.27. The mechanism of action of combinations might be through synergistic arresting for the cell cycle at G1 phases and the induction of apoptosis. Moreover, western blotting and molecular docking revealed that compounds 3 or 5 might promote 5-FU-induced apoptosis by regulating the expression of Caspase 9 and PARP. CONCLUSION: Constituents from P. lindleyanum may improve the treatment effectiveness of 5-FU against hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

The Effect of Antibiotic-Cycling Strategy on Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Infections or Colonization in Intensive Care Units: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, especially multidrug-resistant strains, play a key role in impeding critical patients from survival and recovery. The effectiveness of the empiric use of antibiotics in the circling manner in intensive care units (ICUs) has not been analyzed in detail and remains controversial. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate antibiotic-cycling effect on the incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science for studies focusing on whether a cycling strategy of empiric use of antibiotics could curb the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in ICUs. The major outcomes were risk ratios (RRs) of antibiotic-resistant infections or colonization per 1,000 patient days before and after the implementation of antibiotic cycling. A random-effects model was adopted to estimate results in consideration of clinical heterogeneity among studies. The registration number of the meta-analysis is CRD42018094464. RESULTS: Twelve studies, involving 2,261 episodes of resistant infections or colonization and 160,129 patient days, were included in the final analysis. Based on the available evidence, the antibiotic-cycling strategy did not reduce the overall incidence of infections or colonization with resistant bacteria (RR = 0.823, 95% CI 0.655-1.035, p = .095). In subgroup analyses, the cycling strategy cut down the incidence of resistant bacteria more significantly than baseline period (p = .028) but showed no difference in comparison with mixing strategy (p = .758). LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: Although the cycling strategy performed better than relatively free usage of antibiotics in the baseline period on reducing resistant bacteria, the cycling strategy did not show advantage when compared with the mixing strategy in subgroup analyses. In addition, these viewpoints still need more evidence to confirm.

Bidirectional Brain-gut-microbiota Axis in increased intestinal permeability induced by central nervous system injury.

Central nervous system injuries may lead to the disorders of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, and enteric nervous system. These effects then cause the changes in the intestinal microenvironment, such as a disordered intestinal immune system as well as alterations of intestinal bacteria. Ultimately, this leads to an increase in intestinal permeability. Inflammatory factors produced by the interactions between intestinal neurons and immune cells as well as the secretions and metabolites of intestinal flora can then migrate through the intestinal barrier, which will aggravate any peripheral inflammation and the central nervous system injury. The brain-gut-microbiota axis is a complex system that plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of central nervous system diseases. It may also increase the consequences of preventative treatment. In this context, here we have summarized the factors that can lead to the increased intestinal permeability and some of the possible outcomes.

[Distribution characteristics of Chinese medicine resources in Turpan Basin, Xinjiang].

Based on the results of the fourth national survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Turpan city, Xinjiang, this study counted the types of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Turpan Basin. The spatial distribution differences of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Turpan Basin of Xinjiang were analyzed by using grid technology, trend surface analysis, global spatial autocorrelation analysis, and local spatial autocorrelation analysis, so as to clarify the overall change trend and aggregation degree of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Turpan Basin in horizontal and vertical directions. The results showed the following: in the horizontal direction, the species richness of traditional Chinese medicine resources in the central part of Turpan Basin was high, and there were great differences in the species richness of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Turpan Basin under different grid sizes. The spatial scale effect of the richness of traditional Chinese medicine resources in Turpan Basin is obvious. Among them, under the 30 km×30 km scale, the richness of the types of Chinese medicine resources shows a high spatial correlation, and the richness of the types of Chinese medicine resources at 5 km×5 km scale presents a near random distribution state, and the richness of the types of Chinese medicine resources at 80, 90, and 100 km scale sits negatively related. Vertical direction, Chinese medicine resources appear rich at the range of-154-150 m and 900-1 050 m following by range of 1 050-1 200 m.

Pharmacological Prevention of Postoperative Delirium: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of delirium among postoperative patients has increased morbidity and mortality. The kind of drug that can effectively reduce the incidence of delirium has become the focus of discussion in recent years. However, a consensus in this respect has yet to be reached. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were retrieved from the PubMed, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Embase databases from their inception through October 12, 2018. We included RCTs of pharmacological prevention for postoperative delirium in adults (at least 18 years), and the Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to evaluate the methodological quality of trials. The primary outcomes were the risk ratios (RRs) of incidence of postoperative delirium, and the secondary outcomes were the RRs of mortality and adverse events in the intervention and control groups. RESULTS: Thirty-eight trials, which comprised 20302 patients and 18 different drugs, were included in the analysis. Of the 38 studies, 17 were rated as low risk with respect to methodological quality. Dexmedetomidine administration (RR 0.58, 95%CI 0.44-0.76, P<0.01) was associated with a significantly lower incidence of postoperative delirium than the control conditions. However, the findings from the studies with a low risk of bias did not show a significant difference in this beneficial effect (RR 0.64, 95%CI 0.39-1.04, P=0.07). The antipsychotic drugs olanzapine (RR 0.44, 95%CI 0.30- 0.65, P<0.01) and risperidone (RR 0.42, 95%CI 0.19-0.92, P=0.03) had promising effects, but there was a lack of sufficient evidence to obtain a definitive conclusion. The beneficial effect of other drugs, including haloperidol, methylprednisolone, dexamethasone, gabapentin, ketamine, cyproheptadine, donepezil, hypertonic saline, melatonin, nimodipine, ondansetron, pregabalin, rivastigmine, TJ-54, and tryptophan, was not proven on the basis of present evidence. CONCLUSION: Among the pharmacological prophylactic measures for postoperative delirium, dexmedetomidine, olanzapine, and risperidone showed higher efficacy than other drugs. However, more high-quality evidence is needed to confirm these results.

The Effects of Safflower Yellow on Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of safflower yellow in the acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). METHODS: In a prospective, randomized, controlled trial, 127 patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled and were randomly divided into two groups. The control group included 64 patients treated according to the global strategy for diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD (www.goldcopd.org, updated 2011). The intervention group included 63 patients who received intravenous infusions of safflower yellow (100 mg of safflower yellow dissolved in 250 ml 0.9% saline) once daily for 14 consecutive days in addition to standard diagnosis and treatment. The difference in the average length of the hospital stay between the two groups of patients was determined. The follow-up period was 28 days; the differences in symptoms, clinical indicators, and 28-day mortality in the two groups were compared. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 22.0 software to determine whether there were statistically significant differences (P <0.05) between groups. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention group and the control group in changes in secondary indicators. There were no statistically significant differences in the 28-day mortality or in the survival curves of the two groups (P=0.496 and P=0.075, respectively). Safflower yellow treatment of AECOPD may relieve the patient's clinical symptoms, such as dyspnoea, shorten the average length of hospital stay (P=0.006, respectively), and decrease the duration of mechanical ventilation. CONCLUSION: Safflower yellow in the treatment of AECOPD has a degree of clinical value. This trial is registered under the identifier ChiCTR-IPR-17014176.

[Study on phenotypic diversity and cluster analysis of Cistanche Herba in different populations in Xinjiang].

To intuitively understand the phenotypic diversity of intra-population and inter-population of the medicinal Cistanche Herba distributed in Xinjiang province, three species of Cistanche Herba were selected for the first time to be conducted to phenotypic observation and measurement from the morphological perspective, aiming to fill the gap in the morphological research concerning Cistanche Herba, and discuss about the relationship between the phenotypic variation and the host plants together with the geographical conditions, thus better understanding the speciation and evolutionary mechanism of Cistanche Herba and providing some scientific basis for the resource protection and germplasm breeding of Cistanche Herba. Based on sampling survey, a total of 118 well grown medicinal Cistanche samples from 17 Cistanche Herba distribution areas in Xinjiang province were selected, and various indexes were observed and measured. Besides, ANOVA and clustering analysis were conducted with 9 phenotypic quantity characters. The Cistanche Herba was plentiful in phenotypic variation. For detail, significant intra-population differences were observed in eight of the nine character indexes, and the intra-population differences were more obvious than those of inter-population. For each quantity character of the three species, the flower density possessed the maximal variable coefficient (71.1%) while the flower length was the minimum (15.9%). The phenotypic variation was also obvious among different populations. Specifically, the average variable coefficient of flower number was the maximal one (46.5%) and the flower length was the minimum one (10.0%). For different populations, the average variable coefficient of the D4 population was the maximal one (41.1%) and the S3 population was the minimum one (13.5%). According to the clustering analysis, all the samples of Cistanche Herba could be divided into three groups when the Euclidean distance was set at 15. The populations of S1, S3, D1, S2, D4, D6, D7 and D5 which distributed in the north of Xinjiang were clustered into one group, and the populations of D8, S4, D9, D2 and D3 that grown in east and central of Xinjiang were clustered into another group. The populations of C. deserticola and C. salsa could not be completely separated, but both of them were obviously differentiated from the T1, T3 and T2 populations of C. tubulosa. Besides, the C. deserticola and C. salsa displayed a patch distribution among different populations, and similar phenotypic characters were shared for each population. The research results of phenotype were consistent with that of molecular biology study of Cistanche Herba. The different phenotypic characters in different distribution areas were deduced to be arose from geographical isolation caused by mountains, which led to the specific genetic structure for each population of Cistanche Herba during the long-term adaptation and evolution. In conclusion, the current study showed the adaptation potency of Cistanche Herba exposed to different habitats.

[Identification of origin plant of Uygur medicine mulberry based on DNA barcode].

To provide molecular evidence for medical material identification, we analyzed the nucleotide sequence of ITS2, psbA-trnH gene in Morus genus plants and commercial products which were obtained from different places in Xinjiang. The sequence of ITS2 and psbA-trnH in fifty-one samples were amplified and sequenced, MEGA 6.0 was used to analyze the intra- and interspecific K-2P distances, neighbor-joining (NJ) tree was used to constructing clustering tree. ITS2 sequence analyzed results showed that there is no intra-specific variation among Morus alba, M. alba var. tatarica and M. nigra, but 13 variations sites were exist between M. alba and M. nigra and their inter-specific K-2P distances was 0.04, which indicated that there had significant variation in them. We didn't find informative variation sites between Morus genus plants and commercial products, and we also found that M. nigra can be distinguished from other two species by NJ Tree. PsbA-trnH analysis results showed there was only one variation site between M. alba and M. nigra, but insertion or deletion variation were remarkable evidence among M. alba, M. alba var. tatarica and M. Nigra. Inter-specific variation was accordance with intra-specific variation of commercial products. So ITS2 and psbA-trnH gene were important marker for M. alba, M. alba var. tatarica and M. nigra identification. This study provided important evidence for Uygur medicine identification and market supervision.

[Projection of potential geographic distribution of Apocynum venetum under climate change in northern China].

Apocynum venetum belongs to apocynaceae and is a perennial medicinal plant, its stem is an important textile raw materials. The projection of potential geographic distribution of A. venetum has an important significance for the protection and sustainable utilization of the plant. This study was conducted to determine the potential geographic distribution of A. venetum and to project how climate change would affect its geographic distribution. The projection geographic distribution of A. venetum under current bioclimatic conditions in northern China was simulated using MaxEnt software based on species presence data at 44 locations and 19 bioclimatic parameters. The future distributions of A. venetum were also projected in 2050 and 2070 under the climate change scenarios of RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 described in 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The result showed that min air temperature of the coldest month, annual mean air temperature, precipitation of the coldest quarter and mean air temperature of the wettest quarter dominated the geographic distribution of A. venetum. Under current climate, the suitable habitats of A. venetum is 11.94% in China, the suitable habitats are mainly located in the middle of Xinjiang, in the northern part of Gansu, in the southern part of Neimeng, in the northern part of Ningxia, in the middle and northern part of Shaanxi, in the southern part of Shanxi, in the middle and northern part of Henan, in the middle and southern part of Hebei, Shandong, Tianjin, in the southern part of Liaoning and part of Beijing. From 2050 to 2070, the model outputs indicated that the suitable habitats of A. venetum would decrease under the climate change scenarios of RCP2.6 and RCP8.5.

[Survey and protective utilization of Lycium ruthenicum resources distributed in middle and lower reaches of Heihe river].

This study was aimed to investigate the qualitative and quantitative distributions of Lycium ruthenicum resources in the middle and lower reaches of Heihe River, for providing scientific evidence for the protective utilization of the resources in the corresponding geographic region. The outdoor sample plot and quadrat survey, literature search, sample collection, in-house identification and classification were performed by route surveying and visiting to the local natives and/or herb farmers based on the current distribution data of the L. ruthenicum resources in the middle and lower reaches of Heihe River. The distributive pattern of the resources was analyzed using ArcGIS program. The data regarding the category/distributed area and the genetic resources of the L. ruthenicum were collected. The data collected in this study may provide the scientific evidence for the protective utilization of the L. ruthenicum resources in the corresponding geographic region, allowing for the avoidance of the ecological environment from being damaged by improper utilization.

An unusual sesquiterpene coumarin from the seeds of Ferula sinkiangensis.

A sesquiterpene coumarin, sinkiangenorin E, consisting of a novel bicyclo[4.3.1]decane-type sesquiterpene system, was isolated from the seeds of Ferula sinkiangensis. The structure of sinkiangenorin E including the relative stereochemistry and the absolute configuration was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. The new compound showed cytotoxic activity against AGS cells (IC50, 12.7 µM) and inhibiting effect against influenza A H1N1 (IC50, 4.0 µM), which provided important clues for the study on the bioactivities of this type of sesquiterpene coumarins.

Effects of Safflower Yellow on the Treatment of Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

Objective. To evaluate the clinical effect of safflower yellow on the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. Methods. 85 patients with severe sepsis and septic shock were randomly selected to receive either therapy according to the international guidelines for management of severe sepsis and septic shock (Surviving Sepsis Campaign 2012) (control group, n = 45) or conventional therapy plus safflower yellow (study group, n = 40). The 28-day mortality and 28-day Kaplan-Meier survival curves were compared as primary outcomes. Results. The 28-day mortality from all causes and in-hospital mortality were significantly lower in the study group (50%, 17.5%) as compared to the control group (78.58%, 54.76%) (P = 0.007, all causes, P < 0.001, in-hospital), and the 28-day Kaplan-Meier survival curve was higher in the study group than in the control group (P = 0.008, all causes, P < 0.001, in-hospital, Log Rank). 72 hours after treatment, secondary outcomes including heart rate, leukocyte counts, lactate levels, and platelet counts of patients in the study group were ameliorated significantly as compared with the control group. Conclusion. This study offers a potential new strategy employing safflower yellow to more effectively treat patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. This trial is registered with identifier ChiCTR-TRC-14005196.