Application prospect of reaction engineering approach in studying drying behavior of single droplet during spray drying of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

Spray drying technology is one of the most commonly used unit operations in the production of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) preparations, offering advantages such as short drying time and uniform product quality. However, due to the properties of TCM extracts, such as high viscosity, strong hygroscopicity, and poor flowability, there is limited scope to solve the problems of wall adhesion and clumping in spray drying from the macroscopic perspective of pharmaceutical production. Therefore, it has become a trend to study and optimize the spray drying process from the microscopic point of view by investigating single droplet evaporation behavior. Based on the reaction engineering approach(REA), the single droplet drying system, as a novel method for studying droplets, collects parameter data on individual TCM droplets during the drying process and uses the REA to process the data and establish predictive models. This approach is crucial for understanding the mechanism of TCM spray drying. This paper summarized and analyzed the cha-racteristics of various single droplet systems, the application of REA in single droplet drying systems, and its significance in optimizing the process, predicting drying states, and shortening the development cycle in the field of TCM spray drying, and looked ahead to the prospects of this method, including the introduction of new parameters and imaging techniques, aiming to provide a reference for further research in the field of TCM spray drying.

Drying effect of Chinese medicinal pills based on new spiral vibration drying technology / 中国中药杂志

The present study explored the drying effect of new spiral vibration drying technology on Chinese medicinal pills with Liuwei Dihuang Pills, Zhuanggu Guanjie Pills, and Muxiang Shunqi Pills as model drugs. With the drying uniformity, drying time, energy consumption, pill split, dissolution time, and change of index components as evaluation indicators, the drying effect of spiral vibration drying technology on model drugs was evaluated and compared with traditional drying methods, such as hot air drying and vacuum drying in the oven. The dynamic changes of moisture in Liuwei Dihuang Pills with different drying time were investigated. Compared with the traditional drying methods in the oven(hot air drying and vacuum drying) at 80 ℃, the spiral vibration drying only took 80 min, shortened by 80%, with 10%-13% energy consumed. The results showed that the moisture of Liuwei Dihuang Pills was negatively related to the drying time. By virtue of multi-layer countercurrent drying and super resonant fluidization techniques, the new spiral vibration drying technology can significantly improve the drying quality of Chinese medicinal pills, improve the drying efficiency, and enhance the manufacturing capacity of Chinese medicinal pills. This study is expected to provide references for the innovation and development of new drying technology of Chinese medicinal pills.

Online moisture detection technology and its application prospect in drying of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

Drying is one of the most common unit operations in the production of traditional Chinese medicine. The drying process of traditional Chinese medicine materials is accompanied by the dynamic reduction of water content. As a key index to determine the end of the drying process, the moisture content of materials plays an important role in improving drying efficiency and saving energy. Recently, the drying process of traditional Chinese medicine is mostly monitored by offline detection, and there are few reports of online moisture detection applications. In this paper, the principle and current application of online inspection technology for the material drying process in different fields were introduced. The significance of online detection technology in drying of traditional Chinese medicine was also analyzed. Meanwhile, the application prospect of online detection technology in the field of drying of traditional Chinese medicine was predicted. In response to urgent transformation and upgrading of the traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing industry, the application of online moisture detection technology is expected to be a key breakthrough in the intelligent upgrading of traditional Chinese medicine drying technology and equipment.

Effect of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) in improving stability of essential oils and its application / 中国中药杂志

Essential oils are easy to cause oxidative damage, chemical transformation or polymerization, and have some intrinsic problems, such as instability, low water solubility and low bioavailability, which restrict their application in the fields of product development. Nanostructured lipid carriers(NLCs) can overcome some of the restrictions of other colloidal carriers, such as emulsions, liposomes, polymer nanoparticles and solid lipid nanoparticles. NLC is an efficient and stable delivery system for bioactive substances. With unique lipid properties(mixture of solid and liquid lipid), it can overcome the disadvantages of essential oils and protect them from adverse environments, thus improving the stability, bioavailability and safety of essential oils, and achieve sustained release and controlled release. In EOs-NLCs system, essential oils, as special liquid lipid with biological activities and medicinal properties, can fully play the role of medicine-adjuvant integration by changing the structural characteristics of mixed lipid. Based on the development of nanocarriers system, this paper introduces the composition and structural characteristics of EOs-NLCs, and clarifies how to improve the stability of essential oils based on the effects of NLCs on physical and chemical properties, physical stability and release of active components of essential oils. In addition, it also introduces the application of the system in the fields of pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics and skin care products. This review aims to provide some references for improving the stability of essential oils and their applications by using NLCs.

Simulation of Drying Process of Single Liuwei Dihuangwan and Analysis of Its Dynamics Based on Weibull Function / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: Taking single Liuwei Dihuangwan(LDW) as the research object,the moisture content change and volumetric shrinkage characteristics in its drying process were investigated,which provided the theoretical basis for improving the drying efficiency of the pills and reducing the quality problems of the pattern pills,crusts and crack pills. Method: The drying characteristics of LDW at drying temperature of 50,75,100,125℃ were studied by constant temperature hot air drying and vacuum drying.Based on sphere model of Fick's second law and Arrhenius equation,the effective diffusion coefficient and activation energy of the drying process were obtained.The volumetric shrinkage characteristics of the pills during the drying process were studied by the projected area method.The Weibull function was used to fit the drying dynamics curve of single LDW. Result: Hot air drying and vacuum drying of LDW both belonged to the decreasing drying processes,and the time required to achieve the same moisture content in vacuum drying was shorter than that in hot air drying.The moisture ratio in the drying process of single LDW obeyed the Weibull function distribution(R2=0.994 5-0.999 7),the scale parameter(α) decreased with the increase of temperature,and drying temperature had significant influence on the shape parameter (β).The effective diffusion coefficients of hot air drying and vacuum drying were 2.626×10-3-7.823×10-2,3.782×10-3-9.042×10-2 m2·s-1, their activation energy were 47.18,42.69 kJ·mol-1,respectively.The volume ratio of hot air drying and vacuum drying of LDW ranged from 0.638 to 0.741 and 0.607 to 0.689,respectively. Conclusion: Weibull function can be adopted to predict the drying and dehydration law of LDW.Under the condition of low temperature drying,slow-down of shrinkage rate of the pills is helpful to prevent the formation of splitting pills,this study provides theoretical and technical basis for dying of LDW.

Discussion on research thought of dry granulation of traditional Chinese medicine: research progress at home and abroad based on dry granulation technology / 中国中药杂志

Dry granulation technology is a great innovation in granulation technology,which saves many intermediate links and reduces many intermediate costs. It is closely related to the characteristics of materials,dry granulation equipment and process. Dry granulation technology is a systematic engineering science covering many technical fields. The process of dry granulation involves complex mathematical model mechanisms of temperature field,pressure field and velocity field,closely related to the characteristics of materials and drying equipment. However,due to the late start of research on dry granulation technology of traditional Chinese medicine,basic research is still weak. The research on dry granulation technology has achieved great results in the fields of food,chemical industry,agriculture and forestry,showing great reference significance. The advantage of dry granulation of traditional Chinese medicine is that it can be directly granulated by adding an appropriate amount of auxiliary materials in the extract powder of traditional Chinese medicine,without the need of wetting,mixing,drying and other processes. The process is simple and can effectively guarantee the quality of traditional Chinese medicine. The granules obtained by the dry granulation technique are important intermediates for preparing the solid preparations of traditional Chinese medicines,which would directly affect the subsequent molding process and the quality of the preparation products. Therefore,based on the characteristics of dry granulation method in traditional Chinese medicine and by referring to the advanced research results of dry granulation technology in other fields,we would discuss the research ideas of dry granulation in traditional Chinese medicine in terms of the mechanism of dry granulation equipment,technology,on-line detection technology and mathematical model of dry granulation process,hoping to provide reference for the research of dry granulation method in traditional Chinese medicine.

[Moxibustion Plus Medication Can Relieve Refractory Nausea and Vomiting and Improve Quality of Life of Advanced Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemical Therapy].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the efficacy of moxibustion combined with medication in the treatment of refractory nausea and vomiting and quality of life (QOL) in advanced cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 266 advanced cancer patients with nausea and vomiting were randomly assigned to Metoclopramide group (M group, n＝70), Metoclopramide plus Haloperidol group (MH group, n＝65), moxibustion ＋ M group (n＝63), and moxibustion ＋ MH group (n＝68). Moxibustion was applied to bilateral Zusanli (ST 36), and Guanyuan (CV 4), Qihai (CV 6) for 20 min every time, twice a day for 2 weeks. The Rhodes' Index of nausea, Vomiting and Retching (INVR) was used for assessing the state of these symptoms in duration, frequency and severity (40 points), the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD, 0－76 points) was employed to measure the patients' depression severity, and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G, including physical, social/family, emotional, and functional dimensions, 27 items, 108 points) was adopted to measure the cancer patients' QOL. RESULTS: Following the treatment, the INVR and HAMD scores were significantly decreased in the M, MH, moxibusion＋M and moxibustion＋MH groups in comparison with their own pretreatment (P<0.05) and were significantly lower in the moxibustion＋MH group than in the M, MH and moxibustion＋M groups (P<0.05). The FACT-G scoring outcomes showed that the scores of physical well-being, emotional well-being, and total score of QOL were significantly higher in the MH, moxibustion＋M and moxibustion＋MH groups than in the M group, and were significantly higher in the moxibustion＋MH group than in the MH and moxibustion＋M groups (P<0.05). No significant differences were found between the MH and moxibustion＋M groups in the INVR and HAMD scores, and in the scores of physical well-being, emotional well-being and total score of QOL (P>0.05)．. CONCLUSION: Moxibustion plus Metoclopramide and Haloperidol can relieve refractory nausea and vomiting, and better depression and QOL in advanced cancer patients, being worthy of popularization in clinical practice.

Current situations and problem analysis of influencing factors of traditional Chinese medicine tablets on forming quality / 中国中药杂志

The compressibility of tablets is the essential operating unit during the preparation of traditional Chinese medicine tablets, as well as a complicated process. Therefore, it is of great significance to comprehensively study the influencing factors on the formation process. This paper aimed to review the evaluation methods for the tablet forming quality and highlight the effects of material powder properties, excipients and preparation technology on the quality of traditional Chinese medicine tablets on the basis of relevant literatures. Furthermore, the common problems in tablet forming process are also analyzed to provide useful references for the development of tablet forming quality of traditional Chinese medicines.

Application of image guided technique in rhino-orbital related endoscopic surgery / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

To review retrospectively six cases of rhino-orbital related endoscopic surgeries aided by Fusion electromagnetic system,to explore the indications and clinical value of image guided technique in endonasal endoscopic surgery.Retrospective research methods were used.In this study,six cases of nasal endoscopic sinus surgery using Fusion electromagnetic system were analyzed,including 1 nasal penetrating foreign body,2 optic nerve decompressions,1 orbital apex hemangioma,1 sieve frontal sinus cyst,1 intraorbital mass biopsy.The preparation time of navigation system,the accuracy of intraoperative positioning and surgical coherence,intraoperative and postoperative complications of surgery were recorded.The average preparation time was(8.13 ± 1.858)min.In the navigation,the sinus ostium,orbital cardboard,skull base,optic nerve,internal carotid artery and other important structures can be accurately located in all patients,while registrations had been accurate within 1 mm.Six patients were successfully operated by image guided technique.There was no intracranial or intraorbital complications due to intraoperation error.Image guided technique allows for a truely microinvasive and accurate rhino-orbital related endoscopic surgeries.It requires less preoperative preparation time,has high surgical navigation accuracy,improves the surgical coherence and safety,and reduces the surgical complicationgs.However,as an auxiliary tool,it can not replace the surgeon's anatomical knowledge,surgical training and clinical experience.

Effect and regulation of drying on quality of traditional Chinese medicine pills / 中国中药杂志

The dry quality of traditional Chinese medicine pills is the hot spot of pills research, because their quality has a crucial effect on the efficacy and development of dosage forms. Through literature research and statistical analysis, we would review the current problems on the drying of traditional Chinese medicine pills in this paper, and surrounding the evaluation system for traditional Chinese medicine pills, analyze the characteristics of common drying equipment and processes as well as their effect on quality of pills, discuss the problems in drying equipment and process as well as quality, and put forward the corresponding strategies, hoping to provide new ideas and new methods for the quality improvement of traditional Chinese medicine pills and quality standards.

Analysis on relativity of drying process of extract and pelleting quality of Chinese materia medica formula granule based on powder properties / 中草药

Chinese materia medica (CMM) formula granule is made from CMM extract powder and suitable pharmaceutical excipients, powder properties of CMM extract powder such as the particle size, hydroscopicity, and fluidity directly affect thepelleting quality of CMM formula granule. Drying is one of the indispensable operating units for preparations of CMM extract, which has great influence on the powder properties of CMM extract powder. Therefore, there is a certain correlation between the drying process and pelleting quality of CMM formula granule. Through the literature research, this paper summarizes the engineering principle and characteristics of each main granulation method, analysis of the evaluation factors of pellet quality, and combines with experimental research to explore the correlation between the drying process of CMM extract and pelleting quality of CMM formula granule in the perspective of powder properties. Finally, we puts forward that more attention should be payed to study the drying process of CMM extract, in order to further improve the quality of pelleting quality of CMM formula granule.

High quality dispensing granules of chinese materia medica and key manufacturing elements / 中草药

In recent years, Chinese materia medica (CMM) prescription granule has made rapid progress and becomes a new form of CMM decoction pieces. It is the key to promote the healthy development of industry to continuously improve the quality of CMM dispensing granules and to better protect the public health. Therefore, based on literature investigation, through the brief description of the development status of CMM dispensing granules, the high quality characteristics and key manufacturing elements were analyzed, so as to provide new ideas for improving the quality of CMM dispensing granules.

Relationship between substance P, somatostatin expression and change of morphology structure in jejunum of arsenism rats / 中国地方病学杂志

Objective To explore the relationship between substance P(SP),somatostatin(SS) expression and change of morphology structure in jejunum of arsenism rats.Methods Acoording to sex and body mass,forty five clean grade SD rats were divided into control(0.0 mg.kg-1.d-1),low-dose arsenic(0.4 mg.kg-1.d-1) and high-dose arsenic(10.0 mg.kg-1.d-1) groups,n =15.The rats in low-and high-dose groups were treated with As2O3(2,50 mg/L) through drinking water for 4 months,respectively.Morphology changes of jejunum were observed by histological technique-HE staining and SABC immunohistochemistry.SP and SS positive cells in the jejunum were observed and counted,and its average gray value was analyzed with image analysis software (Biomias).Results Some jejunal villi were irregular in arsenism rats; with some brush border loss and irregular; goblet cells increased; infiltration of inflammatory cells in the lamina propria; and vacuoles in some intestinal gland cells.The differences of SP and SS positive cells between groups were statistically significant (F =608.54,227.59,all P ＜0.05).Compared with the control group (0.94 + 0.21,1.14 + 0.14),SP and SS positive cells in low-and highdose arsenic groups(1.85 + 0.25,1.83 + 0.24 and 4.24 + 0.33,3.31 ± 0.41) were significantly higher(all P ＜0.05),and high-dose arsenic group was significantly higher than the low-dose arsenic group(all P ＜ 0.05).The differences of average gray values of SP and SS positive cells between groups were statistically significant(F =68.43,26.57,all P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the control group(133.76 ± 3.61,137.57 ± 5.49),SP and SS positive cells in low-and high-dose arsenic groups(125.13 + 2.35,131.28 ± 5.66 and 118.30 ± 4.58,124.03 ± 3.94) were significantly lower(all P ＜ 0.05),and high-dose arsenic group was significantly lower than the low-dose arsenic group (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Up-regulation of SP,SS may be related to jejunal mucosal injury and morphology structure in arsenic poisoning rats.

Tenuigenin protects dopaminergic neurons from inflammation-mediated damage induced by the lipopolysaccharide.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). AIMS: To study if tenuigenin (TEN), the main active component of Polygala tenuifolia, can protect dopaminergic neurons from inflammation-mediated damage in vivo. METHODS: We observed the effects of TEN on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced PD model by behavioral analysis, high-performance liquid chromatography, immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay, etc. RESULTS: We showed that a single intranigral dose of LPSs (10 µg) induced microglial activation, reduced the survival ratio of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive (TH-ir) neurons in the SNpc and reduced dopamine (DA) content in the striatum. Treatment with 300 mg/kg TEN once per day over 14 weeks improved the survival rate of TH-ir neurons in the SNpc to 75%, on the non-injected side. Treatment with 200 or 300 mg/kg TEN once per day over 14 weeks significantly improved DA levels in the striatum to 73% and 81% on the non-injected side, respectively. The excessive production of cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1ß, was abolished by TEN administration. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that TEN may play a role in protecting dopaminergic neurons against inflammatory challenge.

Brassinosteroid alleviates phenanthrene and pyrene phytotoxicity by increasing detoxification activity and photosynthesis in tomato.

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of exogenously applied 24-epibrassinolide (BR) on growth, gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant systems of tomato seedlings grown under different levels (0, 10, 30, 100 and 300µM) of phenanthrene (PHE) and pyrene (PYR) in hydroponics. A concentration-dependent decrease in growth, photosynthetic pigment contents, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), maximal quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), effective quantum yield of PSII (Φ(PSII)), photochemical quenching coefficient (qP) has been observed following PHE and PYR exposure. By contrast, non-photochemical quenching coefficient (NPQ) was increased. PHE was found to induce higher stress than PYR. However, foliar or root application of BR (50nM and 5nM, respectively) alleviated all those depressions with a sharp improvement in the activity of photosynthetic machinery. The activities of guaicol peroxidase (GPOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) as well as content of malondialdehyde (MDA) were increased in a dose-dependent manner under PHE or PYR treatments. Compared with control the highest increments of GPOD, CAT, APX, GR and MDA by PHE/PYR alone treatments were observed following 300µM concentration, which were 67%, 87%, 53%, 95% and 74% by PHE and 42%, 53%, 30%, 86% and 62% by PYR, respectively. In addition, both reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) were induced by PHE or PYR. Interestingly, BR application in either form further increased enzymatic and non enzymatic antioxidants in tomato roots treated with PHE or PYR. Our results suggest that BR has an anti-stress effect on tomato seedlings contaminated with PHE or PYR and this effect is mainly attributed by increased detoxification activity.

Expression of cysteine caspase-8 and P53 in renal proximal tubular epithelial cell of chronic arsenic poisoning rats / 中国地方病学杂志

Objective To study the molecular mechanism of renal injury of chronic arsenic poisoning rats induced by the expression of cysteine caspase-8 and P53 in renal proximal tubular epithelial cells.Methods Sixty healthy SD rats were divided into three groups,high-,low-dose group,and control group,n =20 in each group.The rats in high and low dose groups were treated with As203 through drinking water,10.0 and 0.4 mg/kg,respectively.The control rats were given distilled water.Four months later,serum and urinary arsenic level was determined,and kidney specimens were taken.The expression of cysteine caspase-8 and P53 in renal proximal tubular epithelial cells was detected by histological technique-HE staining and SABC immunohistochemistry.In addition,cell number counting and image analyses were used in the study.Results The number of caspase-8 positive cells of renal proximal tubule in control group,low-and high-dose group was 3.33±1.32,31.14±8.02 and 46.50±7.20 cell number/visual fields,respectively,which was increased with dose increasing(all P ＜0.05);the average gray value was 151.34±6.40,133.58±4.63 and 128.34±16.28,respectively,decreased with dose increasing(all P ＜0.05).The number of P53 positive cells was 3.17±1.59,26.29±4.23 and 47.00±6.22 cell number/visual fields,respectively,increased with dose increasing (all P ＜ 0.05) ; the average gray value was 142.54±8.06,121.48±5.68 and 101.89±6.35,respectively,decreased with dose increasing (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The increase of caspase-8 and P53 positive cells is one of the molecular mechanisms of renal injury induced by arsenic poisoning.

Protein kinase C-α expression in kidney of rat with chronic arsenic poisoning / 中国地方病学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression and relevant function of protein kinase C (PKC)-α in kidney of rat with chronic arsenic poisoning.MethodsTotally 60 healthy SD rats of clean grade were randomly divided by body weight into 3 groups:high-dose arsenic exposure group (10.0 mg/kg),low-dose arsenic exposure group (0.4 mg/kg),and control group.The rats were exposed by drinking arsenic solution which was mixed with distilled water.Rats were weighed every 10 days and dose volume of arsenic solution was adjusted.After continuous exposure for 4 months,blood and urinary arsenic were determined.Rat kidneys were taken and stained by Immunohistochemistry SABC.PKC-o positive cells in the kidney were observed and counted,and its average gray value was analyzed with image analysis software (Biomias).ResultsProximal tubules PKC-α-positive cell count [(3.62 ± 1.90),(10.07 ± 3.22)/field],glomerular PKC-α-positive cell count [(3.62 ± 1.90),(10.07 ± 3.22)/field]in high and low arsenic group of SD rat kidney were lower than those of the control group [(60.00 ± 9.63),(18.57 ± 2.71/field,all P ＜ 0.05]; both urinary arsenic level[(7366.62 ± 1086.50),(1744.31 ± 300.12)μg,/L]and blood arsenic level [(31.59 ± 9.24),(16.58 ± 2.08)μg/L] in high-dose and low-dose groups were higher than those of the control group [(18.97 ± 3.58),(18.97 ± 3.58)μg/L,all P ＜ 0.05] ; the average gray values of SD rat kidney proximal tubule,glomerular PKC-o positive cells in high-dose and low-dose groups( 142.79 ± 11.16,122.15 ±5.91 ) were higher than that of the control group (114.33 ± 6.70,all P ＜ 0.05).ConclusionsArsenic can decrease SD rat kidney PKC-α -positive cells.The regulatory function of PKC-o in inhibiting cell apoptosis of kidney of rats with arsenic poisoning is weakened.