Analysis of curcuminoids and volatile components in 160 batches of turmeric samples in China by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography mass spectrometry.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a popular herbal medicine worldwide. Curcuminoids and volatile constituents are its major bioactive components. To improve the quality control of turmeric, we determined the contents of three main curcuminoids in 160 batches of turmeric samples collected from five major production areas of China by HPLC, and analyzed the volatile components by GC/MS. The results indicated that samples with red cross sections (2.75 ±â€¯0.82 mg/g) contained significantly higher amounts of curcuminoids than samples with yellow sections (1.23 ±â€¯0.60 mg/g) (p < 0.001). This result was consistent with empirical standard of TCM pharmacists. The contents of curcuminoids in samples from Hainan (4.51±0.25%), Guizhou (3.17±0.41%), and Sichuan (2.25±0.54%) were relatively high and consistent. Moreover, the GC/MS profiles of turmeric may be affected by storage and processing. This study sets a good example for comprehensive quality control of herbal medicines.

[History evolution of salt production and processing with brine].

Salt is an important excipient for Chinese medicine salt. The standardization of its quality is conducive to ensuring the quality of Chinese medicine pieces. In this paper, the processing with brine and the processing auxiliary salt were studied from three aspects： the history evolution of salt, the history evolution of processing with brine, and the modern research of processing with brine. It has been found that salt plays an important role in the history of China. It has a long history and a wide variety. The salt used in the processing of traditional Chinese medicine mainly includes three categories： common salt, halitum and white salt. The quality of salt is closely related to its origin and processing, mainly based on the color and the place of origin. In ancient times, the varieties of salt used in the production of different Chinese herbal medicines were different, which might be related to the nature of drugs. The primary purpose of processing with brine is to increase the efficacy of drugs. At present, there are many reports on optimizing the preparation technology of processing with brine, but the evaluation indexes are quite different, and its scientific nature is to be discussed. The processing method with brine and its processing auxiliary materials are lacking of relevant evaluation standards and quality standards, which is not conducive to the healthy development of Chinese herbal pieces. In this paper, the relevant literature was studied in order to provide reference for the establishment of standards for salt processing excipient in traditional Chinese medicine.

[Climate change impacts on yield of Cordyceps sinensis and research on yield prediction model of C. sinensis].

Cordyceps sinensis is a Chinese unique precious herbal material, its genuine producing areas covering Naqu, Changdu in Qinghai Tibet Plateau, Yushu in Qinghai province and other regions. In recent 10 years, C. sinensis resources is decreasing as a result of the blindly and excessively perennial dug. How to rationally protect, develop and utilize of the valuable resources of C. sinensis has been referred to an important field of research on C. sinensis. The ecological environment and climate change trend of Qinghai Tibet plateau happens prior to other regions, which means that the distribution and evolution of C. sinensis are more obvious and intense than those of the other populations. Based on RS (remote sensing)/GIS(geographic information system) technology, this paper utilized the relationship between the snowline elevation, the average temperature, precipitation and sunshine hours in harvest period (April and may) of C. sinensis and the actual production of C. sinensis to establish a weighted geometric mean model. The model's prediction accuracy can reach 82.16% at least in forecasting C. sinensis year yield in Naqu area in every early June. This study can provide basic datum and information for supporting the C. sinensis industry healthful, sustainable development.

[Research on Glycyrrhizeae Radix standard decoction].

Fifteen batches of Glycyrrhizeae Radix standard decoction were prepared for determination of the content of the glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin, then the transfer rate and the extract rate were calculated and a method was established to analyze the fingerprint by HPLC. According to the measurement of 15 batches of samples,the transfer rate of the glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritin were 59.4%-87.4% and 49.8%-78.9% with extract rate of 29.9%-38.9%. Moreover,10 common chromatographic peaks were determined based on their fingerprint by using similarity evaluation system for chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)(2012A) .The similarity results of 15 batches of samples were analyzed and compared,and the results showed that the similarity was all higher than 0.9. Fifteen batches of samples,prepared by a standard method,have stable quality and the high similarity.The method displayed good precision,stability and repeatability in fingerprint analysis. Therefore,this study can provide a reference for the quality control of Glycyrrhizae Radix dispensing granules.

Anfibatide protects against rat cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury via TLR4/JNK/caspase-3 pathway.

Anfibatide (ANF) is a GPIb antagonist derived from the protein complex agglucetin. Previous studies have showed that it has protective effect on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, the mechanism of which is still unclear, however. The present study was designed to investigate the protective effect of ANF on cerebral I/R injury in rats and the possible mechanisms. Focal cerebral ischemia was induced by 90min of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). ANF (1, 2, 4µg/kg) was achieved by intravenous injection after 120min of MCAO followed by 1h, 24h ,48h and 72h reperfusion. Neurological deficit, infarct volume, histopathology, neuronal apoptosis, NeuN and the expression of TLR4, total and phosphorylated c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK/p-JNK), Bcl-2, Bax, caspase-3, NF-κB protein in rat brain, the levels of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α in serum were evaluated 72h after reperfusion. ANF could significantly decrease neurological score, reduce the infarct volumes, ameliorate the histopathological alteration, attenuate the neuronal apoptosis and increase the fluorescence density of NeuN in the rat brain. Furthermore, ANF could obviously decrease the expression of TLR4, p-JNK, caspase-3, NF-κB , relative ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 in brain and the levels of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α in serum. The results indicate that ANF has protective effect against cerebral I/R injury in rats and the underlying mechanism may be associated with the suppression of apoptosis through inhibiting TLR4/JNK/caspase-3 signaling pathway.