[Overview of research in ginsenosides glycosyltransferase].

Glycosyltransferases(UGTs) are key enzymes in the biosynthesis of ginsenosides, which can catalyze the transfer of glycans from donor molecules to acceptor molecules, and form a variety of biologically active glycoside compounds. With the development of high-throughput sequencing technology, a large number of medicinal plant genome and transcriptome sequences have been catalyzed, while more and more UGT genes have been discovered and verified. The methods of discovering UGT genes include differential expression analysis, homologous sequence screening, gene cluster screening, chemical proteome screening. This paper summarized the research progress of UGT genes screening and functional verification of three valuable Panax medicinal materials P. notoginseng, P. ginseng, and P. quinquefolius, so as to provide a reference for the study of UGT genes in natural products.

Development of Tianma HPLC fingerprint and discriminant analysis / 中国中药杂志

Tianma(the tuber of Gastrodia eleta) is a widely used and pricy Chinese herb. Its counterfeits are often found in herbal markets, which are the plant materials with similar macroscopic characteristics of Tianma. Moreover, the prices of Winter Tianma(cultivated Tianma) and Spring Tianma(mostly wild Tianma) have significant difference. However, it is difficult to identify the true or false, good or bad quality of Tianma samples. Thus, a total of 48 Tianma samples with different characteristics(including Winter Tianma, Spring Tianma, slice, powder, etc.) and 9 plant species 10 samples of Tianma counterfeits were collected and analyzed by HPLC-DAD-MS techniques. After optimizing the procedure of sample preparation, chromatographic and mass-spectral conditions, the HPLC chromatograms of all those samples were collected and compared. The similarities and Fisher discriminant analysis were further conducted between the HPLC chromatograms of Tianma and counterfeit, Winter Tianma and Spring Tianma. The results showed the HPLC chromatograms of 48 Tianma samples were similar at the correlation coefficient more than 0.848(n=48). Their mean chromatogram was simulated and used as Tianma HPLC fingerprint. There were 11 common peaks on the HPLC chromatograms of Tianma, in which 6 main peaks were chosen as characteristic peaks and identified as gastrodin, p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, parishin A, parishin B, parishin C, parishin E, respectively by comparison of the retention time, UV and MS data with those of standard chemical compounds. All the six chemical compounds are bioactive in Tianma. However, the HPLC chromatograms of the 10 counterfeit samples were significantly different from Tianma fingerprint. The correlation coefficients between HPLC fingerprints of Tianma with the HPLC chromatograms of counterfeits were less than 0.042 and the characteristic peaks were not observed on the HPLC chromatograms of these counterfeit samples. It indicated the true or false Tianma can be identified by either the similarity or characteristic peaks on HPLC fingerprint. Comparing the Winter Tianma with Spring Tianma showed that the HPLC chromatograms of 15 winter Tianma samples and 11 spring Tianma samples were similar at the mean correlation coefficient of 0.908. But the intensity of the characteristic peaks were different between the two groups of Tianma samples, i.e. the intensity of gastrodin, paishin A and C in winter Tianma was lower than those in spring Tianma. The Winter Tianma and Spring Tianma could be discriminated by either the Fisher unstandardized discrimination function or Linear discriminant function, based on the peak areas of 11 common peaks on HPLC chromatograms as variate.

Dacryocystorhinostomy under endoscopy with mitomycin for chronic dacryocystitis / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

? AIM: To explore the curative effect of dacryocystorhinostomy under endoscopy with mitomycin for the treatment of chronic dacryocystitis.?METHODS: Totally 73 cases ( 78 eyes ) with chronic dacryocystitis were treated with dacryocystorhinostomy under endoscopy with mitomycin and followed up for 6-12mo.?RESULTS: In the 73 patients, 66 cases with 70 eyes (90%) were cured, 2 cases with 3 eyes (4%) improved, 5 cases with 5 eyes ( 6%) not changed. In the recurrent 5 eyes, 2 eyes were treated under endoscopy to remove granulation, enlarge the opening, then anesthetic tube was placed after cotton sheet with 0. 4g/L mitomycin was put on the incision for 5min. The rest 3 eyes were treated in superior hospital with laser, and all were successful. There was no severe complication observed.?CONCLUSION:Dacryocystorhinostomy under endoscopy with mitomycin for chronic dacryocystitis is effective.