Rocuronium bromide is an acetylcholine N2 receptor antagonist, which can be used as an auxiliary drug for general anesthesia. It has been reported that rocuronium has two possible metabolic pathways: N-dealkylation and O-deacetylation, which are mainly taken up by liver and excreted by bile in the form of primary drugs. In this paper, the metabolites of rocuronium in human bile were detected by UHPLC-QE-orbitrap-MS, thirteen metabolites were detected, including eleven phase I metabolites and two phase II metabolites, eleven of which had not been previously reported. At the same time, HEK293 cells overexpressing transporter were used to explore the transmembrane transport mechanism of rocuronium, the results showed that rocuronium was the substrate of MATE1, OCT1, OATP1B1 and OATP1B3. The above research results enrich the metabolic pathway of rocuronium in vivo, and put forward the possible transport mechanism of liver uptake and bile excretion, which can better guide the accurate and safe clinical drug application. The collection of human bile samples in this study was approved by the ethics committee of Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Approval Number: 2019-775-130-01).

Cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is essential for the electron transport chain of cytochrome P450s, playing an indispensable role in electron transfer in vivo. In this study, one cDNA encoding cytochrome P450 reductase (Ascpr1) was identified from the callus of Aquilaria sinensis. Ascpr1 contains an open reading frame of 2 124 bp. The deduced protein is composed of 707 amino acids, with a predicted molecular weight of 78.82 kD. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that AsCPR1 is a type Ⅱ CPR protein closely related to the CPR from Theobroma cacao. Transmembrane prediction using TMHMM 2.0 indicated that the amino acids 52-71 of AsCPR1 comprise a transmembrane region. After truncating of 67 amino acid residues from N-terminal, the truncated AsCPR1 was successfully expressed in E. coli Transetta (DE3). Further purification of the recombinant AsCPR1 by affinity chromatography and determination of the enzymatic activity allowed the reducing ability of AsCPR1 to cytochrome C in vitro. The results pave the way for further study on the synthesis of defensive chemicals involved in P450s and the functions of CPR in self-defense of A. sinensis.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 is a critical transcription factor for cell proliferation and survival. It is activated within cells by many cytokines to mediate immune and inflammatory responses to injury. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), represented by Crohn′s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestinal tract. STAT3 has been shown to be abnormally activated in IBD colon tissues by many pro-inflammatory cytokines, leading to disruption of the intestinal mucosal barrier and excessive innate immune and Th17 responses. The persistent chronic inflammation eventually leads to intestinal fibrosis and stenosis. In addition to immune responses, STAT3 is also involved in intestinal fibrosis in IBD by promoting the transcription of fibrosis-related genes. Colitis-associated cancer (CAC) is a particularly aggressive subtype of colorectal cancer and is associated with chronic inflammation-induced IBD. STAT3 has also been associated with CAC initiation and development. STAT3 is overactivated in tumors, which leads to suppression of the anti-tumor activity of immune cells and promotion of cancer cell proliferation, tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and migration. In the present article, we summarize the role of STAT3 in IBD and CAC and the research progress of the related drugs developed for UC and CAC treatment.

Obesity has become an important inducer of many public diseases such as diabetes, endocrine disorders, and so on. Anti-obesity treatment has become a hot topic. Inhibiting fat synthesis and promoting fat decomposition are important ways of drug anti-obesity treatment. With the in-depth study of the distribution, morphology and function of adipose tissue, brown adipose tissue containing multi-compartment fat drops and rich mitochondria have attracted people's attention. Beige adipocytes which are similar to brown adipocytes in morphology and function have aroused great interest, such cells can be transformed from white adipocytes by external stimulation or browning agents. This process is called "white fat browning". The expression of promoting energy consumption proteins in these cells increase, so that the function of adipocytes changes from energy storage to energy consumption to increase excessive energy consumption in the body and reduce lipid accumulation. The browning of white adipose tissue has brought new ideas for obesity treatment, but the systemic administration of browning agent has the risk of adverse reactions to non-target tissues such as heart and central nervous system, which limits its application in inducing white fat browning. Browning agents to white adipose tissue can reduce its adverse reactions and improve its bioavailability by constructing a drug delivery system targeting white adipose tissue. In this review, the mechanism on browning of white adipose tissue, the commonly used browning agents and the targeted delivery carriers that induce browning of white adipose tissue are summarized.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a common and life-threatening autosomal recessive disorder in Caucasians populations. The disease is caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. The absence of mature CFTR at the correct cellular location or dysfunction of CFTR proteins has been observed in CF patients. CF is frequently accompanied by a variety of complex complications, such as impairments in pulmonary functions, which may lead to successive infections and respiratory failure. Recently, with the understanding of the pathogenesis of CF, a wide array of therapeutic strategies for the treatment of CF has been designed. This review summarizes pathogenic mechanisms of CF, mechanisms of action of drugs, routes of administration, and new drug development as well as provides insights into the advanced treatment strategies for CF.

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, the coronary artery stenosis or occlusion caused by atherosclerosis leads to myocardial ischemia, hypoxia, or necrosis, that is main histopathological features of coronary artery disease. Atherosclerosis relates closely to abnormal lipid regulation, chronic inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction. Cardiac enzymes and high, low-density lipoprotein are currently used to diagnose a variety of coronary artery diseases, but the evidence is inadequate. Thus, new cardioprotective therapies are required to explore sensitive molecular markers for the prediction of cardiovascular events. Lipids have an important role in maintaining the myocardial cell structure as well as cardiac function. Lipidomics is a newly emerged discipline that studies lipids on a large scale. Recent advancements in lipidomics on coronary artery disease have shown that certain lipids, such as ceramide, sphingosine, lysophosphatidic acid, oxidized lipids, and so on, are associated with the clinical classification and characteristics of coronary artery disease. In addition, recent studies of lipid profiles of the cardiac, fat, liver, and other tissue samples in animal models also have provided a novel viewpoint. Given the increasing application of lipidomics techniques for coronary artery disease, we provide a review of lipidomics technology, sensitive lipid markers, recent studies of therapeutic targets, and drug discovery for coronary artery disease.

With the in-depth study on the gut microflora, the impact of intestinal bacteria on human health has attracted more and more attention. It has become a research hotspot in life science and medicine, and is considered as an important target of disease control. Prebiotics can regulate the composition and function of intestinal flora and then improve host health. Carbohydrate is the most basic prebiotic. Its unique physiochemical characteristics and gut microbiota-regulating ability make it a promising ingredient for achieving drug target delivery and intestinal health promotion. In this paper, different kinds of prebiotics and their regulation mechanism of intestinal bacteria were illuminated. Moreover, the research progress of carbohydrate prebiotics in drug delivery system was elucidated, and its application prospect is prospected, so as to provide reference for related research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Zuogui pills from the Kidney-tonifying and Nourishing Yin formula, in combination with the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist cetrorelix, affected the ovarian local oxidative stress response in decreasing ovarian reserve (DOR) mice. All animal experiments were carried out in accordance with the guidelines and standards established by Jinan University's Experimental Animal Management Committee. Cyclophosphamide (CTX)-treated DOR mice were given Zuogui pills, cetrorelix, or a combination of the two drugs intragastrically. After treatment, there were changes in the estrous cycle, serum sex hormone levels, oxidative stress-related indexes, growth biochemical factor levels, and SIRT1/P53/P21 expression. In comparison to the model group, the Zuogui pills and the cetrorelix+Zuogui pills group had significantly prolonged estrous periods and shortened interestrous periods, and the cetrorelix+Zuogui pills group had a significantly shortened cycle length. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) decreased and estradiol (E₂) increased in all treatment groups compared to the model group, oxidative stress indexes nitric oxide synthase (NOS), nitric oxide (NO), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) decreased, growth biochemical factors brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF-9) concentrations increased significantly, and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) showed no significant change. SIRT1/P53/P21 immunohistochemical results revealed that, when compared to the model group, the expression of SIRT1 increased while the expression of P53 and P21 proteins decreased in all treatment groups, with the cetrorelix+Zuogui pills group having the largest decrease, with significant differences in all indicators. We conclude that cetrorelix combined with Zuogui pills for kidney nourishing and Yin recipe improved the oxidative stress response in the follicle by regulating the SIRT1/P53/P21 pathway, reducing peroxide product production, protecting ovarian function, and regulating ovarian hormone secretion, and its efficacy is superior to that of cetrorelix or Zuogui pills alone.

Ten compounds were isolated from the water extract of Eriocaulon buergerianum by HP20, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 and MCI Gel CHP-20 column chromatographic methods. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic and chemical approaches as 6-methoxyquercetin-3-O-(2'''-vanilloyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), syringaresinol-4'-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), rutin (3), 1-O-feruloylglycerol (4), 1, 2-benzenediol (5), vomifoliol (6), β-D-(6-O-trans-feruloyl) fructofuranosyl-α-D-O-glucopyranosied (7), dihydroferulic acid (8), guanosine (9) and quercetin-3-O-β-gentiobioside (10). The compound 1 is a new compound, the compounds 2 and 4-10 were obtained from Eriocaulon genus for the first time, and the compound 3 was isolated from this plant for the first time. Molecular docking study showed that 1 is a potential inhibitor of TNF-α. The compound 1 was evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activities in vitro, and 1 showed significant inhibitory activity against TNF-α production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 macrophage cells at the concentrations of 1, 10 and 100 μmol·L^-1.

Based on the research system of computer-aided drug design combined with complex network analysis, the potential mechanism of Dunhuang Dabupi Decoction in preventing and treating gastric cancer (GC) is analyzed, and the scientific connotation of its prescription rules is explored through the efficacy grouping. To study the effect of Dabupi Decoction freeze-dried powder solution on the proliferation activity of gastric cancer cells through cell experiments; the TCMSP and TCMID databases were used to collect the compound components of Dabupi Decoction. Swiss Target Prediction is used to predict potential targets of compounds. DrugBank, GeneCards, TTD, and DisGeNET were used to collect potential targets for gastric cancer. Analyze protein interactions of potential targets through the STRING database. DAVID database was used for KEGG enrichment analysis; Dabupi Decoction was divided into Wenzhong group (dried ginger), Yiqi group (ginseng, licorice, Atractylodes macrocephala), nourishing Yin group (Ophiopogon japonicus, Schisandra) and Jiangni group according to its efficacy characteristics. The inverse group (inula) has 4 functional compatibility groups. Cytoscape was used to construct a network of "medicinal flavor-potential active ingredient-key target" respectively, and the network was used to analyze the scientific connotation of the compatibility of efficacy groups. The Schrödinger software was used to verify the molecular docking of the core components and the core targets. The material basis of the Dabupi Decoction to prevent and treat gastric cancer was discovered through the combination of pattern analysis and combined free energy calculation. The core drug was analyzed from the perspective of dynamics through molecular dynamics simulation. Potential targets and representative potential compounds interact with each other. Cell experiments confirmed that Dabupitang freeze-dried powder solution can down-regulate the mitochondrial membrane potential of AGS gastric cancer cells, block the cell cycle in the G₀/G₁ phase (P < 0.05), and inhibit its proliferation (P < 0.05). The pathways enriched by the four functional groups contained in Dabupi Decoction are mainly distributed in the body's energy metabolism, inflammation-immune system regulation, and cycle-apoptotic functions. Each module is connected by a common target gene and has its own focus. The results of molecular docking showed that the compounds liquiritigenin, quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, methylophiopogonanone A, etc. may be the effective multi-target components of Dabupi Decoction. Estrogen receptor 1, androgen receptor, ATP-binding cassette superfamily G member 2, epidermal growth factor receptor, glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta and other targets have good affinity with each potential active compound, which may be a potential target of Dabupi Decoction for preventing and treating gastric cancer. Among them, kaempferol and the drug target EGFR not only have good binding ability, but also have good binding stability. This study is based on computer-aided drug design combined with complex network analysis strategies to initially reveal the material basis and molecular mechanism of Dabupi Decoction in the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer. It also explores the scientific connotation of Dabupi Decoction in the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer with different efficacy groups, and its clinical application provide chemical bioinformatics basis.