To explore the preventive effects and potential mechanism of mulberry leaf water extract (MLWE) on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), this study observed the influence of MLWE on the metabolism of arachidonic acid (AA). T2DM mice were induced by high fat and high sucrose (HFHS) diet and intra-peritoneal injection of streptozotocin. The mice were randomly divided into a normal control group treated with drug-free solution (NC group), a normal control group treated with MLWE (NCML group), a diabetes mellitus (DM) group treated with drug-free solution (HFHS group), and a DM group treated with MLWE (HSML group); mice were maintained on this protocol for 10 weeks. Animal experimentation was approved by the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of Xuzhou Medical University. Mice livers and plasma were collected at the end of experiment. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) and fasting blood insulin (FBI) were detected by kits. The mRNA and protein expression levels of relative metabolic enzymes related to AA in mice livers were respectively detected by quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) and Western blot. The contents of AA and its relative metabolites in mice plasma were determined by liquid phase chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed that there was no significant variation for the relative expression of metabolic enzymes, contents of FBG, FBI, AA, and its relative metabolites between NCML group and NC group. Compared with NC group, the relative expression of fatty acid synthase (Fasn), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and lipoxygenase-5 (LOX-5), and the levels of FBG, FBI, AA, and its relative metabolites in DM group were obviously increased, while that of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A) and cytochrome P450 family 4A (CYP4A) were significantly decreased. After intervention with MLWE, those changes could be improved, indicating that MLWE could prevent T2DM by acting on AA metabolism.

In recent years, the research on myocardial ischemia disease is increasingly in-depth, and there are more and more drugs related to the anti-myocardial ischemia, among which natural medicines play an important role. In order to deal with myocardial ischemia diseases caused by a variety of pathogenic causes, the research on natural medicines is more and more deep. At present, natural medicines containing saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids and other compounds are the research objects. At the same time, great progress has been made in the research on the clinical application of natural drugs against myocardial ischemia. This article reviews the research progress of natural medicines against myocardial ischemia at home and abroad in the past ten years.

The activity and expression of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters changes significantly under high altitude hypoxia. The gut microbiota is an important factor affecting the metabolism of drugs through direct and indirect actions, changing the bioavailability, biological activity or toxicity of drugs and affecting the efficacy and safety of drugs. High altitude hypoxia significantly changes the structure and diversity of the gut microbiota, which may play a role in drug metabolism. This article reviews the effects of high-altitude hypoxia on the gut microbiota and the effects these changes on drug metabolism.

We provide a new preclinical pharmacodynamic evaluation method of cerebral thrombolytics using beagle dogs with acute thrombotic cerebrovascular occlusion. An intracranial large vessel occlusion animal model was generated by pushing an autologous thrombus to the left carotid artery under X-ray angiography. The experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Welfare Committee Institute of Materia Medica, China Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS), Peking Union Medical College. According to the degrees of cerebral blood flow reperfusion, the new method has 0, Ⅰ, Ⅱ (Ⅱa and Ⅱb), Ⅲ levels. Respectively, 0 level represents no blood flow through the area of vascular occlusion; Ⅰ level has low perfusion; Ⅱa level is less than half the infusion; Ⅱb level is more than half perfusion; Ⅲ level is completely recanalization perfusion. Alteplase was used as a positive drug to verify the accuracy of the method. Our results suggest that 100% of dogs reached the level of grade I and below in the model group, while 83% reached the level of grade IIa and above in the alteplase group. Results of a rank sum test showed that alteplase significantly improved the reperfusion of occluded cerebral vessels. We propose a method to evaluate the efficacy of thrombolytic drugs on dogs with middle cerebral artery occlusion.

The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of nebulizers and add-on spacers on nebulization performances of Re-Du-Ning injection. Chlorogenic acid and geniposide were taken as the chemical markers of the injection. In vitro nebulization performances including real-time particle size distribution, aerodynamic particle size distribution (APSD), respirable drug delivery rate (RDDR) and percentage of respirable delivered dose (RDD%), residual rate and nebulization time were determined after nebulization of Re-Du-Ning injection via jet or mesh nebulizers. The delivery efficiency was the ratio of delivery dose to the drug content of the injection. The aerosol delivery efficiency of Re-Du-Ning injection for the jet nebulizer was about 30% of the nominal dose whereas those for mesh nebulizers varied from 24% to 35% in adult breathing pattern. Upon the inclusion of spacers, the delivery efficiencies of mesh nebulizers increased to 37%-68% whereas the presence of a spacer decreased the delivery efficiency of the jet nebulizer. When the aerosols of mesh nebulizer exhibited comparative fine particle fraction (FPF) and mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) to those of the jet nebulizer, the RDD% of the former nebulizer with a spacer was more than two folds of the latter. These results indicated that the addition of spacer was demonstrated to significantly improve the delivery efficiency of Re-Du-Ning injection by mesh nebulizers.

High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a result of leaking of the fluids from blood vessel to the lung tissue due to pulmonary artery hypertension in the high altitude place, which happens very quickly and shows high mortality. Sildenafil (SIL) can prevent HAPE by expanding pulmonary vessels; however, only oral tablets and injections of SIL are currently available. The formulations have the disadvantages of high doses, inconvenient use, and high systemic side effects. Here, liposomal sildenafil (LS) was prepared for pulmonary delivery and the prevention of HAPE was explored. The ammonium sulfate gradient method was used for the preparation of LS with a high entrapment efficiency of nearly 100%, the particle size of 116.97 nm, and the zeta potential of -30.93 mV. All animal experiments had been approved by the Ethics Committee of Academy of Military Medicine, Academy of Military Sciences, and carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. The dose (3 mg·kg^-1 SIL) of sildenafil suspensions, LS or blank liposomes was intragastrically or intratracheally administered to the lungs of mice. The mice with or without treatment were put in the hypobaric oxygen chamber of 5 000 m altitude for 1 h. In the open field text the model mice had the shorter total distances and longer dead time than the healthy mice and they showed the lower percutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO₂), the higher tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels of and the lower reduced glutathione (GSH) in the lung tissues. By contrast, oral LS remarkably modified the moving ability of the mice and they had the higher SpO₂ than the model mice and the similar TNF-α and GSH levels to the healthy mice. Sildenafil suspensions and LS with the same dose (3 mg·kg^-1 SIL) were intratracheally administered to mouse lungs, respectively, and the mice of the model group and the treatment groups were put in a hypobaric oxygen chamber for predetermined time. In the rotating rod experiments, the mice in the model group showed shorter drop latency and more drop times than those in the healthy group, indicating that the physical activity of the mice was improved due to treatment. The inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the blood of model mice were higher than those from the healthy group and they decreased after treatment, where the LS group maintained the lowest level close to the normal level. IL-1β in the blood of mice in the LS group was lower than that in the SIL group (P < 0.05) 1 hour and 48 hours post-hypoxia. Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in the lung tissues of model mice increased but decreased to the normal range after treatment. Moreover, HIF-1α in the LS group was lower than that in the SIL group, where the values were significantly different 48 hours post-hypoxia (P < 0.01). Inhaled liposomal sildenafil is a promising medication for the prevention of HAPE.

Cancer is a malignant disease threatening human health and life. Early diagnosis of carcinoma plays an important role in the treatment of carcinoma, so tumor imaging agents have been the focus of research in this field. Mannose receptor is a C-type lectin receptor, which expressed in various tumor tissues, sentinel lymph nodes and has become an important tumor marker. In recent years, a variety of imaging agents targeting mannose receptors have been designed and developed. This review summarizes the representative achievements.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) can cause a variety of digestive tract diseases, the serious may develop into gastric cancer. Nowadays, H. pylori infection rate exceeds 50%, and its eradication rate is declining due to the continuous increase of drug resistance, leading to the occurrence of plenty of stubborn infections, which seriously threaten human health. At present, it is difficult to achieve satisfactory curative effect by increasing the types of antibiotics combination or increasing their dose. In this review, the clinical treatments of H. pylori were introduced. Proceed from the characteristics and pathological background of H. pylori infection that makes H. pylori difficult to eradicate, the research advances of drug delivery strategies for improving H. pylori eradication rate were reviewed, such as strategies that could increase drug concentration in stomach (e.g. drug delivery systems with gastric acid-stabilized ability), increase drug concentration in H. pylori colonization sites (e.g. drug delivery systems with gastric retention or H. pylori targeted abilities), overcome H. pylori resistance (metal nanoparticles, anti-biofilm delivery systems), enhance host immune response (vaccine preparation) and so on. Novel drug delivery systems, such as cell membrane coating technology and phage therapy, are comparatively rare in the field of anti-H. pylori, but have broad application prospects. This review would provide reference for the development and application of therapeutic strategies to improve H. pylori eradication rate.

Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Cistanche deserticola (C. deserticola) has a protective effect on the liver, but its active fraction and mechanism are not clear. In order to identify the effective fraction of C. deserticola Y. C. Ma, an acute alcoholic liver injury model in mice was established with 56-proof Erguotou and different fractional extracts of C. deserticola Y. C. Ma (total glycosides, polysaccharides, and oligosaccharides) were administered. After 14 days of oral administration, liver pathology and lipid deposition were measured and the expression of nuclear factor E2-related factor (Nrf-2), kelch-like ECH-associated protein-1 (Keap-1), and plasmalemma vesicle-associated protein-1 (PV1) were measured by immunofluorescence. The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), endotoxin (ET), diamine oxidase (DAO), and D-lactic acid (D-LA) in serum, and superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver were measured by ELISA. All animal experiments were carried out with approval of the Experimental Animal Welfare Ethics Committee of the Peking University Health Science Center. The results show that the total glycosides of C. deserticola Y. C. Ma (400 mg·kg^-1) could decrease liver pathology, decrease serum endotoxin, diamine oxidase, and D-lactic acid, and reduce hepatic lipid deposition. Total glycosides also promoted Nrf-2 transfer into the nucleus and decreased the expression of Keap-1 and PV1. In summary, the total glycosides of C. deserticola Y. C. Ma had a protective effect in acute alcoholic liver injury and the mechanism may be related to the activation of the Nrf-2/Keap-1 pathway, improvement of intestinal wall integrity, and inhibition of the transport of harmful substances into the liver.

As two original plants of Tibetan herb Jieji, Gentiana waltonii Burk. and Gentiana lhassica Burk. belong to Section Cruciata of Gentiana, Gentianaceae. Here, we report on whole chloroplast genome sequences in the alpine species, respectively, and the features of plastomes were investigated. The plastome of G. waltonii is 148 705 bp long (148 652 bp in G. lhassica) and encodes 112 genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA genes, and 4 ribosomal RNA genes. Two pseudogenes, namely ψrps16 and ψinfA, were found in plastomes. In addition, two novel loci were detected, and a species-specific polymerase chain reaction assay was developed for differentiating G. waltonii and G. lhassica from 10 alpine species in Section Cruciata. Gentiana. Our study provides basic data for identifying Tibetan herbs, alpine species conservation and molecular phylogenetic studies of Gentiana and Gentianaceae.