In this paper, the effects of the blend of nanoparticles and microneedle matrix materials on the mechanical properties of dissolving microneedles were studied mainly, so as to construct microneedles with excellent mechanical properties. Different kinds of nanoparticles (calcium carbonate, hydroxyapatite, silica), particle sizes (20, 60, 100 nm) and the proportion of prescription (2%, 6%, 10%) were blended with the matrix material[polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), poly(1-vinylpyrrolidone-co-vinyl acetate)(PVP/VA)] to form dissolving microneedles. The effects of nanoparticles on the elastic modulus and hardness of the microneedles were investigated using a nanoindenter. The results showed that the elastic modulus and hardness of PVP microneedles were significantly improved by nano-calcium carbonate (P < 0.001), and the elastic modulus and hardness of PVP/VA microneedles were significantly improved by nano-hydroxyapatite (P < 0.001). When the particle size of hydroxyapatite was 20 nm, the elastic modulus of PVP/VA microneedles was (10.6±1.0) GPa, and the hardness was (0.47±0.06) GPa. As the size of the nanoparticles increases, the mechanical performance of the microneedles decreases. When the mass proportion of nano-hydroxyapatite increased from 2% to 6%, the elastic modulus and hardness of the microneedles were significantly improved (P < 0.001), but the effect of continue increasing the proportion of nanoparticles on the microneedles was not significant. The nano-enhanced PVP/VA dissolving microneedles has no irritant effect on intact skin and has a slight irritation to damaged skin, but they disappear completely after 72 h. Animal experiments have been approved by the Laboratory Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee of Zhejiang University of Technology. Therefore, the nano-enhanced dissolving microneedles has good biological safety. To sum up, it is necessary to select the appropriate kind of nanoparticle, particle size, and prescription ratio when microneedles constructing with a given matrix material, so as to effectively improve its mechanical performance.

Three diarylheptanoids were isolated from the n-butanol fraction of Zingiber officinale peel by MCI Gel CHP-20, Sephadex LH-20, ODS and semipreparative high performance liquid chromatography. Their structures were identified by MS and NMR spectroscopy techniques: (2S, 2'S, 3R, 3'R, 4R, 4'R, 6R, 6'R)-6, 6'-bis((S)-1-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl)-2, 2'-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)octahydro-2H, 2'H-[3, 3'-bipyran]-4, 4'-diol (1), (E)-7-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)hept-4-en-3-one (2), and alpinin B (3). Compound 1 is a new compound, and compounds 2-3 were obtained from Zingiber officinale peel for the first time.

This research explored the synergistic effects and the potential mechanisms of RCE-4 and various nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on the proliferation of cervical cancer Ca Ski cells. The MTT assay and CalcuSyn V2.0 software were used to detect cell proliferation and calculate the combination index (CI); the expression levels of various proteins were analyzed using Western blot assay; mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was assessed using JC-1 staining; acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) double-fluorescence staining was used to detect the apoptosis of Ca Ski cells; a co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay was used to analyze the relative content of Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex in Ca Ski cells. The results demonstrate that the combination of RCE-4 and NSAIDs increases the inhibition of Ca Ski cells compared to the single-RCE-4 group, and celecoxib provided the best synergistic effect among the four NSAIDs tested, with a CI of 0.32. The combination of RCE-4 and celecoxib significantly down-regulated the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB), and promoted the expression of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs activity gene-1 (NAG-1). In addition, autophagy induced by RCE-4 was markedly inhibited in combination with celecoxib, which was associated with down-regulation of the expression of microtubule-associated protein 3 (LC3)-Ⅱ, Beclin 1, p62 and autophagy-related gene (ATG) 3/4B/5/7/14. RCE-4-induced apoptosis was significantly enhanced by altering the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and the expression of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), B cell lymphoma-xl (Bcl-xl), Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax), Bcl-2/Bcl-xl-associated death promoter (Bad) and cleaved cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase (cleaved-caspase) 3/7/9. Furthermore, the formation of the Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex was significantly inhibited in Ca Ski cells treated with RCE-4 in combination with celecoxib. Taken together, this research shows that the combination of RCE-4 and celecoxib has a significant synergistic effect on the proliferation of Ca Ski cells by promoting apoptosis, inhibiting autophagy and disturbing the formation of the Bcl-2-Beclin 1 complex, which may be a novel strategy to increase the sensitivity of anti-cervical cancer drugs.

Cephalosporins are widely used in the treatment of infectious diseases. The structural differences in cephalosporin drugs mainly lie in the C-7 amino side chain and the C-3 substituent. In this study, twenty-five haloacylated cephalosporins of five series were designed by using a strategy of introducing simple substituents at the C-7 amino group in four cephalosporin parent nucleus with different C-3 substituents and efficiently synthesized under optimized conditions. Their activities against human pathogenic bacteria, Pichia pastoris, citrus canker and citrus pathogenic fungi were evaluated. The results showed that most of the molecules had activity against human pathogenic bacteria, of which seven compounds including TM1f had stronger or equivalent inhibitory activities against eight human pathogens than the marketed drugs cefalotin, cefoxitin sodium and ceftizoxime sodium. The inhibitory activity of TM1s against Alternaria alternate Al.6 was stronger than that of cephalosporins and comparable to that of the positive control prochloraz. TM1f and TM1s are worthy of further study.

Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), as a member of the receptor tyrosine kinase family, participates in a variety of biological processes by binding to ligand fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and activating downstream signaling pathways, such as cell proliferation, migration, anti-apoptosis, angiogenesis, etc. FGFR gene amplification, missense mutations, oncogenic fusion are related to the occurrence and development of many cancers. FGFR has become an important potential target in cancer treatment. At present most of these studies focus on FGFR1-3, however there is growing evidence implicating an important and unique role of FGFR4 in oncogenesis and resistance to anti-tumor therapy in multiple types of cancer. The abnormality of FGF19-FGFR4 signaling pathway has been proved to be a carcinogenic factor of liver cancer. Importantly, there are several novel FGFR4-specific inhibitors in clinical trials, FGFR4 is therefore a promising target for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma harboring aberrant FGF19-FGFR4 signaling. In this review, we focus on assessing the role of FGFR4 in liver cancer, including a summary of the structure and ligand of FGFR4, downstream signaling pathways, abnormal activation in liver cancer, and the research progress of small molecule FGFR4 inhibitors, FGFR4 monoclonal antibodies and combined immunotherapy.

The incidence rate of depression is increasing, but its pathological mechanism is still unknown. More evidence shows that the occurrence and development of depression is closely related to the changes of gut microbiome. However, due to the huge differences in bacterial composition among individuals caused by different environmental factors, researchers usually need a large number of samples to get reliable results. Experimental animal models play an important role in the pathogenesis of diseases and the mechanism of drug action because of their highly consistent background, controllable experimental environment, and the characteristics of artificial intervention. Therefore, the selection of appropriate experimental animal models can not only simulate the clinical symptoms of human depression, but also reveal the causal relationship between clinical characteristics and gut microbiome changes. In this review, the development and application of fecal microbiota transplantation technology, the close relationship between flora and depression, the application of humanized fecal microbiota transplantation experimental animal model in the study of depression, as well as the preparation methods and key technologies of humanized fecal microbiota were summarized, which provided a reference for the research on the pathogenesis of depression and the mechanism of antidepressant drugs of humanized fecal microbiota transplantation experimental animal model. This review provides a reference for the reasonable application of this aspect.

This study aimed to establish a method for positioning six chromatographic peaks occurred in HPLC profile of Gastrodiae Rhizoma. The "liner calibration with two reference substances" (LCTRS) method was used to calculate the retention time so as to assist in positioning of chromatographic peaks in terms of the prediction accuracy of retention time and the coincidence rate of chromatographic column. A total of 24 C₁₈ chromatographic columns from different brands and types available were used to determine the retention times of six components in Gastrodiae Rhizoma, then the average retention time of each component was obtained as standard retention time (SRT). Parishin E (peak 3) and Parishin A (peak 6) were simultaneously taken as reference substance to forecast the retention time of the other four components by using the LCTRS method. Four different C₁₈ columns were employed to verify the method. Meanwhile, for the purpose of comparison, the relative retention time (RRT) method was applied to forecast the retention time, by using Parishin E as the single reference substance. The comparison between LCTRS and RRT methods indicated that the former was more accurate in predicting the retention time and more applicable in utilization of chromatographic columns. This study demonstrated that the LCTRS method shows the superior performance in positioning of chromatographic peak, and therefore has a good prospect of application.

As the main active compound of Stephania tetrandra S. Moore, tetrandrine (TET) has been used to treat silicosis for nearly 50 years. TET has clear therapeutic effect on pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer. A recent study suggests that TET may inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 by blocking the two-pore channel 2 (TPC2), revealing its potential as a natural medicine to treat COVID-19. To explore the material basis of TET targeting lung efficacy and its potential toxicity, available literatures related to the pharmacological activity on pulmonary, dosage, toxicity and pharmacokinetics of TET are systemically reviewed. The prospect and current problems of TET to be a therapeutic agent for COVID-19 are further investigated on this basis.

An immunologically stressed rat model was used in a metabolomics study on the ability of Paeoniae Rubra Radix to reduce the liver toxicity of Psoraleae Fructus. Different groups of rats were given the extracts of Psoraleae Fructus and Psoraleae Fructus together with Paeoniae Rubra Radix or combined with a non-toxic dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The biochemical indices of liver function and pathological changes in liver tissue were used to evaluate histopathological changes. UHPLC-QTOF/MS was used to analyze the metabolic profile of serum samples, combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) methods. The HMDB database and Metabo Analyst online tool were used for biomarker identification and metabolic pathway-enrichment analysis. The results show that the co-treatment Psoraleae Fructus and LPS resulted in significant liver injury, indicated by the elevation of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities, as well as obvious pathological changes. Liver injury was significantly decreased by treatment with Paeoniae Rubra Radix. Metabolomic analysis showed that the addition of Paeoniae Rubra Radix ameliorated the abnormal serum metabolism in rats mainly through regulation of arachidonic acid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism pathways.

The gut microbiota takes part in many in vivo important physiological activities of host, such as the substance metabolism and energy exchange, etc. The interaction between the host and the intestinal microorganisms has attracted scholars' attention. Flavonoids are a group of polyphenol compounds widely found in natural plants, with the bioactive effect of regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism, anti-inflammation. However, their low bioavailability cause difficulty to clarify the effective substances and the mechanism of flavonoids. Apart from the metabolic effects of liver on flavonoids, recent studies have shown that the gut microbiota can interact with flavonoids. On the one hand, flavonoids can be metabolized by gut microbiota and subsequent metabolites can produce pharmacological activities different from the parent components. On the other hand, flavonoids and their metabolites can in turn regulate the composition and physiological activities of the intestinal flora, which seems to provide a new insight for the research on the effective substances of flavonoids. In this review, we introduced the metabolic characteristics of flavonoids under the actions of intestinal bacteria, and the regulation effects of flavonoids on gut microbiota was also summarized. Meanwhile, the therapeutic effect of flavonoids under the action of intestinal bacteria was discussed.