Drug-induced cardiotoxicity is a serious concern in recent years, and acquired long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an important manifestation of cardiotoxicity. hERG gene encodes the α subunit of the rapidly activated delayed rectifier potassium channel (Ikr), which plays an important role in action potential phase 3 repolarization. Drug inhibition of Ikr/hERG channel leads to prolonged QT interval, accompanied by Tdp malignant arrhythmia, which can cause sudden death. We studied the effect of berberines on the hERG K⁺ channels after combination with rosuvastatin and glibenclamide, and evaluated the cardiac safety of these drugs in combination. Whole cell patch clamp technique was used to detect the effect of the combinations of these drugs on hERG current on HEK293 cells stably expressing hERG gene. The results showed that the inhibitory effects of berberine or dihydroberberberine combined with rosuvastatin on hERG current were higher than single drug (P < 0.05), but the combination had no effect on the kinetics of hERG channel. Berberine or dihydroberberberine combined with glibenclamide had higher inhibitory effects on hERG current than the application of single drug (P < 0.05) while the time constant of hERG channel inactivation was shortened after the combination (P < 0.05). In addition, the combination of berberine and glibenclamide inhibited hERG channel activation (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the combination of berberine with rosuvastatin or glibenclamide significantly inhibited hERG current and the inhibition effects were higher than the application alone. Therefore, when the two drugs that have inhibitory effects on the hERG channel are combined, the risk of inducing prolonged QT interval is significantly increased, and therefore reducing cardiac safety.

Vinpocetine (VP) has been widely used to treat cerebrovascular disorders and nerve injury. Borneol (BN), as an important traditional Chinese medicine, is commonly used to promote the absorption and distribution of central nervous system drugs. In this work, a LC-MS/MS method was developed to determine the level of VP in rat plasma and tissues, and to evaluate the effect of co-administration of BN with VP by oral gavage on the absorption and tissue distribution of VP in rats. Rats were divided into VP (10 mg·kg^-1), VP (10 mg·kg^-1) + BN (75 mg·kg^-1) and VP (10 mg·kg^-1) + BN (150 mg·kg^-1) groups for pharmacokinetic study, and divided into VP (10 mg·kg^-1) and VP (10 mg·kg^-1) + BN (150 mg·kg^-1) groups for tissue distribution study. The animal experiment was approved by Ethics Committee of Hubei University, and complied with the guideline for caring and using of laboratory animals. Compared to VP group, the AUC_0-∞, MRT_0-∞ and t_1/2z of VP + BN (150 mg·kg^-1) group increased significantly, by 1.98-, 1.22- and 1.42-fold respectively, and the exposure in plasma, liver, kidney and brain increased by 2-, 1.5-, 1.5- and 1.3-fold respectively. The pharmacokinetic results suggested that co-administration of BN with VP is beneficial for overcoming the undesirable pharmacokinetic characteristics of VP, such as short residence time, low oral bioavailability and brain exposure in clinical usage.

The chemical constituents of the aerial parts of Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cour.) G. Don were investigated using chromatographic techniques, such as silica gel, reversed phase MPLC and preparative HPLC. Five compounds were isolated and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data and physicochemical properties, which were identified as 7-O-glucosyllaburnetin (1), kaempferol-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (2), kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (3), vitexin (4), and isovitexin (5). Among those, compound 1 is a new compound, compounds 2-3 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Compounds 1-5 were tested for their anti-ulcerative colitis activity by dual luciferase report gene assay targeting xbp1. Compared with control group, compound 1 showed a certain activity on activating the transcription of xbp1, with its relative activating ratio being 1.80 times.

Benzoxaborole is a series of compounds with five member ring and boron atom. Since the approval of crisaborole and tavaborole by FDA, benzoxaborole gained lots of research interests and become widely used in current drug discovery. Specially, benzoxaborole derivatives were found to exhibit anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-protozoal, anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activities. Here, we will review the properties of benzoxaborole, structure activity relationships as well as the recent progress in the biological activity of benzoxaborole derivatives.

Platelet adhesion is a key process in thrombosis. Anti-platelet adhesion effect of some Chinese medicines for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis (PBCRBS) has been reported, but their relative efficacies as a whole and specific targets remained unclear. This paper combined activity screening, drug compatibility analysis, pathway clustering, target prediction, and molecular docking to explore the mechanism of anti-platelet adhesion by PBCRBS Chinese medicine. Screening the activity of anti-platelet adhesion of 58 commercially available PBCRBS Chinese patent medicines showed that about 50.0% significantly inhibit ADP-induced platelet adhesion in vitro, and about 96.6% significantly inhibit thrombin-induced platelet adhesion in vitro. The animal experiment involved was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Tianjin International Biomedical Research Institute. Combined with the auxiliary platform for TCM (V2.0) inheritance showed that the compatibility of Danshen-Chuanxiong was used most frequently among the top 20 active proprietary Chinese patent medicines. IPA network analysis revealed that IL-1, APP and CCL2 might be the key targets for anti-platelet adhesion function of Danshen-Chuanxiong against atherosclerosis, neuroinflammation and chemokine signaling pathways as the main mechanisms. Molecular docking analysis confirmed the interaction between one of the active compounds shared by Danshen and Chuanxiong, i.e. chlorogenic acid, with its target CCL2. This study provides TCM theory guidance and experimental support for targeting platelet adhesion in anti-thrombosis therapy by Chinese medicine for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis.

Bioadhesive preparation can be attached to specific sites to control drug release rate, increase drug concentration and increase efficacy, which is based on natural or synthetic polymer material. In this paper, based on the physical properties of wet mass, a method for screening adhesion formulation was proposed, which was different from conventional way of screening optimal formulation, and astragalosides loaded bioadhesive pellets were prepared by extrusion-spheronization method (extrusion speed 30 r·min^-1, spheronization speed 808 r·min^-1, spheronization time 7.5 min) based on this formulation screening method, small living animal imaging technology and mucin from porcine stomach model were used to evaluate the in vivo and in vitro adhesiveness behaviour of the pellets. According to the relationship between the physical properties of wet mass and the formability and adhesiveness of bioadhesive pellets, five key physical properties hardness (Ha), adhesiveness (Ad), springiness (Sp), cohesiveness (Co), chewiness (Ch) were selected as the index of screening optimal formulation, therefore a comprehensive evaluation model was established, which based on principal component analysis, to did digital ranking for these proposed adhesion formulation, the optimal formulation was determined:microcrystalline cellulose:(chitosan:Carbomer 940=2:1), the adhesive material dosage accounted for 20% of the excipient dosage, and the ratio of drugs to excipients was 1:4. All animal experiments have been approved by Ethics Committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The in vivo and in vitro adhesive evaluation results showed the pellets had a clear advantage in intestinal adhesion over normal pellets, its also proved the scientificity and reliability of the method of screening bioadhesive formulation.

The morphological identification, chemical component analysis, and DNA barcode determination were investigated on Genus Mentha (including Mentha haplocalyx Briq., Mentha piperita Linn., Mentha spicata Linn. and Mentha cultivated) in order to reveal the origin of Herba Mentha as a drug, and ensure the accuracy in clinic application. The morphological characters, chemical composition analysis by GC-MS/MS and DNA content measure by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were reported in this study for inter- or intra- species divergence. Based on the morphology, axillary verticillasters was recognized as the typical character for Mentha haplocalyx Briq. Carvone was used as an index component for chemical composition analysis of Mentha spicata Linn. Gene clustering analysis divided 22 batches of samples into two molecular groups. Mentha haplocalyx Briq. is distinguishably different from Mentha spicata Linn. Mentha piperita Linn. and other cultivated plants were distributed between these two species. The results obtained by morphological identification, chemical composition analysis, and DNA barcode determination show good correlations, but each identification method has its limit. In view of the fact that hybridization of the plants in Genus Mentha is common, identification relying on only one method is not recommended.

Paeoniflorin (PAE), the major active compounds of Chinese herbs Radix Paeoniae Alba and Chinese patent drug " Total Glucosides of Paeony Capsules" , which is effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), exerted multi-pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, immune-regulatory, etc. However, its potential action mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, we predicted the putative targets of Radix Paeoniae Alba and constructed an interaction network of putative targets of Radix Paeoniae Alba and known RA-related genes. A list of key putative targets was identified by calculating their topological features (degree, node betweenness and closeness) in the above pharmacological network. Importantly, pathway enrichment analysis revealed that these key putative targets were significantly enriched in several RA-related pathways, including cartilage damage-related IL1B-TNF-TLR2-JUN-MMP1-MMP3 signaling pathway. Further molecular docking simulation showed that PAE, the major active compounds of Radix Paeoniae Alba, has strong binding affinity with MMP1 and MMP3 proteins. Next, in vivo experiments based on the adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) animal models showed that PAE significantly alleviated the disease severity and the syndromes of severe redness or swelling in hind limbs of AIA rats, including decreasing the arthritis score, the diameter of the limbs, and elevating body weight and pain thresholds (all P < 0.05). ELISA assay indicated that PAE obviously suppressed the abnormal up-regulation of serum inflammatory factors including IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-17 and IFN-γ in AIA rats (all P < 0.001). Western blot analysis found that PAE simultaneously modulated the abnormal up-regulation of MMP1 and MMP3 proteins in the ankle tissues of AIA rats (all P < 0.001) (all procedures in the current study were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Center for Laboratory Animal Care, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences). In conclusion, PAE alleviated the cartilage damage and disease severity in the progressive process of RA via regulating the IL1B-TNF-TLR2-JUN-MMP1-MMP3 pathway. This study provided the theoretical basis of the PAE for its immune-regulatory effects, and as well provided references for the action mechanism study of extract compounds of Chinese herbs.

In order to explore the chloroplast genome characteristics of Sophora flavescens and the phylogenetic relationship of the genus, this study used high-throughput sequencing technology to sequence and functionally annotate the chloroplast genome of Sophora flavescens. The results showed that the full length 154 165 bp of Sophora flavescens chloroplast genome showed a typical four-stage structure. The chloroplast genome contains 123 genes, including 77 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes and 8 rRNA genes. Sequence analysis revealed 104 SSR loci, most of which consisted of A and T. In addition, the chloroplast genome codon preference is weak, and the coding region is biased towards the use of A and T bases. A comparative analysis of two different regions of Sophora flavescens chloroplast genome revealed four differential genes. Based on the maximum likelihood method (ML) for phylogenetic analysis of Sophora flavescens and 16 other leguminous, it was found that the relationship between Sophora flavescens and the genus Sophora alopecuroides is the closest. This study provides an important theoretical basis for the genetic variation, breeding and phylogenetic analysis of Sophora flavescens, and has certain reference value.

Cichorium glandulosum has been used to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Uyghur folk medicine. The mechanism of Cichorium glandulosum (CG) on type 2 diabetes mellitus accompanied with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (T2DM-NAFLD) remains unclear. The effect of CG extraction on T2DM-NAFLD was determined in animal experiments here (all the experiments here were approved by the Animal Care Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of the Medical College, Shihezi University). The mechanism of CG for treatment of T2DM-NAFLD was predicted and verified based on systems pharmacology. Based on the active compounds of CG on T2DM-NAFLD, T2DM and NAFLD-related targets, pathways and diseases were screened and predicted. Active compounds-targets, compounds-targets-pathways and compounds-targets-diseases were constructed and analyzed. The results of animal experiments showed that CG extraction can reduce the levels of blood glucose and blood lipid in T2DM-NAFLD rats. In addition, it can improve the glucose tolerance and relieve liver injury. Total 29 active compounds and 198 targets were screened by systems pharmacology, of which 106 targets were involved in T2DM, 88 were involved in NAFLD, and 56 targets were common between T2DM and NAFLD, mainly related to insulin resistance and inflammation. These 198 targets include those in metabolic pathways, calcium pathway, PI3K/Akt pathway, cAMP pathway, and MAPK pathway. Our study confirmed that CG can be potential phytomedicine for treatment of T2DM-NAFLD. This work provides a reference for studying the treatment of multiple diseases using multiple-targets phytomedicine in systems pharmacology.