We used metabolomics technology to identify and understand the biomarkers and therapeutic mechanisms of umbilical compress therapy based on Xiaozhang Tie(XT) to provide scientific evidence for its clinical application. A total of 10 patients with cirrhotic ascites and gastrointestinal motility disorders who were hospitalized in the Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from November 2017 to June 2018 were divided into a placebo group(4 cases) or an XT group(5 cases), and 10 healthy volunteers were included as controls. This clinical trial was approved according to the Ethics Committee of Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine(2017-528-11-01). The patients in the XT group were given umbilical compress therapy with Xiaozhang Tie, and patients in the placebo group were administered a plaster patch in which the drug content was less than 5%, receiving one patch per day for three consecutive days.Non-targeted metabolomics technology and UPLC-Q/Orbitrap-MS/MS analysis technology were utilized to investigate the fluctuations in endogenous metabolic profiles in the patient's urine prior to and after administration of XT. By analyzing and comparing the urine metabolic profiles of patients with cirrhotic ascites to those of healthy volunteers, a total of 31 biomarkers were identified, 14 of which were significantly decreased by the intervention with Xiaozhang Tie(P < 0.05). Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that phenylalanine metabolism and tryptophan metabolism are key pathways affected by XT treatment. The results suggest that XT can alleviate cirrhotic ascites by modulating abnormalities in amino acid metabolism.

Xianling Gubao is a common and effective medicine in the treatment of orthopedic diseases. In recent years, it has been reported to be associated with liver injury. However, through the analysis of the adverse drug reaction reports and key hospital cases, we found that there is considerable incomplete information in the reports of Xianling Gubao-related liver injury cases retrieved from the literature. Thus, it is difficult to accurately judge causality between the drug and liver injury. Six cases of liver injury related to Xianling Gubao were identified in key hospitals, two of which achieved the clinical diagnosis according to the assessment of the integrated evidence chain method. We further analyzed the public health data of all residents in Yinzhou. The gross incidence rate of Xianling Gubao-related liver injury was 0.034%, which corresponds to a level of rare incidence. This revealed that Xianling Gubao-related liver injury has significant divergence in individuals and an idiosyncratic nature. The gross incidence of liver injury related to Xianling Gubao was lower than that of other medicines for the treatment of orthopedic diseases. Based on the idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury model mediated by immune stress, it was found that Epimedii Folium and Psoraleae Fructus were the major components that lead to liver injury, and the liver injury caused by a full prescription was less serious than that encountered with only Epimedii Folium and Psoraleae Fructus. This suggests that the other 4 herbs(Dipsaci Radix, Anemarrhenae Rhizoma, Rehmanniae Radix, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma) can prevent/alleviate the liver injury. Through disassembled prescription analysis, we found that the attenuation efficacy of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma was the most significant.In conclusion, Xianling Gubao may cause idiosyncratic liver injury in a tiny minority of susceptible individuals, but the incidence risk is lower than that of other commonly used drugs for orthopedic disease. Xianling Gubao should be discreetly applied to patients with immune stress. The major components that induced liver injury in Xianling Gubao were Epimedii Folium and Psoraleae Fructus, and Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma appears to attenuate this toxicity. This study provides a reference for the rational clinical medication with Xianling Gubao.

Seventy-nine injectable herb extractions have been approved by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration(CFDA) and are frequently administered intravenously for various diseases. Unfortunately, herb-drug interactions are under-investigated and sometimes overlooked in the clinic. In the present investigation the in vitro inhibition of 9 drug metabolizing enzymes including CYP1A, CYP2A6, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, and CYP3A was assessed using an appropriate probe substrate for each enzyme with human liver microsomes. Metabolite formation was quantified using a validated and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS) assay. The IC₅₀ of each herb extract was estimated using a concentration range from 5% to 0.5%, and the time-dependent inhibition of the nine CYP450 isoenzymes was also determined. Of the 79 approved iv herb injectables, 37 inhibited CYP1A, 24 inhibited CYP2A6, 41 inhibited CYP2B6, 36 inhibited CYP2C8, 31 inhibited CYP2C9, 41 inhibited CYP2C19, 13 inhibited CYP2D6, 25 inhibited CYP2E1, and 42 inhibited CYP3A with 50% or greater inhibition at a test concentration of 5%(v/v). IC₅₀ differences were noted between pre-incubation or co-incubation assays with HLM for 30 min, with the time-dependent inhibitory(TDI) effects were observed with 2 injectables on CYP1A, 5 injectables on CYP2A6, 5 injectables on CYP2B6, 6 injectables on CYP2C8, 1 injectable on CYP2D6 and 6 injectables on CYP3A. Collectively, the results demonstrate that potential herb-drug interactions(HDIs) can occur with the concomitant use of herb injectables and prescription drugs that are cleared by CYP450 enzymes, and further investigation is warrant for the clinical relevance of these interactions.

Eight polyacetylenes were isolated from the extract of the stems and leaves of Chrysanthemum morifolium by various chromatographic methods. Their structures were determined as 2E, 4E, 12Z-tetradecatriene-1-pyrrolidine-1-oxo-8,10-diynoic(1), tetradeca-2E, 4E, 12E-trien-8,10-diynoic acid pyrrolidide(2), tetradeca-2E, 4E-dien-8,10-diynoic acid pyrrolidide(3), tetradeca-2E, 4E, 10Z-trien-8-ynoic acid pyrrolidide(4), 2E, 4E, 12E-tetradecatriene-8,10-diynoic acid isobutylamide(5), 2E, 4E-undecyldiene-8,10-diynoic acid isobutylamide(6), 2E, 4E, 10E-N-isobutyl-2,4,10-tetradecatrien-8-ynoic acid amide(7), and undeca-2E, 4E-diene-8,10-diynoic acid phenylethylamide(8) by spectroscopic methods, including UV, IR, ESI-MS, HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectra.Among them, compound 1 is a new polyacetylene, and compounds 2-8 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Compounds 5-8 inhibited the proliferation of A549 cell significantly at certain concentration, showing potent antitumor activity.

Ten triterpenoid saponins were isolated and purified from the water extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra by polyamide resin combined with macroporous resin column chromatography, ODS medium pressure column chromatography and semi-preparative RP-HPLC. Their structures were elucidated by physicochemical properties, NMR and MS spectra, and determined as 3β-O-[β-D-glucuronpyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucuronpyranosyl]-30β-O-β-D-glucuronpyranosyl-oleanane-11-oxo-12(13)-ene(1), 3β-O-[β-D-glucuronpyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucuronpyranosyl]-30 β-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-oleanane-11-oxo-12(13)-en-22 β, 30-diol(2), uralsaponin C(3), licorice-saponin A3(4), licorice-saponin P2(5), 22β-acetoxyl-glycyrrhizin(6), macedonoside A(7), 29-hydroxyl-glycyrrhizin(8), licorice-saponin G2(9), glycyrrhizin(10). Compounds 1 and 2 are two new compounds and named as licorice-saponin R3 and licorice-saponin S3.

The quality markers(Q-markers) of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) have become a topic of interest in TCM research in recent years. Nonetheless, there is still no consensus on how to scientifically characterize TCM Q-markers. Our study establishes an identification method for TCM Q-markers based on the analytical hierarchy process(AHP) and the entropy weight comprehensive method. By constructing an evaluation system encompassing the target layer, the factor layer and the control layer, AHP can be used to analyze the weight of three core TCM quality attributes, including effectiveness, testability and specificity. Following that, the entropy weight method is employed to analyze the specific indicators for each attribute based on the literature and experimental data. Finally, the comprehensive weight of each index is obtained by combining the two weights, and the comprehensive weight and the specific value of each component is multiplied and summed to obtain the integrated score ranking, and thereby identify the TCM Q-markers. Taking Shaoyao Gancao decoction as an example, the analysis revealed that the top 8 components are as follows: paeoniflorin > quercetin > albiflorin > glycyrrhizic acid > naringenin > liquiritin > oxypaeoniflorin > benzoylpaeoniflorin, and can be identified as Q-markers of Shaoyao Gancao decoction. This study not only provides support for the establishment of quality standards and process quality control of TCM formulae, but also provides innovative ideas and methods for quantitative evaluation and accurate identification of TCM Q-markers.

To improve the efficacy of 5-aminolevulinic acid(5-ALA)-mediated photodynamic therapy(PDT), a fluorocarbon microemulsion-based gel(FMBG) loaded with both 5-ALA and carbon dioxide(CO₂) was prepared in this study. Its physical and chemical properties such as particle size, zeta potential, morphology, pH value and viscosity were characterized. Acid-base titration experiment was used to determine the CO₂ loading, a fluorescence derivatization method was established to determine the content of 5-ALA, and the confocal laser scanning microscope and Franz diffusion cell method were carried out to investigate its transdermal ability. Through the laser speckle contrast imaging, the CO₂-affected blood flow perfusion of skin was measured. Finally, the skin irritation test was tested by hematoxylin-eosin staining(H & E) method. These results showed that the prepared FMBG was a milky white gel, with an average particle size of 202.4 nm, a zeta potential of-25.3 mV, a pH of 6.0, and a viscosity of 1 062.0 mPa·s. It can be stored stably for seven days at room temperature. The 5-ALA content of FMBG was measured to be approximately equal to 20%(w/w). At room temperature and normal pressure, the CO₂ loading content of FMBG was 5.016 mg·L^-1, which was 1.5 times as much as that of water. The transdermal absorption experiment and blood perfusion results showed that the FMBG can effectively enable the transdermal delivery of 5-ALA and CO₂, and significantly increased the blood perfusion of skin. H & E staining results indicated that FMBG had negligible skin irritation(all animal tests were approved by the Ethics Committee of 900 Hospital of the Joint Logistics Team). In this study, a safe and stable FMBG loaded with both 5-ALA and CO₂ was successfully prepared. It was suitable for transdermal application, having the potential of enhancing the efficacy of 5-ALAmediated PDT.

Under the guidance of Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition), the functionality-related characteristics of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose(HPMC) type 2208 from imported A manufacturer, domestic S manufacturer, domestic T manufacturer and different batches of the same manufacturer were characterized. The principal component analysis was used to comprehensively evaluate the functionality-related characteristics. The results were as follows: hydroxypropyl methylcellulose had no significant difference in viscosity and molecular weight distribution between different manufacturers, and there were significant differences in the cumulative particle size distribution of the sample reaches 50%(d₅₀) and 90%(d₉₀), bulk density, tap density and Carr's index. The HPMC from A manufacturer have the biggest inter-batch difference of particle size and their inter-batch difference of polydispersion coefficientis smaller than S manufacturer. Domestic manufactures have the largest inter-batch difference in other functionalityrelated characteristics. The three principal components were extracted by principal component analysis, and the variance contribution rate reached 89.44%, indicating that the extracted principal components can explain all the data well. By constructing a comprehensive evaluation model, the comprehensive score ranking of all HPMC samples is obtained: S manufacturer > A manufacturer > T manufacturer.

Chalcone isomerase (CHI) is the second rate-limiting enzyme involved in the biosynthetic pathway of flavonoids in Glycyrrhiza uralensis. Based on our previous studies, we selected the specific CHI haplotype (GenBank Accession No. KY115232) to maximize flavonoid accumulation. We constructed a plant binary expression vector for overexpression of this CHI gene by the gene fusion method and transfected the plasmid into Agrobacterium tumefaciens ACCC10060 by electroporation. The recombinant A. tumefaciens ACCC10060 subsequently was used to infect cotyledons and hypocotyls of G. uralensis to obtain transgenic hairy roots. A qRT-PCR method was used to determine the copy number of CHI and a UPLC method was used to assay the content of four flavonoids in different hairy root lines. The qRT-PCR results showed that the copy number of CHI in hairy roots was 1 or 5. UPLC results showed that the content of total flavonoids, liquiritin, liquiritigenin, and isoliquiritigenin in transgenic hairy root samples was significantly higher than that in wild-type samples. This study demonstrates that overexpression of CHI significantly increases the content of flavonoids in hairy roots of G. uralensis. This work provides a theoretical basis for clarifying the function of CHI. Three transgenic hairy root lines of G. uralensis were isolated which can be used to increase the accumulation of licorice flavonoids in vitro.

Rhamnose synthase (RHM) is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of uridine diphosphate rhamnose (UDP-Rha), reversibly converting uridine diphosphate-glucose (UDP-Glc) into UDP-Rha in the presence of NADH or NADPH. In this research, yeast extract (YE) was used to stimulate Sorbus aucuparia suspension cells. Based on a previous study of the transcriptome database of S. aucuparia suspension cells, two RHMs were cloned from S. aucuparia and named SaRHM1 (GenBank No.: MK213340) and SaRHM2 (GenBank No.: MK213341). The SaRHM1 gene contained a 2 007 bpopen reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide of 668 amino acids with a molecular weight of 75.25 kD, and a theoretical isoelectric point (pI) of 7.24. The SaRHM2 gene contained a 2 040 bpORF encoding a polypeptide of 679 amino acids with a molecular weight of 76.26 kD and pI of 6.41. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that SaRHM1 and SaRHM2 contained two special sequences of GxxGxxG/A and YxxxK. Multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic trees show that SaRHM1 and SaRHM2 have high sequence similarity with other plant species of RHMs. The results of enzyme activity assays in vitro revealed that both recombinant SaRHM1 and SaRHM2 are able to convert UDP-Glc into UDP-Rha. SaRHMs displayed maximum activity at 40 ℃ and a pH of 8 and 9, respectively. The K_m values of SaRHM1 and SaRHM2 for UDP-Glc were 212.4 ± 56.70 and 361.0 ± 63.74 μmol·L^-1, respectively, with V_max values of 235.5 ± 18.98 and 516.5 ± 22.30 nmol·min^-1·μg^-1, respectively. This study reports the cloning and sequencing of RHMs from S. aucuparia and verifies their function, which likely provide rhamnose donors for the subsequent biosynthesis of rhamnosides.