The objective of this paper was to establish a level A in vitro-in vivo correlation (IVIVC) for goserelin acetate extended release microspheres for injection. Three kinds of goserelin acetate microspheres with different release rates were prepared and the critical physicochemical properties, such as drug loading, particle size, glass transition temperature and morphology were characterized. In vitro dissolution test of the prepared goserelin acetate microspheres was performed using sample-and-separate method at 45℃ in 5% (v/v) methanol. The morphology of the microspheres and the molecular weight of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) of the prepared goserelin acetate microspheres were investigated to research the release mechanism of microspheres. The plasma concentration of goserelin was detected after intramuscular injection of goserelin acetate microspheres to SD rats, and correlated with the in vitro release profiles after processing by percent AUC method. The pharmacokinetic experimental protocol of goserelin acetate microspheres for injection in SD rats was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Shandong Luye Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The results indicated that the developed sample and separate method was able to detect differences in the release characteristics of the prepared goserelin acetate microspheres, and the in vitro-in vivo correlation of goserelin acetate microspheres was excellent (r > 0.98) and had good predictive ability in SD rats.

Farnesyltransferase (FTase) was selected as a target for virtual screening of inhibitors using the Glide v4.0 program in the Schrödinger software package. We discovered 13 novel structures as farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) with moderate potency. By analyzing the binding modes of representative compounds 8 (IC₅₀=2.29 μmol·L^-1) and 18 (IC₅₀=0.41 μmol·L^-1) with farnesyltransferase, it was found that compounds 8 and 18 didn't coordinate with Zn²⁺, indicating that the coordination between FTIs with Zn²⁺ is not essential for the bioactivity of the inhibitors. The structure-activity relationship was summarized by analyzing the predicted binding modes of representative compounds. It was found that the scaffolds of the discovered FTIs had room for structural optimization, which lay foundation for obtaining highly active and selective FTIs.

Artemisinin and its derivatives have been proved for their anti-tuberculosis activities, despite its low water solubility which hampered its efficacy and corresponding formulation development. In this study we designed and synthesized a novel artemisinin analog by conjugating an arginine through a succinic acid linker. This design not only enhanced the water solubility of the artemisinin, but also increased the efficacy of the molecule towards tuberculosis bacteria due to disruption by arginine. The results showed that the solubility of the synthesized derivatives A-2 and A-3 increased 19.8-27.8 folds compared to artemisinin. In vitro cytotoxicity experiment showed that compound A-3 had negligible toxicity to THP-1 cells up to 1 mg·mL^-1, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of A-2 and A-3 was 20 and 10 μg·mL^-1, respectively, which was 5 or 10 times lower than that of artemisinin. Intracellular bacteria inhibition experiment showed that compound A-3 at lower concentrations such as 100 or 200 μg·mL^-1 significantly inhibited the growth of tuberculosis bacteria (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), which efficacy was stronger than artemisinin at the concentration of 100 μg·mL^-1. These results strongly suggested that compound A-3 was a potential anti-tuberculosis lead compound.

Cyclodextrin can increase the solubility of poorly soluble drugs, but also decrease the permeability of poorly soluble drugs in inclusion complexes simultaneously, which partially or completely counteracts the contribution of improvement in solubility to the oral absorption of poorly soluble drugs. If a competing agent is added to the system to compete binding sites of cyclodextrins with drugs, drug permeability can be improved by increasing the concentration of free drugs in the inclusion complex system. In this paper, a rapid in vitro screening method for competing agents of cyclodextrin inclusion complex is proposed based on the principle that good drug permeability is in accord with good cell uptake. The equilibrium constants between drugs and hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPCD) were determined by phase equilibrium solubility method. Cinnarizine (CN) with a high equilibrium constant was selected as a competing agent, coumarin 6 (C6) and 9-octadecyl berberine (BD) with smaller equilibrium constants were selected as model drugs. Both changes of solubility and uptake by Caco-2 and A549 cells of C6 and BD were investigated different concentrations of CN to the HPCD solution of C6 and BD. The results showed that the uptake of C6 and BD increased in a CN concentration-dependent manner, and the solubility of C6 and BD in HPCD solution decreased with the prolongation of equilibrium time. It might be due to increased free drug concentrations that resulted from the competition of CN for drug binding sites with HPCD. In our study, in vitro cell uptake method was firstly used to validate the ability of CN as a competing agent to increase drug permeability (cell uptake). This method can be used for preliminarily screening of competing agents for drug-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes.

Using the lipidomics method based on UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap/MS, the change of phospholipid metabolism in lung tissue of mice induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury was analyzed to observe the regulation of abnormal lipids by Jiegeng Decoction and to explore the regulation effect of Jiegeng Decoction on LPS-induced acute lung injury. The lung tissue samples from control group, model group, dexamethasone (positive drug) group, and Jiegeng Decoction group were collected and the lipid components of the sample were extracted. All procedures over mice were performed in accordance with the Guidelines for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, and the experiments were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of our university. The lipidomics technique of UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap/MS was used to study change of phospholipids in lung tissue of each group. LPS induced acute lung injury in mice with metabolic abnormalities of phospholipids, the specific performance of the PC was significantly upregulated, phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE), phosphatidyl glycerol (PG), phosphatidyl serine (PS), phosphatidylinositol (PI) and other metabolic disorders, Jiegeng Decoction have a certain role in these phospholipids. LPS-induced acute lung injury caused disturbances of phospholipid in vivo, and Jiegeng Decoction regulates metabolic phospholipids.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Jujubae Fructus (JF) on the gastrointestinal toxicity and diuretic effect of Crotonis Semen Pulveratum (CT). Forty-eight mice were randomly divided into the control group, low dose of CT group (0.039 g·kg^-1·d^-1, CTL), high dose of CT group (0.078 g·kg^-1·d^-1, CTH), JF group (9.75 g·kg^-1·d^-1), low dose of CT combined with JF group (CT 0.039 g·kg^-1·d^-1 and JF 9.75 g·kg^-1·d^-1, JFCTL), high dose of CT combined with JF group (CT 0.078 g·kg^-1·d^-1 and JF 9.75 g·kg^-1·d^-1, JFCTH). On the 9^th day of oral administration, the urine output of all mice was measured. After oral administration for ten days, fresh fecal samples were collected, and the 16S rDNA sequencing method was used to study the changes of intestinal bacteria when CT used alone and combined with JF. All experimental protocols were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. The results showed that JF slowed down the rapid diuretic effect of CT, and significantly increased serum interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), gastrin (GAS), somatostatin (SS). JF also reduced small intestine injury and improved the disorder of intestinal flora caused by CT. Low dose CT combined with JF significantly decreased the relative abundance of Sphingomonas and Oscillospira. The level of Bilophila was decreased after the combined application of high dose CT and JF. The results suggest that JF exhibited a tendency to reduce the toxicity of CT in the aspects of serum immune index, intestinal movement, intestinal damage, and intestinal microflora structure. In addition, the JF could also slow down the rapid diuretic effect of CT, behaving a tendency to reduce the clinical effect of CT.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are a class of receptor superfamily that exist on the surface of cell membrane. With the intensive studies on the GPCR desensitization regulator-β-arrestins, it is found that activated GPCR can not only conduct signal transduction through G protein-dependent pathway, but also mediate via non-G protein-dependent pathway. In addition to mediate endocytosis and desensitization, β-arrestins also initiate a new series of signal transduction events. Therefore, the concept of "biased transduction" was put forward:the receptor activated by a specific ligand could selectively activate a specific signaling pathway, leading the signal to be transmitted downstream along a "preferential" pathway. We call the ligand that binds to the receptor and causes biased activation "biased ligand". It is generally believed that the phenomenon of bias results from different binding modes of ligands and receptors, including multiple receptor conformations, diverse sites that downstream signal proteins bind, and signal proteins' own conformations, etc. Here we give a brief review focusing on the mechanisms of β-arrestin-biased GPCR signal transduction and the advances in the drug development on β-arrestin biased ligands.

The purpose of this research is to study the anti-atherosclerotic effects and mechanisms of berberine (BBR) in high fat diet (HFD) fed ApoE^-/- mice, and then to lay a solid foundation of the clinical studies of BBR treatment. The hyperlipidemic ApoE^-/- mice model was established by feeding HFD for 12 weeks. Mice were randomly divided into control group (chow diet), model group, BBR group (BBR-L:50 mg·kg^-1, BBR-H:150 mg·kg^-1) and atorvastatin (5 mg·kg^-1) group. Mice were intragastric administration with BBR in 0.5% sodium salt of caboxy methyl cellulose. After 12 weeks, enface aortas were stained with oil red O, and the lesions area were analyzed by Image J software. The inflammatory factor levels were detected by suspension microarray kits. Liver total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and free fatty acids (FFA) were determined by commercial kits. Western blot was performed to examine the inflammatory pathway related and cholesterol and lipid transport related proteins' expression. All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the Regulation on the Administration of Laboratory Animals of Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology. After 12 weeks treatment, compared with model group, BBR treatment significantly reduced the lesions area of en face aortas and obviously inhibited serum proinflammatory factors such as IL-1β and IL-6 compared with model group. In addition, BBR treatment obviously reduced liver TC, TG and FFA levels compared with model group. Furthermore, mechanic study showed that BBR significantly inhibited MAPKs and NF-κB pathways, and increased cholesterol and lipid regulated proteins expression such as p-AMPK, LDLR, ABCA1 and SR-BI. In conclusion, BBR can obviously reduce enface aortas lesions in ApoE^-/- mice, which is related to inhibit inflammation and liver cholesterol and lipid accumulation.

The solubilization and protection of curcumin (Cur) by mixed surfactants were studied through the determination about the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of the mixed surfactants of Tween 80 and dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB), molar solubilization ratio (MSR), degradation rate (k) of Cur in pH 13 solution and mixed surfactant solutions prepared at pH 13. The results showed that when Tween 80 was used alone, it exhibited high solubilization ability but poor stability. DTAB was used alone, it showed strong stability but poor solubilization ability. When DTAB was mixed with Tween 80 at different mole fractions, the stability of Cur was enhanced, and the best stability was observed when the mole fraction of DTAB was 0.4, although the solubilization ability was not the best at this mole fraction, but MSR was increased by 1.7 times compared to DTAB used alone. Mixed surfactant not only increased the solubility but also improved the stability of Cur. In addition, mixed surfactant has the advantages of less dosage and low toxicity, which is worth popularizing in application.

BCS Ⅱ drugs are characterized by low solubility and high permeability. Improving their solubility is considered an important approach to improve its oral absorption. Recent strategies to increase the solubility of poorly-soluble drugs may unexpectedly result in greatly depressed permeability, ultimately leading to failure in improving oral absorption. Based on the mathematics of membrane permeability coefficient of a drug, the membrane/aqueous partition coefficient is dependent on the drug's solubility in the gastrointestinal milieu, suggesting a unique interplay between the solubility and permeability of the drug, and treating the one irrespectively of the other may be insufficient. When we focus on the increase of drug solubility and overlook the efficacy of drug permeability, the positive effect of increased solubility to drug oral absorption might be traded off by depressed permeability. To provide rational formulary designs, by optimizing excipients and evaluation, this review summarizes solubility-permeability interplay for different types of solubilizing techniques, such as cyclodextrin, surfactants-based vehicle, cosolvent, amorphous solid dispersions, other infectors such as P-gp transporters and new techniques for simultaneous evaluation of drug solubility and permeability.