Vascular calcification (VC) is a chronic systemic vascular disease characterized by abnormal deposition of hydroxyapatite minerals in the vascular system and is closely associated with aging, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and chronic kidney disease. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), a special type of adipose tissue that surrounds blood vessels, is thought to be a supportive component of the vascular structure and is capable of playing a role in homeostatic regulation during vasodilatation and contraction. Currently, there is growing evidence that perivascular adipose tissue acts as an endocrine and paracrine organ and interacts closely with cellular components of the vascular wall, which may be involved in the development of vascular calcification. This article reviews the role of perivascular adipose tissue in the pathophysiological process of vascular calcification and its potential as a target for therapeutic intervention, with the aim of providing new ideas for the prevention and treatment of vascular calcification.

Oral iron is a commonly used preparation for the treatment of iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia in children, but its undesirable taste has become a major factor affecting clinical adherence to the medication. No studies have been conducted to evaluate the palatability of oral iron supplements. Thirteen representative oral iron supplements were selected to evaluate the palatability of oral iron supplements from different perspectives of in vivo and ex vivo by combining the electronic tongue (e-tongue) test, FaceReader facial expression analysis technology and taste interviews. E-tongue test results showed that iron dextran granlues were closest to odorless potassium chloride solution, basically free of bitterness and astringency, which was superior to the other products. FaceReader facial expression results showed that 58.7% of the subjects valued iron dextran granlues for their emotional efficacy higher than that of iron proteinsuccinylate oral solution. Among 43 participants aged ≥ 5 years, the taste preference for iron dextran granlues was 83.7%, and 83.7% of participants chose to take iron dextran granlues again. This study found that iron dextran granlues have a better taste and their flavor is more popular among children, which provides a reference for pediatric clinical use of oral iron supplementation preparations and a new idea for the evaluation of palatability of medications for children. This in vivo palatability evaluation is an investigational clinical trial that was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Beijing Children's Hospital (No. 2021-149-Y).

Sustained and controlled release preparation is ideal for reducing the side effects of drugs, improving patient compliance and enhancing efficacy, among which oral sustained-release tablets are the most widely used. The in vitro release of the preparation is closely related to the in vivo absorption of the drug. However, current in vitro release experiments are labor-intensive and destructive, and the lack of big data also makes it difficult to establish good in vivo and in vitro correlations. Computer modeling, as a technical means that can transform objective principles into mathematical models, has great prospects in data prediction. This review explores the existing computer modeling methods that can be used to predict in vitro release profiles of oral sustained-release tablets, and further discusses auxiliary technologies that can improve the accuracy of the models, providing new ideas for drug development.

Through a compound induction method, combined with neurobehavioral, macroscopic characterization and objective pathological evaluation indicators, a murine depression model of liver depression transforming into fire syndrome was constructed and confirmed. The model was constructed using a combination of sleep deprivation, light exposure, and alternate-day food deprivation. Evaluation was conducted at three levels: face validity, constructs validity, and predictive validity. The establishment of the liver depression transforming into fire syndrome depression model was further validated through the counterproof of traditional Chinese medicine formulas. In terms of face validity, compared to the control group, mice in the model group exhibited typical depressive symptoms in neurobehavioral assessments; the general observation of the model group mice reveals disheveled and lackluster fur, along with delayed and easily agitated responses. Additionally, there is a substantial increase in water consumption. In the sleep phase detection of mouse, the model group showed a significant increase in the proportion of time spent in the wake phase during sleep, accompanied by a significant decrease in the proportions of time spent in both non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep phases. There are significant differences in physiological indicators such as average blood flow velocity, blood flow rate, tongue, urine, and claw color (r values) in the internal carotid artery. Structural validity demonstrated that levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DA), and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the hippocampus of model mice decreased significantly, while acetylcholine (ACh), tryptophan (Try), and glutamic acid (Glu) levels increased significantly. Treatment with Danzhi Xiaoyao San led to varying degrees of restoration in the aforementioned neurotransmitters. In terms of predictive validity, the antidepressant paroxetine effectively ameliorated depressive behaviors in the model mice, and the classic formula Danzhi Xiaoyao San demonstrated varying degrees of improvement in depression-related indicators. In conclusion, this study has established a novel animal model of liver-stagnation with the fire depression, thereby expanding the repertoire of traditional Chinese medicine depression models. This development contributes to the diversification of melancholic syndrome models in Chinese medicine, offering a broader spectrum of options for scientific exploration, efficacy evaluation, and drug screening in the future prevention and treatment of depression with traditional Chinese medicine. Animal experiments were conducted with the approval and supervision of the Animal Ethics Committee of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ethics number: 20230313040).

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with dysfunctions related to thinking, learning, and memory of the brain. AD has multiple pathological characteristics with complicated causes, constructing a suitable pathological model is crucial for the research of AD. Microfluidic chip technology integrates multiple functional units on a chip, which can realize microenvironmental control similar to the physiological environment. It is well applied in the construction of pathological model, early diagnosis as well as drug screening of AD. This paper focuses on the construction of AD microfluidic chips model from the perspective of cell type, culture formats and the chips structure as well as the research progress of microfluidic chips in AD application based on the pathological characteristics of AD, which will provide a reference for further elucidation of AD mechanism and drug development.

The essential oil from Curcuma longa L. (CLEO) was extracted by steam distillation. In this study, vasorelaxant activity and mechanism of CLEO was explored. Firstly, the experimental results of isolated rat thoracic aorta ring showed that the CLEO had vasorelaxant activity. By removing the endothelium of aorta ring and pre-incubating inhibitor of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), it was found that the vasorelaxant activity of CLEO was endothelium-dependent and related to eNOS. By human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) model, it was found that the CLEO could promote the production of nitric oxide (NO) in HUVECs, further indicating that the vasorelaxant activity of CLEO was related to eNOS. The results of Western blot showed that CLEO could up-regulate the phosphorylation levels of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt) and eNOS. In summary, the CLEO has vasorelaxant activity, and its mechanism is related to activating the endothelial PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway. All animal experiments in this paper were approved by the Committee of Laboratory Animal Welfare Ethics of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (approval No. 2020-04).

With the rapid society development and broad recognition of "Healthy China", the demands for good life and health are increasing. Accordingly, the concept of "food and medicine homologous" have been attractive. The concept of "food and medicine homologous" has a long history in China, and is an essence of various ideas in traditional Chinese medicine, such as diet therapy, medicated diet, regimen and preventive treatment of disease, representing an important field in health science. Many studies have found that the active ingredients of "food and medicine homologous" substances are multiple types, multiple mechanisms and multiple targets, exerting their biological effects after oral administration and chemical or metabolic transformation. In this review, the chemical basis and biological principles of various "food and medicine homologous" substances were summarized as compounds, biological macromolecules and intestinal flora. By focusing on the intestinal flora, we discussed the detailed biological principles of several classic "food and medicine homologous" substances. The scientific significance of "food and medicine homologous" concept were also discussed. This review explores the concept of "food and medicine homologous" from the perspective of modern medicine, in order to provide insights for future drug development and human health.

Cordycepin (Cpn), a natural active compound derived from the traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis, has antifibrotic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects, but the impact of Cpn on pulmonary fibrosis and the downstream molecular mechanism remain unclear. In this study, A549 cells were induced by transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) in vitro, the viability of A549 cells was evaluated by CCK-8 assay; and migration of A549 cells were detected by wound healing assay, invasion of A549 cells were detected by transwell assay. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations were used to predict the interaction of histone deacetylase 7 (HDAC7) with vimentin and the association of Cpn with HDAC7. The pulmonary fibrosis model of mice was established by bleomycin in vivo to investigate the effect of Cpn on pathological changes of lung tissue. The impact of Cpn and molecular mechanism on pulmonary fibrosis were studied by Western blot assay, cell transfection assay, immunoprecipitation assay, immunofluorescence assay, immunohistochemistry and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). All animal experiments were approved by the Shanghai Children's Medical Center Experimental Animal Ethics Committee (grant No. SCMC-LAWEC-2022-017). Results showed that Cpn had no toxic effect on A549 cells even at the concentration of 100 μmol·L^-1. Cpn inhibited migration and invasion of A549 cells and reduced deposition of collagen, the degree of lung inflammation and fibrosis in mice; in vivo and in vitro models, Cpn significantly reversed mRNA and protein expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and lung fibrosis markers collagen Ⅰ, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), N-cadherin, vimentin and E-cadherin and HDAC7. Deficiency of HDAC7 suppressed TGFβ1-induced EMT and expression of collagen Ⅰ; vimentin interacted with HDAC7; and molecular docking experiment revealed that Cpn was interrelated with HDAC7. In conclusion, Cpn can target HDAC7 to mediate EMT and exert its anti-fibrotic effect, the inhibition of EMT and the improvement of pulmonary fibrosis provide a new idea and choice for the development of anti-pulmonary fibrosis drug.

This paper aimed to study phenylpropanoids of Tripterygium hypoglaucum. Twenty-four compounds were isolated from the 70% EtOH extracts of T. hypoglaucum by silica gel column chromatography, reversed phase column chromatography, gel column chromatography, preparative thin layer chromatography, and semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatography. Compounds 1-3 were three new phenylpropionds. Their structures were identified by ultraviolet spectrum, infrared spectroscopy, high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance data as: threo-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenoxy)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1, 3-propanedol (1), erythro-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenoxy)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1, 3-propanediol (2), erythro-3-(4-hydroxy-3, 5-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-ethoxypropane-1, 2-propanediol (3). Compounds 4-6, 9, 14, 15, 18, 19, and 21-24 were obtained from Tripterygium genus for the first time. The cytotoxicity assay of cancer cells suggested that compound 20 displayed cytotoxicity on the breast cancer 4T1 cells whose 50% inhibitory concentration was 125.60 μmol·L^-1.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a fatal disease with high morbidity and mortality. Platelets are major players of thrombosis and inflammation after acute myocardial infarction. There is growing evidence that platelets mediate inflammation, participate in dead tissue removal and heart remodeling through direct or indirect interactions with immune cells post-MI. This paper reviews the type of interactions between platelets and immune cells after myocardial infarction, and summarizes the mechanism of platelet interaction with different immune cells, such as neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages, to mediate cardiac injury and repair through up-regulation of surface receptors and release of immune regulatory mediators post-MI. Therapeutic strategies targeting the interaction between platelets and immune cells for myocardial infarction is also presented, to provide reference for the exploration of new immune therapy targets for myocardial infarction.