Benzazepine is a kind of fused ring structure, which is composed of nitrogen-containing seven-membered ring and benzene ring. The introduction of benzazepine scaffolds into compounds can not only adjust the physicochemical properties, maintain or enhance the biological activities of the compounds, but also improve the pharmacokinetic properties, increase the brain permeability, and reduce the toxicity of hERG of the compounds, which is one of the privileged scaffolds for rational design and structural optimization of drug molecules. Benzazepine scaffolds can be constructed by different synthetic methods such as Dickmann condensation reaction, Mitsunobu reaction, Pictet-Spengler reaction, CMD reaction, multicomponent reactions (MCRs), metal catalysis reactions and asymmetric catalysis etc., which play an important role in enriching the structure diversity of drug molecules.

An analytical method was developed for determination of 7 aminoglycosides antibiotics in bear bile powder by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The samples were purified by mix-mode weak cation exchange and reversed-phase SPE. Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH Amide column (100 mm × 3.0 mm, 1.7 μm) was used with 0.2% formic acid aqueous solution-0.2% formic acid acetonitrile solution as mobile phases by gradient elution. The aminoglycosides were detected by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in positive mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Spectinomycin, streptomycin, amikacin, kanamycin, tobramycin, apramycin and neomycin possessed good linear correlation in the respective concentration ranges, with the correlation coefficients more than 0.99. The mean recoveries at 3 spiked levels were in the range of 61.3%~127.3%, and the RSDs were 0.1%~1.9%. The limits of quantification were 0.2~1.0 mg·kg^-1. The method had been applied to the analysis of actual samples.

In this study, black phosphorus nanosheets (BP) were prepared by the ordinary liquid phase method, and resveratrol was loaded on the BP after being modified by polyethylene glycol. The brain targeting of BP was investigated by fluorescent protein labeling, and the effects of black phosphorus on cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury were studied by 2, 3, 5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, neurobehavioral evaluation, and brain edema. Protein immunoblotting analysis was used to explore the molecular mechanism of the BP drug delivery system on ischemic brain injury. Hemolysis test and hematoxylin-eosin (H & E) staining were used to evaluate its biocompatibility. The results showed that BP had excellent drug loading capacity, uniform drug loading system structure and particle size, stable drug release curve, and excellent photothermal effect. Through the analysis and comparison of fluorescence intensity, it was found that BP can increase the permeability of blood-brain barrier (BBB) under the condition of near-infrared light assisted irradiation, and make drugs more pass through the BBB. In addition, the black phosphorus nano tablet drug delivery system can significantly improve the neurobehavioral disorder of mice after modeling, and the cerebral infarction area and brain edema degree are significantly decreased. Western blot experiments showed that the drug delivery system could play an anti-ischemic brain injury role by activating the expression of antioxidant signaling pathway proteins nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). The hemolysis test and H & E test results of the BP drug carrier system showed that it had no obvious toxicity and high safety. In conclusion, the BP prepared in this study had high drug loading, good photothermal performance, and high safety. Under the near-infrared condition, they also have certain brain targeting ability, which can improve the therapeutic effect of drugs in the brain. Animal welfare and experimental procedures were following the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Shihezi University.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a kind of lung disease mainly caused by excessive inflammatory reaction. At present, there is a lack of effective therapeutic drugs in clinic. The aim of this study was to investigate the improvement effect of Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) on ALI and its potential mechanism. The model of wild-type C57BL/6J mice was established by intratracheal instillation of 50 μL 25 mg·mL^-1 lipopolysaccharide (LPS). 24 h later, 200 and 400 mg·kg^-1 PNS was given intragastric, respectively. 24 h after administration, the improvement effect of PNS on ALI mice was evaluated by lung function, wet-to-dry weight ratio (W/D), total protein, interleukin 6 (IL6) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) concentration of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), expression levels of IL6 and TNFα in lung tissues, pathological changes of lung tissues and expression of inflammatory cells in BALF. The protein expression levels of NF-κB and its upstream kinases in Raw264.7 cells and ALI mice lung tissues were further detected to evaluate the potential mechanism of PNS improving ALI mice. The experimental scheme was approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It was found that 400 mg·kg^-1 PNS could significantly improve the lung function of ALI mice, reduce the contents of W/D, BALF total protein, IL6 and TNFα, neutrophils expression in BALF and the infiltration of inflammatory cells in lung tissue. In Raw264.7 cells and ALI mice lung tissue, PNS significantly reduced the expression of NF-κB, reduced the protein expression and phosphorylation of NF-κB, promoted the expression of IκBα, and inhibited the inflammatory response. This study showed that PNS can improve ALI by inhibiting the activity of NF-κB, inhibiting the release of inflammatory factors and inflammatory cells infiltration, alleviating lung inflammation.

2-Oxoglutarate/Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenases (2-ODD) play an important role in plant primary and secondary metabolism. Based on the high-throughput sequencing platform Illumina NovaSeq 6000, the transcriptome of Salvia apiana Jepson was sequenced, and the obtained reads were de novo assembled. A total of 38 534 unigenes were obtained from the transcriptome. The assembled unigenes were annotated and 29 982 unigenes were given functional annotations. The 2-ODD genes were identified from the assembled S. apiana transcriptome database by bioinformatics methods, and the genes were analyzed, including the homology of the sequences, physicochemical characteristics, signal peptides, transmembrane domains, subcellular localization, secondary structure and tertiary structure, etc. The evolutionary relationships and the expression patterns of the identified 2-ODD genes were also analyzed. 39 full-length 2-ODD genes were identified from the transcriptome of S. apiana. The average length of these 2-ODD encoding proteins was 320 amino acids, the molecular weight was about 36.00 kDa, and most of them were hydrophilic proteins. Phylogenetic analysis divided these 2-ODD genes into several subfamilies. Gene expression analysis indicated that the 2-ODD genes were expressed in different parts of S. apiana, and the expression level of most genes was much higher in roots than that in leaves. This study can lay a foundation for further study of 2-ODD genes in S. apiana.

In this study, the molecular mechanism of Cinnamomi Cortex-Rehmanniae Radix (CR) in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis (OP) was investigated by integrating compatibility analysis of compound, bioinformatics and metabolomics. The rat OP models were established, and the Micro-CT indexes and pathological sections were comprehensively evaluated. The results showed that compared with the model group, the indexes such as bone mineral density (BMD) and bone volume/tissue volume (BV/TV) were significantly increased after CR treatment (P < 0.05), and the bone trabeculae were arranged into mesh. The results of UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS mainly involved amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism and estrogen metabolism pathways. Integrating bioinformatics and metabolomics analysis, it was finally found that: ① cinnamic acid and ethylcinnamate inhibit inflammatory factors such as TNF, IL-1β, and IL-13, thereby preventing and treating OP; ② multiple active ingredients of CR target ESR2, PPARG, and CYP19A1, GABRA1 and other targets, regulate cAMP synthesis, AMPK signaling pathway and lipid metabolism, thereby regulating estrogen levels to prevent and treat OP; ③ oleic acid, arachic acid, etc. act on AR, VDR and other targets, and regulate HIF-1 signaling pathway and AGE-RAGE signaling pathway, thereby regulating osteoblasts and osteoclasts, and affecting calcium and phosphorus absorption to maintain bone homeostasis. This study clarified the molecular mechanism of CR in preventing and treating OP from the perspective of multi-directional regulation of inflammatory factors, estrogen and bone homeostasis, and provided theoretical basis for the clinical application of CR and the development of compound. This experiment complied with the ethical standards of animal experiments and was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine (No. SUCMDL20210309002).

Aging can cause degenerative changes in the function of multiple tissues and organs in the body. Gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal dysfunction are very common in the elderly people. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of the total extract of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. on intestinal function and gut microbiota homeostasis in natural aging mice, which will provide clues for further mechanism study. The natural aging mice model is established and animal experiments follow the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The overall health of the mice was evaluated by the "frailty index" scoring method. The intestinal absorption and transport function were measured by detecting intestinal glucose absorption capacity, transport time, lipase and amylase activities of aging mice. Intestinal inflammation was assessed by detecting inflammatory cytokines by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The pathological changes in the intestines of aging mice were tested by hematoxylin-eosin (H & E) staining and alizarin blue (AB) staining. The qRT-PCR method was used to explore the gene transcription level related with the proliferation and differentiation of intestinal stem cells. Microbiota analysis based on 16S rDNA were used to evaluate the composition of gut microbiota. The results showed that Astragalus had a tendency to reduce the "frailty index" of aging mice, but did not show a significant difference. In some indicators of aging phenotype, Astragalus has the most significant effect on hair loss and physical fitness. In terms of intestinal function, Astragalus could increase intestinal glucose absorption capacity, shorten intestinal transportation time and promote lipase secretion in aging mice. The levels of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-‍α) in the aging intestinal tissue were reduced after Astragalus administration. Astragalus also ameliorated the pathological degeneration of the intestinal tissue of aging mice by increasing the length of small intestinal villi, the thickness of colonic mucosa and goblet cell number. In addition, Astragalus elevated the expression of genes associated with the proliferation and differentiation in jejunum and modulated gut microbiota, especially restoring the abundance of Lachnospiraceae. Taken together, the above research results demonstrate the total extract of Astragalus as a key factor improving the intestinal function and gut microbiota homeostasis of aging mice.

In this study, the ameliorative effects of Flos Abelmoschus manihot on mice with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were investigated and its effects on the structure of the intestinal flora as well as the lipid profile in feces of IBD mice were analyzed. All animal welfare and experimental procedures followed the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese medicine. A mouse model with chronic IBD induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) was used to evaluate changes in body weight, disease activity index (DAI), colonic histopathological damage as well as gene expression levels of inflammatory factors in the colon. Fecal samples from mice in each group were collected and subjected to Illumina high-throughput sequencing to detect the abundance of intestinal flora; samples were analyzed by UHPLC-Q-Exactive^® HF Quadrupole-Orbitrap^® of untargeted lipidomics, which detects lipid content in feces. Administration of Flos Abelmoschus manihot could significantly restore the body weight and ameliorate colonic histopathological damage in IBD mice. Sequencing of the gut microbiota revealed that the species diversity and richness of the gut microbiota in IBD mice were decreased, with a significant increase in the abundance of Verrucomicrobia and a significant decrease in the abundance of Bacteroidetes; Flos Abelmoschus manihot significantly increased the richness and diversity of intestinal microbiota in IBD mice, increased the number of taxa species at each level, and restored the abundance of bacteria in the phylum Bacteroidetes. Analysis of fecal lipid profiles identified the most significant changes in sphingolipid and glycerophospholipid metabolic pathways in IBD mice, with Flos Abelmoschus manihot inhibiting ceramide and sphingomyelin synthesis in sphingolipid metabolism. In summary, Flos Abelmoschus manihot can effectively improve the disease condition of mice with chronic IBD, and it has the effect of regulating intestinal flora homeostasis and lipid metabolism, but the related mechanism between the two still needs to be deeply explored.

By means of several chromatographic techniques, such as silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and semi-preparative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), two caryolane-type sesquiterpenoids were isolated from the petroleum ether soluble fraction of the aerial parts of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth., and their structures were identified as caryolanol A (1) and 1α-ethoxy-9α-hydroxy-senecrassane (2) by various spectroscopic methods, including NMR and HR-ESI-MS. Compounds 1 and 2 were a pair of C₅ epimers, and compound 1 was a new compound. In addition, the anti-influenza virus activity of compounds 1 and 2 was evaluated.

We predicted the anti-ulcerative colitis (UC) mechanism of Fructus Amomi based on network pharmacology. The anti-UC activity of Fructus Amomi were investigated by in vivo animal experiment, and the active components of Fructus Amomi were obtained through TCMSP, PubChem database and literature research. Animal welfare and experimental procedures follow the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Institute of Materia Medica of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The potential targets of the active components and UC were predicted by SwissTargetPrediction, GeneCards and TTD databases. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by String database and Cytoscape software was used to construct a visual network of active component-disease target and perform topological analysis. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed using Metascape platform. The molecular docking of key components and core targets was carried out by Sybyl X software. We screened out a total of 12 active components and 189 disease-component overlapping targets. Enrichment analyses obtained 227 related GO items and 168 signaling pathways. According to the results of molecular docking, most active components of Fructus Amomi showed good affinity with the JAKs receptor family. Furthermore, Western blot results verified that Fructus Amomi could effectively inhibit JAK/STAT signaling pathway, indicating that Fructus Amomi might exert the anti-UC activity by regulating JAK/STAT signaling pathway.