To investigate the protective effect and mechanism of Schisandrae Mixture（五味子合剂，SM）on the kidneys of diabetic nephropathy（DN）rats.

Sixty male SPF SD rats were randomly divided into control group，model group，dapagliflozin（DA）group，SM high-dose（SM-H）group，SM medium-dose（SM-M）group and SM low-dose（SML）group.The model was induced by a high-sugar and high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin（STZ）.Blood glucose（Glu）and 24-hour urinary protein（24 h UTP）were measured every 4 weeks.After 12 weeks of administration，the kidney was weighed，the serum and kidney tissue were collected，and the kidney index（KI）was calculated.The levels of serum creatinine（Scr）and blood urea nitrogen（BUN）were detected.Hematoxylin-eosin（HE），silver hexamine（PASM）and Masson staining were used to observe the pathological morphology of renal tissue.The levels of malondialdehyde（MDA），superoxide dismutase（SOD）and glutathione（GSH）in renal tissue were detected by corresponding kits.The mRNA and protein expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α（HIF-1α）and heme oxygenase-1（HO-1）in renal tissue were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR（qRT-PCR）and Western Blotting（WB）.The levels of glutathione peroxidase 4（GPX4）and acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4（ACSL4）in renal tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry.

Compared with those of the control group，the pathological damage of the model group was significantly aggravated；the levels of Glu，24 h UTP，Scr，BUN and KI were significantly increased，MDA level was significantly increased，the levels of SOD and GSH were significantly decreased，HIF-1αand HO-1 protein and mRNA expression levels were significantly increased，GPX4 expression level was significantly decreased，ACSL4 expression level was significantly increased（P<0.05）. Compared with those of the model group，the pathological damage of DA group and SM group was significantly reduced；the levels of Glu，24 h UTP，Scr，BUN and KI were decreased，the level of MDA in renal tissue was decreased，and the levels of SOD and GSH were increased.Among them，the changes of the above indexes in SM-H group were the most obvious，and there was statistical significance except for BUN，MDA and SOD in SM-L group（P<0.05）.The protein and mRNA levels of HIF-1αand HO-1 in the SM-H group were significantly increased，the expression level of GPX4 was significantly increased，and the expression level of ACSL4 was significantly decreased（P<0.05）.

SM has a certain renal protective effect on DN，which may be related to regulating HIF-1α/HO-1 pathway to reduce oxidative stress and regulating GPX4/ACSL4 pathway to inhibit ferroptosis.

To investigate the protective effect and intervention mechanism of arctigenin on lipopolysaccharide（LPS）combined with adenosine triphosphate（ATP）-stimulated pyroptosis in RAW264.7 cells.

CCK8 assay was used to detect the effects of different concentrations of arctigenin on the viability of RAW264.7 cells；CCK8 assay was used to detect the effects of intervention of arctigenin（20，40，80μmol/L）on the viability of RAW264.7 cells induced by LPS+ATP；LDH release was used to detect the cellular membrane damage；ELISA was used to detect tumour necrosis factor-α（TNF-α），interleukin-6（IL-6）and IL-1βin cell supernatant；Western blotting was used to detect intracellular NLRP3，Caspase-1 p20，Caspase-1 p45，GSDMD-N and GSDMD-FL protein expression；the number of positive cells stained with propidium iodide（PI）was observed by forward and inverted fluorescence microscopy.

Arctigenin concentration less than 160μmol/L had little effect on cell viability；arctigenin（20，40，80μmol/L）intervention reversed the LPS+ATP-induced decrease in cell viability；arctigenin reduced LPS+ATP-induced release of LDH from pyroptosis cells as well as the number of PI-positive cells；arctigenin reduced LPS+ATP-induced LDH release from pyroptosis cells as well as the number of PI-positive cells；arctigenin inhibited the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α，IL-6 and IL-1βby pyroptosis cells；arctigenin inhibited the expression of NLRP3，Caspase-1 p20，Caspase-1 p45，GSDMD-N and GSDMD-FL proteins in pyroptosis cells that inhibited the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome.

Arctigenin inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome activation to improve pyroptosis and alleviate inflammatory responses.

To investigate the differences in metabolic composition between the genuine and non-genuine production areas of Daguomujiangzi（Fructus Cinnamomi）.

The volatile components of 66 batches of Daguomujiangzi（Fructus Cinnamomi） were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by supercritical fluid extraction（SFE -CO₂） and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry（GC-MS），combined with cluster analysis（HCA），principal component analysis（PCA）and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA）.According to the characteristic coefficient of the overall variable VIP≥2，the differential metabolites between the genuine and non-genuine estate areas were screened.

The results of supercritical fluid extraction（SFE-CO₂）of the volatile oil of Daguomujiangzi（Fructus Cinnamomi）showed that its content ranged from 18% to 33%，and the content of volatile oil in the genuine production area was significantly higher than that in the non-genuine production area.The results of volatile oil metabolomics showed that there were obvious differences between the genuine and non-genuine production areas of Daguomujiangzi（Fructus Cinnamomi），among which 1，4，7，-Cyclo undecatriene，1，5，9，9-tetramethyl-Z，Z，Z-，beta-copaene，bicyclic dabanerene and terpenoids could be used as the metabolites for identifying the differences between the genuine and non-genuine production areas of Daguomujiangzi（Fructus Cinnamomi）and the metabolism of Daguomujiangzi（Fructus Cinnamomi）can be classified into two categories，namely，the South Panjiang River，North Panjiang River and Yujiang River，along the sub-watersheds of Daguomujiangzi（Fructus Cinnamomi）.The composition pattern of the South Panjiang，North Panjiang and Yujiang rivers can be classified into three chemotypes.

There were significant differences in volatile component metabolites between the genuine and non-genuine production areas，which could provide certain reference value for the subsequent identification and quality evaluation of the genuine production areas of Daguomujiangzi（Fructus Cinnamomi）.

To investigate the effects of Gualou Xiebai Banxia Decoction（瓜蒌薤白半夏汤，GXBD）on blood lipids，oxidized low-density lipoprotein（ox-LDL）and fecal bile acids in the model of early atherosclerosis（AS）in APOE gene knockout（Apoe^-/-）mice and to explore the possible mechanisms of GXBD in the prevention and treatment of early AS.

TCMSP database was used to search the chemical constituents of GXBD，PharmMapper to predict the targets.GeneCards database was searched with “Atherosclerosis（AS）”as the search term to select the AS-related targets with a score of≥1，and DAVID database was used to analyze the intersecting targets for Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG）pathway enrichment.For the animal experiments of prevention-treatment mechanism，15 male Apoe^-/- mice were randomly divided into 3 groups：control group（Group A，normal diet），high-fat diet model group（Group AF，high-fat diet），GXBD intervention group（Group AF-GL，high-fat diet，GXBD 10 g·kg^-1·d^-1），and the high-fat diets were fed for 8 weeks in order to prepare a mouse model for early stage of AS，wherein pharmacological interventions were initiated from the 5^th week onwards to the end of the experiments.The serum levels of low-density lipoprotein（LDL），high-density lipoprotein（HDL），total cholesterol（TC）and triglycerides（TG），and concentrations of oxidized low-density lipoprotein（ox-LDL）in serum，liver and ileum were measured 4 hours after the last administration.The aorta was isolated for oil-red O staining.The mRNA levels of constitutive androstane receptors（CAR）and cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase（CYP7A1）of liver were detected and mRNA levels of fatty acid-binding protein（FABP6）in colon were detected，and fecal bile acids were measured.

Thirty-four active compounds of GXBD were obtained，and there were 164 intersecting targets with AS，which were mainly involved in lipid oxidation and signal transduction. Compared with those of group A，the AF group showed increased aortic lipid deposition，and the level of serum ox-LDL was significantly higher（P<0.01），the levels of mRNA expressions of CAR were significantly lower（P<0.05），the content of fecal primary bile acids was significantly higher（P<0.05），and the contents of secondary bile acids were significantly higher（P<0.05）. Compared with those of the AF group，aortic lipid deposition was reduced in the AF-GL group，serum ox-LDL levels were significantly decreased（P<0.01），the level of mRNA expression of CAR was significantly increased（P<0.05），and fecal primary bile acid content was significantly down-regulated（P<0.05）.

GXBD regulates lipid peroxidation by activating CAR and CYP7A1 in liver to promote bile acid metabolism，accelerating cholesterol catabolism to regulate oxidized lipids，lowering ox-LDL，and preventing and treating early AS.

To investigate the effect of ethanol extract of Guijianyu（Euonymus Alatus）on CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis model mice based on Rho A/ROCK signaling pathway.

Fifty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into normal group（NG），model group（MG），low-dose group of Guijianyu（Euonymus Alatus）（EA-L），medium-dose group of Guijianyu（Euonymus Alatus）（EA-M），high-dose group of Guijianyu（Euonymus Alatus）（EA-H），10 mice in each group.The mice in all groups except NGwere modeled by intraperitoneal injection of olive oil suspension containing25%CCl₄.At the same time of modeling，NG and MG were treated with double-distilled water by gavage，and the remaining three groups were treated with Guijianyu（Euonymus Alatus）by gavage with the corresponding doses（2 g/kg，4 g/kg and 8 g/kg，equivalent to the amount of the raw drug contained），respectively.6 weeks later，the serum and liver tissues were collected，and the liver function indexes［glutamic oxalacetic transaminase（AST），glutamate pyruvate transaminase（ALT）］were detected.ELISA method detected the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α），interleukin-6（L-6），hydroxyproline（HYP）and transforming growth factor-β1（TGFβ1）.HE and Masson staining were used to analyze the damage and collagen deposition in the liver of mice.The expressions of α-SMA，Collagen I and the relative protein expressions of Rho A/ROCK signaling pathway related proteins in the liver tissues were detected by Western blot.

Compared with those of MG，the serum levels of ALT，AST，TNF-αand IL-6 of EA-M and EA-H showed a decreasing trend. Compared with those of MG，the contents of Hyp and TGF-β1 in liver tissues of the Guijianyu（Euonymus Alatus）groups decreased to different degrees（P<0.05，P<0.01）.The hepatic morphology and structure，cellular inflammatory infiltration，fibrous changes and collagen deposition in the Guijianyu（Euonymus Alatus）groups were dose-dependently better than that of MG.The protein expression levels ofα-SMA，CollagenⅠand Rho A/ROCK signaling pathway related proteins in the EA-L，EA-M and EA-H were decreased compared with those of MG（P<0.05，P<0.01）. Compared with those of MG，the mRNA expressions ofα-SMA，CollagenⅠand Rho A/ROCK signaling pathway related proteins were decreased in EA-L，EA-M and EA-H（P<0.05，P<0.01）.

Ethanol extract of Guijianyu（Euonymus Alatus）has obvious enzyme-lowering，hepatoprotective and antihepatic fibrosis effects，and inhibition of the Rho A/ROCK signaling pathway is one of the mechanisms of its anti-hepatic fibrosis action.

This study aimed to compare the differences in chemical composition between Huangbai（Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）processed with Xianqiushi（Sal Praeparatum）and Danqiushi（Depositum Urinae Praeparatum）and the difference of chemical composition in the auxiliary materials were compared.

High performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）was used to determine the contents of chlorogenic acid，phellodendrine，magnoflorine，jatrorrhizine hydrochloride，berberrubine，palmatine hydrochloride，berberine hydrochloride，obaculactone and obacunone in Huangbai（Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex），and uric acid in auxiliary material.The complexometric tritration method was used to determine the contents of sodium chloride，calcium chloride and insoluble calcium salt in auxiliary materials.

The contents of chlorogenic acid，phellodendrine，berberrubine，palmatine hydrochloride and berberine hydrochloride in Huangbai（Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）processed with Xianqiushi（Sal Praeparatum）was found to be higher than that processed with Danqiushi（Depositum Urinae Praeparatum）.The contents of sodium chloride and calcium chloride in the ingredients of auxiliary materials，Huangbai（Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）processed with Xianqiushi（Sal Praeparatum）was more than Huangbai（Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）processed with Danqiushi（Depositum Urinae Praeparatum）.

This simple yet reliable method provides a stable approach for comprehensively comparing the differences in chemical composition between two types of Huangbai（Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex）processed with Xianqiushi（Sal Praeparatum）and Danqiushi（Depositum Urinae Praeparatum）.