Object To carry out a deeper study on the active component and the structure of Aloe vera L. var chinensis (Haw ) Berg Methods The polysaccharide was isolated from the extract of the fresh leaf pulp of A. vera var chinensis by means of DEAE Sephadex A 25 ion exchange column chromatography and identified, through HPLC, IR, TGA, 13 CNMR and elementary analysis Results Alkaline hydrolysis proved that it is a neutral, linear polymer of a partially acetylated ? 1, 4 D mannopyranose of high purity The molar ratio of D mannose to the acetyl group in the polysaccharide was 1 64∶1 Conclusion This is the first report to uncover the presence of such polysaccharide in A vera var chinensis

In this study, we developed a qualitative analytical method based on liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) for identification of multi-constituents of raw Fructus Arctii (RFA) and processed Fructus Arctii (PFA). We established a UHPLC-UV analytical method for simultaneously determining 6 major compounds in Fructus Arctii. UHPLC- Q-TOF-MS/MS qualitative analysis was performed under negative and positive ion modes and a total of 23 chemical compounds were identified. The analysis data were subjected to a principle component analysis with a t-test. Ten peaks were found to be the main difference (P<0.05) between RFA and PFA. HPLC-UV quantitative method result showed the contents of 6 constituents were different between RFA and PFA. The results indicated that there was less arctiin, chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A in PFA than in RFA. However, there were higher levels of arctigenin, isochlorogenic acid B, isochlorogenic acid C in the PFA than RFA, which may be the main reason for different clinical efficacy of RFA and PFA.

There are many chemical components in the volatile oil of Dictamni Cortex. The complex network relationship of "component-target-disease" can be revealed by using the network pharmacology method, and the mechanism of the efficacy of Dictamni Cortex can be revealed. In this study, we used Swiss Target Prediction database to predict the target of action, STRING database to build protein interaction network, and Cytoscape software to build "component-target-disease" network. The results showed that the antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antiallergic effects of Dictamni Cortex were closely related to the components of thymol methyl ether, elemenol, anethole, and the related targets of each component were cross-linked to play a multi-target pharmacodynamic role. This study laid a foundation for the study of the effective substance basis and quality control evaluation of the Dictamni Cortex, and provided a scientific basis for further revealing its mechanism.
Dictamnus/chemistry* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Oils, Volatile/pharmacology* ; Protein Interaction Maps ; Quality Control ; Software

Licorice has long been regarded as one of the most popular herbs, with a very wide clinical application range. Whether being used alone or as an ingredient in prescription, it has an important role which cannot be ignored. However, the efficacy and chemical constituents of licorice will change after honey-processing. Therefore, it is necessary to find quality markers before and after honey-processing to lay the foundation for a comprehensive evaluation of the differences between raw and processed licorice pieces. HPLC-DAD was employed to establish fingerprints of raw and processed licorice. Multivariate statistical analysis methods including principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis(OPLS-DA) were applied to screen out the differential components before and after processing of licorice. Based on network pharmacology, the targets and pathways corresponding to the differential components were analyzed with databases such as Swiss Target Prediction and Metascape, and the "component-target-pathway" diagram was constructed with Cytoscape 3.6.0 software to predict the potential quality markers. A total of 17 common peaks were successfully identified in the established fingerprint, and seven differential components were selected as potential quality markers(licoricesaponin G2, glycyrrhizic acid, liquiritigenin, liquiritin, isoliquiritin, liquiritin apioside and isoliquiritigenin). The HPLC fingerprint method proposed in this study was efficient and feasible. The above seven differential chemical components screened out as potential quality markers of licorice can help to improve and promote the overall quality. These researches offer more sufficient theoretical basis for scientific application of licorice and its corresponding products.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Glycyrrhiza ; Glycyrrhizic Acid/analysis* ; Honey/analysis*

In order to explore the effect of extract (SNE) on skin wound healing in mice and its mechanism, hemostasis effect of SNE was measured, the mouse skin wound model was established by full-thickness excision. The morphological changes of the wound were observed after the treatment with SNE and the healing rate was measured. The changes of wound histology were observed by hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining, Masson staining and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The expression of cell factors and related proteins was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results showed that the SNE possessed hemostatic function. SNE could obviously improve the healing rate of wound in mouse and shorten time of scab removal compared with the none-treatment (NT) group ( < 0.05).The pathological histology analysis results showed complete epidermal regeneration, with remarkable capillary and collagen fiber observed in the SNE group. The expression level of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF -α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in SNE group was significantly lower than that of the NT group on 7 d ( < 0.05). Moreover, compared with the NT group, the gene expressions level of Smad7 was significantly increased and the level of type II TGF-β receptors (TGF-βRII), collagen I (COL1A1) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were significantly reduced in the SNE group on 28 d ( < 0.05), but the difference was not statistically significant compared to Yunnanbaiyao group (PC group) ( > 0.05). These results indicated that SNE possessed obvious activity of accelerating wound healing and inhibiting scar formation, and its mechanism was closely related to hemostatic function, regulation of inflammatory factors, collagen deposition, collagen fiber remodeling and intervening TGF-β/Smads signal pathway. Therefore, SNE may have promising clinical applications in skin wound repair and scar inhibition.