The resource limitation, ineffective utilization and severe waste generated during processing restrict the sustainable development of the Chinese herbal medicine industry. The main reasons lie in insufficient utilization of medicinal components as well as few and outdated technologies. Integration and optimization of serial technologies including pretreatment, extraction, conversion and waste treatment are the keys to solve these issues. In this article, the updated research progress and technology development of biorefinery engineering for herbal medicines are reviewed. Guided by multi-products oriental fractionation refining, Chinese herbal medicine refinery technical system is constructed relied on advanced refinery technology platforms.
Bioengineering ; Chemical Fractionation ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plants, Medicinal

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect of ginger-partitioned moxibustion for alopecia areata (AA).Methods Sixty-five AA patients were randomized into the treatment group(N = 40)and the control group(N = 25).The treatment group received ginger-partitioned moxibustion on AA focus combined with oral use of Shengfa Decoction(mainly composed of Radix Polygoni Muhiflori,Radix Rehmanniae Preparata,Fruetus Moil, Fructus Ligustri Lucidi,Semen Cuseutae,Radix Angelicae Sinensis,Radix Paeoniae Alba,Rhizoma Gastrodiae, Rhizoma Chuanxiong,Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae,Poria,Radix Astragali,etc.).The control group received oral use of Shengfa Decoctoion only.The hair growth in AA focus was observed after treatment for 2 weeks,1 month,2 months and 3 months.Results In the treatment group,24 patients cured,9 markedly effective,6 effective,1 ineffective and the total effective rate was 97.5%;in the control group,5 patients cured, 5 markedly effective,9 effective,6 ineffective and the total effective rate was 76.0%.The therapeutic effect of the treatment group was better than that of the control group(P

Objective To explore the diagnostic significance of the uric acid in preeclampsia.Methods The samples were chosen between January 2008 and August 2015 in our hospital maternity clinic,at 24 to 28 weeks of gestation,singletons,1 357 cases of pregnant women,136 cases for the development of preeclampsia,and 1 221 cases of normal pregnancy.the clinical data of 1 357 cases were retrospectively analyzed.Results (1) The maternal age,birth gestational age,body mass index,systolic blood pressure,diastolic blood pressure,urine protein,cholesterol,creatinine,uric acid,and uric acid increased value of the control group of preeclampsia were significandy higher than the normal group (P ＜ 0.05).The incidence of preeclampsia,cesarean delivery rate,fetal growth restriction,small gestational age,and newborn asphyxia rate of high uric acid hematic disease group were significandy higher than the normal group (P ＜ 0.05).(2) Logistic regression analysis showed that systolic blood pressure,urinary protein and uric acid were the predictors,and uric acid was the best predictor.(3) By using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve,the growth of uric acid was 112 μmol/L,and the sensitivity was 85.2％,the specificity was 90.1％.Conclusions Uric acid level can be used as an important indicator to monitor the pathophysiology of preeclampsia,and uric acid value can be accurately predicted.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cytokines ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; blood ; Interleukin-17 ; blood ; Interleukin-4 ; blood ; Interleukin-8 ; blood ; Male ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch ; immunology

Objective To investigate the effect of the dihydroartemisinin (DHA) on the human low-differentiated lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 and to explore its mechanism. Methods The A549 cells at logarithmic growth phase were divided into control group and DHA group. The cells in the control group were incubated with conventional reagent, and the cells in DHA group were incubated with 500 nmol/L of DHA. After incubation for 72 hours, methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to examine the proliferation of A549 cells in the two groups. Gene expression of p85, Akt, Bax and Bcl-2 was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) . The protein expression of p85, Akt, p-p85, p-Akt, Bax and Bcl-2 was detected by Western blotting method. The activity of Caspase3 was measured by Caspase3 colorimetric assay kit. Results Compared with the control group, the proliferation rate of A549 cells in DHA group was significantly decreased ( P<0.01) . The RT-PCR results showed that the mRNA expression levels of p85 and AKT had no obvious difference between the two groups, but the mRNA expressien level of Bax was increased ( P<0.001), and the mRNA expressien level of Bcl-2 was decreased ( P<0.05) . The Western blotting results showed that there was no significant changes of p85 and Akt proteins between the two groups (P>0.05), but p-p85, p-Akt and Bcl-2 protein expression levels were significantly decreased ( P<0.01) , and Bax protein expression was increased ( P<0.01). Moreover, the activity of Caspase3 was also enhanced ( P<0.001). Conclusion DHA can reduce the proliferation of A549 cells and increase the apoptosis of A549 cells, and its mechanism probably has relationship with the inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Objective: To prepare the conjugate of supcrantigen (SAg) staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) and monoclonal antibody (McAb) against human hepatocellular carcinoma HAbl8 F(ab' )_(2) fragment and to investigate the anti-human hepatoma effect of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) targeted by HAbl8 F(ab' )i-SEA. Methods: McAb HAbl8 was extracted and its F(ab' )_(2) fragment was prepared with papain; the conjugate HAblS F(ab' )_(2)-SEA was prepared with N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP); eveny collected peak after purification was identified with gel chromatography; the activity of antibody in the conjugate was identified with immunohistocheinical ABC method; the anti-hepatoma effect of PBMC targeted by HAbl8 F(ab' )_(2)-SEA was observed with MTT method. Results: The conjugate HAbl8 F(ab' )_(2)-SEA was prepared successfully and it had obvious effect of targeting PBMC to kill hepatoma cells, and this effect is correlated positively with the dose of HAbl8 F(ab')_(2)-SEA. Control groups had no such effect. Conclusion: Targeting therapy of hepatoma with McAb-SAg conjugate might be a kind of hopeful model of hepatoma im-munotherapy.

Objective To investigate the role of biopsy kidney allograft in the early diagnosis and differential diagnosis of acute and chronic rejection and other diseases involving renal allograft,and to determine the optimal time for early biopsy in chronic allograft rejection.Methods Non-random biopsy of renal allograft was performed in 44 kidney transplant recipients with the clinical manifestation of diagnosis-unconfirmed allograft diseases,in the presence increased in serum creatinine,microalbuminuria or/and proteinuria,glomerular hematuria and so on.Another 6 kidney transplant recipients received routine allograft biopsy 1 month after operation.Pathological evaluation was performed in all sections according to Banff 97 classification and based on clinical data.Results Chronic allograft rejection was discovered in the renal allograft specimens of 31.3%,76.5% and 88.2% recipients,respectively,in the 1st year,the 2nd to 3rd year and over 3 years after operation,and most of them showed no obvious clinical manifestation.A part of recipients with clinical diagnosis of acute rejection also showed pathological manifestations of chronic rejection and/or glomerulonephritis and chronic cyclosporine nephropathy.A part of recipients with clinical diagnosis of chronic rejection showed pathological manifestations of acute rejection and/or glomerulonephritis and chronic cyclosporine nephropathy.Pathological features of acute or chronic rejection,glomerulonephritis and chronic cyclosporine nephropathy were observed respectively in recipients with disorders of kidney allograft with unknown diagnosis.No obvious clinical symptoms were observed in nearly half of the patients with pathological diagnosis of glomerulonephritis.Good therapeutic effect was obtained in these recipients who were correctly treated on the basis of definite pathological diagnosis.Conclusions It is indicated that optimal time for early diagnosis in chronic renal allograft rejection might be the 2nd and 3rd year after transplantation,and routine biopsy should be performed in this period.It is suggested that biopsy of renal allograft is of importance value for rectification of clinical diagnosis and for recipients with clinically undefined renal allograft diseases.It is also indicated that there might be coexistence of acute,chronic rejection and/or glomerulonephritis and chronic cyclosporine nephropathy.

Objective To investigate the differential expression of microRNAs(miRNAs) in transplanted kidney undergoing chronic rejection by the technique of RNA microarray.Methods Four biopsy specimens from transplanted kidney undergoing chronic rejection were harvested as test group(CR),and 3 biopsy specimens were obtained from normal renal cortex as normal control group(NC).Total RNA of each sample was extracted using Trizol reagent.miRNAs were isolated and differential expression of miRNAs were screened by miRNA array analysis.The results of miRNA array were validated by RT-PCR.The quantity and quality of all the RNA samples were checked by gel electrophoresis and absorbance at A260/280,respectively.Results It was confirmed that the isolated RNA was of appropriate quality.The results of miRNA array analysis showed that there were 63 differential expression miRNAs in CR group,of which 35 were up-regulated and 28 down-regulated.There were 9 differential expression miRNAs which distributed in 3 gene clusters: 14q32.31,22q11.21 and xq27.3.The miRNAs hsa-miR-637,hsa-miR-648 and hsa-miR-516-5p were randomly selected for relative quantification by real-time PCR.It was showed that the expression ratios of hsa-miR-637,hsa-miR-648 and hsa-miR-516-5p in AR/NC,when detected by RT-PCR,were 0.034,2.670 and 7.846,while the ratios were 0.035,2.660 and 7.857 when analyzed by miRNAs array.The results from two methods were not significantly different,so the method of miRNAs array was reliable.Conclusions It is notable that the differential expression of miRNAs existed in the transplanted kidney undergoing chronic rejection.miRNAs might be helpful in protecting the patients undergoing kidney transplantation against chronic rejection.

This study evaluated the efficacy of rabdosia rubescens against gingivitis and compared the therapeutic efficacy of different dosage forms of rabdosia rubescens. A multi-center, randomized, double-blind, double-simulation, positive-controlled and parallel trial was conducted. A total of 136 patients exhibiting clinical symptoms of gingivitis were enrolled. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: test group (n=67), in which rabdosia rubescens drop pill (960 mg) and 4 tablets of simulation agent of rabdosia rubescen were orally given to the subjects three times a day for 5 days; and control group (n=69), in which the subjects were administered the tablets of rabdosia rubescens (1000 mg) and 24 drop pills of simulation agent of rabdosia rubescens thrice daily for 5 days. The experimental protocols and diagnostic criteria were established by expert panel prior to the experiment. The clinical symptoms were graded according to the severity of the disease and quantified. The total scores and scores for each clinical symptom of gingivitis were assessed at baseline and on the 6th day post-treatment. The therapeutic efficacy was compared between the two groups and in each group itself before and after the treatment. The results showed that in the two groups, the subjects who were given rabdosia rubescens, drop pill or tablet, had a decrease in total scores and scores for each clinical symptom when compared with those before treatment (P<0.01). There was significant difference in the therapeutic efficacy between the test group and the control group with the efficacy rate being 92.54% and 79.71% respectively (P<0.05). It was concluded that rabdosia rubescens showed great promise in treating gingivitis. And rabdosia rubescens drop pill was more efficacious than rabdosia rubescens tablet.

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of serotonin (5-HT) and secretin(SEC) on afferent discharge of vagus in rats. Methods Spontaneous afferent discharge of subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve was recorded in urethane anesthetized rats. The effects of 5-HT, 5-HT3 receptor antagonist and 5-HT+SEC on the discharge of subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve were investigated by intravenous injection of different dosage of 5-HT(3, 10, 30 ?g/kg), Granisetron (1 mg/kg) and 5-HT+SEC. Results Intravenous 5-HT caused obvious exciting effect on spontaneous afferent discharge of subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve. The 5-HT3 receptor antagonist significantly inhibited the effects of 5-HT. 5-HT+SEC could augment the effect of 5-HT on spontaneous discharge. Conclusion The exciting effect of 5-HT on afferent discharge of subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve is possibly mediated by 5-HT3 receptor related to vagus nerve afference. Secretin can augment the exciting effect of 5-HT on spontaneous discharge of vagus afferent nerve.