Combined with practical experience, a stock investigation method of medicinal plants is approached from different angles, such as setting up the sample field and quadrant, doing the fieldwork, calculating the stock and annual possible gathering volume, etc. Depending on the geographical distribution features of the plants, the sample field are pointed out on topographic maps (1: 50 00 or 1: 10 000). Quadrants are set up at random or regularly according to the species and density of the plants. The locat ion, area, slop orientation, gradient,elevation, and vegetation of the sample field, also the area of quadrant and the amount of plants investigated, should be carefully noted down during the fieldwork .The quadrants are classified according to their slop orientation and gradient, then convert the recorded amonut of plants in quadrants to the amount of plants per square kilornetre. The stock of Per square kilometre is equal to the volume of the amount of the plants in per square kilometre divided by the amount of the plants per kilogram. The stock of per square kilometre multiplied by the area of earth's surface is the stock volume, which should be classified by the slop orientaion and gradient. The sum of the volunes is the total stock of a kind of plant.As to gather and make use of the medicinal plants in a gathering circle period, the annul possible gathering volume should be calculated as the stock volume of the plant divided by the gathering circle period.

Objective:To investigate the impact of aging on the correlation between the intestinal microorganism Akkermansia and obesity, and to analyze the features of the correlation in the elderly population. Methods:This was a cross-sectional study.A total of 6896 cases were collected from the Guangdong intestinal microbiome in 2018, aged 18-94 years old, including 3806 females, 1641 cases with abdominal obesity(23.7%)and 707 cases with systemic obesity(10.3%). The 16S rRNA sequencing data were from individuals of Cantonese descent.The abundance of Akkermansia was calculated after data cleaning, clustering and annotation.The type of abdominal obesity or systemic obesity was diagnosed based on the standards of the Working Group on Obesity in China(2002). According to the five quintiles of the abundance of Akkermansia, subjects were divided into Q1~Q5(Q1-Q4: n=1379, Q5: n=1380). Logistic regression was used to study the relationship between Akkermansia and obesity after adjusting for common confoundors such as gender.Subjects were subgrouped into two types of age groups: the <65 group(n=5467)and the ≥65 group(n=1519); the <70 group(n=6136)and the ≥70 group(n=850). Age windows were used to analyze changes in characteristics of this relationship with increasing age. Results:There were significant differences in age and gender among different Akkermansia groups( t/ χ2=3.51, -5.03, P<0.01). Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for two main confounding factors, age and gender, the risk of systemic obesity and abdominal obesity gradually decreased from Q2 to Q5 group, compared with Q1 group( P<0.001). The correlation between Akkermansia and obesity decreased with age.The protective effect of Akkermansia on obesity was weaker in the ≥65 and ≥70 groups, respectively, than in the <65 and <70 groups. Conclusions:Akkermansia is a protective factor for obesity, but the protective effect is affected by aging and weakened in the elderly.

ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the safety of Tianzhi granules used in the treatment of mild-to-moderate vascular dementia. MethodA randomized， double-blind， double-simulated， positive drug/placebo parallel controlled multi-center phase Ⅳ clinical trial and an open multi-center phase Ⅳ clinical trial of Tianzhi granules in the treatment of mild-to-moderate vascular dementia were conducted. Safety data of 1 492 patients were included and analyzed according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The main evaluation measures were the incidence rate of adverse events/adverse reactions， laboratory indicators， vital signs， and electrocardiogram （ECG） results. ResultA total of six adverse events possibly related to the test drug occurred in 520 patients of the double-blind trial， and the symptoms were all mild and recovered. The incidence of adverse events was not statistically different among Tianzhi granules， donepezil， and placebo groups. Nine adverse events possibly related to the test drug were observed in 972 patients of the open trial， and the symptoms were mild and recovered. Laboratory tests （blood routine， urine routine， liver function， kidney function， and coagulation） and vital signs were compared before treatment （baseline） and after treatment of 12 and 24 weeks， respectively. There was no statistical significance in the main indicators before and after treatment. In the double-blinded trial， there was no significant difference in safety indicators between different groups before and after treatment. The most frequent adverse reaction was gastrointestinal discomfort， with an incidence rate of 6.64‰. ConclusionAdverse reactions occasionally occur in patients using Tianzhi granules， and it is safe to use Tianzhi granules to treat mild-to-moderate vascular dementia clinically.

Guided by the theory of "component structure", we analyzed the structural characteristics of pharmacodynamical components in genuine Moutan Cortex. The compositions of organic small molecules were determined by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) for 20 batches of genuine Moutan Cortex and 12 batches of non-genuine Moutan Cortex. By means of similarity analysis, clustering analysis(CA), principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA), the elements in structural characteristics of the pharmacodynamical components were extracted as follows: terpene glycosides components(oxidized paeoniflorin, paeoniflorin,galloyl paeoniflorin, benzoyloxy paeoniflorinand benzoyl paeoniflorin), tannin components(1,3,6-tri-O-galloside acyl glucose, pentagalloyl glucose), and phenolic acid components(methyl gallate, paeonol). The contents and quantity ratios of terpene glycoside component, tannin component and phenolic acid components in genuine Moutan Cortex were determined as 14.1, 12.5, 21.7 mg·g~(-1), 1.00∶0.89∶1.54. The contents and quantity ratios of the oxidized paeoniflorin, paeoniflorin and benzoylpaeoniflorin in the terpene glycoside components were characteristic and determined as 2.05, 7.05, 3.30 mg·g~(-1), 1.00∶3.44∶1.61. The unique structural characteristics of genuine Moutan Cortex provide scientific basis for the formulation of quality standards.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Paeonia ; Principal Component Analysis

Anthocyanidin reductase (ANR) is one of the key enzyme in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, and its catalytic activity is important for the synthesis of plant anthocyanin. In this study, specific primers were designed according to the transcriptome data of Lonicera japonica Thunb., and the CDS, gDNA and promoter sequences of ANR genes from Lonicera japonica Thunb. and Lonicera japonica Thunb. var. chinensis (Wats.) Bak. were cloned. The results showed that the CDS sequences of LjANR and rLjANR were 1 002 bp, the gDNA sequences were 2 017 and 2 026 bp respectively, and the promoter sequences were 1 170 and 1 164 bp respectively. LjANR and rLjANR both contain 6 exons and 5 introns, which have the same length of exons and large differences in introns. The promoter sequences both contain a large number of light response, hormone response and abiotic stress response elements. Bioinformatics analysis showed that both LjANR and rLjANR encoded 333 amino acids and were predicted to be stable hydrophobic proteins without transmembrane segments and signal peptides. The secondary structures of LjANR and rLjANR were predicted to be mainly consisted of α-helix and random coil. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that LjANR and rLjANR had high homology with Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis, Camellia sinensis and Camellia oleifera, and were closely related to them. The expression levels of LjANR and rLjANR were the highest in flower buds and the lowest in roots. The expression patterns at different flowering stages were similar, with higher expression levels in S1 and S2 stages and then gradually decreased until reaching the lowest level in S4 stage, after a slow increase in S5 stage, the expression levels decreased again. The expression levels of ANR genes in the two varieties showed significant differences in roots, S2 and S5 stages, while the differences in stems, flower buds, S1, S3 and S6 stages were extremely significant. The prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a-LjANR was constructed for protein expression. The target protein was successfully expressed of about 59 kD. This study lays a foundation for further study on the function of ANR gene and provides theoretical guidance for breeding new varieties of Lonicera japonica Thunb.

Objective: To determine the content of index components in different parts of Gardenia jasminoides (pericarp, seeds, whiskers), study the fingerprint, and compare the contents and compositions differences of different parts of G. jasminoides, in order to provide the theoretical basis for different efficacies of G. jasminoides pericarp and seeds, explore the exploitation and utilization values of G. jasminoides whiskers, and avoid waste of gardenia medicinal resources. Method: The contents of geniposide and crocetin Ⅰ was were determined by HPLC, the content of total iridoid glycosides was determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry, and three index components in different parts of G. jasminoides were analyzed. HPLC fingerprints of different parts of G. jasminoides were collected, the common pattern of HPLC fingerprints of different parts of G. jasminoides of different origins and with different processing methods was established, and the similarity evaluation software was used for data analysis; comparative analysis on fingerprints of different parts of G. jasminoides was conducted. Result: Content change of index components in G. jasminoides pericarp and seeds from Henan, Fujian and Jiangxi were the same. Content of geniposide:Fujian > Henan > Jiangxi, the contents of three components in G. jasminoides pericarp from Fujian were much higher than those from Henan and Jiangxi, the contents of crocetin Ⅰ and total iridoid glycosides:Fujian > Jiangxi > Henan, the contents of total iridoid glycosides from Fujian, Jiangxi were much higher than those from Henan. The order of three index components in G. jasminoides whiskers from different origins from high to low, the content of geniposide and crocetin Ⅰ was Fujian > Jiangxi and Henan, the content of total iridoid glycosides was Fujian > Jiangxi > Henan.In the same part, there were 22 common peaks in the fingerprints of G. jasminoides pericarp, except for S13-S15, the similarity of other samples were more than 0.9;the fingerprints of G. jasminoides seeds had 22 common peaks, except for S22-S30, the similarities of other samples were more than 0.9;the fingerprints of G. jasminoides whiskers had 16 common peaks, except for S7-S9, the similarities of other samples were more than 0.9.In different parts, the fingerprints of G. jasminoides whiskers were significant different from those of pericarp and seeds, the number of peaks in G. jasminoides whiskers reduced, the order of height of peaks 2, 3, 5 of G. jasminoides from high to low were whiskers > gardenia > seeds. There was not peak X in the seeds, the height of peak X of gardenia in whiskers was higher than that in pericarp, except for the peak 17, the height of all peaks in seeds were higher than that in whiskers. Conclusion: There are significant differences in the contents of index components in G. jasminoides pericarp and seeds. The content of total glycosides in gardenia is high, suggesting that it can be used to extract total iridoid glycosides. The fingerprints can reflect the content difference and species distribution of different parts of G. jasminoides, so as to provide theoretical support for the studies for pharmacodynamic material basis of G. jasminoides and the scientificity and rationality of the separate application of G. jasminoides pericarp and seeds.