Bufonis Venenum is made by toad skin gland secretion after drying. As a kind of Chinese materia medica (CMM), it contains complex chemical composition and has these pharmacological effects: to remove toxic heat, wake up the brain orifices, eliminate the mass, step-down blood pressure, increase myocardial contraction force and coronary artery blood flow, and use for antitumor and anesthesia. It is widely used in diseases in clinic such as cardiovascular, respiratory, facial features, and surgical treatment. While, as toxic CMM, the concentration-response relationship, toxic ingredients, toxic dose, and poisoning mechanism should not be ignored also. The author preliminarily summaries its effects from composition, pharmacological effects and mechanisms, adverse reactions, processing technology, and pharmacokinetics, and provides the references for its further pharmacological study and compound preparation development.

Myosin II plays multiple roles in physiological and pathological functions through its ATPase activity. The present study was designed to optimize a micro-assay of myosin II ATPase activity based on molybdenum blue method, using a known myosin II ATPase inhibitor, blebbistatin. Several parameters were observed in the enzymatic reaction procedure, including the concentrations of the substrate (ATP) and calcium chloride, pH, and the reaction and incubation times. The proportion of coloration agent was also investigated. The sensitivity of this assay was compared with the malachite green method and bioluminescence method. Additionally, 20 natural compounds were studied for myosin II ATPase inhibitory activity using the optimized method. Our results showed that ATP at the concentration of 5 mmol·L(-1) and ammonium molybdate : stannous chloride at the ratio of 15 : 1 could greatly improve the sensitivity of this method. The IC50 of blebbistatin obtained by this method was consistent with literature. Compound 8 was screened with inhibitory activity on myosin II ATPase. The optimized method showed similar accuracy, lower detecting limit, and wider linear range, which could be a promising approach to screening myosin II ATPase inhibitors in vitro.
Animals ; Biological Products ; chemistry ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; methods ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; chemistry ; Kinetics ; Molybdenum ; chemistry ; Myosins ; antagonists & inhibitors ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Rabbits

Hypertension is a risk factor for a variety of cardiovascular diseases, which is an important public health problem in the world today. MiRNAs are a class of highly conserved non-coding small RNAs. In recent years, studies have found that miRNAs are involved in the occurrence and development of hypertension through a variety of ways, causing damage to the important target organs of hypertension, such as heart, brain and kidney. This article reviews the research progress of miRNA in hypertension in recent years, in order to clarify its role in the process of hypertension and target organ damage, and provide ideas for exploring new therapeutic targets of hypertension.