Objective To investigate the nitrogenous chemical constituents of Weiceng .Methods Weiceng extract was subjected to various column chromatography and spectroscopic methods were used for the elucidation of compounds .Results Seventeen compounds were isolated and identified as cyclo-(Leu-Tyr)(1), cyclo-(Phe-Tyr) (2), cyclo-(Pro-Gly) (3), L-Pyroglutamic acid methyl ester (4), uracil (5), thymine (6), N-acetylphenylalanine (7), tyrosine (8), phenylala-nine (9), phenylalanine methyl ester (10), N-methyl leucine (11), isoleucine (12), valine (13), leucine (14), glutamic acid (15), glycine (16) and aspartic acid (17).Conclusion All the seventeen compounds are isolated from Weiceng for the first time .Before this study , cyclopeptides 1-3 have never been isolated from soy bean or its products .

Objective:To find the better imaging method for the diagnosis of sialolithiasis by comparing the 3 different imaging methods.Methods:32 cases of salivary calculus were examined by sonography,X-ray and cone beam computed tomography(CBCT),the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value were compared among the 3 methods.Results:The sensitivity and negative predictive value of cone beam computed tomography(95.8％ and 80％) was significantly higher than those of sonography(83.3％,50.0％) and X-ray(58.3％,20％)(P ＜ 0.05).Of three imaging methods there was no statistical difference in specificity and positive predictive value.Conclusion:CBCT is more sensitive than sonography or X-ray in the diagnosis of sialolithiasis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on changes of myelin basic protein (MBP) and functional repair of sensory and motor nerve following sciatic nerve injury.

METHODSThe sciatic nerves of rats were injured by sectioning with shaver,and divided into 3 groups: NGF group (Group A), group of normal saline solution (Group B), untreated group (Group C). The time point of observation was at the 4th week after operation. Sensory evoked potential (SEP) and motor evoked potential (MEP) were detected by Model WD-4000 nerve potential working diagnosis system. Immunohistochemical analysis was used for identification of MBP.

RESULTSThe latency of SEP in the Group A at the 4th week after operation was shorter than that in the Group B (P<0.05). The MEP was elicited in 76% of the Group A and was higher than that in the Group B. Results of immunohistochemistry showed that there were less MBP-positive cells in the Group A than in the Group B in one and four weeks respectively.

CONCLUSIONSNGF can improve the conductive function of injured peripheral nerve and facilitate regeneration of nerve.

Animals ; Evoked Potentials ; Female ; Immunohistochemistry ; Myelin Basic Protein ; metabolism ; Nerve Growth Factor ; pharmacology ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Peripheral Nerves ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Sciatic Nerve ; injuries ; metabolism

Mitochondrial membrane potential （MMP） is one of the most sensitive indicators of cell damage and one of the potential targets of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） intervention in the cardiac function. Cardiovascular diseases， with complex mechanisms of the occurrence and development， often involve the myocardium and other organs and present slow development and high mortality， seriously affecting the quality of life of patients. The TCM treatment of cardiovascular diseases is praised for small side effects， low drug resistance， and holistic treatment and can effectively relieve symptoms and improve prognosis. In recent years， the research on the occurrence mechanism of cardiovascular diseases from mitochondrial function has gained increasing attention. MMP is closely related to the functioning mechanism of mitochondria. Studies have shown that TCM regulates MMP to treat cardiovascular diseases by modulating energy metabolism， improving mitochondrial structure and function， and inhibiting oxidative stress and apoptosis， thus protecting the heart function， improving the cure rate， and reducing the mortality of patients. This paper systematically reviews the studies about the mechanisms of TCM regulation of MMP in cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis， heart failure， myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury， diabetic cardiomyopathy disease， and pulmonary artery hypertension. Most of Chinese medicine compound prescriptions， Chinese medicinal herbs， effective fraction， and active components can protect mitochondrial function by regulating MMP. However， relevant clinical trials and TCM theoretical studies of MMP remain to be carried out to provide more ideas for TCM treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

ObjectiveTo observe the effects of Xuefu Zhuyu capsules （XFZY） on blood lipid levels and aortic plaques in the mouse model of atherosclerosis （AS） induced by a high-fat diet by regulating the silencing regulatory factor 2-like protein 3 （Sirt3）/exchange protein directly activated by cAMP 1 （EPAC1） signaling pathway and explore the mechanism of XFZY in ameliorating AS. MethodMice were assigned into normal， model， blank， rosuvastatin （0.05 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose （0.3， 0.6， 1.2 g·kg^-1·d^-1， respectively） XFZY groups. The normal group consisted of normal C57BL/6J mice， while the other groups consisted of ApoE^-/- C57BL/6J mice. The normal group and blank group were fed routinely， and the rest groups were fed with a high-fat diet for 24 consecutive weeks for the modeling of AS. The drug intervention groups were administrated with corresponding drugs by gavage， and model group and blank group with an equal volume of deionized water for 6 consecutive weeks. The small animal B-ultrasound was used to evaluate the mouse heart function and aortic plaque condition. A fully automated biochemical analyzer was used to measure the levels of blood lipids such as total cholesterol （CHOL）， triglycerides （TG）， high-density lipoprotein cholesterol （HDL-C）， low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C）， and extremely low-density lipoprotein （VLDL） in mice. Oil red O staining was employed to observe lipid deposition in the aorta. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and Masson staining were employed to observe the pathological changes and collagen deposition in mouse blood vessels. Transmission electron microscopy was employed to observe the mitochondrial damage in mouse aorta. The levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone （ACTH）， adenosine triphosphate （ATP）， and nicotinic choline receptor α1 （CHRNα1）， and total superoxide dismutase （T-SOD） were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot were performed to determine the mRNA and protein levels， respectively， of Sirt3， EPAC1， Caspase-3， B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）， and Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax） in the mouse aorta and heart. ResultMultiple AS plaques were observed in the aortic arch， indicating that the model was successfully established. Compared with the model group， the XFZY groups showed reduced and narrowed plaques. Compared with the normal group， the model group showed elevated CHOL level （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， rosuvastatin and low-dose XFZY lowered the CHOL and TG levels （P<0.01）. Compared with the normal group， the model group presented a large number of protruding red lipid plaques on the aortic wall and increased percentage of AS plaque area to total tissue area （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， low-dose XFZY reduced the plaque load （P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， XFZY at different doses reduced the lipid plaques and collagen deposition. Compared with the normal group， the model group showed decreased or disappeared mitochondrial cristae and presented severe damage of the membrane structure in endothelial cells. The mitochondria of endothelial cells in each treatment group approached the normal structure， with mitochondrial cristae faintly visible. Compared with the normal group， the model group showcased reduced myocardial mitochondrial ATP activity （P<0.01）， which were rescored in the drug intervention groups （P<0.01）. Compared with the normal group， the modeling inhibited the expression of Sirt3 （P<0.01） and promoted the expression of EPAC1 （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， low-dose XFZY increased the Sirt3 content （P<0.01） and medium-dose XFZY increased the EPAC1 content （P<0.01）， which indicated that XFZY treatment upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of Sirt3 and downregulated the mRNA and protein levels of EPAC1. ConclusionXFZY can alleviate the aortic lipid deposition， reduce the AS plaque area， improve the mitochondrial morphology and functions in endothelial cells， increase the ATP activity， upregulate the expression of Sirt3， and downregulate the expression of EPAC1 in AS mice by regulating mitochondrial energy metabolism via the Sirt3/EPAC1 signaling pathway.

Cold and heat belong to the eight-principal syndrome differentiation of traditional Chinese medicine， which can reflect the rise and fall of Yin and Yang in the body and the Yin and Yang nature of the disease. At present， traditional Chinese medicine has an inconsistent understanding of cold and heat in acute coronary syndrome. The emphasis on pathogenic factors of cold and heat is biased， and the elements of cold and heat syndrome are not fully reflected in the scale. Therefore， the literature has been reviewed from the perspectives of etiology， pathogenesis， symptom elements， and test signs with drugs. From the perspective of etiology， both cold evil and heat evil can increase the risk of acute coronary syndrome. It was previously believed that acute coronary syndrome occurs frequently in cold climates such as winter and spring. Based on this understanding， hot weather can also induce acute coronary syndrome， and different temperatures have different effects on patients of different ages and with different underlying diseases. In addition， artificial pathogenic factors such as excessive consumption of cold food and refrigeration air conditioners were added. From the perspective of pathogenesis， on the basis of the traditional ''asthenia in origin and asthenia in superficiality'' and ''phlegm stagnation''， it is found that Yin-cold and fire-heat can both cause paralysis of the heart chakra and pain induced by the blockage. The pathogenesis of acute coronary syndrome characterized by heat stagnation and coldness featuring heartburn should be distinguished from gastroesophageal reflux disease. Moreover， the pathogenesis of Yin cold coagulation and pulse stagnation and wind obstruction are different. The acute coronary syndrome is in line with the wind characteristics of frequent changes and can be treated with wind medicine. From the perspective of syndrome elements， the syndrome elements such as cold condensation， heat accumulation， and toxicity are analyzed， and the use of basic syndrome elements and their combination forms facilitates clinical and scientific research. In addition， according to the test sign with the drug， it can be seen that the attributes of cold and heat of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions for acute coronary syndrome can be explained according to the temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential （TRP） ion channel， thus proving the pathogenesis of cold and heat of acute coronary syndrome.

OBJECT IVE To provide scientific evidence for the quality standard research of Qingyi mixture （QM）qualitatively and quantitatively. METHODS The high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）fingerprint of QM was established ，and the chemical pattern recognition analysis was carried out. At the same time ，the contents of 8 components such as chlorogenic acid in the preparation were determined. The determination was performed on Agilent SB-C 18 column with 0.1％ phosphoric acid-acetonitrile as mobile phase （gradient elution ）at the flow rate of 0.6 mL/min. The column temperature was 35 ℃，and detection wavelength was set at 254 nm. Similarity Evaluation System of Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine（2012 edition），SPSS 20.0 and SIMCA 14.1 were used to perform similarity evaluation ，cluster analysis （CA），principle component analysis （PCA）and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA）of QM samples. RESULTS A total of 22 common peaks were calibrated by 15 batches of QM ，and the similarity was over 0.975. Twenty-two common peaks were assigned and 8 of them were identified. CA ，PCA and OPLS-DA divided the 15 batches of QM into two categories. Meanwhile，5 differential components were screened out ，i.e. peak 9（cichoric acid ），peak 14（baicalin），peak 18，peak 19 and peak 21 （baicalein）. The contents of 8 components，such as chlorogenic acid ，ferulic acid ，cichoric acid ，hesperidin， baicalin，salvianolic acid B ，baicalein and paeonol ，were 0.077-0.094，0.165-0.190，0.100-0.114，0.083-0.107，0.556-0.615，0.288-0.314，0.152-0.188 and 0.114-0.128 mg/g，respectively. CONCLUSIONS The established HPLC fingerprint and content determination method can provide reference for the quality standard research of QM.

Interleukin (IL)-17A, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, is a fundamental function in the onset and advancement of multiple immune diseases. To uncover the primary compounds with IL-17A inhibitory activity, a large-scale screening of the library of traditional Chinese medicine constituents and microbial secondary metabolites was conducted using splenic cells from IL-17A-GFP reporter mice cultured under Th17-priming conditions. Our results indicated that some aureane-type sesquiterpene tetraketides isolated from a wetland mud-derived fungus, Myrothecium gramineum, showed remarkable IL-17A inhibitory activity. Nine new aureane-type sesquiterpene tetraketides, myrogramins A-I ( 1, 4- 11), and two known ones ( 2 and 3) were isolated and identified from the strain. Compounds 1, 3, 4, 10, and 11 exhibited significant IL-17A inhibitory activity. Among them, compound 3, with a high fermentation yield dose-dependently inhibited the generation of IL-17A and suppressed glycolysis in splenic cells under Th17-priming conditions. Strikingly, compound 3 suppressed immunopathology in both IL-17A-mediated animal models of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and pulmonary hypertension. Our results revealed that aureane-type sesquiterpene tetraketides are a novel class of immunomodulators with IL-17A inhibitory activity, and hold great promise applications in treating IL-17A-mediated immune diseases.