Objective To study the stilbene constituents from the traditional Chinese medicine Smilax china and to determine their antioxidant activity. Methods The compounds were separated and purified by column chromatography with silica gel, RP C18, and Sephadex LH- 20, and were identified by IR, MS, NMR. DPPH method was used to evaluate the free radical scavenging activity of the isolated compounds. Results Three compounds were isolated from the EtOAc fraction of the rhizomes of S. china and were identified as: resveratrol (1), oxyresveratrol (2) and 3, 5, 3′ , 4′ - tetrahydroxylstilbene (3). Compounds 1～ 3 showed strong antioxidant activity, and could scavenge DPPH free radicals, effectively. At the concentration of 50 ? mol/L, their DPPH free radical scavenging rates were 79.47 % , 89.89 % and 93.86 % , respectively. Conclusion Stilbenes might be the material foundation of antioxidant activities of rhizomes of S. china.

Objective To study the chemical constituents of Abacopteris penangiana.Methods The compounds were separated and purified by various chromatographic techniques and their structures were elucidated on the basis of physiochemical properties and spectroscopic methods.Results Seven compounds were purified and their structures were identified as:(7'Z)-3-O-(3,4-dihydroxy phenylethenyl)-caffeic acid(1),caffeiein B(2),matteucinol(3),protocatechuic acid(4),p-methoxybenzoic acid(5),β-sitosterol(6),and daucosterol(7).Conclusion Compound 1 is a new phenolic acid compound named abacopteric acid,and the other compounds are isolated from the plant for the first time.

Objective: To study the effect of berberine (BR) on ventricular remodeling in experimental rats with myocardial infarction (MI) and its mechanisms.
Methods: The MI model of experimental rats was established by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery and the MI animals were randomly divided into 3 groups: MI+BR group, in which the rats received BR 20 mg/kg.d, Sham group and MI group, the rats in those 2 groups received the same volume of normal saline. All animals were treated for 8 weeks. The cardiac function and structure were assessed by echocardiography, cardiac interstitial collagen deposition was evaluated by Masson stain, the myocardial cell apoptosis was detected by Tunel method, and the activation of nuclear factor (NF-κB) was also examined.
Results: For echocardiography, MI group had enlarged left ventricular end diastolic diameter (7.28 ± 0.29) mm than Sham group (6.86 ± 0.36) mm,P<0.05, but it decreased in MI+BR group (6.89 ± 0.99) mm,P>0.05. MI group had increased left ventricular end systolic diameter (5.88 ± 0.33) mm than Sham group (4.61 ± 0.31) mm, but it decreased in MI+BR group (4.68 ± 1.17) mm, allP< 0.01. MI group showed increased left ventricular posterior wall compensatory hypertrophy (1.81 ± 0.85) mm than Sham group (1.67 ± 0.16 mm),P<0.05, while in MI+BR group, it was deereased to (1.65 ± 0.14) mm. MI group presented decreased LVEF (45.77 ± 3.17) % than Sham group (67.28 ± 4.15) %, but it increased in MI+BR group (64.64 ± 5.82) %, allP<0.01. For Masson stain, cardiac interstitial collagen deposition in MI group (11.39 ± 0.45) % was higher than Sham group (2.65 ± 0.45) %, but less in MI+BR group (7.00 ± 0.87) %, allP<0.01. For Tunel examination, the myocardial cell apoptosis index was increased in MI group (21.31 ± 2.34) than Sham group (0.99 ± 0.38), but decreased in MI+BR group (14.15 ± 1.62), allP<0.01. For NF-κB activation study, the nuclear protein p65 content was higher in MI group (0.14 ± 0.02) ng/ml than Sham group (0.06 ± 0.01) ng/ml, but lower in MI+BR group (0.10 ± 0.02) ng/ml, allP<0.01.
Conclusion: Application of BR may improve the ventricular remodeling and cardiac function in experimental MI rats, it might be because of BR partially inhibit NF-κB activation, reduce collagen deposition and help anti-apoptosis in myocardial cells.

Notch signaling pathway is a highly conserved signaling pathway in the process of evolution. It is composed of three parts: Notch receptor, ligand and effector molecules responsible for intracellular signal transduction. It plays an important role in cell proliferation, differentiation, development, migration, apoptosis and other processes, and has a regulatory effect on tissue homeostasis and homeostasis. Mitochondria are the sites of oxidative metabolism in eukaryotes, where sugars, fats and proteins are finally oxidized to release energy. In recent years, the regulation of Notch signaling pathway on mitochondrial energy metabolism has attracted more and more attention. A large number of data have shown that Notch signaling pathway has a significant effect on mitochondrial energy metabolism, but the relationship between Notch signaling pathway and mitochondrial energy metabolism needs to be specifically and systematically discussed. In this paper, the relationship between Notch signaling pathway and mitochondrial energy metabolism is reviewed, in order to improve the understanding of them and provide new ideas for the treatment of related diseases.
Signal Transduction/physiology* ; Mitochondria ; Receptors, Notch/metabolism* ; Cell Differentiation/physiology* ; Energy Metabolism

Objective: To observe the expression changes of Notch and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathways in rat myocardium post myocardial infarction. Methods: Myocardial infarction was established by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery(MI group), sham rats (similar surgical procedure without coronary artery ligation) served as control, the rats were sacrificed at first week, 4th and 8th week after operation, the non-infarct myocardial tissue in both groups was obtained to detect the mRNA expression of Notch1, Dll4 and Hes1 by RT-PCR, the protein expression of NICD1 was detected by Western blot, the nuclear protein p65 content was detected to reflect the activation degree of NF-κB signaling in the cardiomyocytes. Results: The myocardial mRNA expression of Notch1 in MI group was significantly higher than in control group (1.68±0.35 vs. 0.47±0.12, P<0.05) at first week, and tended to be higher at the 4th week and 8th week (P>0.05). The mRNA expression of Dll4 and Hes1 was similar between the two groups at the three time points. NICD1 protein level was increased at the first week in MI group as compared with control group (1.31±0.33 vs.0.45±0.11, P<0.05), which tended also to be higher at the 4th week and 8th week post operation (P>0.05). For NF-κB activation study, the nuclear protein p65 content was higher at first week, 4th week and 8th week in MI group as compared with respective control groups (0.286±0.052 vs.0.049±0.016 (P<0.01), 0.247±0.056 vs. 0.043±0.018 (P<0.01), 0.120±0.033 vs. 0.044±0.009 (P<0.05)), the most significant increase was found in the first week. Conclusions Notch and NF-κB signaling pathways are actively involved in the process of ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction. Notch1 and NF-κB signaling pathways are both activated at the first week after myocardial infarction, NF-κB signaling pathway activation after myocardial infarction continues up to 8 weeks. These two signal transduction pathways may thus serve as new targets for future intervention studies to prevent heart failure.

Objective To study the correlation of the serum albumin level on the first day of life and the mortality rate in preterm infants .Method Premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit between January 2015 and December 2015 were recruited for study .Preterm infants were assigned into low level group ( <25 g/L ) , medium level group ( 25 ~30 g/L ) and high level group ( >30 g/L ) according to serum albumin level on the first day after birth .To compare the treatment and related prognostic factors among the three groups with χ2 and F tests.Besides, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to predict the relative factors of premature infant mortality .Result A total of 364 premature infants were collected, and the mean serum albumin concentration was (27.9 ±5.7) g/L.There were 92 cases of low level group, 179 cases of moderate level group and 93 cases of high level group.There was no significant difference in gender , gestational age , birth weight and gestational age among the preterm infants (P>0.05).The pH, base excess value of first blood gas after birth and the percentage of prenatal steroid hormone in premature infants were lower than those in medium and high level group .The percentage of prenatal eclampsia and Lac value were higher than that of medium group and high level group , and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).There were no statistical differences among three groups in the proportion of mechanical ventilation , the duration of mechanical ventilation and oxygen , the length of hospital stay and the incidence rate of patent ductus arteriosus , intracranial hemorrhage , bronchopulmonary dsyplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis, retinopathy of prematurity and periventricular leukomalacia (P>0.05). The incidence of respiratory distress syndrome , sepsis and mortality in the low level group were higher than that of the other groups, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that low birth weight (OR=1.233, P=0.005), serum albumin concentration (<25 g/L) (OR=3.453, P=0.020), and the complication of respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis (OR=1.363、2.611, P =0.006、0.004) were independent predictors of mortality in preterm infants . Albumin levels lower than 22.8 g/L is associated with mortality , with a sensitivity of 72%and a specificity of 85%.Conclusion The decrease of serum albumin level on the first day of life after birth can be used as an independent risk factor for predicting mortality in premature infants .

Objective: To study the value of unmethylated cytosine guanine dinucleotide oligodeoxynucleotide (DSP30) and IL-2 in the conventional cytogenetic (CA) detection of the chromosomal aberrations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) . Methods: Bone marrow or peripheral blood cells of CLL patients were cultured with DSP30 plus IL-2 for 72 h, following which R-banding analysis was conducted. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed in 85 patients. CA results were compared with data obtained by FISH. Results: Among 89 CLL patients, the success rate of chromosome analysis was 94.38% (84/89) . Clonal aberrations were detected in 51 patients (51/84, 60.71%) . Of them, 27 (27/51, 52.94%) were complex karyotype. Among 85 CLL patients tested by FISH, chromosomal abnormalities were detected in 74 (74/85, 87.06%) patients, of which 2 (2/74) patients were complex karyotypes, accounting for 2.70%. Of the 85 CLL patients examined by FISH, 50 had abnormal karyotype analysis, 30 had normal karyotype, 5 failed to have chromosome analysis. Among them, 25 cases showed clonal aberrations by FISH assay but normal by CA, and 4 cases were normal by FISH but displayed aberrations in chromosome analysis, and totally 78 (91.76%) cases with abnormality detected by the combination of the two methods. The frequency of 13q- abnormality detected by FISH was significantly higher than that by CA analysis (69.41%vs 16.67%, P<0.001) , while the frequency of 11q-,+12 and 17p- detected by two methods showed no significant difference (P>0.05) . The detection rate of complex abnormalities in conventional karyotype analysis was higher than that in FISH (50.98%vs 2.70%) . In addition, 11 low-risk and 9 intermediate-risk patients according to FISH results showed complex karyotype by cytogenetics, and were classified into high-risk cytogenetic subgroup. Conclusion DSP30 and IL-2 are effective in improving the detection rate of CA in CLL patients (60.71%) and CA is more effective to detect complex karyotype. However, FISH had a higher overall abnormality detection rate (87.06%) than CA, especially for 13q-. The combination of CA and FISH not only enhanced the detection rate of clonal aberrations to 91.76%, but also provided more precise prognosis stratification for CLL patients, thus to provide more information for clinical implication.

Septic cardiomyopathy (SCM) has a high incidence and complex pathogenesis, which can significantly increase the mortality of sepsis patients. NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammatory corpuscles play an important role in the pathogenesis of SCM. Mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiomyocytes is also one of the important pathogenesis of SCM. Activation of NLRP3 inflammatory corpuscles is closely related to mitochondrial dysfunction. The study of interaction mechanism between the two is helpful to find a new therapeutic scheme for SCM. This article reviews the interaction between NLRP3 inflammatory corpuscles and mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of SCM, as well as the related mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prevention and treatment of SCM, providing theoretical reference for further exploring therapeutic targets for SCM.

Objective:To investigate the protective effect of berberine hydrochloride on intestinal mucosal barrier damage in sepsis rats and its mechanism.Methods:Forty-eight male SD rats were divided into a control group (Sham group, 6 cases), a sepsis model group (LPS group, 14 cases), a berberine hydrochloride intervention group (Ber group, 14 cases), and a Notch signaling pathway inhibition group (DAPT group, 14 cases) according to random number table method. The DAPT group was intraperitoneally injected with 5 mg/kg Notch signaling pathway inhibition DAPT 2 hours before modeling. The sepsis model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS); Sham group was injected with an equal amount of saline (2 mL). The Ber group and DAPT group were treated with gavage of 50 mg/kg berberine hydrochloride 2 hours after modeling; Sham group and LPS group were treated with gavage of an equal amount of saline (2 mL). The temperature, weight, behavior and survival rate of rats were observed at 0, 6, 12 and 24 hours of modeling. After 24 hours of modeling, abdominal aortic blood was collected under anesthesia, and intestinal tissues were obtained after euthanasia. The pathological changes of ileum were observed under light microscope. The ultrastructure of ileum was observed under transmission electron microscope. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the levels of serum diamine oxidase (DAO), intestinal fatty acid binding protein (iFABP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of tight junction proteins (Occludin and Claudin1), Notch1 and their downstream target signals in the ileum tissue.Results:After 24 hours of modeling, compared with the Sham group, the LPS group, Ber group, and DAPT group showed a decrease in weight and an increase in temperature. Among them, the LPS group showed the most significant changes, followed by the DAPT group, and the Ber group showed the least significant changes. The survival rates of the LPS group, Ber group, and DAPT group were all lower than those of the Sham group [42.9% (6/14), 57.1% (8/14), 57.1% (8/14) vs. 100% (6/6)], and six rats were taken from each group for subsequent testing. Macroscopic observation of the intestine showed that the LPS group had the most severe edema in the ileum tissue and abdominal bleeding, with significant improvement in the Ber group and followed by the DAPT group. Under the light microscope, the LPS group showed disordered arrangement of glandular tissue in the ileum mucosa, significantly reduced goblet cells, and extensive infiltration of inflammatory cells, which were significantly improved in the Ber group but less improved in the DAPT group. Under electron microscopy, the LPS group showed extensive shedding of ileal microvilli and severe damage to the tight junction complex structure of intestinal epithelial cells, which was significantly improved in the Ber group but less improved in the DAPT group. The levels of serum DAO, iFABP, TNF-α, IL-6 in the LPS group were significantly higher than those in the Sham group, while the above indicators in the Ber group were significantly lower than those in the LPS group [DAO (μg/L): 4.94±0.44 vs. 6.53±0.49, iFABP (ng/L): 709.67±176.97 vs. 1 417.71±431.44, TNF-α (ng/L): 74.70±8.15 vs. 110.36±3.51, IL-6 (ng/L): 77.34±9.80 vs. 101.65±6.92, all P < 0.01], while the above indicators in the DAPT group were significantly higher than those in the Ber group. The results of RT-PCR and Western blotting showed that the mRNA and protein expressions of Occludin, Claudin1, Notch1, and Hes1 in the ileum tissue of LPS group rats were decreased compared to the Sham group, which were significantly increased in the Ber group compared with the LPS group [mRNA expression: Occludin mRNA (2 -ΔΔCt): 1.61±0.74 vs. 0.30±0.12, Claudin1 mRNA (2 -ΔΔCt): 1.97±0.37 vs. 0.58±0.14, Notch1 mRNA (2 -ΔΔCt): 1.29±0.29 vs. 0.36±0.10, Hes1 mRNA (2 -ΔΔCt): 1.22±0.39 vs. 0.27±0.04; protein expression: Occludin/GAPDH: 1.17±0.14 vs. 0.74±0.04, Claudin1/GAPDH: 1.14±0.06 vs. 0.58±0.10, Notch1/GAPDH: 0.87±0.11 vs. 0.56±0.09, Hes1/GAPDH: 1.02±0.13 vs. 0.62±0.01; all P < 0.05], while those in the DAPT group were significantly lower than those in the Ber group. Conclusion:Early use of berberine hydrochloride can significantly improve intestinal mucosal barrier damage in sepsis rats, and its mechanism may be related to inhibiting inflammatory response and regulating the expression of intestinal mechanical barrier tight junction protein through Notch1 signal.

Pulmonary fibrosis(PF)is a chronic progressive end-stage lung disease.However,the mechanisms un-derlying the progression of this disease remain elusive.Presently,clinically employed drugs are scarce for the treatment of PF.Hence,there is an urgent need for developing novel drugs to address such diseases.Our study found for the first time that a natural source of Prismatomeris connata Y.Z.Ruan(Huang Gen,HG)ethyl acetate extract(HG-2)had a significant anti-PF effect by inhibiting the expression of the transforming growth factor beta 1/suppressor of mothers against decapentaplegic(TGF-β1/Smad)pathway.Network pharmacological analysis suggested that HG-2 had effects on tyrosine kinase phosphorylation,cellular response to reactive oxygen species,and extracellular matrix(ECM)disassembly.Moreover,mass spec-trometry imaging(MSI)was used to visualize the heterogeneous distribution of endogenous metabolites in lung tissue and reveal the anti-PF metabolic mechanism of HG-2,which was related to arginine biosyn-thesis and alanine,asparate and glutamate metabolism,the downregulation of arachidonic acid meta-bolism,and the upregulation of glycerophospholipid metabolism.In conclusion,we elaborated on the relationship between metabolite distribution and the progression of PF,constructed the regulatory metabolic network of HG-2,and discovered the multi-target therapeutic effect of HG-2,which might be conducive to the development of new drugs for PF.