AIM:To establish the quality specification of Yinzhihuang Injection (extract of Herba Artemisiae scopariae,extract of Fructus Gardeniae,extract of Radix Scutellariae,extract of Flos Lonicerae Japonicae); METHODS:Extractum Artemisiae Scopariae、 Extractum Fructus gardeniae、 Extractum Flos lonicerae and Extractum Radix scutellariae were identified by TLC and were determined by HPLC. RESULTS:The average recoveries of chlorogenil、gardenoside、baicalin and p-hydroxyacetophenone were 99.8%,99.2%,100.1% and 99.9%,respectively.RSD were 0.81%,1.20%,1.90% and 0.55%,respectively.The TLC sports developed were fairly clear,and the blank test showed no interference. CONCLUSION:The method developed is simple and accurate with good reproducibility,and the method can be used for quality control of Yinzhihuang Injection.

The present study was conducted to develop new inhibitors of pancreatic lipase and alpha-glucosidase from Chinese dietary herbs. Sixty-three dietary herbs from 39 taxonomic families were selected and extracted with aqueous ethanol or water. The extracts were then tested with in vitro enzyme assays for their ability to inhibit pancreatic lipase and alpha-glucosidase activities. Orlistat and acarbose were used as two positive controls. The extracts of Nelumbo nucifera, Curcuma longa, Piper longum and Morus alba showed strong pancreatic lipase inhibitory effects with IC50 at (28.00 +/- 5.51), (5.24 +/- 0.51), (14.76 +/- 2.58), (4.78 +/- 0.58), (3.41 +/- 0.67) mg x L(-1), respectively. These extracts also showed potent alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activities with IC50 at (1.98 +/- 0.13), (0. 18 + 0.007), (0.71 +/- 0.08), (0.077 +/- 0.005), (0.089 +/- 0.006) g x L(-1), respectively. The results provide useful information for developing new drugs or natural health products for hyperlipidemia and hypoglycemia from Chinese dietary herbs.
Curcuma ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Lipase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Morus ; chemistry ; Nelumbo ; chemistry ; Pancreas ; enzymology ; Piper ; chemistry ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; alpha-Glucosidases ; metabolism

We examined the neural correlates of the statistical learning of orthographic-semantic connections in Chinese adult learners. Visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants were exposed to a sequence of artificial logographic characters containing semantic radicals carrying low, moderate, or high levels of semantic consistency. The behavioral results showed that the mean accuracy of participants' recognition of previously exposed characters was 63.1% that was significantly above chance level (50%), indicating the statistical learning of the regularities of semantic radicals. The ERP data revealed a temporal sequence of the neural process of statistical learning of orthographic-semantic connections, and different brain indexes were found to be associated with this processing, i.e., a clear N170-P200-N400 pattern. For N170, the larger negative amplitudes were evoked by the high and moderate consistency than the low consistency. For P200, the mean amplitudes elicited by the moderate and low consistency were larger than the high consistency. In contrast, a larger N400 amplitude was observed in the low than moderate and high consistency; and more negative amplitude was elicited by the moderate than high consistency. We propose that the initial potential shifts (N170 and P200) may reflect orthographic or graphic form identification, while the later component (N400) may be associated with semantic information analysis.

Objective The echocardiography of patients with chronic Keshan disease (CKD) in the plateau and plain areas was compared,to analyze the specific manifestations of echocardiography in patients with high altitude CKD,to provide a reference for imaging diagnosis.Methods From October 2014 to December 2016,34 patients with CKD were selected in the Tibet Autonomous Region [18 males,16 females,aged (44.5 ± 5.6) years old] as plateau group;45 patients with CKD were selected in Shandong Province [21 males,24 females,age (47.3 ± 6.9) years old] as a plain group.Echocardiography was performed on the observed subjects,and cardiac morphology,hemodynamics and cardiac function were analyzed.Results The left atrial diameter (LAD),left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD),and left ventricular mass (LVM) of the plateau group were (39.2 ± 4.8),(56.5 ± 6.3) mm and (232.4 ± 40.2) g,respectively,which were lower than those of the plain group [(48.3 ± 5.7),(65.2 ± 7.8) mm,(283.7 ± 38.3) g,t =-7.52,-5.30,-5.74,P ＜ 0.01].The right atrial transverse diameter (RATD),right ventricular transverse diameter (RVTD) and right ventricular lateral wall thickness (RVWT) of the plateau group were (47.6 ± 8.5),(50.4 ± 7.3) and (4.8 ± 1.1) mm,respectively,which were higher than those of the plain group [(42.3 ± 7.2),(42.7 ± 6.8),(3.3 ± 0.7) mm,t =2.99,4.81,7.36,P ＜ 0.01].The early diastolic filling velocity (E),the early diastolic peak velocity of the mitral annular (Em) of the plateau group were lower than those of the plain group,E/Em of the plateau group was higher than that of the plain group (t =-2.64,-2.35,2.07,P ＜ 0.05).The fractional area change (FAC) of right ventricular,tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and tricuspid annular systolic velocity (S') of the plateau group [(24.9 ± 2.8)％,(13.2 ± 1.2) mm,(6.8 ± 1.0) cm/s] were lower than those of the plain group [(26.3 ± 3.2)％,(14.5 ± 1.3) rmm,(7.5 ± 1.2) cm/s,t =-2.02,-4.53,-2.74,P ＜ 0.05 or ＜ 0.01].The tricuspid annular diastolic velocity (e') of the plateau group was lower than that of the plain group,and tricuspid annular blood flow early diastolic filling velocity maximum (e)/e'was higher than that of the plain group (t =-2.07,2.09,P ＜ 0.05).The systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) of the plateau group [(48.5 ± 12.3) mmHg,1 mmHg =0.133 kPa] was higher than that of the plain group [(41.6 ± 13.3) mmHg,t =2.34,P ＜ 0.05].Conclusion Compared with CKD patients in plain area,CKD patients in plateau area have showed more obvious right heart enlargement and right ventricular failure,and combined with higher SPAP.

The process of reading words depends heavily on efficient visual skills, including analyzing and decomposing basic visual features. Surprisingly, previous reading-related studies have almost exclusively focused on gross aspects of visual skills, while only very few have investigated the role of finer skills. The present study filled this gap and examined the relations of two finer visual skills measured by grating acuity (the ability to resolve periodic luminance variations across space) and Vernier acuity (the ability to detect/discriminate relative locations of features) to Chinese character-processing as measured by character form-matching and lexical decision tasks in skilled adult readers. The results showed that Vernier acuity was significantly correlated with performance in character form-matching but not visual symbol form-matching, while no correlation was found between grating acuity and character processing. Interestingly, we found no correlation of the two visual skills with lexical decision performance. These findings provide for the first time empirical evidence that the finer visual skills, particularly as reflected in Vernier acuity, may directly contribute to an early stage of hierarchical word processing.
Adolescent ; Decision Making ; Female ; Form Perception ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Pattern Recognition, Visual ; physiology ; Photic Stimulation ; Reading ; Semantics ; Statistics as Topic ; Visual Acuity ; physiology ; Vocabulary ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether kirenol, the major pharmacologically active compound of the Chinese medicinal herb , can protect mice from dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS: C57BL/6 mice with or without kirenol pretreatment were treated with DSS in drinking water for 7 days to induce UC. The symptoms of UC including weight loss, diarrhea and bloody stool were observed daily and graded using the disease activity index (DAI). Colon injury of the mice was assessed by measuring the length of the colon and HE staining of the colon tissue. The levels of inflammatory cytokines produced by the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) lymphocytes were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; the apoptosis of the lymphocytes and CD4 T cells was analyzed using flow cytometry. RESULTS: The mice receiving pretreatment with kirenol showed obviously ameliorated symptoms of UC and milder pathological changes in the colon as compared with the control mice. Kirenol treatment significantly down-regulated the secretion of IFN-γ, IL-17A, IL-6 and TNF-α by the MLNs lymphocytes and increased the apoptosis of lymphocytes, especially CD4 T cells in the DSS-treated mice. CONCLUSIONS Kirenol can protect against T cell-mediated colon injury in DSS-treated mice possibly by suppressing the secretion of inflammatory mediators and inducing apoptosis of the inflammatory lymphocytes.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Cytokines ; Dextran Sulfate ; Diterpenes ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; T-Lymphocytes

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xiao′er Huangjin Zhike Granules in the treatment of cough caused by acute bronchitis in children, which is defined in TCM terms as a syndrome of phlegm-heat obstructing the lung.Methods:This was a block-randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial.From January 2022 to September 2023, 359 children aged 3 to 7 years old diagnosed as acute bronchitis (lung-obstructing phlegm-heat syndrome) were enrolled from 21 participating hospitals and randomly assigned to the experimental group and placebo group in a 3︰1 ratio, and respectively treated with Xiao′er Huangjin Zhike Granules and its matching placebo.Cough resolution/general resolution rate after 7 days of treatment was used as the primary efficacy outcome for both groups.Results:(1)On the seventh day of treatment, the rate of cough disappearance/basically disappearance in the experimental group and placebo group were 73.95% and 57.61% retrospectively, which had statistically significance ( P=0.001).(2)After 7 days of treatment, the median duration of cough disappearance/basic disappearance were 5 days and 6 days in the two groups , with a statistically significant difference ( P=0.006).The area under the curve of cough symptom severity time was 7.20 ± 3.79 in the experimental group and 8.20±4.42 in the placebo group.The difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P=0.039).(3) After 7 days of treatment, the difference between TCM syndrome score and baseline was -16.0 (-20.0, -15.0) points in the experimental group and -15.0 (-18.0, -12.0) points in the placebo group, with significant difference between the two groups ( P=0.004).In the experimental group, the clinical control rate, the markedly effective rate, the effective rate and the ineffective rate were 49.04%, 28.35%, 16.48% and 6.13% severally; and in the placebo group, the clinical control rate, the markedly effective rate, the effective rate and the ineffective rate were 38.04%, 26.09%, 29.35%, and 6.52% separately, which had statistically significant ( P=0.014).(4) There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events or adverse reactions during the trial between both groups.Moreover, while adverse reactions in the form of vomiting and diarrhea were occasionally reported, no serious drug-related adverse event or adverse reaction was reported.(5)The tested drug provided good treatment compliance, showing no statistically significant difference from the placebo in terms of compliance rate. Conclusions:Based on the above findings, it can be concluded that Xiao′er Huangjin Zhike Granules provides good safety, efficacy, and treatment compliance in the treatment of cough caused by acute bronchitis, and lung-obstructing phlegm-heat syndrome, in children.