Objective To understand the intensity and characteristics of acute toxicity of esculentoside A on mice and measure relevant parameters and observe its diuresis effect on rat. Methods After intraperitoneal injection of different concentrations of esculentoside A to mice, toxic reactions were observed. Rats with water load were intraperitoneally injected with different doses of esculentoside A. Total urine volume in six consecutive hours after the injection was determined. Results The LD50 of esculentoside A calculated by Bliss method was 26. 19 mg · kg-1 , and the 95% confidence interval was 23. 11-29. 85 mg·kg-1 . The mortality and acute toxicity of esculentoside A appeared to be dose-dependent while the blank control group had no abnormal reaction. The urine volume was significantly different between high dose group and the negative control group. No significant difference in urine volume was found between middle and the negative control group, and between low dose group and the negative control group. Conclusion Esculentoside A is poisonous to mice when single dose was intraperitoneally injected, and high dose of esculentoside A has diuresis effect on rat.

This study was aimed to analyze changes of content and quantity of essential oil of processing drugs of Rhizome Atractylodes and to achieve the impact of pyrolysis characteristics for using excipients, in order to offer evi-dences for further research and its processing technology. Steam distillation was used to extract essential oil in the Rhizome Atractylodes. Infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography were used in the qualitative and quantitative analysis on constituents of essential oil of processing products of Rhizome Atractylodes. Thermogravimetric analysis was used in the comparison of pyrolysis characteristics between Rhizome Atractylodes and its excipients. The results showed that the content of essential oil was declined after processing. However, after being processed, the content of atractylodin was increased at different degrees compared to crude product. The change of atractylodin showed differ-ent tendency in different processing drugs. The atractylodin content from high to low was in the order of products stir-baked to yellowish, products roasted by bran, products prepared with rice water, crude drug. At the temperature of more than 220oC, excipients had major impact for the pyrolysis characteristics of Rhizome Atractylodes. It was concluded that the essential oil declined, but atractylodin increased after Rhizome Atractylodes being processed. It also provided experimental basis for further research on processing technology, ormulation of quality standard and improvement of processing mechanism.

This study was aimed to reveal current achievements and the future trend about Chinese materia medica (CMM) processing, which pointed future research direction for scholars.“CMM processing” was used as the subject term in document retrieval to the Web of Science (WoS) and CNKI. The CitespaceII and Ucinet & Netdraw were used to build mapping knowledge domains to acceptable both English and Chinese literature data. The results showed that the mapping knowledge for“CMM processing” for co-citation, source journal, author, key words and so on were established. It was concluded that the rapid present period of Chinese literature on CMM processing was earlier for around 15 years than English literature. And the total amount of English documents was much less than Chinese documents. Combing the developing process of CMM, it revealed its current achievements and future trend, which pointed future research direction for scholars, and moreover it put forward new thinking and method to summarize or expand traditional medicine and related research fields.

This paper is based on the literature of the last ten years by summarizing and analyzing the progress in the study of Rehmanniae Radix, focusing on the research progress are reviewed at the dynamic changes of the main Chemical indicators of Rehmanniae Radix Preparata, objective expression of four kinds of processed products (Steamed, steamed with wine, wine stew, ancient law (steamed for nine times and shined for nine times) ) and the objective expression of four kinds of processed products and the change of the pharmacological effects.There are many objective expression methods for processing end points of different processed products of Rehmanniae Radix Preparata, But processing are unclear until now. Innovative research on standardized unification and new research ideas are needed.

Renal fibrosis is a devastating consequence of progressive chronic kidney disease,representing a major public health challenge worldwide.The underlying mechanisms in the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis remain unclear,and effective treatments are still lacking.Renal tubular epithelial cells(RTECs)maintain kidney function,and their dysfunction has emerged as a critical contributor to renal fibrosis.Cellular quality control comprises several components,including telomere homeostasis,ubiquitin-proteasome system(UPS),autophagy,mitochondrial homeostasis(mitophagy and mitochondrial metabolism),endoplasmic reticulum(ER,unfolded protein response),and lysosomes.Failures in the cellular quality control of RTECs,including DNA,protein,and organelle damage,exert profibrotic functions by leading to senescence,defective autophagy,ER stress,mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction,apoptosis,fibro-blast activation,and immune cell recruitment.In this review,we summarize recent advances in un-derstanding the role of quality control components and intercellular crosstalk networks in RTECs,within the context of renal fibrosis.

Objective To grasp the main environmental factors affecting the growth of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao;To predict the distribution of suitable areas of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province;To provide references for the rational distribution of the resources in Shanxi Province.Methods This study utilized the sample point longitude and latitude information collected in the"Fourth Survey of Chinese Materia Medica Resources"database in Shanxi Province.The data were supplemented by searching the China Digital Herbarium and retrieving related literature records.347 sample points distribution data and environmental factors were added to the MaxEnt model.The main environmental factors and contribution rates affecting the geographical distribution of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao were screened out.The ArcGIS software was used to divide the ecological suitable area of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province.Results The area under the ROC curve of the established MaxEnt model was 0.909,indicating that the model prediction results were accurate.The model screened 19 environmental factors.Among them,climate factor was the most important environmental factor,followed by biological factor and topographic factor,and soil factor had the least influence.The potential suitable areas of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province were mainly distributed in the northern mountainous areas,presenting a trend of gradually decreasing suitability levels from north to south.Under the current climate conditions,the most suitable area for Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province was 15 424 km2,the suitable area was 19 856 km2,the sub suitable area was 59 436 km2,and the unsuitable area was 61 894 km2.Conclusion Based on MaxEnt model and ArcGIS software,this study predicts the distribution of suitable areas of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao in Shanxi Province,which has certain reference value for the protection and rational distribution of Astragalus membranaceus(Fisch.)Bge.var.mongholicus(Bge.)Hsiao resources in Shanxi Province.

ObjectiveThe glycosidic linkage structural characteristics of polysaccharides from Pinelliae Rhizoma（PR） and its processed products were analyzed by sugar spectrum， high performance thin layer chromatography（HPTLC）， fluorescence-assisted carbohydrate gel electrophoresis（PACE） based on partial acid hydrolysis and specific glycosidase hydrolysis， and the antioxidant activities of polysaccharides before and after hydrolysis（enzymolysis） were compared. MethodPolysaccharides from PR and its processed products were extracted by ultrasound extraction， starch was hydrolyzed by α-amylase， and small molecules below 3 kDa were removed by ultrafiltration. The purified polysaccharides were prepared by hydrolysis of acid and five different specific glycosidases， and the hydrolysates were analyzed by HPTLC and PACE. The antioxidant capacity of polysaccharides was analyzed by 2，2′-azino-bis（3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid）（ABTS） and 2，2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl（DPPH） free radical scavenging experiment before and after different hydrolysis. ResultThrough HPTLC and PACE analysis， it was found that polysaccharides from PR and its processed products could be hydrolyzed by β-galactosidase， β-mannase， cellulase and pectinase， but hardly hydrolyzed by glucanase， indicating that the polysaccharides contained β-galactopyranoside bond， β-1，4-mannoside bond， β-1，4-glucoside bond and α-1，4-galacturonic acid glycosidic bond. In vitro antioxidant experiments showed that the ABTS radical scavenging capacity of the polysaccharides from PR and its processed products was weakened after acid hydrolysis and pectinase enzymatic hydrolysis， while the ABTS radical scavenging capacity was enhanced after enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulase， β-galactosidase， and β-mannase. And after different hydrolysis， the DPPH free radical scavenging capacity of polysaccharides from PR and its processed products was all significantly enhanced. ConclusionThe glycosidic linkage structural characteristics of polysaccharides from PR and its processed products was analyzed by sugar spectrum in this paper， and the relationship between glycosidic bond types and their antioxidant activity was clarified through in vitro antioxidant experiments， which is beneficial for further elucidating the material basis of the related efficacy of PR and its processed products， and providing new ideas and methods for analyzing the structural characteristics of polysaccharides in Chinese medicines.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of Setaria italica extract on improving insomnia model mice and to explore its potential mechanisms. METHODS The mice were randomly assigned into blank group， model group， positive control group （diazepam， 2.6 mg/kg）， and S. italica extract low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （1.2， 2.4， 4.8 g/kg）， with 10 mice in each group. Except for the blank group， all other groups received intraperitoneal injection of para-chlorophenylalanine （PCPA） to establish the insomnia model. After modeling， the blank group and model group were given a constant volume of normal saline intragastrically， and administration groups were given relevant medicine intragastrically， with a volume of 0.01 mL/g， once a day， for 7 consecutive days. After the administration， the open-field test was conducted to observe the praxiological changes of mice， and to determine the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine （5-HT） and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid （5-HTAA） in the hippocampal tissue， as well as the contents of 5-HT， brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF）， interleukin-2 （IL-2）， IL-6， B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl- 2）， and Bcl-2-associated X protein （Bax） in the serum. The expression of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/nuclear factor- κB （PI3K/Akt/NF-κB） signaling pathway related protein was determined in the hippocampus of mice. RESULTS Compared with the model group， the total exercise time of mice in S. italica extract high-dose group was significantly prolonged， but the total rest time was significantly shortened （P＜0.01）； the number of standing times and modification times were significantly reduced （P＜ 0.01）. The contents of 5-HT， BDNF， and Bcl-2 in serum， and Bcl-2/Bax were significantly increased， while the contents of IL-2， IL-6， and Bax were significantly reduced （P＜0.05 or P＜ 0.01）. The content of 5-HTAA in the hippocampal tissue and 202104010910029）；the phosphorylation levels of PI3K and Akt proteins were increased significantly， while the phosphorylation level of NF-κB p65 protein was decreased significantly （P＜0.05）.CONCLUSIONS High-dose of S. italica extract demonstrates significant therapeutic effects on insomnia in mice， and the mechanism of which may be associated with the regulation of PI3K/Akt/NF-κB signaling pathway.