OBJECTIVETo make microscopic identification research of three Echinacea-species roots recorded in the United States Pharmacopeia.

METHODThe root transverse section and powder of E. angustifolia, E. pallida, and E. purpurea were observed. The main microscopic features were photographed.

RESULTThe main microscopic features of transverse section and powder in three Echinacea-species roots are basically similar, except for some diagnostic differences. The results provide reliable reference for the authentication of raw materials of western herbal studies.

Echinacea ; anatomy & histology ; cytology ; Microscopy ; Plant Roots ; anatomy & histology ; cytology ; United States

At present, the prevalence rate of diabetes presents a rising tendency. The cardiovascular disease is a major complication of diabetes mellitus and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a severe form of coronary heart disease. Compared with non-diabetic patients, the disease situation in diabetic ACS patients is more serious with more contradictory problems and difficulty in treatment. Although percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) plays a certain role in re-canalization of coronary artery, after PCI the problems the patients with diabetic ACS will face are still serious. traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) recognizes that the etiology and pathogenesis of diabetic ACS are deficiency in Qi and Yin, and accumulation of blood stasis and toxin inside the body. Through clinical observation and retrospective analysis, it is found that using "supplementing Qi and nourishing Yin, activating blood circulation and detoxifying"can interfere with the patients' diabetic ACS and simplify the therapeutic regimen, which is an integrated regulatory treatment with multiple links, multiple pathways and multiple targets, and is a sufficient realization of unique superiority of traditional Chinese medicine by using holistic concept, syndrome differentiation and multiple-link interference for comprehensive prevention and treatment of diabetic ACS.