1.Comparison of Wild and Cultivated Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus Based on Traditional Quality Evaluation
Fengfan WANG ; Yajie XIANG ; Jian FENG ; Wencheng HOU ; Wenlan LI ; Yangyang LIU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(5):235-244
ObjectiveTo compare the differences between wild Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus(WAOF) and cultivated Alpiniae Oxyphyllae Fructus(CAOF) through a traditional quality evaluation system for medicinal materials. MethodsA total of 10 batches of WAOF and 12 batches of CAOF samples were collected from various regions of Hainan province. Relevant analytical methods from the 2020 edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China were employed to observe the characteristics of WAOF and CAOF, followed by microscopic identification, thin-layer chromatography(TLC) identification, moisture content(toluene method), total ash, acid-insoluble ash, water-soluble and alcohol-soluble extracts(hot dipping method), water-soluble protein, total polysaccharides and total flavonoids(ultraviolet spectrophotometry), and volatile oil content(method A under general rule 2204). The contents of five active components(protocatechuic acid, chrysin, kaempferol, tectochrysin and nootkatone) were quantified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography(UPLC), and the antioxidant activity was evaluated. Building upon traditional quality evaluation of AOF, quantitative measurements were conducted on its appearance traits including diameter, length, plumpness(diameter/length ratio), and color. Canonical correlation analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 to explore relationships between appearance traits and intrinsic quality. ResultsNo significant differences were observed between WAOF and CAOF in microscopic observation, TLC identification, moisture content, protocatechuic acid content, kaempferol content, odor, or antioxidant activity measured by 2,2ʹ-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)(ABTS) method. WAOF exhibited significantly higher levels in water-soluble extracts, alcohol-soluble extracts, total polysaccharide content, water-soluble protein content, 100-grain weight, length, and total color difference(ΔE*ab) compared to CAOF(P<0.01). In contrast, CAOF showed significantly higher levels of total ash, acid-insoluble ash, content of total flavonoids, volatile oil content, chrysin content, tectochrysin content, nootkatone content, diameter, plumpness, lightness(L*), red-green chromaticity(a*), yellow-blue chromaticity(b*), and antioxidant activity measured by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) method compared to WAOF(P<0.01). Correlation analysis between 7 phenotypic traits and 8 quality traits revealed that among the phenotypic traits, plumpness, L*, a*, and b* exerted significant influence on intrinsic quality. Among the quality traits, total flavonoids, volatile oils, nootkatone, chrysin, and tectochrysin contributed substantially to intrinsic quality. ConclusionPlumpness, L*, a*, and b* of AOF significantly influence its intrinsic quality, and higher values of these parameters indicate relatively superior intrinsic quality. The comprehensive quality evaluation reveals that CAOF samples collected in this study are superior to their wild counterparts.
2.The Mechanisms of Quercetin in Improving Alzheimer’s Disease
Yu-Meng ZHANG ; Yu-Shan TIAN ; Jie LI ; Wen-Jun MU ; Chang-Feng YIN ; Huan CHEN ; Hong-Wei HOU
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(2):334-347
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative condition characterized by progressive cognitive decline and memory loss. As the incidence of AD continues to rise annually, researchers have shown keen interest in the active components found in natural plants and their neuroprotective effects against AD. Quercetin, a flavonol widely present in fruits and vegetables, has multiple biological effects including anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant. Oxidative stress plays a central role in the pathogenesis of AD, and the antioxidant properties of quercetin are essential for its neuroprotective function. Quercetin can modulate multiple signaling pathways related to AD, such as Nrf2-ARE, JNK, p38 MAPK, PON2, PI3K/Akt, and PKC, all of which are closely related to oxidative stress. Furthermore, quercetin is capable of inhibiting the aggregation of β‑amyloid protein (Aβ) and the phosphorylation of tau protein, as well as the activity of β‑secretase 1 and acetylcholinesterase, thus slowing down the progression of the disease.The review also provides insights into the pharmacokinetic properties of quercetin, including its absorption, metabolism, and excretion, as well as its bioavailability challenges and clinical applications. To improve the bioavailability and enhance the targeting of quercetin, the potential of quercetin nanomedicine delivery systems in the treatment of AD is also discussed. In summary, the multifaceted mechanisms of quercetin against AD provide a new perspective for drug development. However, translating these findings into clinical practice requires overcoming current limitations and ongoing research. In this way, its therapeutic potential in the treatment of AD can be fully utilized.
3.Research and Application of Scalp Surface Laplacian Technique
Rui-Xin LUO ; Si-Ying GUO ; Xin-Yi LI ; Yu-He ZHAO ; Chun-Hou ZHENG ; Min-Peng XU ; Dong MING
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(2):425-438
Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a non-invasive, high temporal-resolution technique for monitoring brain activity. However, affected by the volume conduction effect, EEG has a low spatial resolution and is difficult to locate brain neuronal activity precisely. The surface Laplacian (SL) technique obtains the Laplacian EEG (LEEG) by estimating the second-order spatial derivative of the scalp potential. LEEG can reflect the radial current activity under the scalp, with positive values indicating current flow from the brain to the scalp (“source”) and negative values indicating current flow from the scalp to the brain (“sink”). It attenuates signals from volume conduction, effectively improving the spatial resolution of EEG, and is expected to contribute to breakthroughs in neural engineering. This paper provides a systematic overview of the principles and development of SL technology. Currently, there are two implementation paths for SL technology: current source density algorithms (CSD) and concentric ring electrodes (CRE). CSD performs the Laplace transform of the EEG signals acquired by conventional disc electrodes to indirectly estimate the LEEG. It can be mainly classified into local methods, global methods, and realistic Laplacian methods. The global method is the most commonly used approach in CSD, which can achieve more accurate estimation compared with the local method, and it does not require additional imaging equipment compared with the realistic Laplacian method. CRE employs new concentric ring electrodes instead of the traditional disc electrodes, and measures the LEEG directly by differential acquisition of the multi-ring signals. Depending on the structure, it can be divided into bipolar CRE, quasi-bipolar CRE, tripolar CRE, and multi-pole CRE. The tripolar CRE is widely used due to its optimal detection performance. While ensuring the quality of signal acquisition, the complexity of its preamplifier is relatively acceptable. Here, this paper introduces the study of the SL technique in resting rhythms, visual-related potentials, movement-related potentials, and sensorimotor rhythms. These studies demonstrate that SL technology can improve signal quality and enhance signal characteristics, confirming its potential applications in neuroscientific research, disease diagnosis, visual pathway detection, and brain-computer interfaces. CSD is frequently utilized in applications such as neuroscientific research and disease detection, where high-precision estimation of LEEG is required. And CRE tends to be used in brain-computer interfaces, that have stringent requirements for real-time data processing. Finally, this paper summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of SL technology and envisages its future development. SL technology boasts advantages such as reference independence, high spatial resolution, high temporal resolution, enhanced source connectivity analysis, and noise suppression. However, it also has shortcomings that can be further improved. Theoretically, simulation experiments should be conducted to investigate the theoretical characteristics of SL technology. For CSD methods, the algorithm needs to be optimized to improve the precision of LEEG estimation, reduce dependence on the number of channels, and decrease computational complexity and time consumption. For CRE methods, the electrodes need to be designed with appropriate structures and sizes, and the low-noise, high common-mode rejection ratio preamplifier should be developed. We hope that this paper can promote the in-depth research and wide application of SL technology.
4.Construction of PD-L1hitol-DC derived from bone marrow of DA rats and identification of its immunological function
Zhiqi YANG ; Peibo HOU ; Lang WU ; Jing LIU ; Yang DING ; Minghao LI
Organ Transplantation 2025;16(1):83-90
Objective To construct programmed cell death protein-ligand 1(PD-LI)hi tolerogenic dendritic cell (tol-DC) derived from bone marrow of DA rats and identify its immunological function. Methods DA rat bone marrow cells were extracted, combined with recombinant mouse granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and recombinant mouse interleukin (IL)-4, and cultured for 6 days in vitro to induce the differentiation of bone marrow cells into immature dendritic cells (imDC). Lipopolysaccharide was used to stimulate cell maturation and cultured for 2 days to collect mature dendritic cells (mDC). PD-L1 lentiviral vector virus stock solution or equivalent dose lentiviral stock solution was added, and PD-L1hitol-DC and Lv-imDC were collected after culture for 2 days. The morphology of PD-L1hitol-DC was observed by inverted phase contrast microscope and transmission electron microscope. Real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting and flow cytometry were used to detect the expression level of specific markers on cell surface. CD8+T cells derived from Lewis rat spleen were co-cultured with imDC, mDC, Lv-imDC and PD-L1hitol-DC, respectively. The levels of inflammatory factors in the supernatant of each group were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The apoptosis of T cells and the differentiation of regulatory T cells (Treg) in each group were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results The morphology of PD-L1hitol-DC modified by PD-L1 gene was consistent with tol-DC characteristics, and the expression levels of CD80, CD86 and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on the surface were low. After mixed culture with CD8+ T cells, the levels of IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF) -β1 in the supernatant of PD-L1hitol-DC group were higher, the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -α and IL-17A were lower, and the apoptosis of T cells and Treg differentiation were increased. Conclusions Overexpression of PD-L1 through lentiviral vectors may successfully induce the construction of bone-marrow derived PD-L1hitol-DC in DA rats, promote the secretion of anti-inflammatory factors and T cell apoptosis, induce the differentiation of Treg, and inhibit the immune response of allogeneic CD8+T cells, which provides experimental basis for the next organ transplantation immune tolerance study.
5.Mechanism of Herbal Cake-separated Moxibustion in Improving Neuroimmune Inflammation in Rats with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by Interfering TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB Pathway
Chuntao ZHAI ; Yawei HOU ; Linjuan SHI ; Yixiao WANG ; Wei LI ; Yuefeng TIAN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(4):140-149
ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of herbal cake-separated moxibustion using the classical formula Xiaoyaosan in alleviating neuroimmune inflammatory responses in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) rats, based on the regulation of the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)/nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway. MethodsFifty SPF-grade SD rats aged 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into five groups: Normal group, model group, sham herbal cake moxibustion group, Chinese medicine intragastric administration group, and herbal cake-separated moxibustion group, with 10 rats in each group. Except for the normal group, all other groups underwent a 21-day modeling process, followed by behavioral testing. The herbal cake-separated moxibustion and sham herbal cake moxibustion groups received interventions at the Shenque (CV8), Guanyuan (CV4), Zusanli (ST36), and Qimen (LR14) acupoints. The Chinese medicine intragastric administration group was treated with a Xiaoyaosan suspension via gavage. Behavioral tests were conducted after 10 days of continuous intervention. Serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), as well as hippocampal levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and NF-κB, were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Morphological changes in the hippocampus were observed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) was used to detect mRNA expression levels of TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB in the hippocampus. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the relative expression levels of TLR4, MyD88, NF-κB, and p65 proteins in the hippocampus. ResultsCompared with the normal group, the model group showed a significant decrease in upright times during the open field test (P<0.01), as well as significant reductions in total movement distance, resting time, and center region duration (P<0.01). In the tail suspension test, immobility time increased (P<0.01), and struggle times decreased (P<0.01). Serum and hippocampal levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, as well as hippocampal NF-κB levels and TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB mRNA expression, were significantly elevated (P<0.01). After treatment, compared with the model group, the total movement distance and upright times in the open field test were significantly increased in all treatment groups (P<0.01), while resting time and center region duration were notably prolonged (P<0.05, P<0.01). Immobility time in the tail suspension test was significantly shortened (P<0.01), and struggle times significantly increased (P<0.05). Serum and hippocampal levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, hippocampal NF-κB levels, and TLR4 and NF-κB mRNA expression were significantly reduced (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the sham herbal cake moxibustion group, the herbal cake-separated moxibustion group showed a significant extension in center region duration during the open field test (P<0.05) and a significant increase in upright times (P<0.01). In the tail suspension test, immobility time was reduced (P<0.01), and struggle times increased (P<0.01). Serum TNF-α levels in the Chinese medicine intragastric administration group were significantly reduced (P<0.01), while serum IL-6 levels, as well as hippocampal levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, NF-κB, and TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB mRNA expression, were significantly decreased in both the Chinese medicine intragastric administration group and the herbal cake-separated moxibustion group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the Chinese medicine intragastric administration group, the herbal cake-separated moxibustion group exhibited significantly increased upright times in the open field test (P<0.01). In the tail suspension test, immobility time was reduced (P<0.01), and struggle times increased (P<0.01). Serum IL-1β, hippocampal TNF-α levels, and TLR4, MyD88, and NF-κB mRNA expression were significantly decreased (P<0.05, P<0.01). ConclusionHerbal cake-separated moxibustion effectively improves fatigue and memory function in CFS rats, regulates neuroimmune inflammatory responses, and its mechanism may be related to the modulation of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.
6.Research on The Role of Dopamine in Regulating Sleep and Wakefulness Through Exercise
Li-Juan HOU ; Ya-Xuan GENG ; Ke LI ; Zhao-Yang HUANG ; Lan-Qun MAO
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(1):88-98
Sleep is an instinctive behavior alternating awakening state, sleep entails many active processes occurring at the cellular, circuit and organismal levels. The function of sleep is to restore cellular energy, enhance immunity, promote growth and development, consolidate learning and memory to ensure normal life activities. However, with the increasing of social pressure involved in work and life, the incidence of sleep disorders (SD) is increasing year by year. In the short term, sleep disorders lead to impaired memory and attention; in the longer term, it produces neurological dysfunction or even death. There are many ways to directly or indirectly contribute to sleep disorder and keep the hormones, including pharmacological alternative treatments, light therapy and stimulus control therapy. Exercise is also an effective and healthy therapeutic strategy for improving sleep. The intensities, time periods, and different types of exercise have different health benefits for sleep, which can be found through indicators such as sleep quality, sleep efficiency and total sleep time. So it is more and more important to analyze the mechanism and find effective regulation targets during sleep disorder through exercise. Dopamine (DA) is an important neurotransmitter in the nervous system, which not only participates in action initiation, movement regulation and emotion regulation, but also plays a key role in the steady-state remodeling of sleep-awakening state transition. Appreciable evidence shows that sleep disorder on humans and rodents evokes anomalies in the dopaminergic signaling, which are also implicated in the development of psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia or substance abuse. Experiments have shown that DA in different neural pathways plays different regulatory roles in sleep behavior, we found that increasing evidence from rodent studies revealed a role for ventral tegmental area DA neurons in regulating sleep-wake patterns. DA signal transduction and neurotransmitter release patterns have complex interactions with behavioral regulation. In addition, experiments have shown that exercise causes changes in DA homeostasis in the brain, which may regulate sleep through different mechanisms, including cAMP response element binding protein signal transduction, changes in the circadian rhythm of biological clock genes, and interactions with endogenous substances such as adenosine, which affect neuronal structure and play a neuroprotective role. This review aims to introduce the regulatory effects of exercise on sleep disorder, especially the regulatory mechanism of DA in this process. The analysis of intracerebral DA signals also requires support from neurophysiological and chemical techniques. Our laboratory has established and developed an in vivo brain neurochemical analysis platform, which provides support for future research on the regulation of sleep-wake cycles by movement. We hope it can provide theoretical reference for the formulation of exercise prescription for clinical sleep disorder and give some advice to the combined intervention of drugs and exercise.
7.Analysis of factors influencing immune checkpoint inhibitor-related thyroid adverse reactions
Jiayu LI ; Qianqian ZHANG ; Meng HOU ; Siqi ZHANG ; Keke WANG
China Pharmacy 2025;36(3):341-345
OBJECTIVE To provide reference for rational clinical use of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI). METHODS Electronic medical record information of patients who received ICI treatment from January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2023 at a certain hospital was collected. Patients were divided into thyroid immune-related adverse event (irAE) group (subdivided into clinical hypothyroidism, clinical hyperthyroidism, subclinical hypothyroidism, and subclinical hyperthyroidism subgroups) and non- thyroid irAE group based on whether they experienced immune-induced thyroid irAE. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were employed to analyze the influencing factors of ICI-related thyroid adverse events. RESULTS A total of 382 patients who received ICI treatment were included, with 137 cases in the thyroid irAE group (accounting for 35.9%) and 245 cases in the non-thyroid irAE group (accounting for 64.1%). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis, following univariate screening, revealed that ICI combined with radiotherapy was positively associated with the occurrence of thyroid irAE [odds ratio (OR)=2.157, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.144, 4.066), P<0.05], while lung squamous cell carcinoma was negatively associated with the occurrence of thyroid irAE [OR=0.600, 95%CI (0.369, 0.975), P<0.05]. Among various thyroid irAE, nasopharyngeal malignancy was positively associated with the occurrence of immune-related clinical hyperthyroidism [OR=4.678, 95%CI (1.149, 19.042), P<0.05]; ICI combined with radiotherapy [OR=2.622, 95%CI (1.227, 5.603), P<0.05] and lung adenocarcinoma [OR=2.013, 95%CI (1.078, 3.759), P<0.05] were positively associated with the occurrence of immune-related subclinical hyperthyroidism. Age was negatively associated with the occurrence of immune-related clinical hypothyroidism [OR=0.944, 95%CI (0.896, 0.995), P<0.05]; age [OR=0.963, 95%CI (0.932, 0.994), P<0.05] and ICI combined with chemotherapy [OR=0.332, 95%CI (0.137, 0.802), P<0.05] were negatively associated with the occurrence of immune-related subclinical hypothyroidism. CONCLUSIONS Among patients receiving ICI treatment, younger patients are more prone to thyroid irAE. Patients receiving ICI combined with chemotherapy are less likely to experience subclinical hypothyroidism, while ICI combined with radiotherapy significantly increases the risk of thyroid adverse events.
8.Establishment and evaluation of pendulum-like modified rat abdominal heart heterotopic transplantation model
Hongtao TANG ; Caihan LI ; Xiangyun ZHENG ; Senlin HOU ; Weiyang CHEN ; Zengwei YU ; Yabo WANG ; Dong TIAN ; Qi AN
Organ Transplantation 2025;16(2):280-287
Objective To introduce the modeling method of pendulum-like modified rat abdominal heart heterotopic transplantation model and evaluate the quality of the model. Methods An operator without transplantation experience performed 15 consecutive models, recorded the time of each step, changes in body weight and modified Stanford scores, and calculated the surgical success rate, postoperative 1-week survival rate and technical success rate. Ultrasound examinations was performed in 1 week postoperatively. Results The times for donor heart acquisition, donor heart processing, recipient preparation and transplantation anastomosis were (14.3±1.4) min, (3.5±0.6) min, (13.6±2.1) min and (38.3±5.2) min respectively. The surgical success rate was 87% (13/15), and the survival rate 1 week after operative was 100% (13/13). The improved Stanford score indicated a technical success rate of 92% (12/13), and the postoperative 1-week ultrasound examination showed that grafts with Stanford scores ≥3 had detectable pulsation and blood flow signals. Conclusions The pendulum-like modified rat abdominal heart heterotopic transplantation improved model further optimizes the operational steps with a high success rate and stable quality, may be chosen as a modeling option for basic research in heart transplantation in the future.
9.Study on accumulation of polysaccharide and steroid components in Polyporus umbellatus infected by Armillaria spp.
Ming-shu YANG ; Yi-fei YIN ; Juan CHEN ; Bing LI ; Meng-yan HOU ; Chun-yan LENG ; Yong-mei XING ; Shun-xing GUO
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 2025;60(1):232-238
In view of the few studies on the influence of
10.Metabolite identification and metabolic pathway analysis of pirtobrutinib in rats
Meijuan ZHANG ; Jie LI ; Hang YIN ; Mengyu HOU ; Jiangshuo LI ; Jingxuan WU ; Ruihua DONG
China Pharmacy 2025;36(9):1076-1081
OBJECTIVE To analyze and identify the metabolites of pirtobrutinib (PTN) in rats, and clarify the possible metabolic pathways of PTN in rats. METHODS Six rats were intragastrically administered with 10 mg/kg PTN suspension. Blood samples were collected from the rats 30 minutes before administration and at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24 hours after administration. Urine and feces samples were collected 12 hours before administration and 24 hours after administration. UHPLC- Orbitrap Exploris 240 system combined with Compound Discoverer 3.0 and Xcalibur 2.0 software were adopted for structural identification and metabolic pathway analysis of PTN metabolites in rat plasma, urine, and feces. RESULTS A total of 29 PTN metabolites were identified, including 17, 19 and 22 metabolites in plasma, urine and feces, respectively. The metabolic pathways of PTN mainly included oxidation, sulfation, glucuronidation, etc., and its metabolites were mostly combination products of two or more different metabolic forms. In detail, a total of 26 metabolites were associated with phase Ⅰ metabolic reactions (14 oxidation metabolites, 9 reduction/dehydrogenation metabolites, 8 demethylation metabolites, and 5 hydrolysis metabolites). Meanwhile, a total of 20 products were involved in phase Ⅱ metabolites (14 sulfation metabolites and 8 glucuronic acid binding metabolites). CONCLUSIONS PTN exhibits a diverse range of metabolites in rat fecal samples, with the primary metabolic pathways being oxidation, sulfation, glucuronidation, and others.

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