1.Carnosic acid inhibits osteoclast differentiation by inhibiting mitochondrial activity
Haishan LI ; Yuheng WU ; Zixuan LIANG ; Shiyin ZHANG ; Zhen ZHANG ; Bin MAI ; Wei DENG ; Yongxian LI ; Yongchao TANG ; Shuncong ZHANG ; Kai YUAN
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2025;29(2):245-253
BACKGROUND:Carnosic acid,a bioactive compound found in rosemary,has been shown to reduce inflammation and reactive oxygen species(ROS).However,its mechanism of action in osteoclast differentiation remains unclear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effects of carnosic acid on osteoclast activation,ROS production,and mitochondrial function. METHODS:Primary bone marrow-derived macrophages from mice were extracted and cultured in vitro.Different concentrations of carnosic acid(0,10,15,20,25 and 30 μmol/L)were tested for their effects on bone marrow-derived macrophage proliferation and toxicity using the cell counting kit-8 cell viability assay to determine a safe concentration.Bone marrow-derived macrophages were cultured in graded concentrations and induced by receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand for osteoclast differentiation for 5-7 days.The effects of carnosic acid on osteoclast differentiation and function were then observed through tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining,F-actin staining,H2DCFDA probe and mitochondrial ROS,and Mito-Tracker fluorescence detection.Western blot and RT-PCR assays were subsequently conducted to examine the effects of carnosic acid on the upstream and downstream proteins of the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand-induced MAPK signaling pathway. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining and F-actin staining showed that carnosic acid dose-dependently inhibited in vitro osteoclast differentiation and actin ring formation in the cell cytoskeleton,with the highest inhibitory effect observed in the high concentration group(30 μmol/L).Carnosic acid exhibited the most significant inhibitory effect during the early stages(days 1-3)of osteoclast differentiation compared to other intervention periods.Fluorescence imaging using the H2DCFDA probe,mitochondrial ROS,and Mito-Tracker demonstrated that carnosic acid inhibited cellular and mitochondrial ROS production while reducing mitochondrial membrane potential,thereby influencing mitochondrial function.The results of western blot and RT-PCR revealed that carnosic acid could suppress the expression of NFATc1,CTSK,MMP9,and C-fos proteins associated with osteoclast differentiation,and downregulate the expression of NFATc1,Atp6vod2,ACP5,CTSK,and C-fos genes related to osteoclast differentiation.Furthermore,carnosic acid enhanced the expression of antioxidant enzyme proteins and reduced the generation of ROS during the process of osteoclast differentiation.Overall,carnosic acid exerts its inhibitory effects on osteoclast differentiation by inhibiting the phosphorylation modification of the P38/ERK/JNK protein and activating the MAPK signaling pathway in bone marrow-derived macrophages.
2.Effect of Quercetin on Cuproptosis in Rheumatoid Arthritis Rats and Its Mechanism via SLC31A1/FDX1 Pathway
Haoruo YANG ; Qiuai KOU ; Junhua REN ; Guo YUAN ; Bin YANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(1):121-130
ObjectiveTo observe the influence and therapeutic effect of quercetin on cuproptosis in rheumatoid arthritis rats and to explore its possible mechanism based on the solute carrier family 31 member 1 (SLC31A1)/ferredoxin 1 (FDX1) pathway. MethodsSixty male SD rats were divided into six groups: A control group, a model group, high- and low-dose quercetin groups (150 and 50 mg·kg-1), a cuproptosis inhibitor (tetrathiomolybdate, TTM) group (10 mg·kg-1), and a methotrexate group (2 mg·kg-1), 10 rats in each group. Except for the control group, the model of rheumatoid arthritis (CIA) rats was established by type Ⅱ collagen induction method. After successful modeling, each drug group was intervened according to the corresponding dose of drugs, and the control group and the model group were given the same amount of normal saline by gavage, once a day, which lasted for 4 weeks. The swelling degree of rats' feet was observed, and the clinical arthritis scores were determined. The levels of serum rheumatoid factor (RF), matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and ceruloplasmin (Cp) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The content of copper ion (Cu), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione (GSH) in joint tissue was detected. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the pathological changes of joint tissue. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and dihydrolipoic acid transacetylase (DLAT) were detected by immunofluorescence (IF). The protein and mRNA expression of SLC31A1, FDX1, lipoic acid synthase (LIAS), heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 subunit β (PDHB), and copper transporting P-type ATPase β (ATP7B) was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR). ResultsCompared to the control group, the model group exhibited joint swelling and deformity, significantly increased clinical arthritis scores, obvious bone destruction, synovial hyperplasia, and inflammatory cell infiltration in joint tissue. In addition, the serum levels of RF, MMP-3, TNF-α, IL-1β, and Cp showed significant elevation, while the level of IL-10 was significantly reduced. The levels of Cu, MDA, ROS, and DLAT in joint tissue were markedly increased, whereas SOD and GSH content was significantly decreased. The protein and mRNA expression of SLC31A1 and HSP70 was significantly up-regulated, while the protein and mRNA expression of FDX1, LIAS, PDHB, and ATP7B was significantly down-regulated (P<0.01). Compared to the model group, each treatment group exhibited varying degrees of improvement in joint swelling and deformation as well as clinical arthritis scores in rats. Additionally, there was a reduction in joint bone destruction, inflammatory cell infiltration, and synovial hyperplasia in rats. Furthermore, the serum levels of RF, MMP-3, TNF-α, IL-1β, and Cp significantly decreased, while the level of IL-10 increased significantly. In joint tissue, the levels of Cu, MDA, ROS, and DLAT showed significant decreases, while SOD and GSH content exhibited significant increases. The protein and mRNA expression of SLC31A1 and HSP70 was down-regulated, while the protein and mRNA expression of FDX1, LIAS, PDHB, and ATP7B was up-regulated (P<0.05). ConclusionQuercetin effectively reduces synovial hyperplasia and inflammatory infiltration in rats with rheumatoid arthritis, thereby alleviating pathological damage to joint tissue. This effect may be attributed to the blockade of the SLC31A1/FDX1 signaling pathway activation and inhibition of excessive cuproptosis.
3.Herbal Textual Research and Modern Research Progress of Ostreae Concha
Hongyi ZHANG ; Bin WANG ; Jiawen LIU ; Yuan HU ; Lin CHEN ; Youping LIU ; Hongping CHEN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(3):223-234
By consulting relevant literature of ancient herbal books and processing specifications, this paper made a systematic research and analysis of Ostreae Concha, including the name, producing area, harvesting, quality, historical evolution of processing, relevant processing specifications, modern processing technology, and changes in chemical composition and pharmacological effects before and after processing, in order to provide documentary evidence for the research on processing technology and the establishment of quality standards. According to the textual research, it is known that Ostreae Concha has a long history of being used in medicine, and there have been many aliases and local names in each historical period. Shennong's Classic of the Materia Medica(Shennong Bencaojing) began to use Muli as the correct name, which has continued to use to today, and there were also aliases such as Muge, Zuogu Muli and Haoke. Ostreae Concha has a wide range of localities and irregular harvesting periods. The ancients believed that its left shell was of superior quality, but this has not been seen in modern. And there were many kinds of processing methods of Ostreae Concha, such as grinding, roasting, calcining, frying, simmering, quenching and so on, and the calcining was still in use. The different editions of Chinese Pharmacopoeia from 1963 to 2020 contain only calcined Ostreae Concha, and the local processing specifications mainly include three kinds of processed products(calcined products, salt-soaked products and vinegar-soaked products). Modern processing research mainly focuses on process optimization, changes in chemical composition and pharmacological effects, and the research methods are relatively single. Overall, there are currently issues such as inconsistent processing standards, unclear process parameters and imperfect quality standards, which are not conducive to the quality control and standardized clinical use of Ostreae Concha. Therefore, it is necessary to further investigate the pharmacological substance basis of Ostreae Concha and its processed products in order to elucidate the processing mechanism, standardize the processing technology and improve the quality standard.
4.Improvement effects and mechanism of total secondary ginsenosides on hypertrophic changes in cardiomyocytes
Bin LI ; Jia LI ; Zhongjie YUAN ; Mingjun ZHU ; Shiyang XIE ; Yuan GAO ; Rui YU ; Xinlu WANG
China Pharmacy 2025;36(12):1430-1435
OBJECTIVE To investigate the ameliorative effects and potential mechanism of total secondary ginsenosides (TSG) on hypertrophic changes of primary cardiomyocytes stimulated by angiotensin Ⅱ (Ang Ⅱ). METHODS Primary cardiomyocytes were isolated from the hearts of neonatal SD rats and divided into the following groups: control group, AngⅡ group (2 µmol/L), TSG group (7.5 µg/mL), PFK-015 group [6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2, 6-bisphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3) inhibitor, 10 nmol/L], and TSG+PFK-015 group (TSG 7.5 µg/mL+PFK-015 10 nmol/L). The surface area, protein synthesis, energy metabolism-related indicators [free fatty acid (FFA), coenzyme A (CoA), acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA)], and the expressions of glycolysis-related factors [hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), glucose transporter protein 4 (GLUT-4), lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) and PFKFB3] in primary cardiomyocytes of each group were measured. RESULTS Compared with the control group, the surface area of primary cardiomyocytes and protein synthesis were significantly increased, the content of FFA, protein and mRNA expressions of HIF-1α, LDHA, PDK1 and PFKFB3 were significantly increased or up-regulated in the AngⅡ group, while the contents of CoA and acetyl-CoA, the protein and mRNA expressions of GLUT-4 were significantly decreased or down-regulated (P<0.05). Compared with the AngⅡ group, both TSG group and PFK-015 group showed significant improvements in these indexes, with the TSG+PFK-015 group generally demonstrating superior effects compared to either treatment alone (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS TSG can reduce the surface area of AngⅡ-induced primary cardiomyocytes, decrease protein synthesis, and inhibit their hypertrophic changes. These effects may be related to improving energy metabolism and the inhibition of glycolysis activity.
5.Investigation on the current status and optimization strategies for the standardized on-the-job training for community clinical pharmacists in Shanghai
Yangjiayi XIANG ; Jing SHENG ; Liping WANG ; Lie LUO ; Yuan YUAN ; Xiaodan ZHANG ; Yan LI ; Bin WANG ; Guanghui LI
China Pharmacy 2025;36(13):1568-1573
OBJECTIVE To systematically investigate the current status and effectiveness of the standardized on-the-job training program for community clinical pharmacists in Shanghai, and to provide a scientific basis for optimizing the training scheme. METHODS A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the data from trainees and mentor pharmacists who participated in the program between 2016 and 2024. The survey examined their basic information, evaluations of the training scheme, satisfaction with training outcomes, and suggestions for improvement. Statistical analyses were also conducted. RESULTS A total of 420 valid responses were collected, including 340 from trainees and 80 from mentor pharmacists. Before training, only 30.29% of trainees were engaged in clinical pharmacy-related work, whereas this proportion increased to 73.24% after training. Most mentor pharmacists had extensive experience in clinical pharmacy (76.25% with ≥5 years of experience) and mentoring (78.75% with ≥3 teaching sessions). Totally 65.59% of trainees and 55.00% of mentor pharmacists believed that blended training yielded the best learning outcomes. Over 80.00% of both trainees and mentor pharmacists considered the overall training duration, theoretical study time, and practical training time to be reasonable. More than 95.00% of trainees and mentor pharmacists agreed that the homework and assessment schemes were appropriate. Trainees rated the relevance of training content to their actual work highly (with an average relevance score >4.5), though they perceived the chronic disease medication therapy management module as significantly more challenging than the prescription review and evaluation module and the home-based pharmaceutical care module. The average satisfaction score of trainees and mentor pharmacists with the training effectiveness of each project was above 4 points, indicating a high overall satisfaction. Inadequate provision of teaching resources was unanimously recognized by trainees and mentor pharmacists as the key area requiring improvement. CONCLUSIONS The standardized on-the-job training program for community clinical pharmacists in Shanghai has contributed to improving pharmaceutical services in community healthcare settings. However, ongoing improvements must concentrate on content design, resource development, and faculty cultivation.
6.Research progress on quality control methods for monitoring illicit drugs use in wastewater
Yue XIAO ; Shuai YUAN ; Ruxin LUO ; Ruiqin ZHU ; Bin DI ; Ping XIANG
Journal of China Pharmaceutical University 2025;56(2):139-147
The use of wastewater analysis, or wastewater-based epidemiology, to assess and monitor the situation of drug abuse is now widely used at home and abroad. However, there is currently a lack of effective evaluation methods and effective ways of comparison, supervision and standardization, which is not conducive to the analysis and comparisons of data in different countries and regions. Quality control techniques can control the laboratory's analytical errors, safeguard the consistency and comparability of identification conclusions, and promote the further improvement of the level and capacity of urban drug governance, thus playing significant roles. This paper provides an overview of sample collection, sample preservation and transportation, laboratory analysis, back-calculation of drug use and external laboratory quality control in the process of wastewater analysis, with a view to exploring more comprehensive scientific and objective methods and approaches suitable for examining and evaluating qualitative and quantitative analysis of drugs in wastewater among laboratories.
10.Relationship between acute stress response and depression among college students: the mediating role of rumination and the moderated role of perceived social support
Gui LUO ; Fenghui YUAN ; Yunjing MOU ; Haijun YU ; Jingjing LIANG ; Jiangbo DANG ; Bin GAO
Sichuan Mental Health 2025;38(2):153-158
BackgroundDepression has become a public health concern that affects the physical and mental health of college students. acute stress response is a risk factor of depression. Exploring the relationship and mechanism between acute stress response and depression is of great significance for preventing and intervening depression in college students. ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between acute stress response and depression among college students, and to analyze the mediating role of rumination and the moderated effect of perceived social support, so as to provide references for the prevention and intervention of depression in college student . MethodsFrom March to April 2020, a cluster sampling method was employed to select 1 355 college students from three universities in Hubei, Jiangxi and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Participants were assessed with Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS), Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS), Brief form of Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (F-SozU) and Patients' Health Questionnaire Depression Scale-9 item (PHQ-9). Pearson correlation analysis was adopted to examine the correlation between the scores of each scale. The mediating role of rumination between acute stress response and depression and the moderated role of perceived social support were examined respectively by using Model 4 and Model 14 in Macro Program Process 3.3. ResultsA total of 1 303 valid questionnaires were collected, yielding a valid response rate of 96.16%. The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that ASDS score was positively correlated with RRS score and PHQ-9 score (r=0.649, 0.528, P<0.01) among college students. The mediation analysis results demonstrated that rumination played a partial mediating role between acute stress response and depression, with the mediating effect value of 0.273 (95% CI:0.222~0.328), accounting for 68.59% of the total effect. Perceived social support played a moderated role in the latter path of the mediation model (rumination → depression) (β=-0.004, 95% CI: -0.017~-0.004, P<0.01). ConclusionRumination played a partial mediating role between acute stress response and depression in college students, and perceptive social support played a moderated role between rumination and depression. [Funded by Scientific Research Fund Project of Education Department of Yunnan Province (number, 2025J0437)]

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