OBJECTIVE To rapidly analyze the chemical constituents of Rubus sachalinensis Leveille by HPLC-Q-Exactive-MS/MS. METHODS Chromatographic separation was carried out on CAPCELL PAK MGII C18(4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm) column at the temperature of 30 ℃. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid by gradient elution, with a flow rate of 1.0 mL∙min−1, and the injection volume of 20 µL. The MS spectrum was acquired in negative ion modes using HESI ion source. RESULTS The molecular and structural formulae of the compounds were determined based on the exact mass number and ChemSpider and PubChem databases. By comparing the retention time of the corresponding reference standards and those reported in the literature, primary mass spectra, and secondary mass spectrometry pyrolysis fragments, combined with fragmentation regularity of such compounds, a total of 71 compounds were identified from Rubus sachalinensis Leveille, including 30 organic acids, 22 flavonoids, 7 triterpenoid saponins, 5 coumarins, 1 lignan, 1 gallotannin and 2 aromatic compounds. CONCLUSION This method can quickly and accurately identify the complex chemical constituents in Rubus sachalinensis Leveille, and provide scientific basis for the basic research on the medicinal substances of Rubus sachalinensis Leveille.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of myricetin(Myr) on immune function in rats with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) by regulating the cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling pathway. METHODS IBD rat models were established and separated into control group, model group, low, medium, and high dose Myr(Myr-L, Myr-M, Myr-H, 28, 56, 112 mg·kg−1·d−1 Myr) groups, and high dose Myr+PKA inhibitor H89(Myr-H+H89 112 mg·kg−1·d−1 Myr+7 mg·kg−1·d−1 H89) group. The disease activity index(DAI) of rats was scored; immune function indicators and colon length were measured; the levels of IL-6, IL-17A, TNF-α, and cAMP in serum were determined by the kit; the pathological changes of colon tissue were observed by HE staining; the proportion of Treg cells was determined by flow cytometry; immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of MPO in colon tissue; Western blotting was used to determine cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling pathway related proteins. RESULTS Compared with the control group, the colon tissue cells in the model group were disorderly arranged, with a large number of inflammatory cell infiltration, severe ulceration, a large number of cell necrosis, mucosal edema, the DAI score, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-17A levels, spleen coefficient, thymus coefficient, and MPO optical density values were obviously increased(P<0.05), the colon length, Treg cell ratio, cAMP concentration, p-PKA/PKA, and p-CREB/CREB levels were obviously reduced(P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the arrangement of colon tissue cells in the Myr-L, Myr-M, and Myr-H groups was relatively neat; mucosal edema inflammatory cell infiltration, cell necrosis and ulcer phenomenon were reduced; the DAI score, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-17A levels, spleen coefficient, thymus coefficient, and MPO optical density values were gradually reduced(P<0.05); the colon length, Treg cell ratio, cAMP concentration, p-PKA/PKA, and p-CREB/CREB levels were gradually increased(P<0.05). Compared with the Myr-H group, the pathological changes in the colon tissue of the Myr-H+H89 group worsened, the DAI score, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-17A levels, spleen coefficient, thymus coefficient, and MPO optical density values were obviously increased(P<0.05), the colon length, Treg cell ratio, cAMP concentration, p-PKA/PKA, and p-CREB/CREB levels were obviously reduced(P<0.05). CONCLUSION Myr may inhibit inflammation levels, regulate immune function, and exert protective effects on IBD rats by activating the cAMP/PKA/CREB signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE To confirm the therapeutic effect of Jintiange capsules on osteoarthritis(OA) and the potential mechanism of synovial mesenchymal stem cell exosomes(SMSC-Exos) and articular chondrocytes(ACs) in the treatment of OA based on high-throughput sequencing technology. METHODS Type Ⅱ collagenase-induced OA rats were used for efficacy verification through general behavioral observation, bipedal balance difference experiment, mechanical foot reflex threshold, Micro-CT observation, and Safranin O-Fast Green staining. SMSCs and ACs were cultured in suitable concentration of drug-containing serum, and mRNA sequencing was performed on ACs in the control, model, and Jintiange capsules groups, as well as miRNA sequencing on SMSC-Exos. Differential expressed mRNAs and miRNAs were screened and target genes were predicted. The common differential expressed genes between SMSC and ACs were obtained by intersecting the differential expressed genes, and a miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed using Cytoscape software. The expression trend analysis of common differential expressed genes was conducted, as well as the correlation analysis between differential expressed gene mRNA and miRNA, Micro-CT efficacy indicators, and differential expressed gene mRNA. RESULTS Under the pathological state of OA, the expression of miRNA-23a-3p, miRNA-342-3p, miRNA-146b-5p, miRNA-501-3p, and miRNA-214-3p were down-regulated, while miRNA-222-3p, miRNA-30e-3p, miRNA-676-3p, and miRNA-192-5p were up-regulated (P<0.05). The expressions of these miRNAs were significantly reversed after intervention with drug-containing serum of Jintiange capsules. There was a certain correlation between Micro-CT efficacy indicators, mRNA and miRNA. CONCLUSION Jintiange capsule has obvious efficacy in the treatment of OA, and its mechanism may be related to the promotion of SMSC-Exos targeting ACs to transport miRNA and then regulate Serpinb10, Ntn1, Il1b, Tgm2, Megf10, Il11, Cd40, Slc15a3, Pou2f2 and other genes.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the protective effect of paeoniflorin(PF) on cardiac dysfunction and myocardial cell injury induced by cisplatin(CDDP) in rats. METHODS SD male rats were randomly divided into control group, CPPD group, and CDDP PF+low-dose, high-dose group. PowerLab multifunctional recorder was used to detect the related indexes of cardiac function: the changes of left ventricular peak pressure(LVSP), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure(LVEDP) and left ventricular pressure change rate(±dp/dt). Serum levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were measured in each group. Myocardial tissue was stained to observe the changes of tissue structure. H9c2 cardiomyocytes were divided into control group, CDDP group, PF group and CDDP+PF group. The activity of H9c2 cardiomyocytes was measured by CCK-8. The apoptosis of cardiomyocytes in each group was detected by flow cytometry. The expressions of MAPK signaling pathway related proteins p38, ERK, JNK and their phosphorylated proteins and apoptosis-related proteins Bax, Bcl-2, Casp3, Cl-casp3 were detected in cardiomyocytes by Western blotting. RESULTS Compared with the control group, LVSP and ±dp/dt decreased, LVEDP increased in rats of CDDP group(P<0.01). Compared with CDDP group, both CDDP+low-dose and high-dose PF pretreatment increased LVSP and ±dp/dt value(P<0.05 or P<0.01), decreased LVEDP(P<0.01), and could decrease the serum inflammatory factor TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6(P<0.01). Cell level results showed that compared with control group, in CDDP group, the cell activity decreased, the apoptosis-related protein Bax, Cl-casp3 increased(P<0.01), expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 decreased(P<0.01), and the expression of p38 and ERK phosphorylation also increased(P<0.01). Compared with CDDP group, PF could restore cell activit, down-regulate apoptosis-related protein Bax, Cl-casp3(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and increase anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 expression(P<0.01), inhibit MAPK pathway p38 and ERK phosphorylation expression(P<0.01). CONCLUSION PF can restore cardiac dysfunction and myocardial cell injury induced by cisplatin in rats, which may be related to inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis by regulating ERK/p38 MAPK signal expression.

OBJECTIVE To explore the mechanism of vildagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor(DPP-4i), in improving the inflammatory damage of cardiomyocytes induced by diabetes mellitus. METHODS The AC16 cardiomyocytes cultured in vitro were randomly divided into blank group, palmitic acid(PA) group, 0.1, 1, 10 μmol·L−1 vildagliptin group, and sitagliptin group (positive control group). The cell viability was detected by CCK-8 kit. The expressions of DPP-4, p-NF-κB and IκB were detected by Western blotting. The expression level of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 were detected by ELISA kit. TUNEL kit was used to detect cell apoptosis. RESULTS After PA treatment, the cell morphology of AC16 human cardiomyocytes changed, CCK-8 results showed a decrease in cell survival rate, Western blotting results showed increased phosphorylation of NF-κB and increased expression of DPP-4 protein, and ELISA results showed increased expression level of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-6. The increase of TUNEL positive ratio promoted apoptosis of cardiomyocytes. After administration of DPP-4i vildagliptin, it could effectively inhibit the abnormal expression of DPP-4 protein induced by PA, improve the morphology of cardiomyocytes, and down-regulate the level of NF-κB phosphorylation. ELISA results showed that vildagliptin could improve the expression level of PA-induced inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-6, and reduce the proportion of TUNEL positive(P<0.05). CONCLUSION Vildagliptin can effectively antagonize PA-induced inflammatory injury of cardiomyocytes, antagonize myocardial injury induced by diabetic cardiomyopathy by inhibiting the phosphorylation level of NF-κB, reducing the expression level of intracellular inflammatory factors and inhibiting apoptosis.

OBJECTIVE To explore the intracellular expression changes of p38 and Erk1/2 under three phototoxic conditions, compare three detection methods, and further investigate their molecular mechanisms. METHODS The methods involved using three testing approaches to assess the phototoxicity of chlorpromazine(CPZ) and tiaprofenic acid(TA). Subsequently, whole-cell lysates from the biological samples used in the three testing methods were collected, and the changes in the expression levels of intracellular p38 and Erk1/2 were evaluated using Western blotting. RESULTS All three testing methods accurately identified CPZ and TA as phototoxic compounds. In the 3T3 NRU phototoxicity assay, compared to the control group, the expression of p38 significantly increased under phototoxic doses of TA and CPZ(P<0.05), a phenomenon not observed in other testing methods. In phototoxicity assays using guinea pig and artificial skin models, similar expression pattern changes were observed for p38 and Erk1/2. CONCLUSION p38 and Erk1/2 have obvious dose dependence and high sensitivity in the 3T3 NRU phototoxicity test, and can be considered as potential molecular markers for evaluating the phototoxicity of 3T3 NRU. However, they have not been feasible in guinea pig tests and EpiKutis artificial skin tests. Guinea pigs and EpiKutis artificial skin exhibit more similar changes in p38 and Erk1/2 expression, suggesting that the EpiKutis artificial skin model test method may be a better alternative to animal testing than the 3T3 NRU method.

OBJECTIVE To explore the optimal process of extraction and purification of total phenols from deoiled Cinnamomum longepaniculatum leaves, and to evaluate the antioxidant activity in vitro before and after purification, so as to provide a theoretical basis for rational development and utilization of Cinnamomum longepaniculatum. METHODS The L18(37) orthogonal experiment was carried out on the basis of five-single factor and three-level experiments, such as concentration of ethanol(A), ratio of liquid-material(B), extraction temperature(C), extraction time(D), and extraction times(E). The extraction process of total phenols was optimized, by taking the amount of total phenols extraction as the process investigation index. Taking the adsorption and desorption performance under dynamic and static conditions as the investigation index of total phenols purification process, the purification process of total phenols was optimized by macroporous resin. With vitamin C(Vc) as the positive control, the antioxidant activity in vitro of total phenols before and after purification were evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging, ABTS+ radical scavenging and determination of total reducing capacity. RESULTS The best extraction technology conditions of total phenols were as follows: ratio of liquid-material 30 mL·g−1, concentration of ethanol 50%, extraction time 2 h, extraction temperature 90 ℃, extraction 2 times. Under such conditions , the extraction amount of total phenols from deoiled Cinnamomum longepaniculatum leaves was 15.63 mL·g−1. HPD-600 type macroporous resin showed the best purifying profile. The best purification technology conditions were as follows: the concentration of sample solution was 0.5 g·L−1, the sample solution pH value was 3, the sample volume was 2.5 BV, the sample flow rate 1 mL·min−1, the impurity was removed by 4.5 BV distilled water, the elution concentration of ethanol was 60%, the eluate pH value 7, the elution flow rate 1 mL·min−1, 4.5 BV eluent was collected and the total phenols assay was increased from 12.51% to 26.40%. The purified total phenols showed excellent antioxidant activity in vitro. The scavenging effect of total phenols after purification on DPPH and ABTS+ free radicals increased with the increase of total phenols concentration. The IC50 values of DPPH radical scavenging activity of total phenols before and after purification were (68.31±1.96)mg·L−1 and (38.07±0.66)mg·L−1, respectively. The IC50 values of ABTS+ radical scavenging activity of total phenols before and after purification were (23.88±1.66)mg·L−1and (14.28±0.19)mg·L−1, respectively. The absorbance values of the total reducing capacity of total phenols was 1.68 times higher than that before purification. The scavenging effect of total phenols before and after purification on DPPH, ABTS+ free radical scavenging and total reducing capacity was weaker than that of Vc. CONCLUSION The process is stable and feasible, suitable for industrial production, and has the advantages of simplicity, rapidity and accuracy, which lays a foundation for further research on Cinnamomum longepaniculatum and the development of natural antioxidants.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the potential of low-frequency, low-power ultrasound to enhance the transdermal absorption and efficacy of ketoprofen gel. METHODS Ketoprofen gel was used as a model drug to compare the in vitro transdermal permeation of ultrasound treated group and untreated group. Additionally, a rat model of collagen-induced inflammation provided a basis for evaluating pharmacodynamic differences. Pharmacokinetic studies further elucidated the effects of ultrasound on ketoprofen gel's penetration process. RESULTS Ultrasound treatment enhanced the cumulative transdermal permeation of ketoprofen gel by 3.5-fold over 24 hours compared to untreated. Significant pharmacokinetic improvements in AUC0-t from (4289.02±763.58)ng·h·mL−1 to (11301.10±3386.30)ng·h·mL−1 and a reduction in Tmax from (6.0±1.4)h to (3.0±2.0)h. Ultrasound notably improved the gel's anti-inflammatory effects in the rat model, effectively and rapidly reducing inflammation-induced swelling. CONCLUSION Low-frequency, low-power ultrasound can significantly improve the amount and rate of transdermal absorption of ketoprofen gel and enhance its pharmacological potency, from the aspects of skin permeation tests, pharmacodynamic evaluation, and pharmacokinetic studies, which is an effective penetration enhancer for transdermal administration of ketoprofen gel.

OBJECTIVE To establish a ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrum/mass spectrum(UPLC-MS/MS) method for the determination of anlotinib in human plasma and assessment of clinical application. METHODS Zanubrutinib was used as internal standard and the extraction process was performed through protein precipitation method using acetonitrile, followed by separation on an Ultimate XB-C18(100 mm×2.1 mm, 3.0 μm) column using acetonitrile and 10 mmol·L−1 ammonium acetate-0.1% formic acid step-elution gradient. The flow rate was 0.6 mL·min−1 and injection volume was 5 μL. The mass analysis was performed by positive ion electrospray ionization in multiple-reaction monitoring mode, and the mass spectrometer was set at m/z 408.1→339.1 for anlotinib and m/z 472.2→290.1 for internal standard, respectively. The specificity, standard curve and lower limit of quantification, precision and recovery, matrix effect and stability of the method and clinical application were investigated. RESULTS The method was validated over the concentration range of 1.0−100.0 ng·mL−1, with R2=0.998 4. The precision RSD was<9%, the recovery and matrix effect were 104.81%−107.32% and 102.54%−105.26%, respectively, and this method had good stability and was not affected by matrix effect. The method had been used for determined 52 advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with anlotinib. The trough plasma concentration (Ctrough) was measured on day 43 after initiation of anlotinib treatment. Anlotinib Ctrough were higher than lower limit of quantitation (1.0 ng·mL−1) from 52 patients. The plasma concentration of anlotinib Ctrough was (11.38±4.29)ng·mL−1 with 37.66% coefficients of variation, which were shown large inter-patient variability. CONCLUSION This method is high sensitivity, specificity and accurate, and suitable for determination of anlotinib in human plasma.

OBJECTIVE To establish a rapid method for determining of acid yellow 36 in moxibustion. METHODS Based on the principle of acid yellow 36 as an acid-base indicator and discoloration in the pH range of 1.2(red) to 2.3(yellow), 15% sulfuric acid solution was used as the color developing agent to screen the ethanol extract of the sample, and then HPLC method was used to verify the suspicious positive samples in the initial screening, and finally LC-MS method was used to confirm the accuracy of the established rapid physicochemical detection method. RESULTS The established method was applied to 67 batches of samples, and 3 positive samples were detected. The results were consistent with those of HPLC and LC-MS. CONCLUSION The method is accurate and sensitive, which can be used for rapid detection of acid yellow 36 in moxibustion.