ObjectiveTo discriminate the age of Arisaema Cum Bile， the combination of headspace solid-phase microextraction （HS-SPME） with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS） was applied to explore the differences of volatile components of unfermented， 1-year fermented， 2-year fermented， and 3-year fermented Arisaema Cum Bile. MethodSamples with different fermentation durations were collected and HS-SPME-GC-MS technology was employed to detect the volatile components of each sample. The relative contents of detected volatile components were processed and analyzed by chemometrics methods such as principal component analysis （PCA）， hierarchical cluster analysis （HCA）， and partial least squares discriminant analysis （PLS-DA）. ResultThe results showed that 145 volatile components were identified. Among these volatile components， the relative contents of heterocyclic， alcohols， aldehydes and aromatics were high. PCA， HCA， and PLS-DA can effectively separate Arisaema Cum Bile with four different ages. Based on variable importance in projection （VIP） value > 1， 73 markers of differential volatile components were identified. The content of 2，6，11-trimethyldodecane and m-xylene in unfermented samples was the highest， and the content difference between them and those in fermented samples was significant （P<0.05）. 2，3-butanediol was detected only in 1-year samples， octane was detected only in 2-year samples， and ethyl heptanoate was detected only in 3-year samples. These components can be used as odor markers for Arisaema Cum Bile with different fermentation years. ConclusionThe identification method of volatile components of Arisaema Cum Bile was established by HS-SPME-GC-MS technology， which can realize the rapid identification of unfermented， 1-year fermented， 2-year fermented， and 3-year fermented samples， and provide a scientific basis for the standardization of processing technology and quality standards of Arisaema Cum Bile.

The clinical data of one child with metanephric stromal tumor (MST) and BRAF V600E gene mutation admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in June 2022 was analyzed retrospectively.Literature was reviewed.The patient, a 2-year-old girl, was diagnosed with a tumor in the left abdomen.The maximum diameter of the tumor was 10.5 cm.A radical nephrectomy was performed on the left kidney, and postoperative pathology revealed MST.Microscopically, the tumor had no envelope and exhibited expansive growth.The tumor cells were fusiform or stellate, and nuclear division was visible in the cell-rich region.Dysplastic blood vessels were seen inside the tumor.The tumor cells around the blood vessels and invaginated renal tubules were arranged like onion skin.CD34 was detected positive by immunohistochemical staining, and BRAF V600E mutation was also detected positive by fluorescent polymerase chain reaction.A total of 21 relevant case reports were retrieved, including 16 in English and 5 in Chinese.Fifty-eight MST patients, including the one in this report were analyzed.These patients were aged 2 days to 15 years, with a median age of 2 years.Except for 2 patients with unknown sex, the ratio of male to female was about 1.4∶1.0.Most MST patients were asymptomatic, with an average tumor size of 5.3 cm.The tumor cell CD34 showed positive expression in different degrees.Eight patients received the BRAF V600E mutation detection, and the results were all positive.Fifty-eight patients underwent nephrectomy and were followed up for 0-156 months, of which 7 patients were assisted with radiotherapy and chemotherapy.During the follow-up, 1 patient died, and 1 patient had a relapse.MST is a rare benign renal stromal tumor. BRAF V600E mutations are detected in a variety of malignancies.This paper is the first to report MST with BRAF V600E mutation in China and points out the importance of molecular detection of BRAF mutation for accurate diagnosis of MST.

Complicated chemical reactions occur in the decoction of traditional Chinese medicines(TCMs) which features complex components, influencing the safety, efficacy, and quality controllability of TCMs. Therefore, it is particularly important to clarify the chemical reaction mechanism of TCMs in the decoction. This study summarized eight typical chemical reactions in the decoction of TCMs, such as substitution reaction, redox reaction, isomerization/stereoselective reaction, complexation, and supramolecular reaction. With the "toxicity attenuation and efficiency enhancement" of aconitines and other examples, this study reviewed the reactions in decoction of TCMs, which was expected to clarify the variation mechanisms of key chemical components in this process and to help guide medicine preparation and safe and rational use of medicine in clinical settings. The current main research methods for chemical reaction mechanisms of decoction of TCMs were also summed up and compared. The novel real-time analysis device of decoction system for TCMs was found to be efficient and simple without the pre-treatment of samples. This device provides a promising solution, which has great potential in quantity evaluation and control of TCMs. Moreover, it is expected to become a foundational and exemplary research tool, which can advance the research in this field.
Medicine ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research Design

Dead heart is an important trait of pith-decayed Scutellariae Radix. The purpose of this study was to clarify the scientific connotation of the dead heart using multi-omics. Metabolomics and transcriptomics combined with multivariate statistical analysis such as principal component analysis(PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA) were used to systematically compare the differences in chemical composition and gene expression among phloem, outer xylem and near-dead xylem of pith-decayed Scutella-riae Radix. The results revealed significant differences in the contents of flavonoid glycosides and aglycones among the three parts. Compared with phloem and outer xylem, near-dead xylem had markedly lowered content of flavonoid glycosides(including baicalin, norwogonin-7-O-β-D-glucuronide, oroxylin A-7-O-β-D-glucuronide, and wogonoside) while markedly increased content of aglycones(including 3,5,7,2',6'-pentahydroxy dihydroflavone, baicalin, wogonin, and oroxylin A). The differentially expressed genes were mainly concentrated in KEGG pathways such as phenylpropanoid metabolism, flavonoid biosynthesis, ABC transporter, and plant MAPK signal transduction pathway. This study systematically elucidated the material basis of the dead heart of pith-decayed Scutellariae Radix with multiple growing years. Specifically, the content of flavonoid aglycones was significantly increased in the near-dead xylem, and the gene expression of metabolic pathways such as flavonoid glycoside hydrolysis, interxylary cork development and programmed apoptosis was significantly up-regulated. This study provided a theoretical basis for guiding the high-quality production of pith-decayed Scutellariae Radix.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Scutellaria baicalensis/chemistry* ; Glucuronides ; Multiomics ; Flavonoids/chemistry*

Heart Neoplasms/genetics* ; Hemangiosarcoma/genetics* ; Humans ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Thymus Neoplasms

Puerarin was conjugated with bovine serum albumin(BSA) and ovalbumin(OVA) by periodate oxidation to serve as the immunogen and coating antigen, respectively. BALB/c mice were immunized with puerarin-BSA according to the routine immunization procedure, and the titer and specificity of serum were detected after three immunization. After booster immunization, mouse spleen lymphocytes were fused with mouse myeloma cells, and 24 hybridoma cell lines of the monoclonal antibodies against puerarin were screened by monoclonal antibody screening technique. Ascites was prepared and purified. The cross-reactivity of monoclonal antibody(mAb) M1 with 4'-methoxy puerarin, daidzin, puerarin-6″-O-xyloside, daidzein, mirificin, 3'-methoxy puerarin, and 3'-hydroxy puerarin was 239.84%, 112.18%, 67.89%, 58.28%, 22.37%, 0.40%, and 0.20%, respectively, and those with other analogs such as baicalein and baicalin were all less than 0.10%. The IC_(50) and the working range of the indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(icELISA) for puerarin were 44.80 ng·mL~(-1) and 8.20-292.30 ng·mL~(-1), respectively. The average recovery was 91.95%-98.20% with an RSD in the range of 0.70%-2.60%. The content of puerarin in different Puerariae Lobatae Radix samples was determined with icELISA and validated by UPLC-MS. The correlation between data obtained from icELISA and UPLC-MS was 0.999 0, indicating that icELISA is suitable for the rapid detection of puerarin in Puerariae Lobatae Radix samples.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/methods* ; Hybridomas/metabolism* ; Isoflavones ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of auricular acupoint bloodletting (AB) and auricular acupressure (AA) on sleep quality and the levels of melatonin (MT), glutamic acid (Glu), and γ -aminobutyric acid (GABA) in college students with primary insomnia, and to explore the possible mechanism. METHODS: Totally 74 college students at Hebei University of Chinese Medicine with primary insomnia were selected from October 2019 to October 2020. All patients were assigned to AB+AA group (37 cases, received combination of AB and AA) and AA group (37 cases, received only AA on the same acupoints) by a random number table. Each group was treated twice a week for 4 weeks. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score, Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome score, total effective rate, serum concentrations of MT, Glu, and GABA, and Glu/GABA ratio were compared between the two groups after treatment and at follow-up. The safety of therapy was also evaluated. RESULTS: After 4-week treatment, the total scores of PSQI, each PSQI component score, and the CM syndrome scores in both groups all decreased (P<0.05); the serum MT concentrations in both groups all increased (P<0.05). The concentrations of Glu and GABA in the AB+AA group were significantly higher than those in the AA group after treatment (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the ratio of Glu/GABA in both groups before and after treatment (P>0.05). At follow-up, the CM syndrome score in the AB+AA group was significantly lower than that in the AA group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in total effective rates and adverse events (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Both AB+AA and AA can relieve insomnia symptoms, but a stronger long-term effect were observed for AB+AA. AB+AA can promote the secretion of MT, increase the levels of Glu and GABA more effective than AA, and regulate their imbalance, and thus it may be benificial for treating insomnia.
Humans ; Acupressure ; Acupuncture Points ; Bloodletting ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders/therapy* ; Sleep Quality ; Syndrome ; Students ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid

Aim To explore the internal mechanism of NK2 activation of NK cells from the perspective of "mitochondrial dysfunction-abnormal cell activation".Methods NK-92MI cells were divided into blank group, TSLP group, 1, 5, and 10 μmol·L-1 Mdivi-1 dose groups.The levels of IL-4, IL-5, and IFN-γ in the supernatant of each group were determined by ELISA; The expression of p-Drp1 and MnSOD protein in each group was determined by Western blotting; the ROS level of each group was detected by DHE staining and flow cytometry; mitochondrial morphology was observed by confocal laser in each group of cells.Results ELISA showed that compared with control group, the levels of IL-4 and IL-5 in cell supernatant of TSLP group significantly increased, and the level of IFN-γ was down-regulated(P<0.05); Compared with TSLP group, the levels of IL-4 and IL-5 in cell supernatant of 5 and 10 μmol·L-1 Mdivi-1 group decreased, and the IFN-γ concentration of the 10 μmol·L-1 Mdivi-1 group rose(P<0.05).DHE staining and flow cytometry showed that ROS level of cells in TSLP group was significantly higher than control group.Compared with TSLP group, ROS level of the 5 and 10 μmol·L-1 Mdivi-1 groups decreased(P<0.05).The laser confocal results showed that after TSLP stimulation, a large number of spherical mitochondria were formed in cells.This phenomenon was improved to a certain extent after the intervention of 5, 10 μmol·L-1 Mdivi-1.Western blot analysis showed that the p-Drp1 level of NK-92MI cells in TSLP group was significantly up-regulated, and the expression of MnSOD decreased, while the intervention of Mdivi-1 effectively reversed the changes in the expression of the above-mentioned molecules.Conclusions Mitochondrial dynamic imbalance may be one of the internal mechanisms of abnormal activation of NK cells, and it may be an important target for regulating NK2 activation of NK cells and improving the allergic inflammatory response mediated by it.

As a key gene in the regulation of long-chain fatty acid biosynthesis, 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS) plays an important role in the growth and development of Coix lacryma-jobi L. In this study, the KCS gene was cloned from cDNA of Coix lachryma-Jobi L. and bioinformatics analysis was performed. Results showed that the full length KCS gene was 1 548 bp encoding 515 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the gene encoded a 58 608.12 Da protein with an isoelectric point of 9.20 containing two transmembrane helical structure domains and lacking a signal peptide, with a likely subcellular localization in main plastid membranes. The results of multiple sequence comparisons and evolutionary tree analysis revealed that KCS had three identical conserved sequences and was closely related to KCS from monocotyledons such as Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays, Setaria italica, Panicum miliaceum, Oryza brachyantha, Hordeum vulgare, Aegilops tauschii subsp. Tauschii. We speculated that the evolution of the gene was similar among these plants of the same family. In addition, gene expression analysis showed that the KCS gene was significantly different in Coix lacryma-jobi L. isolates having different lipid content. This work will facilitate further study of the regulatory mechanism of this enzyme in fatty acid synthesis.

In this study, the fatty acid desaturase gene FAD2 was cloned from Coix lacryma-jobi L. and its molecular structure and function were studied. The results showed that the full-length cDNA sequence of FAD2 gene was 936 bp encoding 311 amino acid residues. Bioinformatics prediction results showed that the protein encoded by the FAD2 gene was an alkaline hydrophilic unstable protein with a molecular weight of 34.87 kDa. It contained three transmembrane helix domain, and did not contain the signal peptide splicing site, and was most likely to be located in plasmid membrane. Compared with other similar genes in plants, it has only a histidine conserved site, His Box Ⅲ histidine site (HXXHH), suggesting its activity may be reduced. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that FAD2 was closely related to monocotyledonous plants, especially Maize and Oryza sativa japonica Group, but farther from dicotyledonous plants. Therefore, it was inferred that FAD2 might have similar functions with similar genes in Maize and Oryza sativa japonica Group. In addition, the expression of FAD2 gene could be detected in Coix lacryma-jobi L. with high oil content, but not in low oil content of Coix lacryma-jobi L. In order to clarify the function of FAD2, the gene was heterologously expressed in sporomyces cerevisiae. The results showed that the protein encoded by FAD2 gene did not catalyze the formation of C18∶1 unsaturated fatty acid into C18∶2 unsaturated fatty acid. Therefore, it was speculated that the deletion of histidinine conserved site of FAD2 gene might lead to the decrease of protein activity or even inactivation. This study provides reference value for further understanding the molecular structure characteristics of fatty acid desaturase. At the same time, it laid a foundation for elucidating the biosynthetic pathway of Coix lacryma-jobi L.