Aromatic Chinese medicinal essential oils are volatile oils extracted from aromatic Chinese herbs， which can prevent and treat respiratory infectious diseases through multiple synergistic mechanisms including pathogen inhibition， immune regulation， and inflammatory response regulation. Essential oils are primarily used externally on the body to prevent infections and alleviate symptoms through methods like inhalation， smearing， topical application， bathing， gargling or as a suppository. They can also be utilized in the environment for disinfection and air purification， through methods like diffusion， vaporization， or spraying. The external application of essential oils extracted from Chinese aromatic herbs has the advantages of convenience， quick absorption， and simultaneous influence on both the body and mind. However， there are still challenges and deficiencies in aspects such as the positioning of functions， indications， safety， and the research on the mechanism of action. It has been proposed to combine the theory of aromatic Chinese medicinals with the characteristics of essential oils， and formulate prescriptions of Chinese medicinal essential oils under the principles of traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation， and prevent and treat respiratory infectious diseases efficiently， accurately， and safely， thereby expanding the clinical application of aromatic Chinese medicinals and the preventive theory of traditional Chinese medicine.

The interaction of drug and target protein is a critical part of new drug discovery. It is the premise for drugs to exert therapeutic effects by targeting specific binding sites of target proteins and thereby affecting its pharmacological activity. Currently, a variety of techniques are exploited to detect the interaction between drug ligands and target proteins. For example, cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) and differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) based on thermodynamics, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance technology, etc. In addition, high-throughput ligand screening technology provides technical convenience for the search of specific ligand, and is a powerful tool to efficiently identify the interaction between drug ligand and target protein. Here, we summarize the detection techniques of interaction between small molecules and target proteins, and discuss the application of high-throughput ligand screening technology in drug research.

Target identification and verification of natural products is an important and challenging work in the field of chemical biology. It is also an important job for researchers to apply chemical proteomics technology to biomedicine in order to identify target proteins of natural products. Target identification is critical to understanding its mechanisms and developing natural products as molecular probes and potential therapeutic drugs. Traditional approaches of small molecule target identification based on affinity have been shown to be successful, such as click-chemical probes, radioisotope labeling or photosensitized small-molecule probes. Nevertheless, these technologies require purified candidate target proteins, and modified small molecules with probes or linkers, such as adding agarose beads, biotin labels, fluorescent labeling or photo-affinity labeling. Many structure-activity relationship studies should be performed to ensure that the addition of small molecule labels undisturbed the original biological activity of the small molecules. Unfortunately, all these modifications are likely to alter their biological activity or binding specificity. To overcome the bottleneck of "target recognition", researchers have developed a series of new techniques for unmodified drug target identification. In this article, we reviewed the target identification techniques of natural product without structural modification in order to provide reference for the development of natural products.

Male ; Humans ; Germ-Line Mutation ; Prostatic Neoplasms/genetics* ; BRCA2 Protein/genetics* ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease

Humans ; Hemangioma/pathology* ; Hemangioma, Capillary/pathology*

Objective:To analyze the risk factors for the occurrence of intradialytic hypotension (IDH) in elderly maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients based on longitudinal multidimensional data.Methods:This was a single-center, retrospective observational study. Data of MHD patients were retrospectively analyzed from April 3, 2017 to December 31, 2021 in the blood purification center of National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, General Hospital of Eastern Theater Command. IDH defined by the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative was used as outcome indicator. Generalized estimating equations were used for univariate and multivariate regression analysis. The importance of each factor on the occurrence of IDH was evaluated by chi-square statistic minus degrees of freedom, and sensitivity analysis was performed by 5-fold interpolation of missing data.Results:A total of 156 elderly patients were enrolled, 91(58.3%) of whom were male, and 2 681 dialysis data recordings were included. The incidence of IDH from 2017 to 2021 fluctuated from 8.3% to 13.2%, with an average incidence of 11.0% by 2021. The results of multivariate regression showed pre-dialysis systolic pressure of 140-159 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa, 90-139 mmHg as reference: OR=0.482, 95% CI 0.273-0.851, P=0.012), pre-dialysis diastolic pressure ≥ 90 mmHg (60-89 mmHg as reference, 90-99 mmHg: OR=4.081, 95% CI 2.132-7.809, P < 0.001; ≥ 100 mmHg: OR=8.547, 95% CI 3.233-22.597, P < 0.001), albumin (34-48 as reference, < 34 g/L: OR=2.677, 95% CI 1.592-4.502, P < 0.001; > 48 g/L: OR=2.692, 95% CI 1.102-6.577, P=0.030), C-reactive protein ≥ 8 mg/L (< 8 mg/L as reference: OR=1.787, 95% CI 1.216-2.628, P=0.003), hemodiafiltration as the dialysis mode (hemodialysis as the reference: OR=2.256, 95% CI 1.395-3.648, P=0.001), actual ultrafiltration volume/dry body mass (per 1% increase, OR=1.539, 95% CI 1.139-2.080, P=0.005), and ultrafiltration rate (per 100 ml/h increase, OR=1.641, 95% CI 1.389-1.939, P < 0.001) were independently associated with the occurrence of IDH. Contribution analysis showed that the top three factors related to IDH were ultrafiltration rate ( χ 2- df=32.798), pre-dialysis diastolic pressure ( χ 2- df=20.757) and albumin ( χ 2- df=19.971). The sensitivity analysis showed that the regression results were robust. Conclusions:The risk factors of IDH in elderly MHD patients are increasing ultrafiltration rate, higher pre-dialysis diastolic pressure(≥ 90 mmHg), lower albumin (< 34 g/L), HDF, higher c-reactive protein(≥ 8 mg/L) and increasing actual ultrafiltration volume/dry body mass. Higher pre-dialysis systolic pressure (140-159 mmHg) is a protective factor.

According to the theory of 'Xingben Dazao' of Psoralea corylifolia Linn. (BL), the susceptible syndromes and biomarkers of liver injury caused by BL were searched. Rat models of kidney-yin deficiency syndrome (M_yin) and kidney-yang deficiency syndrome (M_yang) were established, and all animal experimental operations and welfare following the provisions of the First Affiliated Experimental Animal Ethics and Animal Welfare Committee of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. YFYDW2020017). The results showed that BL significantly decreased the body weight, water intake, and urine weight of M_yin rats and increase the organ indexes of the liver, testis, adrenal gland, and spleen and the expression of alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Meantime, BL significantly increased the urine weight of M_yang rats and decreased the expression of ALT and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining showed that BL could aggravate inflammatory infiltration of hepatocytes in rats with M_yin and alleviate liver injury in rats with M_yang. Metabolomics identified 17 BL co-regulated significant differential metabolic markers in M_yin and M_yang rats. Among them, 8 metabolites such as glutamine, quinolinate, biliverdin, and lactosylceramide showed opposite trends, mainly involving cysteine and methionine metabolism, tyrosine metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, purine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, glycerol phospholipid metabolism, glutamine metabolism, and other pathways. M_yin/M_yang may be the susceptible constitution of BL for liver damage or protection, which may be related to the regulation of amino acid metabolism and sphingolipid metabolism. The study can provide some experimental data support for the safe and accurate use of BL in the clinical practice of traditional Chinese medicine.

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

Objective: By means of network pharmacology, potential targets and molecular pathways of QiZhenYuanDan in the treatment of atherosclerosis (AS) were studied. Methods: TCMSP database was used to obtain the main active components and target information of Astragali Radix, Fructus Ligustri Lucidi, Corydalis Rhizoma and Salvia Miltiorrhiza in QiZhenYuanDan. Disease targets were retrieved by OMIM and other databases. Molecular networks were constructed using Cytoscape. STRING database was searched and PPI network diagram was drawn to obtain the key targets of QiZhenYuanDan in the treatment of AS; and the targets were uploaded to Metascape data platform for GO and KEGG analysis. Results: There were 118 targets of intersection between QiZhenYuanDan and AS, which were used as the predicted targets of QiZhenYuanDan on AS. GO analysis showed that the biological functions of QiZhenYuanDan in the treatment of AS targets mainly involved biological processes, such as the cytokine-mediated signaling pathway, cytokine receptor binding. KEGG pathway was mainly enriched in 155 signaling pathways, including PI3K-Akt, HIF-1, NF-κB signal pathway and inflammatory bowel disease pathway. Conclusion: Based on the result of network pharmacology study, the mechanisms of Qizhenyuandan for AS treatment was preliminarily revealed. The active ingredients such as quercetin and kaempferol act on targets such as IL-6 and PI3K-Akt, and exert anti-AS effects by inhibiting apoptosis, oxidative stress, as well as inflammatory responses. Our result indicates that QiZhenYuanDan exhibits anti-AS effect via a multi-component, multi-target and multi-route synergistic process.
Atherosclerosis/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Network Pharmacology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt

Aim To investigate the reeovery of I FN-7- tion and the protective effect of Prepared Radix Reh- secreting T and NK cells after low dose X-ray irradia- manniae ( PRR ).Methods X-ray 2.5Gy was used to establish a mouse irradiated model,and some irradiated mice were used to establish a melanoma lung cancer metastasis model or to be treated by PRR.The propor¬tion and number of Tel , Thl and NK1 cells with the phenotypes of IL-12R and IL-15R were detected by flow cytometry.The transcription levels of IL-12,1L- 15 ,STAT4 and T-bet were detected by RT-qPCR.Re¬sults Within four days after irradiation,Thl ,Tcl and NK1 cells were significantly reduced ( P < 0.05 , P < 0.01).The expression of IL-12R and IL-15R de¬creased in Thl and Tel cells , and increased in NK1 cells ( P < 0.05 ).On day 8 of irradiation , NK1 and Tc 1 cells recovered or exceeded basic level, but Th 1 was still lower than normal level ( P < 0.05 ) , and tumor load of irradiated mice increased significantly (P <0.01).Compared with radiation group, the propor¬tion and absolute numbers of NK1 ,Tel and Thl were up-regulated by PRR (P <0.05 <0.01) ,and tumor load was down-regulated ( P < 0.05 ).Conclusions The impaired reconstitution of Thl cells after irradia¬tion affects the anti-tumor ability.PRR promotes the recover}' of IFN-∗y-secreting T and NK cells after radia¬tion and reduces the risk of tumor metastasis in mice.