OBJECTIVE To optimize the extraction process of Shenye buyi formula. METHODS Based on the quality by design （QbD） concept， the contents of rutin， nuciferine， sinapine thiocyanate， liquiritin，and glycyrrhizic acid ammonium salt， as well as the extract yield， were selected as the critical quality attributes （CQAs） for the extraction process of Shenye buyi formula. The fishbone diagram combined with the failure model and effect analysis method was adopted to determine the water addition， extraction time and extraction times as critical process parameters （CPPs）. High-performance liquid chromatography was employed to detect the contents of rutin， nuciferine， sinapine thiocyanate， liquiritin， and glycyrrhizic acid ammonium salt. The analytic hierarchy process-entropy weight method was used to comprehensively assign weights to the content of the five components including rutin and the extract yield. The Box-Behnken response surface method was employed to fit the mathematical model between CQAs and CPPs， screen the operational space of the extraction process， and validate it. RESULTS The optimal operational space of the extraction process was 9.5 to 12 times the amount of water added， the extraction time was 1 to 1.7 hours， and the extraction times were 3. Upon verification，the comprehensive scores of the optimal extraction process within the operational space were 89.79 and 84.93， respectively. CONCLUSIONS The extraction process of the Shenye buyi formula can be applied to the development and production of its granule preparations.

OBJECTIVE To explore the effect mechanism of ethanol extract from Atractylodes macrocephala （EEAM） on microglial phagocytosis and degradation of amyloid β （Aβ） based on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ （PPAR- γ） signaling pathway. METHODS Taking neuromicroglial cell BV2 as subjects， confocal microscopy was used to observe the effects of EEAM （0.3， 0.4， 0.5 mg/mL， similarly hereinafter） on phagocytosis and degradation of Aβ in microglia. Human embryonic kidney cell HEK293 was used to investigate the effects of EEAM on luciferase transcriptional activity of PPAR-γ. The effect of EEAM on nuclear translocation of PPAR-γ was investigated by immunofluorescence. Alzheimer’s disease BV2 cell model was induced by Aβ1-42， and quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the effects of EEAM on mRNA expressions of PPAR-γ downstream target genes （Lxra， Lxrb， Abca1， Abcg1， Cd36， Sra and Apoe）. RESULTS The results of Aβ uptake experiment showed that after the intervention of medium and high doses of EEAM， fluorescence intensity of Aβ in BV2 cells increased significantly （P＜0.05）. The degradation experiment of Aβ showed that after the intervention of medium and high doses of EEAM， fluorescence intensity of Aβ in BV2 cells decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. After the intervention of different doses of EEAM， luciferase transcriptional activity of PPAR-γ in HEK293 cells increased significantly （P＜0.05）； fluorescence intensity of PPAR-γ in BV2 cells and nuclei （except for low-dose group） increased significantly （P＜0.05）. mRNA expressions of Lxra， Lxrb， Abca1， Abcg1， Cd36， Sra and Apoe in BV2 cells were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS EEAM can promote the uptake and degradation of Aβ in microglia by activating PPAR-γ signaling pathway， thus improving Alzheimer’s disease.