Asthma ; Humans ; Respiration Disorders ; Respiratory Hypersensitivity

Epimedii Folium is a well-known Chinese herbal medicine with the effect of nourishing kidney and strengthening Yang. Its main active ingredients are flavonoids. In this study, 60 samples of Epimedium sagittatum were collected for the determination of total flavonoids(TF) including the total amount of epimedin A, epimedin B, epimedin C, and icariin(abbreviated as ABCI) specified in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia as well as rhamnosylicariside Ⅱ and icariside Ⅱ. The calibration parameters of "first derivativemultiva-riate scattering correction in 1 900-650 cm~(-1) band(4-point smoothing)" and "first derivativestandard normal variable correction in 4 000-650 cm~(-1) full band(4-point smoothing)" were confirmed respectively. The quantitative model was established via Fourier infrared spectroscopy plus attenuated total reflection(FTIR-ATR) accessory combined with partial least squares(PLS) method and then used to predict the flavonoid content of 11 validation sets. The average prediction accuracy for ABCI in calibration set and validation set was 98.985% and 96.087%, respectively. The average prediction accuracy for TF in calibration set and validation set was 98.998% and 94.771%, respectively. These results indicated that FTIR-ATR combined with PLS model could be used for rapid prediction of flavonoid content in E. sagittatum, with the prediction accuracy above 94.7%. The establishment of this method provides a new solution for the detection of a large number of E. sagittatum samples.
Epimedium/chemistry* ; Flavonoids/chemistry* ; Plant Leaves ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Spectrophotometry, Infrared

This study was to investigate the protective effect of paeoniflorin (PF) on hydrogen peroxide-induced injury. Firstly, "SMILES" of PF was searched in Pubchem and further was used for reverse molecular docking in Swiss Target Prediction database to obtain potential targets. Injury-related molecules were obtained from GeenCards database, and the predicted targets of PF for injury treatment were selected by Wayne diagram. For mechanism analysis, the protein-protein interactions were constructed by String, and the KEGG analysis was conducted in Webgestalt. Then, cell viability and cytotoxicity assay were established by CCK8 assay. Also, the experimental cells were allocated to control, model (200 μmol·L

In the present research, 674 wild medicinal material samples of Phellodendri amurensis Cortex were collected from 31 sampling sites in the whole distribution of its original plant Phellodendron amurense. The samples were collected under the premise that the stem diameter of sampling plant, sampling position and time were controlled. And the sampling sites were set at the interval of a latitude. The content of 6 kinds of active ingredients, palmatine chloride, berberine hydrochloride, phellodendrine chloride, jatrorrhizine hydrochloride, magnoflorine, chlorogenic acid, etc in the medicinal material samples were determined, and the results showed that the content of most active ingredients in the medicinal materials showed significant differences due to the difference of sampling sites. Among them, the medicinal materials from Liaoning region had the highest content of active ingredients, followed by Beijing and Jilin regions, and that from Heilongjiang region had the lowest content. The study has important directive significance to the exploration of environmental factors for the formation of active constituent and artificial planting regionalization of high quality Phellodendri amurensis Cortex.

In order to evaluate the heavy metal potential pollution of soil and medicinal materials in main producing area of Phellodendron amurense, we collected 32 soil samples and 32 herb samples from northeast and north of China covering four provinces. In this study, the detection of heavy metal contents was conducted by ICP emission spectroscopy and atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The results showed that the soil from all areas of Ph amurense generally reached the national standard. As, Hg, Cr, Cd, Pb and Cu content of herb samples met the requirtment of the national standard except Hg content exceeding standard slight in a few samples. The reason of excessive Hg was the ability of Hg accumulation in Ph. amurense and atmospheric environment was polluted. So, national standard and Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) must be carried out severely in Ph. amurense resources production.

Objective To investigate residents' psychological stress factors and research the correlation between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and platelet 5-HT concentrations so as to provide scientific bases for diagnosis and treatment of PTSD and psychological intervention for people in the disaster area. Methods A questionnaire survey of 5 500 residents who have accepted psychological help was conducted by the emphatic investigation method. While high performance liquid chromatography was used to detect the platelet serotonin concentration of 100 PTSD patients and 100 healthy people. Results (1) Of the 5 114 cases, 3 167 (61.93%) showed positive results in screening for psychological stress symptoms, and 399 (7.8%) were tested having apparent PTSD symptoms. Male and female prevalence showed no significant difference (χ

In order to discover light quality's effects on growth, photosynthesis and effective components content of Panax notoginseng, a pot experiment using 7 light qualities (red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, violet, and blue) was conducted. The growth, photosynthesis and content change of effective components were measured during plant growth. The results showed that light qualities had significant effect on plant growth, red light increased the plant height, while cyan, yellow, violet, and blue lights promoted accumulation of biomass underground, blue and yellow lights increased the photosynthesis, cyan light increased accumulation of ginsenoside Rd, yellow and cyan lights increased total effective components of individual plant.
Light ; Panax notoginseng ; growth & development ; metabolism ; radiation effects ; Photosynthesis ; radiation effects ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; metabolism

Quality variation and ecotype classification of Chinese herbal medicine are important scientific problems in Daodi herbal medicine research. The diversity of natural environmental conditions has led to form unique multi-Daodi, multi-product areas that produce particular Chinese herbal medicine. China is one of three big American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) producing areas worldwide, with over 300 years of application and 40 years of cultivation history. Long-term production practice has led to the formation of three big advocate produce areas in China: Northeast province, Beijing and Shandong. P. quinquefolium L. grown under certain environmental conditions will develop long-term adaptations that will lead to more stable strains (different ecotypes). P. quinquefolium L., can vary greatly in quality; however, the ecological mechanisms causing this variation are still unclear. Root samples were collected from four-year-old cultivated P. quinquefolium L. plants in the three major genuine (Daodi) American ginseng-producing areas of Northeast province, Beijing and Shandong province, China. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography was used to analyze the contents of eight ginsenosides (Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, Rc, Rd, Rg2). Data for nine ecological factors, including temperature, moisture and sunlight, were obtained from the ecological database of Geographic Information System for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Soil samples from the sampling sites were collected. Effective boron and iron, available nitrogen and potassium, as well as other trace elements and soil nutrients, were determined by conventional soil physicochemical property assay methods. Analytical methods of biostatistics and numerical taxonomy were used to divide ecotypes of the three main Panax quinquefolium L. producing areas in China based on ginsenoside content, climate, soil and other ecological factors. To our knowledge, this is the first time that ecological division of P. quinquefolium L. producing areas in China has ever been conducted. The results show that there are two chemoecotypes of P. quinquefolium L. in China: ginsenoside Rb1-Re from outside Shanhaiguan, and ginsenoside Rg2-Rd from inside Shanhaiguan. Similarly, there are two types of climatic characteristics: inside Shanhaiguan (Beijing, Shandong) and outside Shanhaiguan (Northeast). This suggests that the formation and differentiation of chemoecotypes of P. quinquefolium L. is closely related to variability of the climatic and geographical environment. Additionally, ecological variation of the three main producing areas, characteristics of two climatic ecotypes, and soil characteristics are also discussed and summarized. These results provide experimental scientific evidence of the quality variation and ecological adaptation of P. quinquefolium L. from different producing areas. They also deepen our understanding of the biological nature of Daodi P. quinquefolium L. formation, and offer novel research models for other multi-origin, multi-Daodi Chinese herbal medicines ecotypes. In addition, the results demonstrate the critical need for improving quality, appropriate ecological regionalization and promoting industrialized development of P. quinquefolium L.
Biodiversity ; China ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Climate ; Cluster Analysis ; Ecotype ; Ginsenosides ; analysis ; Panax ; chemistry ; classification ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; classification ; Soil ; Temperature

Objective To study the acceptability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)program on prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)infection among female sex workers (FSWs) in Guangxi of China.Methods A cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling was administered among 405 FSWs in Nanning,Liuzhou and Beihai cities of Guangxi,China.Self-designed questionnaire,face to face interviews were used to collect HIV-related risk behaviors,knowledge and acceptability of PrEP.Results After an introduction on PrEP,presuming that it was effective,safe and free of charge,85.9％ of the 405 FSWs said they would use it.Data from logistic regression analysis showed that significant factors of intent to use PrEP would include the followings:workplace (OR=2.256,P=0.009),monthly income (OR=0.257,P=0.004),family closeness (OR＝0.338,P＝0.012),knowledge on HIV/AIDS (OR＝2.802,P=0.028),HIV/AIDS risk was introduced from a strange client (OR＝0.363,P＝0.049),whether the gatekeeper ordering the use of condom (OR＝0.432,P=0.010),whether consistent using condom with clients (OR＝3.010,P＝0.002),whether ever using drugs to prevent STD infection (OR=3.570,P=0.049) etc.Conclusion Awareness on HIV/AIDS knowledge and self-protection seemed the main influential factors while health education might promote the acceptability of PrEP.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of aging on the expressions of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) in the lung tissue of rats with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI).

METHODSBoth young (3 months old) and aged (27 months old) female Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups (n=8), namely the normal control and LPS-induced ALI groups. Immunohistochemistry for of ED-1 was used to detect the infiltrating inflammatory cells. Western blot and Northern blot analyses were employed for evaluating the expressions of MCP-1 and ICAM-1 at the protein and mRNA levels.

RESULTSVirtually no ED-1-positive cells were found in the lung tissue of the control rats in the young and aged groups. After LPS-induced ALI, ED-1-positive cells in the lung tissues increased significantly in both young and aged groups (P<0.05), and the increment was more obviously in the aged group (P<0.05). In the two normal control groups, the aged rats showed significantly higher expressions of MCP-1 and ICAM-1 than the young rats (P<0.05); LPS significantly up-regulated their expression in the young and aged groups (P<0.05), but the latter showed greater increments (P<0.05). The aged rats with ALI also showed significantly greater MCP-1 and ICAM-1 increments than those of the young rats (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSAging may upregulate lung MCP-1 and ICAM-1 expressions and enhance LPS-induced increments of MCP-1 and ICAM-1 expressions to exacerbate the pulmonary inflammation in rats.

Acute Lung Injury ; chemically induced ; metabolism ; Aging ; Animals ; Chemokine CCL2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Female ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Lung ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Up-Regulation