The plants of the genus Caragana Fabr. are desert plants of the Leguminosae family, which are widely used in traditional ethnomedicine, with the effects of nourishing Yin and nourishing blood, dispelling wind and removing dampness, clearing heat and detoxifying toxins. The anti-inflammatory effect of Caragana Fabr. has attracted much attention, the research on the related mechanism has made some progress, but it lacks systematic collation. By summarising the anti-inflammatory effects of the active ingredients of Caragana Fabr., the authors found that they have good anti-inflammatory activities on different inflammatory cell models in vitro, and have good improvement effects on rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, complex nephritis, and acute lung injury and other disease models. The anti-inflammatory effects of the active components of this genus mainly include the reduction of the levels of a variety of pro-inflammatory factors, and the signalling pathways involved mainly include TLR4/NF-κB, TLR4/MAPK, TLR4/NF-κB/IRF3, JAK/STAT-1, ERK/STAT-1 and so on. Therefore, the paper mainly reviews the research progress on the anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of the Caragana Fabr. plants and their active components according to disease types, with a view to providing reference for the in-depth study of their anti-inflammatory activities and the development of new products with related functions.

AIM To study the extraction process,enzymatic properties and practical application of glucuronic hydrolase in Scutellaria baicalensis stems and leaves(sbsl GUS).METHODS With granularity,water consumption,extraction time and extraction frequency as influencing factors,enzymatic activity as an evaluation index,the extraction process was optimized by orthogonal test on the basis of single factor test.The relationship between substrate(baicalin)concentration and enzymolysis rate,after which Vmax and Km were calculated,the effects of pH value,temperature and metal ion on enzymatic activity were investigated,pH stability and heat stability were evaluated.sbsl GUS was adotped in the enzymolysis of baicalin to prepare baicalein,then the effects of pH value,temperature,reaction time,initial substrate concentration and enzyme addition on transfer rate were investigated.RESULTS The optimal extraction process was determined to be 40 mesh for granularity,10 times for water consumption,15 min for extraction time,and 3 times for extraction frequency.The enzymolysis accorded with the kinetics of enzymatic reaction,Km was 0.006 3 mol/L,Vmax was 70.42 μmol/h,the strongest enzymatic activity was found at the pH value of 6.0,temperature of 45℃and metal ion of 100 mmol/L Cu2+,sbsl GUS demonstrated good stability at the ranges of 4.0-7.0 for pH value and 4-30℃for temperature.The optimal preparation process was determined to be 6.0 for pH value,45℃for temperature,more than 12 h for reaction time,67.2 mmol/L for initial substrate concentration,and 1 mL/0.269 mmol baicalin for enzyme addition,the transfer rate was 97.83%.CONCLUSION sbsl GUS enzymolysis exhibits high efficiency and mild condition,which can provide a simple preparation method for obtaining baicalein,and expand the application path of Scutellaria baicalensis stems and leaves.

Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides in the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression.Methods An open,single-arm,multi-center design was adopted in our study.Adult patients with mild and moderate depression who had received acute treatment of Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides were enrolled and continue to receive Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules for 24 weeks,the dose remained unchanged during continuation treatment.The remission rate,recurrence rate,recurrence time,and the change from baseline to endpoint of Hamilton Depression Scale(HAMD),Hamilton Anxiety Scale(HAMA),Clinical Global Impression-Severity(CGI-S)and Arizona Sexual Experience Scale(ASEX)were evaluated.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was reported.Results The scores of HAMD-17 at baseline and after treatment were 6.60±1.87 and 5.85±4.18,scores of HAMA were 6.36±3.02 and 4.93±3.09,scores of CGI-S were 1.49±0.56 and 1.29±0.81,scores of ASEX were 15.92±4.72 and 15.57±5.26,with significant difference(P＜0.05).After continuation treatment,the remission rate was 54.59％(202 cases/370 cases),and the recurrence rate was 6.49％(24 cases/370 cases),the recurrence time was(64.67±42.47)days.The incidence of treatment-related adverse events was 15.35％(64 cases/417 cases).Conclusion Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides capsules can be effectively used for the continuation treatment of mild and moderate depression,and are well tolerated and safe.

Aerobic glycolysis(AEG),as the main pathway of energy metabolism of various malignant tumor cells,is involved in the whole process of the occurrence and development of lung cancer,and plays a key role in inducing tumor proliferation,invasion and metastasis.Traditional Chinese medicine monomers and compounds can regulate the expression of related signaling pathways and key proteases and genes by interfering with AEG pathway,promote the apoptosis of lung cancer cells,inhibit the AEG process and the proliferation and growth of lung cancer cells,and thus play an anti-tumor role.Based on this,this paper summarized the biological function of AEG,the mechanism of regulating lung cancer and the intervention mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine,in order to provide new ideas and scientific basis for the development of clinical drugs for lung cancer.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease and the most common type of arthritis. It involves almost any joint and can lead to chronic pain and disability. In the late 19th century, Roentgen discovered X-rays, and then began to use radiotherapy to treat tumors. In the 1980s, Luckey thought that low-level radiation (LDRT) might be beneficial to biology, and it was gradually applied to the treatment of some diseases. This paper introduces the epidemiology, risk factors, clinical manifestations and treatment methods of OA, points out that the cartilage injury and the important effect of synovial inflammation in the pathogenesis of OA, namely when the homeostasis of articular cartilage are destroyed, synthetic metabolism and catabolism imbalances, cartilage cells damaged their breakdown products consumed by synovial cells. Synovial cells and synovial macrophages secrete proinflammatory cytokines, metalloproteinases and proteolytic enzymes, leading to cartilage matrix degradation and chondrocyte damage, which aggravates synovial inflammation and cartilage damage, forming a vicious cycle. The possible mechanism and clinical research progress of LDRT in alleviating OA are discussed. LDRT can regulate inflammatory response, inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and promote the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, thereby achieving anti-inflammatory effect. Studies have shown that after irradiation, the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was decreased, the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the production of superoxide were inhibited, the anti-inflammatory phenotype of macrophages was differentiated from M1 to M2, the inflammatory CD8⁺ T cells were transformed into CD4⁺ T cells, and the number of dendritic cells (DC) was significantly reduced. LDRT inhibit the production of proinflammatory factors in leukocytes, reduce their recruitment and adhesion, and down-regulate the expression levels of cell adhesion molecules such as selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) and vascular endothelial cell adhesion molecule (VCAM). LDRT can regulate endothelial cells, stimulate endothelial cells to produce a large amount of TGF-β1, reduce the adhesion of endothelial cells to peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and contribute to the anti-inflammatory effect of LDRT. It also exerted anti-inflammatory effects by regulating mitochondrial growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15). After low-level radiation, the MMP-13 (matrix metalloproteinases-13) and the ADAMTS5 (recombinant a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin-5) decreased, the Col2a1 (collagen type 2) increased in chondrocytes. In the existing clinical studies, most patients can achieve relief of joint pain and recovery of joint mobility after irradiation, and the patients have good feedback on the efficacy. The adverse reactions (acute reactions and carcinogenic risks) caused by LDRT in the treatment of OA are also discussed. During the treatment of OA, a few patients have symptoms such as redness, dryness or itching at the joint skin, and the symptoms are mild and do not require further treatment. Patients are thus able to tolerate more frequent and longer doses of radiotherapy. In general, LDRT itself has the advantages of non-invasive, less adverse reactions, and shows the effect of pain relief and movement improvement in the treatment of OA. Therefore, LDRT has a broad application prospect in the treatment of OA.

Objective Recombinase-aided polymerase chain reaction(RAP)is a sensitive,single-tube,two-stage nucleic acid amplification method.This study aimed to develop an assay that can be used for the early diagnosis of three types of bacteremia caused by Staphylococcus aureus(SA),Pseudomonas aeruginosa(PA),and Acinetobacter baumannii(AB)in the bloodstream based on recombinant human mannan-binding lectin protein(M1 protein)-conjugated magnetic bead(M1 bead)enrichment of pathogens combined with RAP. Methods Recombinant plasmids were used to evaluate the assay sensitivity.Common blood influenza bacteria were used for the specific detection.Simulated and clinical plasma samples were enriched with M1 beads and then subjected to multiple recombinase-aided PCR(M-RAP)and quantitative PCR(qPCR)assays.Kappa analysis was used to evaluate the consistency between the two assays. Results The M-RAP method had sensitivity rates of 1,10,and 1 copies/μL for the detection of SA,PA,and AB plasmids,respectively,without cross-reaction to other bacterial species.The M-RAP assay obtained results for<10 CFU/mL pathogens in the blood within 4 h,with higher sensitivity than qPCR.M-RAP and qPCR for SA,PA,and AB yielded Kappa values of 0.839,0.815,and 0.856,respectively(P<0.05). Conclusion An M-RAP assay for SA,PA,and AB in blood samples utilizing M1 bead enrichment has been developed and can be potentially used for the early detection of bacteremia.

ObjectiveThe detection of RNA single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is of great importance due to their association with protein expression related to various diseases and drug responses. At present, splintR ligase-assisted methods are important approaches for RNA direct detection, but its specificity will be limited when the fidelity of ligases is not ideal. The aim of this study was to create a method to improve the specificity of splintR ligase for RNA detection. MethodsIn this study, a dual-competitive-padlock-probe (DCPLP) assay without the need for additional enzymes or reactions is proposed to improve specificity of splintR ligase ligation. To verify the method, we employed dual competitive padlock probe-mediated rolling circle amplification (DCPLP-RCA) to genotype the CYP2C9 gene. ResultsThe specificity was well improved through the competition and strand displacement of dual padlock probe, with an 83.26% reduction in nonspecific signal. By detecting synthetic RNA samples, the method demonstrated a dynamic detection range of 10 pmol/L-1 nmol/L. Furthermore, clinical samples were applied to the method to evaluate its performance, and the genotyping results were consistent with those obtained using the qPCR method. ConclusionThis study has successfully established a highly specific direct RNA SNP detection method, and provided a novel avenue for accurate identification of various types of RNAs.

The anti-inflammatory effect of simplified Zhiqin Decoction was observed by using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation mouse model. The main chemical constituents and the main mechanism of action of simplified Zhiqin Decoction were predicted by network pharmacology. Animal experiments verified the anti-inflammatory mechanism of simplified Zhiqin Decoction (this experiment was approved by the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Southwest University, approval number: IACUC-20210825-02). Simplifying Zhiqin Decoction has a significant anti-inflammatory effect on inflammatory mice, can significantly improve the overall macro shape of mice, reduce body temperature, water intake, increase the number of autonomous activities; alleviate liver, lung, spleen, thymus inflammation and pathological damage; decrease tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6, nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) content in serum and urine. The contents of serum immune factors IgG, IgA and IgM were increased. Network pharmacology predicted 66 potential anti-inflammatory active components of simplified Zhiqin Decoction involving 132 inflammatory targets, and the key anti-inflammatory signaling pathway involved PI3K/AKT, TNF, JAK-STAT, etc. Animal experiments show that simplified Zhiqin Decoction can significantly reduce the expression of JAK2/STAT-PI3K/AKT-NF-κB-TNF signaling pathway related proteins in lung tissue of inflammatory mice. The results of this study showed that simplified Zhiqin Decoction had significant anti-inflammatory effects, and its main anti-inflammatory components were quercetin, β-sitosterol, kaempferol, wogonin, stigmasterol, luteolin, neobaicalein, etc. The main mechanism of its anti-inflammatory action is that it significantly inhibits the expression of JAK2/STAT-PI3K/AKT-NF-κB-TNF signaling pathway protein.

A new cadinane-type sesquiterpenoid, pogocablene P (1), and a new natural product with cyclohexanone skeleton, pogocablone A (2), were isolated from the EtOAc soluble fraction of the aerial parts of Pogostemon cablin by several chromatographic methods, such as silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, ODS and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and so on. Their structures were identified by means of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In addition, the absolute configuration of compound 2 was determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation. Furthermore, the anti-influenza virus and anti-inflammatory activities of compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect and mechanism of Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills on rats with steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head(SONFH).Methods Sixty rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,Xianling Gubao Capsules group and Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills low-,medium-and high-dose groups,10 rats in each group.Except for the blank group,the SONFH model was established by lipopolysaccharide combined with Glucocorticoid induction method in all other groups of rats.At the end of the intervention,for the femoral head,blood vessel radiography was performed to observe the microvascular changes in the bone marrow,and hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining and calculation of the empty bone trap rate,Micro-CT scanning analysis,and compression experiments were carried out,and the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR)was used to detect the gene expressions of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K),protein kinase B(Akt)1,vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1(CD31)in whole blood.Results Compared with the blank group,the blood supply in the femoral head medullary cavity of the model group was poor,the empty bone lacuna rate was increased(P＜0.05),the bone mineral density and bone volume fraction were significantly decreased(P＜0.05),the maximum load and elastic modulus of the femoral head were decreased(P＜0.05),and the mRNA expression levels of Akt1,PI3K,VEGF and CD31 in whole blood were decreased(P＜0.05).Compared with the model group,the blood supply in the femoral head medullary cavity was relatively good,the empty bone lacuna rate was decreased(P＜0.05),the bone mineral density,bone volume fraction,trabecular number and trabecular thickness were significantly increased(P＜0.05),the trabecular separation was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),the maximum load and elastic modulus of the femoral head were increased(P＜0.05),and the mRNA expression levels of Akt1,PI3K,VEGF and CD31 in the whole blood were increased(P＜0.05)in the high-dose group of Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills and Xianling Gubao Capsules group.There was no significant difference in the above indexes between the high-dose group of Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills and the Xianling Gubao Capsules group(P＞0.05).Conclusion Guhuaisi Kangfu Pills improves SONFH in rats,and its mechanism is related to the promotion of VEGF/PI3K/Akt pathway gene expression,thereby promoting angiogenesis.