OBJECTIVE To study the sp ectrum-effect relationship of anti-gastric ulcer effect of Shaoyao gancao decoction. METHODS Eleven batches of Shaoyao gancao decoction were prepared ；gastric ulcer model was established by anhydrous ethanol modeling method. Using Weikangling as positive control ，the effects of Shaoyao gancao decoction on the contents of defensive factors [nitric oxide （NO），epidermal growth factor （EGF），superoxide dismutase （SOD）] and attack factor [malondialdehyde （MDA）] in gastric tissue of model rats were investigated. HPLC fingerprints of 11 batches of Shaoyao gancao decoction were established and similarity evaluation was performed with Similarity Evaluation System of Traditional Chinese Medicine Chromatographic Fingerprint （2004A edition ）； common peaks were identified by comparing with mixed control. The spectrum-effect relationship of Shaoyao gancao decoction against gastric ulcer was analyzed based on the grey correlation analysis. RESULTS Eleven batches of Shaoyao ganyao decoction could significantly decrease the content of MDA in gastric tissue ，while increased the contents of NO ，EGF and SOD in gastric ulcer model rats （P＜0.01），and had a certain inhibitory effect on the gastric ulcer. There were 23 common peaks in chromatograms of 11 batches of samples ，and the similarity with the control fingerprint was not less than 0.9. By comparing with mixed control ，7 common peaks were identified ，namely gallic acid （peak 5），albiflorin（peak 9），paeoniflorin（peak 10），liquiritin（peak 12），isoliquiritin apioside （peak 14），isoliquiritoside（peak 15）， glycyrrhizic acid （peak 22）. The average correlation degree of 7 identified common peaks and pharmacodynamic indexes were greater than 0.6，of which peak 22（glycyrrhizic acid ），peak 10（paeoniflorin）and peak 12（liquiritin）had the largest correlation ， and their values were 0.807，0.772 and 0.770 respectively. RESULTS The anti-gastric ulcer effect of Shaoyao gancao decoction is the result of the synergistic effect of multiple components ，among which glycyrrhizic acid ，paeoniflorin and liquiritin may be the main pharmacodynamic components.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is spread primary via respiratory droplets and infects the lungs. Currently widely used cell lines and animals are unable to accurately mimic human physiological conditions because of the abnormal status of cell lines (transformed or cancer cells) and species differences between animals and humans. Organoids are stem cell-derived self-organized three-dimensional culture in vitro and model the physiological conditions of natural organs. Here we showed that SARS-CoV-2 infected and extensively replicated in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs)-derived lung organoids, including airway and alveolar organoids which covered the complete infection and spread route for SARS-CoV-2 within lungs. The infected cells were ciliated, club, and alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells, which were sequentially located from the proximal to the distal airway and terminal alveoli, respectively. Additionally, RNA-seq revealed early cell response to virus infection including an unexpected downregulation of the metabolic processes, especially lipid metabolism, in addition to the well-known upregulation of immune response. Further, Remdesivir and a human neutralizing antibody potently inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in lung organoids. Therefore, human lung organoids can serve as a pathophysiological model to investigate the underlying mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to discover and test therapeutic drugs for COVID-19.
Adenosine Monophosphate/therapeutic use* ; Alanine/therapeutic use* ; Alveolar Epithelial Cells/virology* ; Antibodies, Neutralizing/therapeutic use* ; COVID-19/virology* ; Down-Regulation ; Drug Discovery ; Human Embryonic Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Humans ; Immunity ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lung/virology* ; RNA, Viral/metabolism* ; SARS-CoV-2/physiology* ; Virus Replication/drug effects*

Objective: Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is mainly synthesized in the liver. So far, it is unknown the relationship among APOE gene polymorphisms and WML, brain atrophy. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess the associations of APOE gene polymorphisms in patients with WML and brain atrophy. Methods: A total of 58 patients with WML, 128 patients with brain atrophy, 112 patients with co-occurrence of WML and brain atrophy and 95 healthy elderly volunteers were recruited from Renmin Hospital of WuHan University. Results: Allele E3 was the most common allele. The alleles E2 had significantly higher levels of ApoB and lower age in WML group. The alleles E2 was associated with the lower level of ApoB, LDL-Ch, TCh, and sdLDL in co-occurrence group. The E3/E3 genotype has higher level of sdLDL, but lower age and female frequency in WML. The E3/E4 genotype had higher level of TG, but lower age in WML. Gender, Age, E2, Hyperhomocysteinemia and UA were also significantly associated with disease progression. Conclusion This study found that clinical data, lipids and metabolic complications were closely related to ApoE genotypes and alleles, and also disease progression and type.

Drug stability is closely related to drug safety and needs to be considered in the process of drug production, package and storage. To investigate the stability of epalrestat, a carboxylic acid derivative, a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed in this study and applied to analyzing the degradation kinetics of epalrestat in aqueous solutions in various conditions, such as dif-ferent pH, temperatures, ionic strengths, oxidation and irradiation. The calibration curve was A=1.6 × 105C–1.3 × 103 (r=0.999) with the liner range of 0.5–24 μg/mL, the intra-day and inter-day precision was less than 2.0%, as was the repeatibility. The average accuracy for different concentrations was more than 98.5%, indicating that perfect recoveries were achieved. Degradation kinetic parameters such as degradation rate constants (k), activation energy (Ea) and shelf life (t0.9) under different conditions were calculated and discussed. The results indicated that the degradation behavior of epalrestat was pH-dependent and the stability of epalrestat decreased with the rised irradiation and ionic strength;however, it was more stable in neutral and alkaline conditions as well as lower temperatures. The results showed that the degradation kinetics of epalrestat followed first-order reaction kinetics. Furthermore, the degradation products of epalrestat under stress conditions were identified by UHPLC-PDA-MS/MS, with seven degradation products being detected and four of them being tentatively identified.

A UPLC-MS/MS method based on metabonomic skills was developed to study the serum metabolic changes of rats after acute liver injury induced by CCl4 and to evaluate the action mechanism of Si-Ni-San. The integrated data were exported for principal components analysis (PCA) by using SIMCA-P software, in order to find the potential biomarkers. It showed that clear separation of healthy control group, model group, silymarin group, Si-Ni-San group was achieved by using the PCA method. Nine significantly changed metabolites were identified as potential biomarkers of acute liver injury. Compared with the health control group, the model group rats showed higher levels of phenylalanine, tryptophan and GCDCA together with lower levels of LPC 16 : 0, LPC 18 : 0, LPC 18 : 1, LPC 16 : 1, LPC 20 : 4 and LPC 22 : 6. These changes of serum metabolites suggested that the disorders of amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, bile acid biosynthesis and anti-oxidative damage were related to acute liver injury induced by CCl4. Si-Ni-San might have the anti-liver injury effect on all these four metabolic pathways.

This study was aimed to establish an HPLC method to simultaneous determine 6 kinds of monoester and diester aconitum alkaloids. The content of alkaloids in aconite roots, black and white prepared lateral root of aconite and the compatibility of aconite roots with rhubarb were determined. This study provided reference for the interpreta-tion of the attenuation of processing and compatibility of medicines from chemical component aspect. The HPLC analysis was performed on a Phenomenex Gemini C18 (4.6 mm í 250 mm, 5 μm) with 40 mmol·L-1 ammonium ac-etate (adjusted to pH 9.8 with ammonia water) and acetonitrile as mobile phase, with a gradient elution at the flow rate of 1.0 mL·min-1 and a detection wavelength of 235 nm. The results showed that 6 alkaloids in aconite roots achieved favorable separation and a good linearity relationship (r > 0.999) over the studied concentration range. The extraction recoveries were ranged from 96.9% to 102.4% for the 6 alkaloids. The content of diester alkaloids de-creased markedly in processed products and the compatibility of aconite roots with rhubarb compared with the raw a-conite roots. It was concluded that this method was stable, reliable, simple and practical. It can be used for the si-multaneous determination of 6 kinds of monoester and diester aconitum alkaloids in aconite roots. This processing and compatibility can significantly reduce the content of alkaloids in aconite roots in order to reduce its toxicity.

Objective To study on 24 hours hernia grassroots level in the district hospital management model practices. Methods The subjects were 283 cases of inguinal hernia patients selected from January 2008 to December 2010 in our hospital as the traditional model of the group , the treatment in the traditional management model , our hospital im-proved the management mode after January 2011 , 326 cases of inguinal hernia patients selected from January 2011 to December 2013 in our hospital as a new model group , that under the new model in 24 hours hernia treatment mode. Results Under the new model,patients waiting for surgery, hospitalization time and the days of antibiotic use were sig-nificantly shorten than the traditional model , the cost of hospitalization was significantly reduced , the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Under the new model, patient satisfaction was significantly higher than the traditional model, and the complication rate was significantly lower than the traditional model, the difference was statistically sig-nificant (P<0.05). Conclusion 24 h hernia is safe, effective, and economic characteristics, enabling a more rational use of health care resources and deployment , significantly reducing health care costs , can promote the application in district hospitals.

This paper was designed to study metabonomic characters of the osteoporosis induced by high dose of hydrocortisone and the protective effects of Drynariae Rhizoma, which can replenish the kidney and strengthen the bones. A urinary metabonomics method based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed. Clear separation of healthy control group, model group and treatment group was achieved by using the principal components analysis (PCA) and 9 significantly changed metabolites were identified as potential biomarkers of osteoporosis. Compared with the health control group, the model group rats showed lower levels of creatinine, citric acid, azelaic acid, hippurate, tryptophan and indoxyl sulfate together with higher levels of phenylalanine, cresol sulfate and phenaceturic acid. These changes in urinary metabolites suggest that the disorders of amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, gut microflora and anti-oxidative damage are related to osteoporosis induced by high dose of hydrocortisone and the potential effect of Drynariae Rhizoma on all the four metabolic pathways.
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Male ; Metabolomics ; Osteoporosis ; prevention & control ; urine ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Polypodiaceae ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

OBJECTIVETo analyze chemical constituents of Sini San its migrating components in rat plasma and study its in vitro and in vivo material base using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photo-diode-array detector and tandem mass spetrometry (UPLC-PDA-MS/MS).

METHODACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column (2.1 mm x 100 mm, 1.7 microm) was adopted, with gradient elution system of water containing 2 mmol x L(-1) ammonium acetate and acetonitrile at flow rate of 0.2 mL x min(-1). The column temperature was maintained at 35 degrees C. The mass spectra were obtained by electrospray ionization source operating in both positive and negative ion mode. Ions were scanned from the m/z 100 to 1 000, and the characteristic ions were schizolysised twice to obtain the secondary MS data.

RESULTTwenty chemical constituents were detected, including paeoniflorin, glycyrrhizic acid, saikosaponins a and naringin. In vivo, there were 8 ingredients directly absorbed into blood after the administration of Sini San decoction, such as paeoniflorin, naringin and hesperidin. Besides, 6 metabolites were also detected, involving glucuronides, sulfate and sulfoglucuronides.

CONCLUSIONIn vitro and in vivo chemical materials of Sini San decoction is analyzed by UPLC-PDA-MS/MS to reflect in vitro and in vivo material base of Sini San decoction in a comprehensive and rapid manner and provide basis for further study on efficacious material basis of Sini San decoction.

Animals ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Light ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A sensitive, rapid and specific liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for quantification of gabapentin in human plasma has been developed. After a single plasma protein precipitation with methanol, gabapentin and metformin (internal standard) were chromatographed on a Inertsil ODS-3 column (50 mm x 2.1 mm ID, 3 microm) with mobile phase consisting of methanol-0.2% formic acid aqueous solution (80:20, v/v) at a flow-rate of 0.2 mL x min(-1). Electrospray ionization (ESI) source was applied and operated in the positive ion mode. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode with the transitions of m/z 172 --> m/z 154 and m/z 130 --> m/z 71 were used to quantify gabapentin and metformin, respectively. The run time was 2.2 min. The linear calibration curve was obtained in the concentration range of 40.8-8.16x10(3) ng x mL(-1). The lower limit of quantification was 40.8 ng x mL(-1). The intra- and inter-day precision (RSD) was less than 12%, and the accuracy (RE) was within +/-6.4% calculated from quality control (QC) samples. The method was used to determine the concentration of gabapentin in human plasma after a single oral administration of 600 mg gabapentin capsule to 20 healthy male Chinese volunteers. The method was proved to be selective, sensitive, rapid and suitable for pharmacokinetic study of gabapentin in human plasma.