Platycodonis Radix is the dry root of Platycodon grandiflorum of Campanulaceae, which has a variety of pharmacological effects and is a commonly used bulk Chinese medicine. In this study, the chloroplast genome sequences of six P. grandiflorum from different producing areas has been sequenced with Illumina HiSeq X Ten platform. The specific DNA barcodes were screened, and the germplasm resources and genetic diversity were analyzed according to the specific barcodes. The total length of the chloroplast genome of 6 P. grandiflorum samples was 172 260-172 275 bp, and all chloroplast genomes showed a typical circular tetrad structure and encoded 141 genes. The comparative genomics analysis and results of amplification efficiency demonstrated that trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF were the potential specific DNA barcodes for identification the germplasm resources of P. grandiflorum. A total of 305 P. grandiflorum samples were collected from 15 production areas in 9 provinces, for which the fragments of trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF were amplificated and the sequences were analyzed. The results showed that trnG-UCC and ndhG_ndhF have 5 and 11 mutation sites, respectively, and 5 and 7 haplotypes were identified, respectively. The combined analysis of the two sequences formed 13 haplotypes (named Hap1-Hap13), and Hap4 is the main genotype, followed by Hap1. The unique haplotypes possessed by the three producing areas can be used as DNA molecular tags in this area to distinguish from the germplasm resources of P. grandiflorum from other areas. The haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity and genetic distance were 0.94, 4.79×10^-3 and 0.000 0-0.020 3, respectively, suggesting that the genetic diversity was abundant and intraspecific kinship was relatively close. This study laid a foundation for the identification of P. grandiflorum, the protection and utilization of germplasm resources, and molecular breeding.

The adulteration and counterfeiting of herbal ingredients in medicinal and food homology (MFH) have a serious impact on the quality of herbal materials, thereby endangering human health. Compared to pharmaceutical drugs, health products derived from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are more easily accessible and closely integrated into consumers' daily life. However, the authentication of the authenticity of TCM ingredients in MFH has not received sufficient attention. The lack of clear standards emphasizes the necessity of conducting systematic research in this area. This study utilized DNA barcoding technology, combining ITS2, psbA-trnH, matK as universal barcode sequences, and DX, HH, JYH as specific barcode sequences, to identify the authenticity of commercial medicinal and food homology scented herbal teas. The aim was to investigate the authenticity of scented herbal tea products circulating in the market. The research results revealed that among 180 scented herbal tea samples, DNA barcodes were successfully obtained from 164 samples, while the remaining samples either lacked the target components or suffered severe DNA degradation, resulting in failed amplification. Combined with morphological identification studies, it was found that out of the 180 samples, 141 were authentic, accounting for 78.33% of the total samples, while 31 samples showed adulteration and 8 samples lacked the target components, accounting for 21.67% of the total samples. Additionally, water testing revealed that 5 samples of Carthamus tinctorius herbal tea exhibited the phenomenon of weight adulteration. This study exposed the presence of adulteration and weight adulteration in scented herbal tea products, highlighting the need for regulatory authorities to expedite the establishment of quality standards in scented herbal tea industry. These findings provide valuable insights for the rapid development of the scented herbal tea industry.

Objective To develop a portable collection device of human exhaled breath condensate(EBC)based on natural breathing to meet the needs for rapid screening of human respiratory tract(especially lower respiratory tract)infections.Methods The device consisted of a refrigeration unit,a heat dissipation unit and a condensation unit.The refrigeration unit adopted a TES1-7102 thermoelectric Peltier cooler semiconductor as the refrigeration element;the heat dissipation unit was composed of a high thermal conductivity aluminum heat sink and a high-speed brushless cooling fan;the condensation unit was made up of a cold guide plate and a condenser,in which the cold guide plate was made of thin sheet of aluminum alloy,and the condenser was prepared by 3D printing technology and made of hydrophobic polylactic acid,with primary and secondary 2-stage guide grooves and an ultra-thin condensing surface.The performance of the device was verified in terms of cooling,thermal conductivity,condensation and human EBC collection and content analysis.Results Performance analysis showed that after refrigeration began the temperature difference between the condenser surface and the exhaled gas met the requirements of the condenser,and no obvious thermal resistance was found on the condensing surface so that large droplets could be formed rapidly and then be collected after the gas-liquid phase change of the exhaled gas on the condensing surface.Human EBC collection and content analysis indicated the device realized home self-collection of EBCs from people of all ages,and the concentrations of interleukins,C-reactive protein and other inflammation-related indexes and the pH value of the collected EBC samples were all correlated with respiratory infections in the subjects.Conclusion The device developed with easy operation avoids the discomfort of blowing collection and the risk of saliva contamination,and is worthy promoting for rapid diagnosis and dynamic monitoring of respiratory tract infection and other related diseases.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2024,45(8):32-37]

To address the issue of peak loss when applying variational mode decomposition(VMD)to denoise spectra with sharp peaks,in this study,a method for spectral signal denoising of complex samples called peak extraction variational mode decomposition(PE-VMD)was introduced.Firstly,the spectral signal was subjected to a process of denoising utilising the VMD algorithm.Next,the first order derivatives of the spectral signals were calculated to determine the peak center.Subsequently,the second order derivatives of the spectral signal was calculated to extract the sharp peaks with high signal-to-noise ratio(SNR).Finally,the peak intercepted that lose information after VMD denoising were removed,and the remaining spectrum was sequentially connected with the extracted sharp peaks to obtain the final denoised spectrum.The effectiveness of the method was evaluated by one of simulated signals and X-ray diffraction(XRD)spectrum of MnCo-ISAs/CN catalysts.Furthermore,the method was compared with other denoising techniques,including Savitzky-Golay(SG)smoothing,empirical mode decomposition(EMD)and VMD.The efficacy of the denoising process was then assessed by analyzing the spectrograms and signal-to-noise ratio before and after denoising.The results demonstrated that PE-VMD denoising achieved the greatest SNR and effectively preserved the essential information of the spectral signals.Consequently,PE-VMD exhibited superior denoising capability for spectra with sharp peaks.

Piperazines are a class of new psychoactive substances with hallucinogenic effects that af-fect the central nervous system by affecting the level of monoamine neurotransmitters.Abuse of pipera-zines will produce stimulating and hallucinogenic effects,accompanied by headache,dizziness,anxiety,insomnia,vomiting,chest pain,tachycardia,hypertension and other adverse reactions,and may even cause cardiovascular diseases and multiple organ failure and lead to death,seriously affecting human physical and mental health and public safety.The abuse of new psychoactive substance piperazines has attracted extensive attention from the international community.The study of its pharmacological toxi-cology and analytical methods has become a research hotspot in the field of forensic medicine.This paper reviews the in vivo processes,sample treatment and analytical methods of existing piperazines,in order to provide reference for forensic identification.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect and compatibility mechanism of Wumei Wan on diabetic gastroparesis(DGP)mice.Methods Sixty-nine C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into normal group(12 mice)and model group(57 mice).The DGP model was constructed by 60％high-fat diet combined with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin(STZ).After successful modeling,the mice in the model group were randomly divided into model group,Wumei Wan whole prescription group,Wumei Wan sour medicine group,Wumei Wan bitter medicine group,Wumei Wan sweet medicine group and Wumei Wan pungent medicine group,with nine mice in each group.After 28 days of treatment,the gastric emptying rate and small intestinal propulsion rate of mice were measured.The pathological changes of gastric antrum were observed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining.The fasting blood glucose(FBS)of mice was detected by blood glucose meter.The levels of triglyceride(TG),total cholesterol(TC)and low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)were detected by colorimetry.The contents of gastrin(GAS),motilin(MTL)and vasoactive intestinal peptide(VIP)in gastric antrum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Western Blot was used to detect the expression of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1(Keap-1),nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf-2),NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1(Nqo-1)and superoxide dismutase 1(Sod-1)in gastric antrum tissue.Results(1)Compared with the normal group,the levels of serum FBS,TG,TC and LDL-C in the model group were significantly increased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 or P＜0.001);compared with the model group,the blood glucose level of the whole prescription group,the sour medicine group and the bitter medicine group was decreased significantly at the end of the third and fourth week(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 or P＜0.001),the serum TG,TC and LDL-C levels of the whole prescription group were significantly decreased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),the serum TC level of the sour medicine group,the bitter medicine group,the sweet medicine group and the pungent medicine group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05),and only the LDL-C level of the sour medicine group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05).(2)Compared with the normal group,the glandular cells in the gastric antrum mucosa and submucosa of the model group were disordered;compared with the model group,the pathological damage of gastric antrum tissue in Wumei Wan whole prescription group was significantly improved,the recovery effect of gastric antrum tissue damage in DGP mice in the sour medicine group and the bitter medicine group was superior to that in the sweet medicine group and the pungent medicine group.(3)Compared with the normal group,the gastric emptying rate and small intestinal propulsion rate of the model group were decreased(P＜0.01 or P＜0.001);compared with the model group,the gastric emptying rate of the whole prescription group,the sour medicine group and the bitter medicine group was significantly increased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.001),and the intestinal propulsion rate of the whole prescription group,the sour medicine group,the bitter medicine group,the sweet medicine group and the pungent medicine group was significantly increased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 or P＜0.001).(4)Compared with the normal group,the content of VIP in the gastric antrum tissue of the model group was significantly increased(P＜0.01),and the contents of GAS and MTL were significantly decreased(P＜0.01 or P＜0.001).Compared with the model group,the content of GAS in Wumei Wan whole prescription group,the sour medicine group,the bitter medicine group and the sweet medicine group was significantly increased(P＜0.01 or P＜0.001),the content of MTL in the whole prescription group and the bitter medicine group was significantly increased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01),and the content of VIP in gastric antrum tissue of mice in Wumei Wan whole prescription group,sour medicine group,bitter medicine group and sweet medicine group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 or P＜0.001).(5)Compared with the normal group,the expression level of Keap-1 in the gastric antrum tissue of the model group was increased(P＜0.05),and the expressions of Nrf-2,Nqo-1 and Sod-1 were decreased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.001).Compared with the model group,the expression level of Keap-1 protein in the whole prescription group and the bitter medicine group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.001),and the expression levels of Nrf-2,Nqo-1 and Sod-1 in the whole prescription group,the sour medicine group and the bitter medicine group were significantly increased(P＜0.05 or P＜0.001).Conclusion Wumei Wan can effectively regulate glucose and lipid metabolism,improve gastric antrum injury and promote gastrointestinal motility in DGP mice.The efficacy of the whole prescription is superior to that of each disassembled prescription.The mechanism may be related to the synergistic compatibility of sour medicine,bitter medicine,sweet medicine and pungent medicine,and mainly through sour medicine and bitter medicine regulating Nrf-2/Keap-1 pathway further to improve oxidative stress injury.

Objective:To investigate the effect of genetic polymorphism of MTHFR C677T (rs1801133) on methotrexate (MTX) related toxicity in pediatric mature B-cell lymphoma patients. Methods:Fifty-eight intermediate and high risk patients under 18 years of age with mature B-cell lymphoma who received 5 g/m2 MTX (24 h intravenous infusion) in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from August 2014 to December 2021 were included,and their toxicity of high-dose MTX (HD-MTX) were monitored and analyzed. Results:Among the 58 pediatric patients,the number of CC,CT,and TT genotypes for MTHFR C677T was 33,19 and 6,respectively. A total of 101 courses of HD-MTX therapy were counted,of which plasma MTX level>0.2 μmol/L at 48 h post-MTX infusion were observed in 35 courses,≤0.2 μmol/L in 66 courses. Inter-group comparison showed that plasma MTX level>0.2 μmol/L at 48 h post-MTX infusion increased the risk of developing oral mucositis (P<0.05). Compared with wild-type (CC genotype),patients in the mutant group (CT+TT genotype) were more likely to develop myelosuppression,manifested as anemia,leucopenia,neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. However,plasma MTX level at 48 h was not associated with MTHFR C677T gene polymorphism. Conclusion:The risk of developing oral mucositis in children with mature B-cell lymphoma is associated with plasma MTX concentration. Polymorphism of MTHFR C677T gene is not related to plasma MTX concentration in children with mature B-cell lymphoma,but is related to grade Ⅲ to Ⅳ hematological toxicity.

AIM To study the secondary metabolites from the endophytic fungi Candida sp.of Berberis atrocarpa Schneid.METHODS The ethyl acetate fraction and petroleum ether fraction from the secondary metabolites of Candida sp.fermentation extract were separated and purified by silica gel,Sephadex LH-20 and preparative liquid chromatography,then the structures of obtained compounds were identified by physicochemical properties and spectral data.RESULTS Eighteen compounds were isolated and identified as 1-phenyl-1,2-ethanediol(1),4-hydroxyphenethyl alcohol(2),4-hydroxybenzoic acid(3),4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid(4),3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid(5),3-methylsulfinyl propionic acid(6),phenylacetic acid(7),(S)-N-nitroso-1-amino-p-hydroxy phenylethanol(8),2-phenylacetamide(9),p-hydroxybenzaldehyde(10),ethyl 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acetate(11),dibutyl phthalate(12),5,5'-dimethoxybiphenyl-2,2'-diol(13),3-indolealdehyde(14),N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine(15),9-hydroxy-10E,12Z-octadecadienoic acid(16),9-hydroxy-10E,12E-octadecadienoic acid(17),(6E)-5-methylene-6-tetradecenoic acid(18).CONCLUSION Compounds 1,3-8 and 10-18 are isolated from Candida sp for the first time.

Humans ; Tuberculosis, Extrapulmonary ; Retrospective Studies ; Paraffin Embedding ; Tuberculosis/diagnosis* ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/genetics* ; Formaldehyde ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sputum

Based on the technology of platelet proteomics, the key regulatory proteins and pathogenesis of coronary heart disease with phlegm and blood stasis syndrome were explored and analyzed. Based on the previous laboratory research, the model of coronary heart disease in mini-swine with phlegm-stasis cementation syndrome was duplicated. The model was judged by the changes in blood lipid and myocardial tissue characteristics. Furthermore, the platelet proteins were studied by quantitative proteomics, and the differentially expressed proteins were screened. The critical regulatory proteins and biological pathways of coronary heart disease with phlegm-stasis cementation syndrome were analyzed by bioinformatics. After ten weeks of modeling, the levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-C), triglyceride (TG), creatine kinase (CK) and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) in the model group were significantly increased, reflecting the pathological changes such as increased blood lipid, abnormal coagulation function and myocardial ischemia in the model group. In addition, compared with the sham group, there were 26 up-regulated proteins and 8 down-regulated proteins in the platelets of the model group. Combined with bioinformatics analysis, it was found that differential proteins mainly involved in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, pyruvate metabolism, lipid and atherosclerosis, Ras protein signal transduction. Among them, lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB), alcohol dehydrogenase 5 (ADH5), neuroblastoma ratsarcoma viral oncogene homolog (NRAS) and Kirsten ratsarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) play a central role when interacting with other proteins and simultaneously participate in multiple action pathways. The results showed that LDHB, ADH5, NRAS, and KRAS may be the marker proteins in CHD with phlegm-stasis cementation syndrome by regulating glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, pyruvate metabolism, lipid and atherosclerosis, Ras protein signal transduction and other biological processes.