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Context: Pain-relieving plaster (PRP) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been widely used with satisfactory results in the treatment of some diseases related to inflammation, such as bruises, chronic arthritis. Objective: The mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory actions of PRP are investigated in this study for the first time. Materials and methods: The anti-inflammatory effects of PRP extracts were evaluated in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or calcium ionophore A23187-treated murine peritoneal macrophages (PMs). Tumor necrosis factor-αÎł (TNF-αÎł), interleukin-1βÎø (IL-1βÎø), prostaglandin E<sub>2</sub> (PGE<sub>2</sub>), and leukotrienes B<sub>4</sub> (LTB<sub>4</sub>) were evaluated by ELISA assays. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX). Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κÎðB)--DNA-binding activity was determined by gel mobility shift assay. Results: PRP extracts were found to inhibit the production of TNF-αÎł, IL-1βÎø, and PGE<sub>2</sub>, reduce the expressions of COX-2 at the mRNA and protein levels induced by LPS, and reduced the production of LTB<sub>4</sub> induced by A23187. Furthermore, PRP extracts significantly attenuated LPS-induced NF-κÎðB--DNA-binding activity. Discussion and conclusion: The anti-inflammatory effects of PRP possibly are related to reduction of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-αÎł and IL-1βÎø), inducible inflammatory enzyme (COX-2), and its metabolite PGE<sub>2</sub> via NF-κÎðB signal pathway. Moreover, PRP extracts also notably inhibited the production of LTB<sub>4</sub>, indicating that PRP inhibited the 5-LOX pathway, which may be the other mechanism for its anti-inflammatory action.
This study was aimed to discuss and analyze the medication rules for prescriptions containing Pterocephali Herba in Chinese Medical Encyclopedia - Tibetan Medicine, Tibetan Medicine Prescription Modern Research and Clinical Application, and Interpretation of Common Tibetan Medicines based on the collection of Pterocephali Herba and by using the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Support system(V2.0.1)",with the use of association rules, apriori algorithm and other data mining methods. The frequency of single drug, the frequency of drug combination, the association rule and the combination of core drugs were analyzed. Through collection of the prescriptions, a total of 215 prescriptions were included, involving a total of 376 herbs. Through the "frequency statistics", the prescriptions containing Pterocephali Herba were commonly used to treat cold fever, distemper virus and arthritis. The highest frequently (frequency≥15) used drugs were Corydalis Herba, Lagotidis Herba, and Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix, et al. The most frequently used drug combinations were "Pterocephali Herba, Corydalis Herba","Pterocephali Herba, Lagotidis Herba", and "Pterocephali Herba, Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix" et al. The prescriptions containing Pterocephali Herba were used to primarily treat disease for Tourette syndrome caused by the dampness heat toxin, fever, arthritis etc, such as pestilent toxicity, pneumonia and influenza, rheumatoid arthritis etc. The drugs in the prescriptions mostly had the effects of heat-clearing and detoxifying, anti-inflammatory, dispelling wind and dampness, often in compatible use with heat-clearing drugs. The drug use was concentrated and reflected the clear thought of prescription statutes.
A stable, effective, sensitive and selective method for simultaneous determination of 11 aldehydes in foodstuffs using a novel fluorescence-labeling reagent 2-(12-benzo[<i>b</i>]acridin-5-(12<i>H</i>)-yl)-acetohydrazide (BAAH) has been developed by HPLC with fluorescence detection and mass spectrometric identification. Response surface methodology was employed to optimize the derivatization reaction between BAAH and aldehydes. The completed separation of the 11 aldehydes was achieved in as little as 18 min on a reversed-phase Hypersil BDS C<sub>8</sub> column with aqueous acetonitrile as mobile phase in conjunction with a binary gradient elution. Excellent linear coefficients were found to be of >0.9994. This method also showed excellent reproducibility and offered the low detection limits of 0.21-0.58 nM (at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3). The developed method was successfully applied to analyze aldehydes in various foodstuffs and exhibited satisfactory applicability.
BACKGROUND: Currently, commercially prepared complementary foods have become an important part of the diet of many infants and toddlers. But the method for simultaneous analysis of different types of micronutrient remains poorly investigated, which hinders the rapid and comprehensive quality control of infant foods. In the presented study, we first tried to employ the fluorescence labeling strategy combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection for simultaneous determination of some acidic micronutrients including biotin, nicotinic acid, linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, arachidonic acid and linoleic acid in infant foods.<br>RESULTS: 2-(5-Benzoacridine) ethyl-p-toluenesulfonate was used as the fluorescence labeling reagent for simultaneous labeling of the seven components. The labeling conditions were optimized systematically by response surface methodology. The correlation coefficients for the calibration curves of the tested compounds ranged from 0.9991 to 0.9998. Limits of detection were in the range of 1.99-3.05 nmol L<sup>−1</sup>. Relative standard deviation values of retention time and peak area of seven compounds were less than 0.05% and 0.75%, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision was in the range of 1.81-3.80% and 3.21-4.30%, respectively. When applied to analysis of several infant foods it showed good applicability.<br>CONCLUSION: The developed method has been proven to be simple, inexpensive, selective, sensitive, accurate and reliable for analysis of some acidic micronutrients in infant foodstuffs. Furthermore, this developed method also has powerful potential in the analysis of many other complementary foodstuffs. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
Zha-xun is widely used in Tibetan medicine and is also an international traditional medicine. This article would summarize the use status and research progress of Zha-xun by various ethnic groups all over the world, and the results show that it has various synonyms but most of them imply its most characteristic feature-outflow from the rock; Zha-xun resources are distributed in various places of the world, and its bearing spots are closely related to the geological structure; there are sharp arguments on the origins of Zha-xun, mainly including the minerals origin, biological fossils origin, biological origin, etc. Zha-xun has multiple functions and is mainly used to treat stomach disease, liver disease and rheumatoid arthritis in China, and premature ejaculation, impotence, vaginitis embolism in foreign countries. "Iron" Zha-xun is used into medicines both at home and abroad. According to ancient materia medica texts, it was mainly classified into five types, including gold Zha-xun, silver Zha-xun, copper Zha-xun, iron Zha-xun and lead Zha-xun mainly based on the predominance of color rather than the minerals contained. It is commonly believed by the domestic and foreign scholars that humic acid is the main medicinal part of Zha-xun, and their studies have found that it has a variety of pharmacological activities such as anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory, liver protection, analgesia, immune regulation, increasing sexual desire and fertility, antioxidation, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antiepileptic, antipsychotic, etc. This paper provides a scientific basis for the rational utilization of Zha-xun resources.
With the application of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, the quality of the artificial medicinal plants has been found to be in a marked decline. The present paper focuses on the separation of endophytes from wild <i>Angelica sinensis</i> and the effects of endophytes on the growth of <i>A. sinensis</i> and synthesis of secondary metabolites. In this study, the endophytes, namely actinomycetes, fungi, and bacteria, were isolated. Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid were analyzed by HPLC. Our results confirmed that the contents of Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid showed an obvious increase on adding the endophytic fungi, but the additions of the endophytic actinomycetes and bacteria had shown inhibiting effects. Compared with the control group, the contents of Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid in the fungi group increased by 4.12- and 6.53-fold, respectively. This work demonstrates the fact that endophytic fungi can enhance the growth of plants and the production of natural products in <i>A. sinensis.</i>