Nutritional and medicinal characteristics of Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) for applications in healthcare industry by artificial cultivation: A review

Andrias davidianus,i.e.Chinese giant salamander(CGS),is one of the largest and oldest amphibians existing in the world and is also one of the valuable biological resources of China.Wild CGS has been threatened with extinction in the past decades due to over capturing,deterioration of natural environment,the slow breeding and growth of the wild species in nature.However,in the past twenty years,with the breakthrough and progress of artificial breeding technology by artificial insemination,the number of artificially cultivated CGS has increased rapidly.Artificially cultivated CGS can either be released to the CGS living environment to increase the population in nature or legally applied in food and medicinal industry as a feedstock due to the unique nutritional and medicinal values of CGS as recorded historically.In this review,the nutritional components,bioactive components and medicinal activities of the artificially cultivated CGS will be summarized.The mucus,skin,meat and bone of CGS contain many different bioactive substances thereby having various medicinal activities including anti-aging,anti-fatigue,anti-tumor,therapy of burn and anti-infection and other physiological functions.This paper will further discuss the potential applications of the artificially cultivated CGS in healthcare industry and prospects of future technological development.

Determination of reactive oxygen generated from natural medicines and their antibacterial activity

Extracts of 16 natural medicine powders {Galla chinensis,Malloti cortex,Cassiae semen,Sophorae radix,Myricae cortex,Crataegi fructus,Gambit,Mume fructus,Geranii herba,Phellodendri cortex,Coptidis rhizoma,Swertiae herba,and Cinnamomi cortex） were assayed for reactive oxygen concentrations using the peroxyoxalate chemiluminescent detection system.High luminescence intensity was observed in Galla chinensis,Geranii herba,Malloti cortex,Myricae cortex,and Cinnamomi cortex.Additional experiments identified the reactive oxygen species as hydrogen peroxide.Galla chinensis generated 2.4 × 10^（-4） mol/L hydrogen peroxide from a 1 mg/mL solution.In bacterial growth tests,Galla chinensis extract had antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli.Staphylococcus aureus,Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron,Campylobacter sputorum biovar sputorum.Streptococcus salivarius thermophilus,Lactobacillus casei,and Bifidobacterium longum infantis.This antibacterial activity was decreased by the addition of catalase.It revealed that hydrogen peroxide which Galla chinensis produced participated in antibacterial activity.

A review on cocrystal of active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine

In the development of new drugs products,especially the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients,solubility and oral bioavailability are the main factors which are restricting the development of new drugs,whereas the physicochemical properties of active ingredients are the key element to affecting these factors.Pharmaceutical cocrystal provides an excellent opportunity to develop new drugs with excellent physical and chemical properties such as melting point,solubility,stability and bioavailability while retaining the pharmacological properties of individuals active pharmaceutical ingredients among pharmaceutical cocrystal compounds.Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has the characteristics of multiple pathways and multiple targets,mainly because it contains many active ingredients,like cocrystals thereof with many components.The active ingredients extracted from traditional Chinese herbal medicine have a wide range of pharmacological activities,but most of the active ingredients affect the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients due to their physical and chemical properties such as solubility.Traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical cocrystals can not only improve the physical and chemical properties of drugs without changing the internal structure of drugs,so as to provide a new scheme for the development of traditional Chinese medicine active ingredients.This paper reviews the research progress of active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical cocrystal.The preparation methods of cocrystals are summarized and the advantages of cocrystals are illustrated with examples.

Application of Caenorhabditis elegans in screening active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine

People continue to recognize the important role of Chinese medicine in the treatment of diseases,and there is an urgent need to clarify the mechanism of Chinese medicine.Because of the multi-target and multi-component characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine,it is difficult to elaborate from a single perspective.As a high-quality animal model,Caenorhabditis elegans with the characteristics of small size and fast reproduction,has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine activity experiments.In this article,Caenorhabditis elegans,as model organisms used to screen the active components of traditional Chinese medicine were reviewed.

Inhibition of growth and metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer targeted by Traditional Chinese Medicine Tubeimu in orthotopic mice models

Objective： Triple-negative breast cancer（TNBC） is highly invasive and metastatic, which is in urgent need of transformative therapeutics. Tubeimu（TBM）, the rhizome of Bolbostemma paniculatum（Maxim.） Franquet, is one of the Chinese medicinal herbs used for breast diseases since the ancient times. The present study evaluated the efficacy, especially the anti-metastatic effects of the dichloromethane extract of Tubeimu（ETBM） on TNBC orthotopic mouse models and cell lines.Methods： We applied real-time imaging on florescent orthotopic TNBC mice model and tested cell migration and invasion abilities with MDA-MB-231 cell line. Digital gene expression sequencing was performed and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） analysis applied to explore the pathways influenced by ETBM.Moreover, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions（q RT-PCR） and Western blot were delivered to confirm the gene expression changes.Results： ETBM exhibited noticeable control on tumor metastasis and growth of TNBC tumors with no obvious toxicity. In compliance with this, it also showed inhibition of cell migration and invasion in vitro. Its impact on the changed biological behavior in TNBC may be a result of decreased expression of integrin β1（ITGβ1）, integrin β8（ITGβ8） and Rho GTPase activating protein 5（ARHGAP5）, which disabled the focal adhesion pathway and caused change in cell morphology.Conclusions： This study reveals that ETBM has anti-metastatic effects on MDA-MB-231-GFP tumor and may lead to a new therapeutic agent for the integrative treatment of highly invasive TNBC.

Chinese medicine active ingredients or monomers increase neuronal synaptic plasticity

Totally three articles focusing on Schisandra N-butanol extract effects on hippocampal CA1 synaptic morphology and plasticity in ovarectomized mice, as well as catalpol and GBE50 effects on neuronal synaptic plasticity in the motor cortex following cerebral ischemia were published in three issues. We hope that our readers find these papers useful to their research.

Impacts of Active Ingredients of Three Traditional Chinese Medicine on Immune Effect of PCV2 Vaccine

[ Objective ] The paper was to screen the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine （ TCM）, which significantly enhanced the immune effect of porcine circovirus type 2 （PCV2） vaccine. [Method]Sixty-six 14-day-old piglets were randomly divided into 11 groups, including immune control group, blank control group and nine drug groups. Piglets that were reared for 21 d were intramuscularly injected with 2 mL of inactivated vaccine in cervical region expect for blank control group. Piglets in nine drug groups were administrated with 5 mL of matrine, scutellarin and astragalus polysaecharide （ASP） at three doses （ high dose 12 mg, medium dose 8 nag, low dose 4 mg） three days before and after immunization; piglets in blank control group and irmnune control group were administrated with equal volume of normal saline. Five piglets were randomly selected from each group to collect venous blood at 7, 14, 21 and 28 d post immunization, and the PCV2 antibody level, the concentration of specific immunoglobulin [gG, the changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets, and the content of serum IL-2 and IFN-γ were determined. [ Result] The immunological effects of active ingredients of three TCM on PCV2 vaccine all enhanced at different degree. The effects of scutellarin middle dose group was the best. [ Conclusion ] Scutellarin could be used as a candidate drug for PCV2 vaccine immunoenhancer.

SCREENING OF MEDICINAL PLANTS FROM REUNION ISLAND FOR ANTIMALARIAL ACTIVITY

According to the last World Malaria Report,there were an estimated 584 000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2013.The problem of parasite resistance towards available medicines is increasing.Natural products could play an important role to discover new antimalarial drug.The aim of the study was to highlight the anti-plasmodial properties of plants used in traditional medicine on the Mascarene Islands.85

ANTI-TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI ACTIVITY OF 20 MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN NORTH EAST MEXICO

Chagas disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.This disease is also known as American trypanosomiasis and approximately 7-8 million people are currently infected(WHO,2014.Nifurtimox has been used for over 40 years to treat Chagas disease,however,this drug is only effective during the acute phase of infection,and certain protozoan strains have developed resistance

Synergistic Antimicrobial Activity of Berberine Hydrochloride, Baicalein and Borneol against Candida albicans

Objective To determine the synergistic effects of berberine hydrochloride, baicalein,and borneol in different combinations on Candida albicans. Methods The broth microdilution method was used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration（MIC） and minimal bactericidal concentration（MBC） of the three agents, and the checkerboard method was simultaneously used to determine the MIC and fractional inhibitory concentration index（FICI） of the combination of three antimicrobial agents to study their extracorporeal effects. Results Berberine hydrochloride was the most potent inhibitor of C. albicans（MIC and MBC of 0.160 and 0.640 mg/mL）, followed by borneol（MIC and MBC of 0.320 and 0.640 mg/mL） and baicalein（MIC and MBC of 1.28 and 20.48 mg/mL）. Moreover, the antifungal effect of the combination was significantly stronger than that tested alone. Further in vivo study showed that the mortality rate of tainted mice reduced over 50% compared with the control group. Conclusion The results of experiments in vitro and in vivo indicate the synergistic effect of the combination of three antimicrobial agents on C. albicans, which can make reference for the future clinical treatment.

AN ORIGINAL DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM FOR MALARIA TO SCREEN THE ANTIPLASMODIAL ACTIVITY OF AFRICAN HERBAL MEDICINES

Malaria,caused by protozoa of the genus Plasmodium,causes some 198 million of confirmed cases and about584,000 of deaths per year.Its management needs both accurate diagnostic and treatments availability.The current diagnostic techniques(rapid diagnostic tests and microscopy)appear either too expensive,lowly sensitive or difficult to implement.The hemozoin('malaria pigment')

Recent advances of traditional Chinese medicine on the prevention and treatment of COVID-19

Coronavirus disease-2019(COVID-19)is a new highly infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus.Recently,the number of new cases infected pneumonia in the world continues to increase,which has aroused great concern from the international community.At present,there are no small-molecule specific anti-viral drugs for the treatment.The high mortality rate seriously threatens human health.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)is a unique health resource in China.The combination of TCM and Western medicine has played a positive and important role in combating COVID-19 in China.In this review,through literature mining and analysis,it was found that TCM has the potential to prevent and treat the COVID-19.Then,the network pharmacological studies demonstrated that TCM played roles of anti-virus,anti-inflammation and immunoregulation in the management of COVID-19 via multiple components acting on multiple targets and multiple pathways.Finally,clinical researches also confirmed the beneficial effects of TCM on the treatment of patients.This review may provide meaningful and useful information on further drug development of COVID-19 and other viral infectious diseases.

Long-Term Follow-Up of Chinese Herbal Medicines Combined with Conventional Treatment in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective： To evaluate the prognosis effect of Chinese herbal medicines（CHMs） for benefiting qi and activating blood circulation adjunctive to conventional treatment in patients with acute coronary syndrome（ACS） after percutaneous coronary intervention（PCI）. Methods： A total of 702 patients with ACS who underwent PCI were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive conventional treatment plus CHMs for benefiting qi and activating blood circulation（treatment group, 351 cases） or conventional treatment alone（control group, 351 cases） for 6 months. Six months later, all patients received conventional treatment alone. Follow-ups were scheduled at 6th, 12 th, 18 th, 24 th month after enrollment in April 2008, and the final follow-up visit was during September 2011 and November 2011. The primary endpoint was the composite of cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction or revascularization（PCI or coronary artery bypass grafting）; and the secondary endpoint was the composite of re-admission for ACS, congestive heart failure, nonfatal stroke or other thrombus events. Results： A total of 621（88.59%） patients completed 35.4±3.8 months follow-up, while 80（11.41%） patients withdrew from the trial（41 in the treatment group and 39 in the control group）. The incidence of primary endpoint was 5.7%（20 patients） in the treatment group versus 10.86%（38 patients） in the control group [relative risk（RR）： 0.53; 95% confidence interval（CI）： 0.30, 0.88; P=0.013; absolute risk reduction（ARR）： –0.052, 95% CI： –0.06, 0.01]. The incidence of secondary endpoint was 5.98%（21 patients） in the treatment group versus 10.28%（36 patients） in control group（RR： 0.58, 95% CI： 0.33, 0.97, P=0.037; ARR： –0.043, 95% CI： 0.06, 0.01）. Most of the primary and secondary endpoints were occurred in 18 months（84.50% in the treatment group versus 78.10% in the control group）. Conclusion： CHMs for benefiting qi and activating blood circulation adjunctive to conventional treatment improved clinical outcomes for patients with ACS after PCI in long-term follow-up.

Effects of Modified Qing'e Pill(加味青娥丸) on Expression of Adiponectin,Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 and Coagulation-Related Factors in Patients with Nontraumatic Osteonecrosis of Femoral Head

Objective： To observe the regulation of Chinese herbal medicine, Modified Qing＇e Pill（加味青娥丸, MQEP）, on the expression of adiponectin, bone morphogenetic protein 2（BMP2）, osteoprotegerin（OPG） and other potentially relevant risk factors in patients with nontraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head（ONFH）. Methods： A total of 96 patients with nontraumatic ONFH were unequal randomly divided into treatment group（60 cases） and control group（36 cases）. The treatment group were treated with MQEP while the control group were treated with simulated pills. Both groups were given caltrate D. Six months were taken as a treatment course. Patients were followed up every 2 months. The levels of plasma adiponectin, BMP2, OPG, von Willebrand factor（vWF）, von Willebrand factor cleaving protease（vWF-cp）, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1（PAI-1）, tissue plasminogen activator（tPA）, C-reactive protein（CRP）, blood rheology, bone mineral density（BMD） of the femoral head and Harris Hip Score were measured before and after treatment. Results： After 6 months of treatment, compared with the control group, patients in the treatment group had significantly higher adiponectin and BMP2 levels（P〈0.01 and P=0.013, respectively）, lower vWF, PAI-1 and CRP levels（P=0.019, P〈0.01 and P〈0.01, respectively）, and lower blood rheology parameters. BMD of the femoral neck, triangle area and Harris Hip Score in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Moreover, plasma adiponectin showed a positive association with BMP2（r=0.231, P=0.003） and a negative association with PAI-1（r=–0.159, P〈0.05）. Conclusions： MQEP may play a protective role against nontraumatic ONFH by increasing the expression of adiponectin, regulating bone metabolism and improving the hypercoagulation state, which may provide an experimental base for its clinical effects.

Chinmedomics:Newer Theory and Application

The scientific interpretation of the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） is a communication channel between Chinese medicine and modern medicine. The evaluation of TCM efficacy is an important prerequisite for discovering active constituents. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish a biological language for scientific explanation of the effectiveness of TCM, and modern scientists can further accept the significant value of TCM theory and its clinical practice. The syndrome and corresponding formulation are two important parts in TCM, and they are directly related to the effectiveness of TCM. Our team has taken syndrome and formulation as the research objects, integrated serum pharm-chemistry of TCM with metabolomics technology, developed a new platform termed Chinmedomics, which is capable of evaluating effectiveness of TCM and discovering the syndrome biomarkers as well as the effective substances. The correlation between the endogenous biomarkers of syndrome and exogenous constituents of formulation is analyzed to find the highly associated compounds as the effective substances, and further clarifying their activities, and may discover lead compounds. This effective strategy could speed the drug discovery from natural resources. This article systematically introduced the establishment and application of Chinmedomics theory, in order to provide references for studies on TCM, and some characteristic examples are presented to highlight the application of this new strategy for discovering the potential active constituents of TCM.

Plant Tissue Culture and Biosynthesis Provide a Fast Way to Produce Active Constituents of Traditional Chinese Medicines

The plant kingdom has provided literally thousands of natural products with widely diverse chemical structures and a vast array of biological activities.Many of them have seen subsequent application in discovery of new druids and the pharmaceutical industry and clinical therapeutic application.

Clinical Study on Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine for Supplementing Kidney and Qi and Activating Blood Circulation in Treating Intrauterine Growth Retardation of Fetus

Objective: To explore the therapeutic effect and the possible working mechanism in using Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for supplementing Kidney and Qi, and activating blood circulation in treating intrauterine growth retardation of fetus (IUGR). Methods: Fifty-five cases of IUGR were divided into two groups, 30 cases in the CHM group treated with CHM and the 25 in the control group treated with amino acids. The effect of CHM treatment was observed and compared with that of the control group, normal pregnancy group and non-treated IUGR group. Results: Body weight of the newborns in the CHM was markedly higher than that in the control group. Not only the maternal fundal height (FH) and the abdominal circumference (AC), but also the fetal growth parameters, including biparietal diameter, head circumference (HC), and femur length (FL) in the CHM group increased much faster than those in the control group. After CHM treatment, the maternal serum levels of estriol (E3) and human placental lactogen (hPL) approached to those in the normal pregnancy group, but the control group,in comparison with the normal pregnancy group, was significantly different. The umbilical venous plasma concentration of essential amino acids in both treated groups improved, but the improvement in the CHM group was more significant than that in the control group. No apparent adverse effect of CHM was observed in either mother or fetus.Conclusion: CHM for supplementing Kidney and Qi and activating blood circulation was more effective in improving placental function and enhancing amino acid transportation than amino acid