Screening the active constituents of Chinese medicinal herbs as potent inhibitors of Cdc25 tyrosine phosphatase, an activator of the mitosis-inducing p34^(cdc2) kinase

Objective: To screen and evaluate the active constituents of Chinese medicinal herbs as potent inhibitors of Cdc25phosphatase. Methods: The affinity chromatography purified glutashione-S-transferase/Cdc25A phosphatase fusion protein and Cdc2/cyclin B from the extracts of starfish M phase oocytes are used as the cell cycle-specific targets for screening the antimitotic constituents. We tested 9 extracts isolated from the Chinese medicinal herbs and vegetables including the agents currently used in cancer treatment by measuring the inhibition of Cdc25A phosphatase and Cdc2 kinase activity. The antitumor activity of the extracts was also evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay and flow cytometry.Results: Cdc25A inhibitory activity and antitumor activity are detected in the extracts isolated from three Chinese medicinal herbs Agrimonapilosa; Herba solani lyrati; Galla chinesis. Conclusion: We found three extracts isolated from Chinese medicinal herbs have potential inhibitory activity of Cdc25 phosphatase using a highly specific mechanism-based screen assay for antimitotic drug discovery.

Screening of Epstein-Barr Virus Early Antigen Expression Inducers from Chinese Medicinal Herbs and Plants

Ether extrilcls of 1693 Chinesc medicinal herbs and plilnts from 268 families werestudied for the induction of Epstcin-Barr viral (EBV ) early antigcn (EA ) expression in theRaji cell line. Fifty-two from 18 families were found to have inducing activity. Twenty-fiveand seven of them were from Euphorbiaccae and Thymclaeaceae, respectively. Some ofthem, such as Croton tiglium, Euphorbia kansui, Daphnc genkwa, Wikstrocmia chamacdaphen, Wikstroemia indica, Prunus mandshurica Koehne and Achyranthes bidentata arecommonly used drugs. The significance of these herbs in the activation of EBV in vivo andtheir relation to the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were discussed.

The Influence of Chinese Medicinal Herb on Chicken Immune Organs and Small Intestinal Mucosa Immune Organization

[Objective] The aim was to explore the mechanism of Chinese medicinal herb to enhance the body＇s immune. [Method] The quantitative distribution of immunocytes in chicken small intestinal mucosa lymphoid tissue-secretory type immune globulin cell A were dynamic observed to research chicken immune organ growth with histology conventional slice technology and immunohistochemistry dye. 1 day age healthy roosters were divided into 3 groups： the group 3 was control group. 1% and 0.5% concentration of Chinese herbal medicine immunopotentiator drinking water were added in the group 1 and 2 in continuous 60 d. The immune organ index was determined every 12 d and the histotomy of chicken small intes- tine in group control and 1% were taken for histological observation on day 24, 36 and 48. [ Result] Treatment group immune organ index was significantly higher than that of the control group and 1% group of small intestinal villus inherent intraformational immune cells number significantly increased （P〈0.01） compared with controls. Day 36 age group and day 48 group immune cells were higher than day 24 group of cell number （P〈 0.01 ）. [ Conclusionl Chinese medicinal herb had obvious role in promoting chicken immune organ growth and obvious influence on the quantity change of the intestinal mucosal immune cells.

Effects of the Chinese Medicinal Herb Com plex Additives on Non-specific Immunity of Amursturgeon( Acipenser schrencki Brandt)

This study was to investigate the effects of aqueous decotion from three Chinese medicinal herb additives （ Cyrtomium fortunei, prescription I and prescription II） on non-specific immunity of 1 ＋ age old Amur sturgeon （Acipenser schrencki Brandt） by oral perfusion. Cyrtomiumfortunei, prescription I and prescription II were orally given to 15 fishes for each experimental group once a day, with the concentration of 9,175 and 36 g/S0 kg body weight, respectively. The administration was lasted for 14 days. Meanwhile, distilled water was orally given as the control. After the experiment, some of the experimental fishes were stimulated with high temperature （30 ℃ ） for two hours. Sampling was performed from fishes treated at 22 ℃ and 30 ℃ for measuring the protein content in the serum, phagocytic activity of leucocytes and the activity of the lysozyme in six tissues. The results indicated that Cyrtomiumfortunei and prescription II could help to enhance the content of various proteins and the phagocytic activity of leucocytes. There was no significant change in the effects between these two additives at either the normal temperature or high temperature. Prescription I did not show an obvious effect on the immunity of fishes at the normal temperature, but it did in promo- ting high-efficiency response and improving immunoregulation of fish shocked by some stimuli.

ANALYSIS OF VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS OF CHINESE MEDICINAL HERBS BY FLASH DISTILLATION/CAPILLARY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS SPECTROMETRY

In present work,the volatile constituents of Curcuma longa L.,A.lancea (Thunb.) DC.,Foeniculum vulgare Mill,and Cinnamomun cassia Presl.have been analyzed by flash distillation/capillary gas chro-matography/mass spectrometry.The results are consistent with those obtained by conventional steam distillation extraction method.The optimum condition of flash distillation has been studied.The experimental results showed that this new technique proved to be a simple,rapid and efficient tool for microanalysis of volatile constituents of Chinese medicinal herbs.

Treatment of Retinal Vein Obstruction with Acupuncture and Chinese Medicinal Herbs

We have treated thirty-two cases (52 eyes) of retinal vein obstruction by acupuncture and oral administration of Huo Xue Ming Mu Decoction. The total effective rate of 90.38% demonstrated that the treatment was definitely effective.

China Beijing Tongrentang Holdings Corp.Beijing Tongrentang Chinese Medicinal Herb Refinery

Beijing Tongrentang was founed byMr. Le Zunyu in the eighth year of the reignof Emperor Qianlong (1669) in Qing Dynasty.Le Zunyu once served as an official in chargeof documents and archives for the imperialhospital for the Qing imperial palace. Takingthe advantage of his position, he collectednumerous proven prescriptions and folkrecipes as well as secret prescriptions of afamily handed down from generation togeneration, and prepared ready-made herbalcompounds. With unique recipes, carefully-chosen ingredients, fine technology andconspicuously curative effect of such ready-made herbal compounds, BeijingTongrentang thus established itself areputation. In 1952, under the leadership of LeSongsheng, descendant of the Le family andformer manager of Tongrentang, thecountry’ s first medicinal herb tablet producer,Beijing Tongrentang Chinese Medicinal HerbRefinery, was set up. With the developmentin the past four decades, the refinery hasbecome one of the core enterprises underBeijing Tongrentang Group

COMBINED TREATMENT OF 200 CASES OF PERIPHERY FACIAL PARALYSIS WITH ACUPUNCTURE AND CHINESE MEDICINAL HERBS

In the present study, 200 cases of periphery facial paralysis were treated with combined therapies of handle needle, electroacupuncture (EA), electronic moxibustion and oral administration of Supplemented Qianzheng San. After treatment, of the 200 cases, 176 were cured, 15 had marked improvement and 9 had improvement. Two groups of acupoints were chosen and used alternately for keeping the excitement of acupoints, preventing acupoint fatigue and raising the therapeutic effect. In the acute stage of periphery facial palsy, acupuncture treatment was performed using shallow needling, mild manipulation and no needling penetration. In the convalescence stage and sequela stage, penetration needling was adopted and stronger stimulation given. During acute period and when facial muscular spasm appeared, EA stimulation was not suitable for facial acupoints. Over use of vision should be avoided.

Study on Early Application of Chinese Medicinal Herbs after Total Gastrectomy

Objective: To evaluate the effect of Chinese medicinal herbs on digestive function, nutritional status, immune function and complication rate in patients after total gastrectomy. Methods: Thirty-nine patients performed total gastrectomy were divided into two groups and had their small intestine intubated for administering medicine postoperatively. Twenty-one of them belonged to the treated group and had Chinese medicinal herbs dripped into their small intestine intraluminally during the early postoperative stage, while the 18 cases in the control group were dripped with 0.9% sodium chloride. Results: The digestive function of the treated group recovered rapidly, and the nutritional status and immune function improved markedly as compared with those of the control group (P<0.01-0.05). Conclusion: Early application of Chinese medicinal herbs after total gastrectomy could promote the digestive function to recover to normal, and improve the nutritional status and immune function. And occurrence of complication was reduced.

Study on the Networks of "Nature-Family-Component" of Chinese Medicinal Herbs Based on Association Rules Mining

Objective： To explore appropriate methods for the research of the theory of Chinese medicine nature property and find the relationship between Nature-Family-Component of Chinese herbs. Methods： From perspective of systems biology, we used Associate Network to identify useful relationships among ＂Nature- Family-Component＂ of Herbs. In this work, Associate Network combines association rules mining method and network construction method to evaluate the complicate relationship among ＂Nature-Family-Component＂ of herbs screened. Results： The results of association rules mining showed that the families had a close relationship with nature properties of herbs. For example, the families of Magnoliaceae, Araceae had a close relationship with hot nature with confidence of 100%, the families of Cucurbitaceae has a close relationship to cold nature with confidence of 90,91%. Moreover, the results of constructed Associate Network implied that herbs belonging to the same families generally had the same natures. In addition, some herbs belonging to different families may also have same natures when they contain the same main components. Conclusion： These results implied that the main components of herbs might affect their natures; the relationships between families and natures were based on the main compounds of herbs.

A system for screening agonists targeting β_2-adrenoceptor from Chinese medicinal herbs

In order to develop a model for screening the agonists of human β2-adrenoceptor from Chinese medicinal herbs extracts, we used a cell-based functional assay based on a common G protein-coupled receptor （GPCR） regulation mechanism and destabilized enhanced green fluorescent protein （d2EGFP） reporter gene technique. The positive cell clone was confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction （PCR） and imaging analysis. To assess the value of this model, we screened over 2000 high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）-fractionated samples from the ethanol extracts of Chinese medicinal herbs. Six fractions （isolated from Panax japonicus, Veratrum nigrum, Phellodendron amurense, Fructus Aurantii lmmaturus, Chaenomeles speciosa, and Dictamnus dasycarpus） showed significant effects on active reporter gene expression, three of which （isolated from Phellodendron amurense, Fructus Aurantii lmmaturus, and Chaenomeles speciosa） were selected for further concentration response analysis and the half maximal effective concentration （EC1/2 max） values were 4.2, 2.7, and 4.8 μg/ml, respectively. Therefore, this reporter gene assay was suitable for screening β2-adrenoceptor agonists. The results suggest that the six herbal extracts are the possible agonists of β2-adrenoceptor.

Photosensitizer Screeningfrom Chinese Medicinal Herbs and Photodynamic Anticancer Studies

Objective: To find new photosensitizers from Chinese medicinal herbs for cancer photodynamic therapy. Methods: The extracts of thirteen herbs were examined: (1) Their fluorescence excitation wave lengths and emission wave lengths; (2) Their fluorescence intensity in living cells and (3) Their distribution and localization in the living cells and the fixed cells both stained in each extract, and responses of cell fluorescence intensity to pH value change. Furthermore, the herb's anticancer photosensitive efficiencies were studied by using BGC823 human stomach cancer cells. Results: Cortex Phellodendri and Rhizoma Coptidis, were found with optimal fluorescence properties as photosensitizers in this test. The latter could remarkably reduce the cell metabolic viability, proliferative ability and increase the cell mortality when the cells exposed to both drugs and luminance but not to drug only. Conclusions: The potential of Chinese medicine as a new kind of photosensitizer and its possibility for using in anticancer photodynamic therapy are existed.

Screening of Anti-SIV Drugs from Chinese Medicinal Herbs

The inhibitory activities of more than 40 species of Chinese medicinal herbs or their singlechemical components against simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) have been studied. The study revealedthat four species of medicinal herbs and a single chemical component had a more than 50% inhtbition ef-fect on SIV antigen expression. and the inhibitory rate of five other herbs on SIV antigen expression wasbetween 30%-50%. The results suggest Chinese medicinal herbs could inhibit SIV activity.

Research on Anti-bacterial Effects of 5 Kinds of Chinese Herb Extracts on Ameromonas hydrophila in vitro

[Objective] The aim was to study the anti-bacterial effects of 5 kinds of Chinese herb extracts on Ameromonas hydrophila in vitro. [Method] in vitro anti-bacterial effects of 5 kinds of Chinese herb extracts like Galla Chinensis,Syzygium aromaticum,Salvia miltiorrhiza,Punica granatum L. and Terminalia chebula Retz on Ameromonas hydrophila were studied; furthermore,cure rates of the Chinese herb extracts with better anti-bacterial effects were determined to find out the optimal drug dosage. [Result] Under the same experimental conditions,Galla Chinensis,Punica granatum and Terminalia chebula Retz had relatively strong anti-bacterial effects on Ameromonas hydrophila,among them the anti-bacterial effect of Galla Chinensis was significantly higher than those of the others （P0.05）. The optimal treatment dose of Galla Chinensis treating bacterial septicemia caused by Aeromonas hydrophila was that they were treated with medicated bath for 40 min by 0.5 mg/ml Galla Chinensis extract,and the cure rate was 100%. [Conclusion] The research provides a scientific drug basis for the control and prevention of outbreak bacterial diseases of fish.

Preliminary Study of 12 Chinese Herbs as Feed Attractants on Turbot Juvenile(Scophthalmus maximus)

[Objective] The paper aims to study the attractive effects of 12 Chinese medicinal herbs on Scophthalmus maximus juvenile.[Method] We took 200 Scophthalmus maximus with the average body length of 3 cm,average weight of 1 g and 60 days of age as the research object,and 12 Chinese medicinal herbs as feed attractants were selected,including Cloves,Cinnamon,Star anise,Kaempferol,Mint,Coptis,Phellodendron,skullcap,Gardenia,Sophora flavescens,Mume,Myrobalan meat were selected.The amount added to the basic diet was 2‰..The times of turbot juveniles going into each inducing room and the times of turbot juveniles biting the feed ball were recorded by maze experiments.Inducing effects of the Chinese herbal medicines were analyzed.[Result] The results showed that the attractant effect of Mume,Gardenia,Scutellaria and kaempferol had the significantly inducing effect on Scophthalmus maximus juvenile.And 2‰ Gardenia,5‰ Matrine,5‰ Scutellaria and 2‰ Kaempferol have the best attractant effects.In compound experients,the attractive effect of mixture of 2‰ matrine and gardenia on Scophthalmus maximus was the best.[Conclusion] The attractive effect on Scophthalmus maximus has something to do with the kind and concentration of Chinese medicinal herbs.

Effects of Integrated Chinese Herbs and Western Medicine on Swine Toxoplasmosis

[ Objective] To evaluate the efficacy of integrated Chinese herbs and western medicine on the treatment of swine toxoplasmosis, in order to increase cure rate and lower recurrence rate. [ Method] Pigs artificially infected by Toxoplasma gondii were treated with compound suffonamide and a self-designed Chinese herbs formula, and the quantities of toxoplasma in ascites were determined. Animal regression experiment was per- formed after mice were inoculated with pathological samples of the pigs infected with toxoplasma. After treatment with integrated Chinese herbs and western medicine, the clinical manifestations of pigs were observed and the level of circulating antigen （CAg） in sera was detected. Curative effect indexes of integrated Chinese herbs and western medicine-treated group were compared with that of Chinese herbs-treated group, western medi- cine-treated group and positive control group. [ Result] All the toxoplasma trophozoites were killed by integrated and westem medicine. Regression expedment results showed that toxoplasma appeared only in one mouse that was inoculated with brain of pig. The treated pigs had nonsignificant clinical symptoms; the peak of serum CAg was lower than that of the positive control group and CAg turned negative faster than that of Chinese herbs-treated group, westem medicine-treated group, and positive control group. [ Conclusion] The integrated Chinese herbs and western medicine has good effect on the treatment of swine toxoplasmosis.

A Review of Chinese Herb Medicine Additives on Chicken Growth Performance

Researches showed that many Chinese herb medicines can improve chicken growth performance not only by their pharmacological function, but also by the improvement of antioxidant function, immunity and disease resistance of chicken. The menace to human health and environment has occurred since too much antibiotics have been used as growth-promoting additives in long term in chicken industry. Therefore, research on replacement of antibiotics by Chinese herb medicines as additives for chicken growth is underway. This paper summarized some research results in the topic briefly to provide information for researchers and readers.

Effects of Nourishing “Yin”-Removing “Fire” Chinese Herb Mixture on the Expression of GABAB Receptors in Hypothalamus of Precocious Puberty Female Rats

Objectives: To investigate the potential role of GABAB Receptors (GABABRs) involved in the effect of Nourishing “Yin”-Removing “Fire” Chinese herb mixture (TCM) treatment on precocious puberty. Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal (N), central precocious puberty (CPP) model (M), CPP fed with normal saline (S) and CPP fed with Nourishing “Yin”-Removing “Fire” Chinese herb mixture (TCM). Rats of postnatal day 5 were given a single subcutaneous injection of 240 μg danazol to establish CPP model rats. Rats of S and TCM groups were continuously administered with saline or nourishing “Yin”-removing “Fire” Chinese herb mixture since postnatal day 15. The expression of GABABRs was detected by means of real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. Results: The expression of hypothalamic GnRH mRNA in M was significantly increased on the day of pre-puberty when compared with that of N (P < 0.01). On the day of onset-puberty, LH levels were higher in M than those in N (P < 0.01), while the serum E2 and LH levels of TCM decreased when compared with those of M (P B1 receptor (GABABR1) immunoreactive cells in the arcuate nucleus (ARN) was decreased in M when compared with that of N (P < 0.05) and increased in TCM compared with that of M (P < 0.05);simultaneously, the expression of GABABR1 mRNA in hypothalamus was significantly decreased in M when compared with that of N (P < 0.01) and increased in TCM compared with that of M (P < 0.01). On the day of onset-puberty, the number of GABABR1 immunoreactive cells in medial septum (MS) was decreased in M compared with that in N (P < 0.05) and increased in TCM comparing with that of M (P < 0.05);meanwhile, the mRNA expression of GABABR1 in hypothalamus was decreased in M compared with that in N (P B2 receptor (GABABR2) immunoreactive cells in the ARN, MS and diagnonal band of broca (DBB) were decreased in M when compared with those of N (P < 0.05) and increased in TCM compared with those of M (P < 0.05) on the day of onset-puberty. At the same time, the mRNA expression of GABABR2 was significantly decreased in M compared with that of N (P < 0.01). Conclusions: These results indicated that the GABABRs might involve in the curative effect of Nourishing “Yin”-Removing “Fire” Chinese herbal mixture on CPP rats.

Determination of vanadium in food and traditional Chinese medicine by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy

Various experimental conditions were described for the vanadium determinationby graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAAS). The experiments showed that whenatomization took place under the conditions where the combination of a pyrolytic coating graphitetube and fast raising temperature were used and the temperature was stable, the signal peak shapescould be improved, the sensitivity was enhanced, and the memory effect was removed. The vanadium infood and traditional Chinese medicinal herbs can be accurately determined using the standard curvemethod.