Pharmacological Evaluation of Hexane Fraction of Casearia gossypiosperma Briquet： Antivenom Potentiality

Neuromuscular junction is the main target for snakebites, which venoms act depending on the snake genus for paralyzing the prey （neurotoxicity） or for facilitating the digestion processes of the victim （myotoxicity）, and also as a defense mechanism against predators. In the present study, a mouse neuromuscular apparatus was used for testing the hexane fraction of Casearia gossypiosperma plant, that showed the better antiophidian ability than dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol fractions, against the irreversible paralysis induced by two, Bothrops jararacussu （Bjssu, 40 μg/mL） and Crotalus durissus terrificus （Cdt, 10 μg/mL） snake venoms. All fractions were obtained by liquid-liquid partition from the C. gossypiosperma hydroalcoholic lyophilized extract. The preliminary chromatographic profile of this plant showed phenols and flavonols as active constituents, whereas hexane fraction expressed mainly 13-sitosterol and quercetin. In spite of hexane fraction protection （≌95% and 48% against Bjssu and Cdt, respectively）, isolately, only quercetin protected against the blockade-induced by Bjssu venom （65.5%）. This study showed that hexane fraction acts against these snake venoms by a synergistic phytocomplex mechanism.

Network Pharmacology-Based and Pharmacological Evaluation of the Effects of Curcumae Radixon Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the network pharmacology of curcumae radix(CR, Yujin) and explore the mechanism of CR in the treatment of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury(CIRI). Materials and Methods: Network analysis and pharmacological evaluation were performed to explore the protective role of CR to treat CIRI. The potential target genes of the active components and CIRI were identified using SwissTarget Prediction, Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular mechANism of Traditional Chinese Medicine, GeneCards, and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. Furthermore, network analysis was performed using Cytoscape software.Gene ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis were performed using the R software. In vivo experiments were performed using the water extract of CR(WECR) on PC12 cells induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation(H/R) to simulate ischemia/reperfusion injury. Results: The results exhibited that 21 active compounds identified in CR were associated with 73 targets of CIRI. Functional analysis showed that multiple pathways, including response to stress, regulation of apoptotic process, and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 signaling pathway, were significantly enriched. In addition, STAT3, IL4, HIFIA, and CTNNB1 were predicted to be the most important genes among the 36 hub genes. Furthermore, WECR treatment significantly improved PC12 cell injury and decreased apoptosis levels in cells induced by H/R, with malondialdehyde contents reduced and superoxide dismutase or glutathione peroxidase levels increased. Conclusions: Network analysis and pharmacological evaluation of CR could provide valuable directions for further research on CR and improve comprehension of CIRI.

LU Ai-ping(吕爱平)——An Outstanding Clinical and Pharmacological Evaluation of A Scientist in Integrative Medicine

Prof. LU Ai-ping, male, was born in Duchang county, Jiangxi province, on July 3, 1963. He graduated from the Jiangxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1983. He received the master＇s （1987） and the PhD degrees （1997） from the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences （CACMS）, Beijing, where he also became a research fellow, associate professor （1994）, and professor （1997）. He has been working in clinical evaluation and pharmacological evaluation for rheumatoid arthritis with integrative medicine approaches in CACMS for more than 20 years. During that period, he went to the Cell Biology Laboratory, Ohio State University, USA, from July 1990 to October 1991 and the Lurid University of Sweden from July 1995 to October 1996 for further study.

Research on Quality Markers of Moutan Cortex: Quality Evaluation and Quality Standards of Moutan Cortex

Objective To identify the quality markers of Moutan Cortex（MC） and establish the quality evaluation methods for multi-component assay and fingerprinting of MC. Methods The chemical constituents in MC were identified by HPLC-QTOF-MS. UPLC was employed for the multi-component assay and fingerprinting of MC. Furthermore, text mining was carried out to review the biosynthesis pathways and pharmacological and pharmacokinetic studies related to MC, and in silico target fishing was conducted to construct compound-target networks for MC. Results Sixteen compounds were clearly identified in MC and their structures were confirmed through comparison with literature data. In addition, the biosynthetic pathways and component specificities of the identified compounds were summarized and confirmed by text mining.Pharmacological activities, including traditional usage and modern pharmacological studies were summarized. A total of 282 targets from Homo sapiens were fished for 13 compounds. In addition, pharmacokinetic studies of different compounds were synopsized. Finally, multi-component assay and fingerprint of MC were established. Conclusion Eight major components are selected as quality markers of MC, such as oxypaeoniflorin, apiopaeonoside, albiflorin, paeonolide, paeoniflorin, 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose, mudanpioside C and paeonol. These eight quality markers are successfully applied to the quality evaluation of MC, and could be useful in improving the current quality standards of MC.