Research progress of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of endocrine metabolic diseases in 2023

This study aimed to provide a comprehensive review of the research progress in Chinese medicine in the treatment of endocrine metabolic diseases in 2023,covering traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)monomers,TCM extracts,and TCM combinations,including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,type 2 diabetes mellitus and its complications,obesity,hyperuricaemia,and thyroid disorders.After systematic sorting and summary,we found that in 2023,the research focusing on the application of TCM for endocrine metabolic diseases was still on the mechanism of action at the cellular and molecular levels,which not only influenced the classical pathways of lipid metabolism,but also delved into the key mechanisms of anti-inflammation,anti-oxidation,anti-insulin resistance,and so on.Additionally,TCM has shown remarkable results in the treatment of endocrine metabolic diseases by improving intestinal flora disorders and abnormal cellular iron death.These research results provide valuable ideas,methods,and tools for TCM in the prevention and treatment of endocrine metabolic diseases,and provide important references and guidance for future research and practice.

Design of Traditional Chinese Medicine Extraction Workshop Process and Automation System

Objective: This paper takes the example of a Panax notoginseng extraction workshop and designs an automated production workshop with advanced domestic capabilities. Methods: 1) Based on the small-scale Panax notoginseng extraction process, the feasibility of the workshop production process is demonstrated. 2) The workshop process design for Panax Notoginseng saponin extraction is completed, including production organization plans and the selection of key equipment. 3) For the Panax notoginseng extraction workshop process, an automated production control system is designed. Conclusion: Through optimized design of the production process and automation system, continuous and automated production of traditional Chinese medicine extraction is achieved, leading to improvements in drug quality and production efficiency.

Research on Technology Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine Extraction Based on Patent Information

Objective To understand the development status of traditional Chinese medicine extraction technology,so as to provide a reference for enterprises and scientific research institutions to determine the direction of technological innovation.Besides,the government can formulate scientific and technological innovation strategies.Methods Based on patent information,statistical methods were applied to analyze the development of traditional Chinese medicine extraction technology.Then,the core technology was identified by constructing a patent citation network.Finally,the main path analysis method was applied to discover the technological evolution path.Results and Conclusion The extraction technology of traditional Chinese medicine is still in the growth stage.At present,its R&D is based on enterprises,supplemented by scientific research institutions.The core technologies are ultrasonic extraction and enzymatic extraction.The main path represented by enzymatic extraction technology reveals the evolution process of traditional Chinese medicine extraction technology.Based on this,relevant suggestions are put forward.Firstly,technological innovation cooperation should be strengthened to explore new models of achievement transformation and cooperation.Secondly,key enterprises of technology clusters should be cultivated to accelerate breakthroughs in core technologies.Thirdly,combined technologies can achieve high-efficiency enzyme-assisted extraction and open up new ways of extracting traditional Chinese medicine.Fourthly,traditional techniques should be improved to develop innovative modern techniques.

Feasibility and simulation model of a pilot scale membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment and reuse from Chinese traditional medicine

The lack and pollution of water resource make wastewater reuse necessary. The pilot scale long-term tests for submerged membrane bioreactor were conducted to treat the effluents of anaerobic or aerobic treatment process for the high-strength Chinese traditional medicine wastewater. This article was focused on the feasibility of the wastewater treatment and reuse at shorter hydraulic retention time （HRT） of 5.0, 3.2 and 2.13 h. MLSS growth, membrane flux, vacuum values and chemical cleaning periods were also investigated. The experimental results of treating two-phase anaerobic treatment effluent demonstrated that the CODfilt was less than 100 mg/L when the influent COD was between 500-10000 mg/L at HRT of 5.0 h, which could satisfy the normal discharged standard in China. The experimental results to treat cross flow aerobic reactor effluent demonstrated that the average value of CODfilt was 17.28 mg/L when the average value of influent COD was 192.84 mg/L at HRT of 2.13 h during 106 d, which could completely meet the normal standard for water reuse. The maximum MLSS and MLVSS reached 24000 and 14500 mg/L at HRT of 3.2 h respectively. Membrane flux had maximal resume degrees of 94.7% at vacuum value of 0.02 MPa after cleaning. Chemical cleaning periods of membrane module were 150 d. A simulation model of operational parameters was also established based on the theory of back propagation neural network and linear regression of traditional mathematical model. The simulation model showed that the optimum operational parameters were suggested as follows： HRT was 5.0 h, SRT was 100 d, the range of COD loading rate was between 10.664-20.451 kg/（m3.d）, the range of MLSS was between 7543-13694 mg/L.

Progress on traditional Chinese medicine in improving hepatic fibrosis through inhibiting oxidative stress

Hepatic fibrosis is a common pathological process that occurs in the development of various chronic liver diseases into cirrhosis and liver cancer,characterized by excessive deposition of the extracellular matrix.In the past,hepatic fibrosis was thought to be a static and irreversible pathological process.In recent years,with the rapid development of molecular biology and the continuous in-depth study of the liver at the microscopic level,more and more evidence has shown that hepatic fibrosis is a dynamic and reversible process.Therefore,it is particularly important to find an effective,simple,and inexpensive method for its prevention and treatment.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)occupies an important position in the treatment of hepatic fibrosis due to its advantages of low adverse reactions,low cost,and multi-target effectiveness.A large number of research results have shown that TCM monomers,single herbal extracts,and TCM formulas play important roles in the prevention and treatment of hepatic fibrosis.Oxidative stress(OS)is one of the key factors in the occurrence and development of hepatic fibrosis.Therefore,this article reviews the progress in the understanding of the mechanisms of TCM monomers,single herbal extracts,and TCM formulas in preventing and treating hepatic fibrosis by inhibiting OS in recent years,in order to provide a reference and basis for drug therapy of hepatic fibrosis.

Computational investigation on the molecular structure and chemical reactivity of a traditional Chinese medicine extract MK-1 molecule

MK-1 molecule(C_(16)H_(16)O_(2)),the simplest structure of vitamin K(VK)compound family,is an extract from traditional Chinese medicine Cymbopogon distans(Nees ex Steud.)Wats(Chinese name YunXiangCao),which has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years due to its antiasthmatic,antitussives and expectorant effects.To investigate the molecular structure and chemical reactivity of MK-1 molecule,computational investigations on six conformational minima structures were carried out at the MP2/6-311++G(2d,2p)level of theory.Several local reactivity descriptors including condensed Fukui function,average local ionization energy,and molecular electrostatic potential on each individual atom were determined to predict the intrinsic reactivity of MK-1 molecule.

Ultrasonic Nebulization Extraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for Analysis of Volatile Components in Traditional Chinese Patent Medicine

The ultrasonic nebulization extraction（UNE） was developed and applied to the extraction of volatile components from traditional Chinese patent medicine Xiaoyao Pills. Several parameters of ultrasonic nebulization extraction including the sample particle size, solvent volume, extraction time and ultrasonic power were studied and selected. As a result, 2.4 g of sample with particle size of 80 mesh was extracted with 15 mL of n-hexane for 20 min at an ultrasonic power of 35 W. The volatile components were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS） under the optimal conditions and 57 compounds were identified. The precision, repeatability and stability of the proposed method were also studied. Compared with ultrasonic-assisted extraction（UAE） and hydrodistillation（HD） extraction, the proposed method is more efficient, faster and easier to be operated at room temperature with smaller sample and energy consumption. It is suggested that the ultrasonic nebulization extraction can be used as a novel alternative method for the extraction of volatile components from traditional Chinese patent medicine.

Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Zizania latifolia to Traditional Chinese Medicine Wastewater

Effects of traditional Chinese medicine wastewater treatment on the physiological and biochemical indexes( such as TTC,Pro,GSH,MDA,SOD,POD,CAT,and PAL) of Zizania latifolia were investigated under four concentrations of medicine wastewater. The results showed that under the stress of traditional Chinese medicine wastewater,the contents of GSH,MDA and Pro had different degrees of increase,which would promote the increasing of superoxide anion. Meanwhile,the activities of root,SOD,POD,CAT and PAL also increased with the concentration of traditional Chinese medicine wastewater. Therefore,Z. latifolia had very strong anti-adversity abilities and tolerances to traditional Chinese medicine wastewater and can be used as one of the constructed wetland plants treating medicine wastewater.

Treatment of Chinese Traditional Medicine Wastewater by Photosynthetic Bacteria

The influence factors treating wastewater of Chinese traditional medicine extraction by photosynthetic bacteria are tested and discussed. The results indicate that the method of photosynthetic bacteria can eliminate COD and BOD from wastewater in high efficiency. And it also has high load shock resistance. On the conditions of slight aerobic and semi-darkness, treating wastewater of Chinese traditional medicine extraction, the method has better efficiency to eliminate COD and BOD from the wastewater than those by anaerobic illumination and aerobic darkness treatments. After pretreatment of hydrolytic acidization, the removal rate of COD in the wastewater reached more than 85 %, and that rate of BOD reached more than 90% in the treating system of photosynthetic bacteria. It may be more feasible and advantageous than traditional anaerobic biological process to treat organic wastewater using PSB system.

Treatment of Chinese traditional medicine wastewater in a submerged membrane bioreactor

A pilot scale test was conducted in a submerged membrane bioreactor SMBR with capacity of 10. 0 m^3/d for 120 days to treat high-strength Chinese traditional medicine wastewater. Performance of the SMBR was investigated with a sludge retention time （ TSR ） of 50 days, a hydraulic retention time （ THR ） of 8.0 h, membrane flux of 8. 0 IV（ m^2 · h） and dissolved oxygen （DO） concentration of 2. 0 - 3. 0 mg/L, respectively. It was observed that the SMBR had high capacity of COD and suspended solid （SS） removal. The influent COD concentration was fluctuated between I 000 and 5 000 mg/L, while the averaged effluent COl） concentration was only 44. 6 mg/L. The influent SS concentration was fluctuated between 1 000 and 1 600 mg/L, while little effluent SS was detected. It was found that the COD remove rate increased with mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） and organic loading rate （ROL）. In order to obtain good-quality effluent, the operational conditions of the SMBR were suggested as follows： the temperature was controlled above 10 ℃, MLSS about 7000 mg/L, R,L under 24. 76 kg/（ m^3 · d）, low vacuum value and constant water flux.

Rapid authentication of different herbal medicines by heating online extraction electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The rapid and accurate authentication of traditional Chinese medicines(TCMs)has always been a key scientific and technical problem in the field of pharmaceutical analysis.Herein,a novel heating online extraction electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(H-oEESI-MS)was developed for the rapid and direct analysis of extremely complex substances without the requirement for any sample pretreatment or pre-separation steps.The overall molecular profile and fragment structure features of various herbal medicines could be completely captured within 10–15 s,with minimal sample(<0.5 mg)and solvent consumption(<20μL for one sample).Furthermore,a rapid differentiation and authentication strategy for TCMs based on H-oEESI-MS was proposed,including metabolic profile characterization,characteristic marker screening and identification,and multivariate statistical analysis model validation.In an analysis of 52 batches of seven types of Aconitum medicinal materials,20 and 21 key compounds were screened out as the characteristic markers of raw and processed Aconitum herbal medicines,respectively,and the possible structures of all the characteristic markers were comprehensively identified based on Compound Discoverer databases.Finally,multivariate statistical analysis showed that all the different types of herbal medicines were well differentiated and identified(R^(2)X>0.87,R^(2)Y>0.91,and Q^(2)>0.72),which further verified the feasibility and reliability of this comprehensive strategy for the rapid authentication of different TCMs based on H-oEESI-MS.In summary,this rapid authentication strategy realized the ultra-high-throughput,low-cost,and standardized detection of various complex TCMs for the first time,thereby demonstrating wide applicability and value for the development of quality standards for TCMs.

Comparative study on the anti-tuberculous effect and mechanism of the traditional Chinese medicines NiuBeiXiao He extract and JieHeWan

Background:The traditional Chinese medicine NiuBeiXiaoHe(NBXH)extract and Chinese medicine preparation JieHeWan(JHW)exhibit anti-tuberculosis(TB)effects.The anti-TB effect of NBXH was compared with that of JHW to elucidate the mechanism of action of NBXH.Methods:BALB/c mice aged 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into a normal control group,TB model group,JHW treatment group,and NBXH treatment group.After 3 and 13 weeks of treatment,the therapeutic effect in each group was evaluated by comparing lung histopathology,lung and liver colony counts,the number of spots representing effector T cells secreting IFN-γin an enzyme-linked immunospot assay(ELISPOT),and the levels of Th1,Th2,and Th17 cytokines,which were measured by a cytometric bead array(CBA).Mouse RNA samples were subjected to transcriptome sequencing.Results:After 13 weeks of treatment,the mean histopathological lesion area of the NBXH group was significantly smaller than that of the TB model group(P<0.05).Compared with those in the TB model group,the lung colony counts in the JHW and NBXH groups were significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the IL-2 and IL-4 levels in the NBXH group were significantly increased(P<0.05).NBXH partly restored significant changes in gene expression caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis(M.tuberculosis)infection.According to GO and KEGG analyses,the changes in biological process(BP),cell composition(CC)and molecular function(MF)terms and in signaling pathways caused by NBXH and JHW treatment were not completely consistent,but they were mainly related to the immune response and inflammatory response in the mouse TB model.Conclusions:NBXH had therapeutic effects similar to those of JHW in improving lung histopathology,reducing lung colony counts,and regulating the levels of cytokines.NBXH restored significant changes in gene expression and repaired cell damage caused by M.tuberculosis infection by regulating immune-related pathways,which clarified the mechanism of action of NBXH.

Advances in traditional Chinese medicine for liver disease therapy in 2021

Liver diseases and their co-morbidities represent a major public health problem.Owing to its progressive pathogenesis and lack of effective treatment,liver disease has become one of the most important causes of death worldwide.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has potential advantages in the prevention and treatment of liver diseases,including high safety,remarkable curative effects,and low toxicity and side effects.In 2021,TCM extracts and their derivatives,TCM compounds,and ethnic medicines showed good efficacy in the treatment of liver diseases.The main mechanisms and representative drugs of TCM can be summarized by the use of amygdalin,dicoumarol,quercetin,and ancient ephedrine decoction to treat hepatitis by inhibiting viral replication,as well as the use of Gentianae Radix,lupeol,Zornia diphylla(L.)Pers.,and Chinese patent medicine Liuwei Wuling tablet to alleviate acute liver injury by improving oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in the body.In the treatment of alcoholic liver disease and metabolic-associated fatty liver disease,the mechanism of TCM is the inhibition of oxidative stress,improving metabolism,regulating intestinal microflora,and enhancing intestinal barrier function.The representative TCM for alcoholic liver disease includes astragaloside,puerarin,patchouli alcohol,and Mori Fructus polysaccharide,while those for metabolic-associated fatty liver disease include saikosaponin,dehydroabietic acid,hesperetin,berberine,and Panax Notoginseng saponins.Additionally,germacrone,forsythin,geniposide,and protocatechuic acid can inhibit the activation or migration of stellate cells and improve liver fibrosis.Toosendanin,paeoniflorin,chrysin,and the classical prescription Huanglian decoction can significantly inhibit the proliferation of liver cancer cells and promote their apoptosis for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.The activation of the farnesol X receptor pathway can improve bile metabolism in the liver,thus,significantly alleviating cholestatic liver disease.Its representative drugs include the TCM extracts pterostilbene and arbutin.In this review,we summarize the advances made in research on TCM used in the treatment of liver diseases in 2021,providing a reference for further development of TCM for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases.

Advances in traditional Chinese medicine for liver disease therapy in 2020

Liver diseases are gradually becoming a serious threat to human health worldwide.Although a number of medications have been introduced for the prophylaxis,diagnosis,and treatment of liver diseases,several limitations and challenges remain.Traditional Chinese medicine is frequently used to treat liver diseases and well known to protect hepatocytes and inhibit inflammation,oxidative stress,and fibrosis.However,given the complex composition of traditional Chinese medicine,clarifying the mechanisms behind its curative and protective effects is difficult.In this review,research progress on traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of liver diseases in 2020 is summarized on the basis of the literature available in the PubMed database.Herbal extracts derived from traditional Chinese medicine,including flavonoids,polysaccharides,saponins,and alkaloids,and Chinese medicinal formulas,such as the classic decoctions Chaihu Shugan powder,Linggui Zhugan decoction,and Huanglian Jiedu decoction,have shown promising therapeutic efficacy in liver disease treatment.We summarized the findings of several studies on the active ingredients of traditional Chinese herbs used for liver disease treatment in 2020,focusing mainly on their ability to confer antiviral effects to treat hepatitis,regulate antioxidant levels and apoptosis to treat liver injury,inhibit inflammation and improve dysfunctions in amino acids and energy metabolism to treat alcoholic liver disease,reduce hepatic lipid deposition to treat nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,promote activated hepatic stellate cells to treat liver fibrosis,inhibit the proliferation or promote the apoptosis of liver cancer cells to treat hepatocellular carcinoma,and improve bile acid metabolism to treat cholestasis.

Application of artificial intelligence in tongue diagnosis of traditional Chinese medicine:A review

Tongue diagnosis is an important process to non-invasively assess the condition of a patient’s internal organs in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)and each part of the tongue is related to corresponding internal organs.Due to continuing computer technological advances,especially the artificial intelligence(AI)methods have achieved significant success in tackling tongue image acquisition,processing,and classification,novel AI methods are being introduced in traditional Chinese medicine tongue diagnosis medical practices.Traditional tongue diagnose depends on observations of tongue characteristics,such as color,shape,texture,moisture,etc.by traditional Chinese medicine physicians.The appearance of the tongue color,texture and coating reflects the improvement or deterioration of patient’s conditions.Moreover,AI can now distinguish patient’s condition through tongue images,texture or coating,which is all possible increasingly with help from traditional Chinese medicine physicians under the traditional Chinese medicine tongue theory.AI has enabled humans to do what was previously unimagined:traditional Chinese medicine tongue diagnosis with feeding a large amount of tongue image and tongue texture/coating data to train the AI modes.This review focuses on the research advances of AI in TCM tongue diagnosis thus far to identify the major scientific methods and prospects.In this article,we tried to review the AI application in resolving the tongue diagnosis of traditional Chinese medicine on color correction,tongue image extraction,tongue texture/coating segmentation.

Cardiac protection of new compounds from scientific Chinese medicine (SCM)

Objective Purification and Standardization of Chinese herbal extracts became a hot topic since last decade.Though traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has been used as a mixture from several herbs for centuries,it has been drawn much attention for studying the standardized Chinese herbs using modern technology.Methods Recently,we compared purified Salvia miltiorrhiza extract(PSME)with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor,Ramipril,in in vitro experiments and also in vivo using animal model of myocardial infarction.Results PSME was found to have a significantly higher trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity which indicated a great capacity for scavenging free radicals.PSME could also prevent pyrogallo red bleaching and DNA damage.After 2 weeks treatment with PSME or Ramipril,survival rates of rats with experimental myocardial infarction were marginally increased(68.2% and 71.4%)compared with saline(61.5%).In another recent study,we evaluated the cardioprotective effects of PSME on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in isolated rat hearts and in hypoxic vascular smooth muscle cells.We found that PSME treated hearts showed significant postischemic contractile function recovery(develop pressure recovered to 44.2±4.9% versus 17.1±5.7%,P<0.05;maximum contraction recovered to 57.2±5.9% versus 15.1±6.3%,P<0.001;maximum relaxation restored to 69.3±7.3% versus 15.4±6.3%,P<0.001 in PSME and control group respectively).Conclusions Significant elevated in end-diastolic pressure,which indicated LV stiffening in PSME hearts might be resulted by exceed dose of PSME used.Purified and standardized Chinese herb could provide an alternative regimen for the prevention of ischemic heart disease.

Antiviral activity of traditional Chinese medicinal plants Dryopteris crassirhizoma and Morus alba against dengue virus

Dengue virus(DENV) has emerged as a major virus that is spread by mosquitoes. Recently, it has spread to more than a hundred nations but continues to lack specific treatable medication. Many traditional Chinese medicinal(TCM) plants are in practice for dengue fever in dengue endemic regions. These traditional medicines persevere with treatments, which modern medicines lack. The study aims to substantiate the anti-dengue potential of some traditional herbs and make them available for further studies to facilitate TCM users. Twelve TCM plants aqueous extracts were evaluated, which are described as cool herbs used for the diseases with high fever. Lead plants were established through detailed in vitro foci forming unit reduction analysis(FFURA) against all four serotypes and validated through quantitative real-time RT-PCR(q RT-PCR). Four plants potentially inhibited the virus in primary phenotypic in vitro evaluation. Two lead plants Dryopteris crassirhizoma(DC) and Morus alba(MA) were identified with half minimal inhibitory concentration(IC50) 130 and 221 μg m L^-1, respectively, while the selectivity indices(SI) were 4.21 and 4.62, respectively. Lead plants equally inhibited all four serotypes of DENV. Time-of-addition analysis suggested that, DC was active at later stages of viral replication, whereas MA was active during the early stages and even showed some prophylactic activity. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(HPLC/MS) analysis revealed presence of flavonoids. DC and MA are identified as potential anti-dengue plants, active against varied stages of dengue virus replication cycle. These results may serve as the base knowledge for further investigation on their combined treatments or integrative treatment with western medicines, which may improve the overall anti-dengue activity in future.

中医药治疗卵巢癌的机制研究进展

卵巢癌具有难检测、难治疗、复发率高等临床特点,是致死率最高的妇科恶性肿瘤之一。早期症状隐匿,发现时多已进展至晚期,手术后铂类药物化疗是目前的主要治疗手段,但长期使用会产生耐药性,且不良反应极多。近年来,随着中医学的不断进步和发展,中药已成为目前抗卵巢癌研究的热点。笔者在国内外数据库中检索相关研究论文,发现中药具有抑制卵巢癌细胞增殖、促进细胞凋亡、逆转耐药性等作用机制,主要作用在PI3K/Akt/mTOR、Wnt/β-catenin、Notch、NF-κB、MAPK信号通路。

敏感性皮肤的中医辨治初探

敏感性皮肤发生率较高,国内女性敏感性皮肤发生率在15.93%,男性为8.62%。本文分析了敏感性皮肤的中医病因病机及辨证论治,介绍了肺经风热、肝经湿热、脾虚湿蕴、肝郁血燥、阳虚水饮五型及相应治则、方药,中药湿敷、中药膏/油外用、中药提取物护肤品的应用及体针、放血治疗方案。认为本症可通过中医内服外治联合的方案,以取得促进皮肤屏障修复、降低神经血管高反应性、控制炎症反应、提高皮肤耐受性的效果。

基于BERTopic与CiteSpace的中国中医药领域研究热点与主题演化分析

目的/意义 梳理近10年中国中医药领域文献,阐述该领域热点主题与发展趋势。方法/过程 检索2013-2022年万方数据平台中医药领域研究文献,以摘要为研究对象,利用BERTopic模型抽取主题,并采用CiteSpace进行可视化分析。结果/结论 纳入中文文献12 683篇,发现5个主题:临床试验与疗效、病机与药理研究、中医药领域发展、慢病治疗、药物分析与文献研究。对其中热度持续增长的中医药领域发展主题深入分析,提出人工智能与中医药领域的深度融合是未来趋势。