Research on Stoichiometry of Early-spring Herbs Functional Group in the Subtropical Artificial Wetland

[Objective]The aim was to carry out stoichiometry on the early-spring herbs functional group in subtropical artificial wetland.[Method]UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used for the determination of nitrate-nitrogen,ammonium nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations.Potassium persulfate absorptiometry was used for the measurement of total N content,while the flame photometer was used to detect the potassium and sodium concentration in plants.All the nutrient determination of plant samples were repeated for four times.[Result]The four nutrient concentrations in almost all samples were in the normal range of natural plant nutrition concentrations;in early-spring herbs functional groups,different species showed diversity on the nutrient concentrations;plant height had no significant effect on the nutrient concentrations in plants;the nutrient concentrations of non-grass group plants were higher than that of grass group plants;the nutrient concentrations of the annual herb were higher than that of perennial herbs.[Conclusion]The study had provided basis for the understanding of the effects of changes in nutritional conditions on species diversity,community structure and succession of the system.

Network Pharmacology Approach to Investigate the Preventive Mechanism of Hunan Expert Group Recommended Chinese Medicine Prevention No.2 Prescription Against COVID-19

Objective To explore the possible preventive mechanism of Hunan expert group recommended Chinese medicine prescription of No.2(Pre-No.2)against coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)by network pharmacology method.Methods The target proteins of effective components and active compounds in Pre-No.2 were screened by searching the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP).A component-target-disease interaction network of Pre-No.2 was constructed by Cytoscape 3.7.2,gene ontology(GO)analysis,and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes(KEGG)analysis of target protein pathway by DAVID.Results A total of 163 compounds and 278 target protein targets in Pre-No.2 were collected from the TCMSP database.Kaempferol,wogonin,7-methoxy-2-methyl isoflavone,formononetin,isorhamnetin,and licochalcone A were the most frequent targets in the regulatory network.GO enrichment analysis showed that Pre-No.2 regulated response to virus,viral processes,humoral immune responses,defense responses to virus and viral entry into host cells.KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the formula regulated the NF-κB signaling pathway,B cell receptor signaling pathway,viral carcinogenesis,T cell signaling pathway and FcγR-mediated phagocytosis signaling pathway.Conclusions Pre-No.2 may play a preventive role against COVID-19 through regulation of the Toll-like signaling,T cell signaling,B cell signaling and other signaling pathways.It may regulate the immune system to protect against anti-influenza virus.

Traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions and herbs for the treatment of hypothyroidism:a narrative review

The increasing prevalence of hypothyroidism,which can cause endocrine dysfunction,abnormal neurological function,and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular injuries,poses serious health problems.Thyroid hormone supplementation constitutes the current main therapeutic method for hypothyroidism,yet it has many limitations and risks and is not suitable for everyone.Therefore,it is necessary to seek alternative and complementary treatment methods.It has been proven in practice that traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)possesses multi-channel comprehensive characteristics for the treatment of hypothyroidism and has more advantages than single thyroid hormone supplementation.Through a comprehensive examination of existing literature about TCM efficacy in addressing hypothyroidism,we have meticulously consolidated the most recent research findings on prescriptions and herbal substances employed in the treatment of this condition.Furthermore,we have explicated their respective functions in the management of hypothyroidism,thereby offering valuable perspectives and recommendations for the prospective utilization of natural remedies in its treatment.

China Association of Chinese Medicine Paper notice for seminar on clinical application of TCM classic prescriptions and herbs in the treatment of emotional diseases

Hosted by ChinaAssociation of Chinese Medicine,and organized by World Journal of Integrated traditional and western Medicine,seminar on clinical application of TCM classic prescriptions and herbs in the treatment of emotional diseaseis planned to be held in Yichang,Hubei province from June 22nd to 24th.

A brief overview of traditional Chinese medicine prescription powered by artificial intelligence

Traditional Chinese medicine prescription is one of the treasures of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM).There are tens of thousands TCM prescriptions accumulated in the past thousands of years,corresponding to different diseases,symptoms and therapeutic goals.The correspondences are so complicated that there is an urgent need to leverage new technologies such as artificial intelligence(AI)to analyze,understand and utilize them effectively.In this paper,we present a brief overview of this direction,where current research progress on TCM prescription powered by AI is summarized.Our summarization focuses on three aspects,TCM prescription mining that aims at understanding the TCM prescription,TCM prescription or herb knowledge base construction that aims at extracting knowledge to support the TCM prescription-related study,and TCM prescription discovery that aims at utilizing AI technologies to further energize TCM.It is encouraging to see that steady progress in this direction has been made recently.Besides,a toy experiment on image-based TCM herb recognition by using convolutional neural networks is also conducted.It basically verifies that it is promising to use AI technologies to address challenging tasks in TCM.We also point out several research topics that could be cooperatively performed by researchers from the two disciplines.

Applicability of Zipfs Law in Traditional Chinese Medicine Prescriptions

Objective Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)prescriptions have been used to cure diseases in China for thousands of years,in which many TCM herbs have no definite common quantity.Some key TCM herbs are commonly used and thus deserve in-depth investigations based on a more acceptable classification method.This study analyzes whether TCM prescriptions follow Zipf's law and attempts to obtain the thresholds of key TCM herbs based on the application of Zipfs law;Methods A total of 84,418 TCM prescriptions were collected and standardized.We tested whether Zipf's law and Zipfs distribution fit the Chinese herb distributions.A linear fitting experiment was performed to verify the relationship between the frequency distribution and frequency of TCM herbs.Results The distribution of TCM herbs in TCM prescriptions conformed to Zipf's law.Accordingly,the thresholds were obtained for the key TCM herbs.Conclusion The distribution of TCM herbs in TCM prescriptions follows Zipfs law.

Vegetables, Herbs and Spices: The Importance of Family and Tasting

Objective: To explore why and how consumers utilize vegetables, herbs and spices. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with adult participants (n = 54) to determine attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors related to liking and usage of vegetables, herbs and spices as well as strategies to increase vegetable intake. Results: Seasonal availability, and family-centered memories and practices were motivation for vegetable intake. A diverse number of vegetables (n = 39) were listed as favorites based on taste and versatility, but seasonings were not commonly included in responses regarding preparation. Participants felt that vegetable dish names should reflect ingredients explicitly;that seasonings enhanced vegetable flavors;and that salt and pepper were most commonly used seasonings. The preferred strategy to increase vegetable consumption was through tasting or sampling opportunities;seasoning use was not mentioned. However, participants perceived that suggestions or demonstrations on how to prepare vegetables at home would be helpful. Personal gardens were mentioned frequently, but were not connected to strategies for increasing intake. Conclusions and Implications: Vegetable intake has a family focus that should be emphasized to increase intake. Efforts to increase intake could emphasize flavor and versatile preparation methods through tasting opportunities or educational demonstrations.

Effects of Yanhusuo(Rhizoma Corydalis),Baizhi(Radix Angelicae Dahuricae)and Their Combination Extracts on Cytochrome P450 Activities in Rats

Background:Yuanhu Zhitong Prescription(元胡止痛方,YZP),a well-known herbal prescription for an analgesic effect,is recorded in the China Pharmacopoeia,consisting of Yanhusuo(Rhizoma Corydalis)and Baizhi(Radix Angelicae Dahuricae).Objective:To explore the influence of 70%EtOH extracts from Yanhusuo(Rhizoma Corydalis),Baizhi(Radix Angelicae Dahuricae)and YZP on the CYP450s,especially the differences between the single drug and prescription.Materials and methods:Cocktail probe drugs method was used to evaluate Cytochrome P450 activities in rat liver microsomes,including CYP1A2,CYP2D1,CYP2C11,CYP2C6 and CYP3A1,after rats repeatedly administrated with the extracts of Yanhusuo(Rhizoma Corydalis),Baizhi(Radix Angelicae Dahuricae)and YZP for 7 days.Results:Yanhusuo(Rhizoma Corydalis)extracts significantly increased the activities of CYP1A2,2C6 and 3A1,and inhibited that of 2D1.Baizhi(Radix Angelicae Dahuricae)extracts significantly increased the activities of CYP1A2 and inhibited that of 2D1 and 2C11.YZP extracts exhibited the same effect with single drugs.Conclusion:These results might partly interpret the TCM compatibility.Moreover,co-administration of prescriptions containing Yanhusuo(Rhizoma Corydalis),Baizhi(Radix Angelicae Dahuricae)or YZP should consider a potential herb(drug)-drug interaction medicated by the induction of CYP1A2,2C6 and 3A1 and inhibition of CYP2D1 and 2C11 enzymes.

Mining Compatibility Rules from Irregular Chinese Traditional Medicine Database by Apriori Agorithm

This paper aims to mine the knowledge and rules on compatibility of drugs from the prescriptions for curing arrhythmia in the Chinese traditional medicine database by Apriori algorithm. For data preparation, 1 113 prescriptions for arrhythmia, including 535 herbs （ totally 10884 counts of herbs） were collected into the database. The prescription data were preprocessed through redundancy reduction, normalized storage, and knowledge induction according to the pretreatment demands of data mining. Then the Apriori algorithm was used to analyze the data and form the related technical rules and treatment procedures. The experimental result of compatibility of drugs for curing arrhythmia from the Chinese traditional medicine database shows that the prescription compatibility obtained by Apriori algorithm generally accords with the basic law of traditional Chinese medicine for arrhythmia. Some special compatibilities unreported were also discovered in the experiment, which may be used as the basis for developing new prescriptions for arrhythmia.

基于改进Apriori算法的钟以泽治疗银屑病中药处方配伍提取及规律研究

目的：应用改进Apriori算法对钟以泽教授的处方进行统计。方法：应用数据挖掘技术中的Apriori算法进行统计并加以改进。结果：统计出从单味药到7味药团的使用频次并进行排列。结论：对于钟以泽教授治疗银屑病中医处方的统计中,单味药、2味药对、3味药团、6味药团的统计具有意义,单味药的统计意义在于能够看出每一味药物的使用频次,2味药对和3味药团统计的意义在于可以看出药团的加减使用组合情况,6味药团的统计意义在于可以通过药物加减推断出疾病的分型和相关症状的加减。

癌痛消方中活血化淤药对大鼠移植性肝癌细胞中Fas、FasL及Caspase-3蛋白表达的影响

目的探讨癌痛消方中使用的大剂量活血化淤药物对肝癌细胞凋亡因子的影响,进一步明确其在抗肿瘤方面的作用机制。方法将40只Walker-256移植性肝癌大鼠模型随机分为4组,即癌痛消全方组、活血化淤药组、非活血化淤药组及模型组,于造模后第8天给药,连续用药14 d后停药24 h,处死大鼠,并取出适量肿瘤组织行流式细胞JC-1染色法检测,并取出适量瘤块行免疫组化法检测其中Fas、FasL、Caspase-3蛋白的表达情况。结果肝癌细胞线粒体膜电位下降的细胞比值(JC-1+%)在活血化淤药组中为(22.34±1.94)%,与癌痛消全方组、非活血化淤组两两比较,差异均显著(P=0.000),与模型组比较,差异无统计学意义(P=0.093)。Fas、FasL和Caspase-3蛋白在活血化淤药组的表达情况与模型组比较,差异无统计学意义(P=0.835、P=0.584和P=0.820);与癌痛消全方组和非活血化淤药组两两比较,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.01或P<0.05)。三者蛋白表达情况与细胞凋亡检测结果相一致。结论单独使用癌痛消方中大剂量活血化淤药不能明显影响Fas、FasL和Caspase-3蛋白在肝癌细胞中的表达,不能明显干扰细胞凋亡网络信号从而促进肝癌细胞的凋亡,有必要与其他具有抗肿瘤作用药物联合使用。

四类中药组方对血小板减少性紫癜模型小鼠PAIgG及外周血PD-1表达的影响

目的:观察清热凉血方、养阴退热方、补气方、活血方四类中药组方对ITP模型小鼠外周血血小板(PLT)、抗血小板抗体(PAIg G)及程序性细胞死亡受体-1(PD-1)表达百分率的影响。方法:制备豚鼠抗小鼠血小板血清(APS),采用腹腔注射APS方法,建立ITP小鼠模型。造模第5天开始各组灌胃给药治疗,正常组、模型组灌服生理盐水,清热凉血组、养阴退热组、补气组、活血组、醋酸沷尼松组小鼠分别灌服相应药物。连续给药10天。用动物血液分析仪检测PLT,ELISA法检测PAIg G,流式细胞仪检测PD-1。结果:各造模组小鼠PLT显著降低,PD-1显著降低,PAIg G明显升高。四类中药组方可明显提高PD-1表达百分率(P<0.001),但对PLT及PAIg G影响不大,没有统计学意义。结论:四类单一的中药组方对ITP小鼠的PLT没有明显提升作用,亦不能清除外源性的PAIg G,对PD-1表达百分率均有明显提升,进而调节自身免疫耐受,控制ITP疾病的发展。

益气活血利水不同配伍对慢性心衰大鼠AT1、ERK2影响的实验研究

目的:通过研究血管紧张素1型受体(AT1)及心肌细胞外信号调节激酶(ERK2)信号通路在慢性心衰中的作用,从分子生物学角度探讨中药对慢性心衰心室重构的影响,并进一步阐明其作用机理。方法:以冠脉结扎法配合力竭式游泳、减食等方法造成大鼠慢性心衰动物模型,对造模成功大鼠分为模型组、西药组、益气中药组、活血中药组、益气活血中药组和益气活血利水中药组,没有进行左冠脉结扎手术的假手术大鼠为正常组。利用实时荧光定量PCR技术及SABC免疫组化法检测慢性心衰大鼠AT1、ERK2的变化情况。结果:慢性心衰动物模型组大鼠心肌AT1、ERK2表达明显升高,与假手术组比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.01);经过治疗,各用药组大鼠心肌组织AT1、ERK2表达明显降低,其中益气活血组、益气活血利水组中药与西药组比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),且益气活血利水组疗效明显优于益气活血组(P<0.01)。结论:证明益气、活血、利水中药复方可通过抑制心肌组织中AT1、ERK2的表达,抑制或逆转心室重构的过程,从而达到治疗慢性心衰的目的。

PDCA循环管理在提高中药处方质量方面的应用价值

目的 :探讨PDCA循环管理在提高中药处方质量方面的应用价值。方法 :将2016年1月至2017年6月期间惠州市第一人民医院开具的5400张中药处方(每月随机抽选300张处方)作为研究对象。该院于2016年7月开始对中药处方进行PDCA循环管理。将2016年1月至6月期间(进行PDCA循环管理前)该院开具的1800张中药处方作为干预前组。将2016年7月至12月期间(进行第一轮PDCA循环管理后)该院开具的1800张中药处方作为第一轮循环组。将2017年1月至6月期间(进行第二轮PDCA循环管理后)该院开具的1800张中药处方作为第二轮循环组。比较三组处方的合理率及其中各项不合理情况的发生率。结果 :1)干预前组处方的合理率为92.33%,第一轮循环组处方的合理率为95.33%,第二轮循环组处方的合理率为97.94%。与干预前组处方相比,第一轮循环组处方和第二轮循环组处方的合理率均更高(P<0.01)。与第一轮循环组处方相比,第二轮循环组处方的合理率更高(P<0.01)。2)与干预前组处方相比,第一轮循环组处方和第二轮循环组处方中各项不合理情况的发生率均更低(P<0.05)。与第一轮循环组处方相比,第二轮循环组处方中各项不合理情况的发生率均更低(P<0.05)。结论 :PDCA循环管理在提高中药处方质量方面的应用价值较高,能够有效地提高中药应用的合理性。

Research ideas and strategies on the dose-effect relationship of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions and herbs

We discuss here the complexity of the doses of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) prescriptions and herbs from different viewpoints,including the heterogeneity of drug quality,the flexibility of prescriptions,and the diversity of drug effects.Then,the corresponding research ideas and strategies are proposed.We can reveal the actual situation of clinical doses based on in-depth "real-world study" of the safety and effectiveness of TCM prescriptions,create an analytical method for dose-effect relationships in accordance with the features of TCM,and reveal the correlated regular nature of the effectiveness and dosage of TCM prescriptions and herbs.

Discovery of Regularities in the Use of Herbs in Chinese Medicine Prescriptions

Chinese medicine （CM） is a discipline with its own distinct methodologies and philosophical principles. The main method of treatment in CM is to use herbal prescriptions. Typically, a number of herbs are combined to form a formula and different formulae are prescribed for different patients. Regularities in the mixture of herbs in the prescriptions are important for both clinical treatment and novel patent medicine development. In this study, we analyze CM formula data using latent tree （LT） models. Interesting regularities are discovered. Those regularities are of interest to students of CM as well as pharmaceutical companies that manufacture medicine using Chinese herbs.

补肾解毒方治疗无症状HBeAg阳性慢性HBV携带者34例

目的:观察补肾解毒方治疗肾虚型乙型肝炎病毒e抗原(hepatitis Be antigen,HBe Ag)阳性慢性乙型肝炎病毒(hepatitis B virus,HBV)携带者的临床疗效。方法:将68例肾虚型乙型肝炎病毒e抗原(HBeAg)阳性的慢性HBV携带者,采用随机、双盲、安慰剂对照的临床研究方法,随机分为观察组和对照组,每组34例。观察组予补肾解毒方治疗,口服,1剂/d;对照组使用安慰剂治疗,疗程60周。观察其抗HBV-DNA疗效及对血清乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原(hepatitis B surface antigen,HBsAg)、HBeAg定量的影响。结果:60周后观察组HBe Ag转阴率、HBV-DNA阴转率均优于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。补肾解毒方治疗期间,未见明显不良反应发生。HBV-DNA和HBsAg定量观察组治疗前后比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),治疗后2组比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:补肾解毒方治疗慢性HBV携带者的抗病毒疗效确切。

Multistage analysis method for detection of effective herb prescription from clinical data

Determining effective traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） treatments for specific disease conditions or particular patient groups is a difficult issue that necessitates investigation because of the complicated personalized manifestations in real-world patients and the individualized combination therapies prescribed in clinical settings. In this study, a multistage analysis method that integrates propensity case matching, complex network analysis, and herb set enrichment analysis was proposed to identify effective herb prescriptions for particular diseases （e.g., insomnia）. First, propensity case matching was applied to match clinical cases. Then, core network extraction and herb set enrichment were combined to detect core effective herb prescriptions. Effectiveness-based mutual information was used to detect strong herb symptom relationships. This method was applied on a TCM clinical data set with 955 patients collected from well-designed observational studies. Results revealed that groups of herb prescriptions with higher effectiveness rates （76.9% vs. 42.8% for matched samples; 94.2% vs. 84.9% for all samples） compared with the original prescriptions were found. Particular patient groups with symptom manifestations were also identified to help investigate the indications of the effective herb prescriptions.

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.

New Insights into the Molecular Basis of Kidney Governing Bone Theory

Kidney governing bone theory plays an important role in treating bone metabolic disease such as osteoporosis, and many tonifying kidney prescriptions/herbs are widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM). However, the exact biological basis of kidney governing bone theory in the context of new advances in biology is still not fully established. In this paper, the content of kidney governing bone theory in biology has been fully demonstrated from different aspects. We first propose that bone and kidney mutually affect each other in pathology and physiology, particularly through homeostasis of calcium, phosphorus and fibroblast growth factor-23(FGF-23). Next, we identify that tonifying kidney prescriptions/herbs exert bone protective effects, thus treating osteoporosis by regulating bone formation and bone resorption.Furthermore, the exact molecular mechanisms of tonifying kidney prescriptions, herbs and their effective components in treating osteoporosis have been systematically reviewed. Finally, we come into the conclusion that kidney regulating bone mineral homeostasis, bone protective effects of tonifying kidney herbs and regulatory effects on bone homeostasis are all the manifestations of kidney governing bone theory.Therefore, the new insights into kidney governing bone theory in biology will promote the development of clinical practices, and drugs discovery in treating osteoporosis.