Antiviral Effect of Chinonin against Herpes Simplex Virus

In order to investigate the antiviral effect of chinonin against Herpes simplex virus (HSV), the encephalitis model in mice and skin infection model in guinea pigs were established by HSV-Ⅰ and HSV-Ⅱ infection respectively. Acyclovir was used as the positive reference drug to evaluate the antiviral capacity of chinonin. Chinonin showed an obvious therapeutic effect on encephalitis in mice at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg. At both dosages, chinonin demonstrated stronger protection than acyclovir (1 and 5 mg/kg) to the infected mice from death. It was also found that chinonin could treat the skin infection in guinea pigs effectively. The therapeutic effect of chinonin was similar to that of acyclovir (5 mg/kg) at 25 mg/kg but obviously better than that at 50 and 75 mg/kg. In conclusion, chinonin is a potential candidate for the treatment against HSV.

QR code labeling system for Xueteng-related herbs based on DNA barcode

Objective: Xueteng-related herbs include Spatholobi Caulis(Jixueteng in Chinese), Sargentodoxae Caulis(Daxueteng in Chinese), Kadsurae Caulis(Dianjixueteng in Chinese), and other medicinal plant stems that release reddish-brown juices after being cut. However, similarity in phonetic spelling and sound leads to their misuse in clinic or commercial circulation. Accurate labeling is imperative as well as effective for species identification.Methods: In this study, the ITS2 sequences of 76 samples of Xueteng-related herbs were obtained and analyzed to identify them. And then they were converted into QR codes using the open source PHP QR code. Also, a DNA barcode reference library was established according to these sequences and was used to authenticate the 25 samples of Xueteng-related herbs collected from the market.Results: The lengths of the ITS2 sequences of different Xueteng-related herbs ranged from 207 to 235 bp and the GC contents were 57.5%-71.0%. Jixueteng, Daxueteng, and Dianjixueteng were clustered into three clades respectively in the neighbor-joining(NJ) phylogenetic tree, and the efficiency of the BLAST method was 100%. The ITS2 sequences of different Xueteng-related herbs were presented vividly and specifically in QR code. Twenty-two of all 25 commercial samples were consistent with the original labels, whereas three samples marked "Dianjixueteng" were authenticated as "Jixueteng".Conclusion: QR code labeling system based on DNA barcode is an effective labeling system of Xuetengrelated herbs for their circulation regulation.

Oleuropein Improves Long Term Potentiation at Perforant Path-dentate Gyrus Synapses in vivo

Objective To investigate the effect of oleuropein （OE） on long term potentiation （LTP） at hippocampal perforant path-dentate gyrus synapses in vivo. Methods An outer guide cannula, a monopolar recording electrode, and a bipolar stimulating electrode were implanted in the skull and extracellular recording technique was used to record the population spike in the dentate gyrus of anesthetized rats. Results Oleuropein significantly increased the basal synaptic transmission and the amplitude of population spike was increased from （11 7.6 ＋ 2.3）% to （134.9 _＋ 3.7）% after administration with OE. OE also accelerated LTP induction and maintenance, the population spike amplitude after high frequency stimulation was increased from （167.2 ± 12.8）% to （225.5 ± 15.5）% and the maintenance phase of LTP was from （182.1 ± 15.1）% to （210.5 ± 9.0）% respectively after administration with OE. Conclusion Present study showed that OE significantly improved different stages of LTP, which could be the molecular mechanism of its efficacy on attenuating AD-like pathology and delaying cognitive decline. OE can be a promising drug for AD and dementia.

Effects of Zhengtian Pills on Migraine Headache in Rats via Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1

Objective To investigate the effects and molecular mechanism of Zhengtian Pills （ZTP） on migraine headache. Methods All rats were randomly divided into control, positive control, migraine model, low- and high-dose ZTP groups, and glyceryl trinitrate was injected to induce migraine headache. The time of ears turning red, frequency of scratching head, climbing the cage, and head-twitching were used to evaluate rat behaviors. After 10 d administration of ZTP, the expression levels of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 （TRPV1） both in cortex and hippocampus were determined by Western blotting. Results After 2 min of glyceryl trinitrate injection, rats showed headache phenomena that parallels the clinical symptoms of migraine, which peaked in 30 min, and lasted for 60 min. Frequency of head-twitching and numbers of scratching head in glyceryl trinitrate （GTN） group were significantly increased. In contrast, after ZTP （1.08 g/kg, ig） treatment, the numbers of scratching head with fore-limb, hind-limb and the frequency of head-twitching were significantly decreased. Flunarizine （FLU） and low-dose ZTP （0.54 g/kg） also showed a trend to decrease the numbers of scratching head and head-twitching frequency, but no significant difference. Besides, ZTP significantly decreased the up-regulated TRPV1 protein expression level both in cortex and hippocampus. Conclusion The present study shows that ZTP could significantly improve the migraine symptoms of headache in rats and TRPV1 might be one of the important molecular mechanisms. This is the first report about the effect of ZTP on TRPVl protein expression level both in cortex and hippocampus of rats.