China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica, the 1st in the field of TCM, is supervised by China Association for Science and Technology and sponsored by Institute of Chinese Pharmaceutical Association. The journal is China's earliest comprehensive core journal of traditional Chinese medicine, and always maintains the circulation top in the professional areas. The journal publishes the latest research and progress of traditional Chinese medicine and takes a leading position in numbers of articles published, downloads and citations among all journals in this discipline.
Its scope covers new achievements, technologies, methods, experiences and concepts resulting from the research on Chinese materia medica pursuant to Chinese medical and pharmaceutical theories, traditional experiences, and modern science and technology, including medicinal resources and identification, cultivation, processing, preparation, chemistry, pharmacology, theory of Chinese pharmacy and clinical practice, bencaological study.
The journal is included in CA, JST and CSCD.
Honorary Editor-in-Chief Xiao Peigen Editor-in-Chief Wang Yongyan
Associate Editors Zhang Boli, Hu Zhibi, Yao Xinsheng, Li Lianda, Li Dapeng, Yang Baofeng, Zhou Chaofan, Huang Luqi, Chen Shilin, Li He.
Executive Editorial Board Cai Shaoqing, Chen Shilin
Aquilaria sinensis is a typical inducible medicinal plant that can produce agarwood only after it is wounded by external stimuli. Alternative oxidase (AOX) is one of the terminal oxidases of the plant mitochondrial electron transport, which plays an important role in plant response to environmental stress. In order to reveal the physiological function of
AOX gene in the process of agarwood formation from
A.
sinensis induced by wounding, we cloned
AOX genes based on the transcriptome database, identified them by bioinformatics analysis, and detected their expression patterns in different organs and under wounding stress by qRT-PCR. Three
AOX genes were cloned from
A.
sinensis for the first time, which were named
AsAOX1
a,
AsAOX1
d, and
AsAOX2, respectively.
AsAOX1
a is mainly expressed in the stem and seed, and
AsAOX1
d and
AsAOX2 are mainly expressed in the pulp and stem.
AsAOX1
a and
AsAOX1
d genes are highly responsive to wounding stress, and their response time was different. In addition, the expression levels of
AsAOX1
a and
AsAOX2 induced by wounding are reduced by H
2O
2 treatment while promoted by AsA treatment. The cloning, bioinformatics analysis, and expression patterns of
AOX genes from
A.
sinensis provided basic information for further studying the roles of
AOX genes in the development of
A.
sinensis, especially in the agarwood formation induced by wounding.
Ten compounds, including nucleosides and amino acids were identified by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. HPLC fingerprints on these compounds in Rhizoma Alismatis were established for the first time. The comparisons of Rhizoma Alismatis from different regions were conducted by the similarity evaluation and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). Meanwhile, the HPLC-DAD method for the content determination of five nucleosides was also established. The results showed that the similarities of Rhizoma Alismatis collected from Sichuan and Fujian provinces were above 0.96, whereas they were less than 0.87 in those from Guangxi Province. The results of HCA showed the samples from Sichuan and Fujian were gathered in the same group, all samples from Guangxi in another group, which indicated the similarities between the samples from Sichuan and Fujian in nucleosides and they were different from the samples from Guangxi. The total content of five nucleosides was revealed, of which the samples from Sichuan and Fujian were 0.81–1.30 mg·g
−1 followed a descending order of vernine > cytidine > uridine > adenine > adenosine, and from Guangxi were 0.35–0.50 mg·g
−1 with the sequences of uridine > adenine > vernine > cytidine > adenosine. The nucleosides content of the samples from Sichuan and Fujian was both higher than that from Guangxi. For the samples from Sichuan and Fujian, the former was slightly higher, except for adenine. These results would be helpful to reveal the bioactive constituents in aqueous extract and provided important evidences for the quality control of Rhizoma Alismatis.
The aim of this paper was to analyze the microarray data between ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and healthy people by bioinformatics technology, screen the differentially expressed genes of UC, and predict the potential Chinese medicinals for UC. The GSE36807 gene expression profile was downloaded from the gene expression database (GEO) and the differentially expressed (both up-regulated and down-regulated) genes were analyzed by using R language software. The hub genes in the differentially expressed genes were obtained by using String database, Cytoscape software and its plug-in analysis, and the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to analyze the hub genes. Moreover, the hub genes and the medical ontology information retrieval platform (Coremine Medical) were mapped to each other to screen the Chinese medicinals and its active ingredients for treating UC. A total of 648 differentially expressed genes were screened, including 397 up-regulated genes and 251 down-regulated genes. Up-regulation of differentially expressed genes yielded 15 hub genes including CXCL8, IL1 B, MMP9, CXCL1, CXCL10, CXCL9, CXCL2, CXCL5, TIMP1, CXCL11, STAT1, LCN2, IL1RN, MMP1 and IDO1. Their biological processes and pathways were mainly enriched in interleukins, chemokine ligands, and cytokine- and chemokine-mediated signaling pathways, and were closely related to inflammatory responses, defense responses, cell chemotaxis, secretory granules, IL-17 signaling pathways, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, and TNF signaling pathway. Potential Chinese medicinals for the treatment of UC include Rhizoma Curcumae Longae, Rhizoma Coptidis, Radix Scutellariae, Herba Dendrobii, Radix Sanguisorbae, Cortex Phellodendri, Rhizoma Bletillae, and Rhizoma Atractylodis. The analysis of differentially expressed genes and hub genes could promote our understanding on the pathogenesis of UC. This study provides potential gene targets and research ideas for the development of new Chinese medicine in UC intervention .
The present research was launched to improve the quality standards of Alismatis Rhizoma and supply scientific evidence and recommendations for the quality control of Alismatis Rhizoma in
Chinese Pharmacopoeia(Ch. P) 2020 edition. The contents of water, total ash, heavy metals and deleterious element, pesticide residues and alcohol-soluble extract were analyzed according to the methods listed in the volume Ⅳ of Ch. P 2015 edition. Alisol B 23-acetate, alisol C 23-acetate and reference herbs were used to identify Alismatis Rhizoma by TLC method, which was developed by using a mixture of dichloromethane-methanol(15∶1) as developing solvent on silica gel GF
254 precoated plates. In HPLC method, alisol B 23-acetate and alisol C 23-acetate were separated with acetonitrile-water as the mobile phase and detected at 208 nm and 246 nm, respectively. Thirty-seven batches of crude drugs, thirty batches of prepared slices and nineteen batches of salt prepared slices of Alismatis Rhizoma were determined according to the methods established. The quality standards established based on the research results were specific and repeatable, and suitable for the quality evaluation of Alismatis Rhizoma. We recommended that the botanical sources, TLC examination, alcohol-soluble extract of salt prepared slices and content determination should be revised in the Ch. P 2020 edition.
The traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) quality constant herbal slices evaluation method was applied to evaluate the grade of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma based on the combination of traditional character identification and modern scientific and technological methods. The TCM quality constant evaluation method was used to determine the appearance and index content of medicinal slices, calculate the quality constant and percentile quality constant of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma from different sources, and discuss their classification. The quality constants of 15 batches of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma slices were between 0.004 and 0.063. The slices with the percentage quality constant ≥80% were classified as the first grade; those with the percentage quality constant ≥50% and <80% were classified as the second grade; and those with the percentage quality constant <50% were classified as the third grade. Then the slices with the quality constant ≥0.050 were classified as the first grade; those with the quality constant ≥0.032 and <0.050 were classified as the second grade; and those with the quality constant <0.032 were classified as the third grade. According to the results, the 15 batches of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma slices were divided into 1 batch of the first grade, 4 batches of the second grade, and 10 batches of the third grade. The quality constant evaluation method established is scientific, objective, simple and feasible. The application of the method in Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma slices has reasonable results, which is helpful to promote the classification of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma and promotes the high-quality application of Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix et Rhizoma.
To prepare ginkgolide B nanosuspension (GB-NS), and investigate its dissolution in vitro. The miniaturized media milling method was used to prepare nanosuspensions, with average particle size and polydispersity index as the evaluation indexes. The formulation and process of GB-NS were optimized by single factor experiment and Box-Behnken design-response surface method. The morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the crystallinity of GB-NS was investigated by X-rays diffraction (XRD). The paddle method was used to study the dissolution of GB-NS in vitro. The mean particle size of optimized GB-NS was (180 ± 7) nm, with a polydispersity index of 0.196 ± 0.036. SEM showed that GB-NS was rod-like or irregularly granular. XRD showed that the crystallinity of GB-NS was significantly reduced compared with GB raw material. The accumulative dissolution rate of GB-NS reached 90% in 30 min, which was higher than that of GB raw material. The findings suggested that the miniaturized media milling method was simple, efficient and feasible to prepare GB-NS. The dissolution rate of GB was significantly improved by nanosuspension technology.
To compare the differences of Alismatis Rhizoma from different producing areas, this study analyzed 37 batches of crude drugs and 30 batches of decoction pieces of Alismatis Rhizoma with ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). Additionally, the corresponding characteristic chromatograms were established to determine the mass fractions of eight terpenoids. The obtained data were analyzed by similarity evaluation, principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). There were three main characteristic peaks in the characteristic chromatograms, i.e., alisol B 23-acetate (S), alisol, and alisol B. With the peak of alisol B 23-acetate (S) as reference, the relative retention time of the other two characteristic peaks was 0.55 (alisol) and 0.77 (alisol B), respectively. Peak areas of alisol B and alisol B 23-acetate, as well as their ratio could be used to distinguish Alismatis Rhizoma from different geographical origins. The samples were classified into the following three groups by PCA and PLS-DA based on the content determination: Alismatis Rhizoma from Fujian or Jiangxi (Jian Zexie), Alismatis Rhizoma from Sichuan or Hubei (Chuan Zexie), and Alismatis Rhizoma from Guangxi (Guang Zexie). The contents of chemical components in samples from different producing areas were notably different. For example, the contents of alisol A and alisol A 24-acetate were significantly higher in Guang Zexie than in Jian Zexie and Chuan Zexie (
P < 0.000 1); the contents of alisol B and alisol C were significantly higher in Chuan Zexie than in Jian Zexie (
P < 0.000 1). The characteristic chromatograms established in this study and the determination results of terpenoids content revealed that the contents and proportions of the chemical components of Alismatis Rhizoma from different producing areas were significantly different, but the number and types of the components were basically the same. The results of this study illustrated the regional differences of Alismatis Rhizoma and their components characteristics, and were expected to provide references for authentication and quality control of Alismatis Rhizoma.
