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
The aim of this paper was to investigate the effect of Huoxiang Zhengqi Oral Liquid (HXZQOL) on intestinal barrier functions in rats with dampness obstructing spleen–stomach syndrome and primarily explore the mechanism. The rat model of dampness obstructing spleen–stomach syndrome was established, and then the modeled rats were randomly divided into the model group, HXZQOL high and low dose groups, and natural recovery group according to gender and body weight, with 10 rats in each group. Another 10 rats were taken as blank control group. After each group received the corresponding treatment for 7 days, rat serum was isolated. D-lactic acid content was detected by the MTT method, and diamine oxidase (DAO) activity was detected by measurement of rates. Colon tissues of the rats were isolated to detect Na
+-K
+-ATPase activity and Ca
2+-Mg
2+-ATPase activity by phosphate determination method; glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity was detected by spectrophotometry; catalase (CAT) activity was detected by ammonium molybdate; superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was detected by hydroxylamine; the expression of occludin protein and ZO-1 protein was detected by immunofluorescence; the expression levels of occludin protein and ZO-1 protein were detected by Western blot. Results showed that low-dose HXZQOL could improve the body weight, diet, stool and urine state of rats with dampness obstructing spleen–stomach syndrome obviously. The D-lactic acid content and the DAO activity in the serum of rats with dampness obstructing spleen–stomach syndrome were reduced obviously. The activities of Na
+-K
+-ATPase, Ca
2+-Mg
2+-ATPase, GSH-Px, CAT and SOD in rat colon tissues increased obviously. The occludin and ZO-1 expression levels in rat colon tissues increased obviously. The differences in the above indexes between HXZQOL group and the model group were statistically significant (
P < 0.05). HXZQOL can effectively restore the intestinal barrier function in rats with dampness obstructing spleen–stomach syndrome and its mechanism may be related to the repair of intestinal mechanical barrier function.
This paper analyzed the life forms, habitats and environmental stresses of medicinal plants and algal fungi collected in
Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2015 edition). ① It was found that only 0.94% of the medicinal plants were mainly cultivated in field. The most common habitats of medicinal plants are divided into two types: forest margin/undergrowth where about 42.53% medicinal plants grow and roadside, hillside, wasteland/sand where about 43.78% medicinal plants grow. The former mainly includes the environmental stresses such as weak light, pests and diseases; the latter often includes the main environmental stresses of drought, strong light, ultraviolet radiation, high temperature, low temperature (day and night or annual temperature difference is large), nutrient deficiency, and pests. ② Based on the analysis on the strategies of medicinal plants to adapt to environmental stresses, it is pointed out that the synthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites are their most important strategies to protect against environmental stresses. In the process of long-term adaptation to specific stress, the accumulation of relevant genetic variation and epigenetic inheritance has become an important condition for the formation of quality of medicinal plants. ③ It is proposed that “simulative habitat cultivation” has obvious advantages in balancing growth and secondary metabolites and guaranteeing the quality of Chinese medicinal materials.
In this paper,
Chrysanthemum morifolium was used as the experimental object, and eight different planting periods were set up in field plot experiment from April to August, which were 04-15, 05-19, 05-30, 06-09, 06-19, 07-20, 07-31, and 08-15. The effects of different treatments on the occurrence of root rot, agronomic traits, mineral element absorption and content of effective components of
C.
morifolium in Macheng Country of Hubei Province were studied. The results showed that delaying the planting time could effectively reduce the diseases occurrence of root rot of
C.
morifolium. With the advance of transplanting period, the plant height, the weight of one hundred flowers and the number of flowers of
C.
morifolium showed a trend of gradual decrease, while the number of primary branches and the thickness of main stem and the primary branch increased first and then decreased. The yield of
C.
morifolium per plant and per mu increased with the advance of the planting period, and the yield per mu increased during the planting period on June 19, which was 91.96% higher than that on April 15. With the delay of the planting period, the absorption and accumulation of potassium (K) were promoted. The content of active components such as chlorogenic acid, rutin, galuteolin, and 3,5-di-
O-caffeoyl quinic acid in the
C.
morifolium increased significantly and then gradually decreased with the delay of the planting period, which indicates that late planting can significantly improve the quality of
C.
morifolium. Considering factors such as the occurrence of root rot, yield and active component content, combined with climatic conditions in the Dabie Mountains in eastern Hubei, the optimum planting period of
C.
morifolium was determined from mid-late June.
Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (
1H-NMR) was used to investigate the effect of Renshenjian Decoction on serum and urine metabolism of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats with insulin resistance induced by high-sugar and high-fat diet combined with low-dose streptozotocin (STZ). After the successful establishment of the insulin resistance model of T2DM and administration for 35 d, the serum and urine of rats were taken.
1H-NMR data were collected, processed, and analyzed by PCA and OPLS-DA. The results showed that compared with the blank group, the content of methionine, taurine,
α-glucose and
β-glucose in the serum of the model group increased significantly (
P < 0.001), while the contents of 3-hydroxybutyrate, lactate and unsaturated lipid decreased significantly (
P < 0.01). In the model group, the content of trimethylamine oxide, glycine,
α-glucose,
β-glucose, taurine and phosphocholine in urine increased significantly (
P < 0.05), while the content of creatine, lactate, acetate and citrate decreased significantly (
P < 0.05). Compared with the model group, the content of 3-hydroxybutyrate and unsaturated lipid in the serum of rats in the treatment group increased significantly (
P < 0.05), while the content of taurine,
α-glucose and
β-glucose decreased significantly (
P < 0.01). In the treatment group, the contents of lactate, taurine and creatine in urine increased significantly (
P < 0.05), while the content of trimethylamine oxide, glycine,
α-glucose,
β-glucose and phosphocholine decreased significantly (
P < 0.01). The results showed that Renshenjian Decoction could regulate the metabolic disorder and promote the metabolic phenotype to return to the normal range. It displayed a therapeutic effect on T2DM rats with insulin resistance and provided a certain scientific basis for the biological foundation research of Renshenjian Decoction by improving the insulin resistance in diabetes mellitus.
In this study, the infection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) of
Panax quinquefolium roots in Shandong Province was investigated, and the distribution characteristics and infection regularity of AMF were explored. The AMF of
P.
quinquefolium roots in different production areas were examined by alkali dissociation-trypickin blue staining method to study the infection rate and infection intensity. The content of ginsenoside (Rb
1, Re, Rg
1, Rb
2, Rd and Rh
1) in the roots of
P.
quinquefolium was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The experimental data were processed by SPSS 17.0 statistical software for one-way analysis of variance, cluster analysis and correlation analysis. The results showed that there were obvious structures such as hyphae, arbuscular branches and vesicles, and the AMF infection rate and infection intensity showed obvious spatial and temporal heterogeneity. The infection rate of AMF in the roots of one- to three-year-old
P.
quinquefolium increased significantly with the increase in growth years (
P < 0.05). The infection intensity and infection rate of
P.
quinquefolium showed a similar change trend, and the AMF infection rate and infection intensity reached the highest level in the third year. Cluster analysis showed that the infection rates of the roots of
P.
quinquefolium in similar geographical locations clustered together. Correlation analysis showed that the AMF infection rate of
P.
quinquefolium roots was significantly positively correlated with the infection intensity, and the AMF infection rate and infection intensity were significantly positively correlated with the content of ginsenoside Rg
1, Re and Rb
1. This study explored the distribution characteristics and regularity of AMF in the roots of
P.
quinquefolium in protected cultivation, and provided basic data for ecological cultivation of
P.
quinquefolium and research and development of biological bacterial fertilizer.
Based on data mining and through the method of network pharmacology, we analyzed the mechanism of high-frequency use of herb pair in the treatment of constipation with aromatic Chinese medicinals in this study. Through data mining, aromatic Chinese medicinals were obtained for the treatment of constipation and Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae and Radix Aucklandiae herb pair was used as the research object. The volatile oil from Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae and Radix Aucklandiae was extracted by steam distillation, and the chemical compositions of the volatile oil were detected by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The targets of volatile oil from Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae and Radix Aucklandiae were searched by PubChem, TCMSP, STITCH and Swiss Target Prediction databases. The targets of constipation were predicted and screened in OMIM, Genecards-Search Resuits and TTD databases. The obtained targets were introduced into Cytoscape 3.7.1 to construct the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network diagram for GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis by using R language. The network diagram of “component–target–pathway” was constructed according to the results of KEGG enrichment. Discovery Studio 2.5 software was used to verify the molecular docking between the components and the targets. Among them, the most frequently used pair of aromatic Chinese medicinals in the treatment of constipation was Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae and Radix Aucklandiae. A total of 33 compounds were detected by GC-MS, and a total of 180 common action targets of Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae and Radix Aucklandiae on volatile oil in the treatment of constipation were predicted. The key targets included CYP19A1, PPARA, PGR, ACHE, and SLC6A2. GO enrichment analysis showed that the activities of Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae and Radix Aucklandiae on volatile oil were mainly involved in biological processes such as circulatory system, blood circulation, and steroid hormone binding. In KEGG enrichment pathway, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, endocrine resistance, Ca
2+ signaling pathway and IL-17 signaling pathway showed a significant effect on constipation. The results of molecular docking showed that PGR, the target protein related to the treatment of constipation, had a good binding with gamma-linolenic acid, dihydro-alpha-ionone, alpha-eudesmol, caryophyllene oxide and beta-ionone. The results show that by using data mining technology and network pharmacology, it is revealed that the active components of Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae and Aucklandiae volatile oil in high frequency use of aromatic Chinese medicinals can be used to treat constipation mainly through CYP19A1, PPARA, PGR, ACHE, SLC6A2 and other targets, providing a new idea and method for the further study of aromatic Chinese medicinals in the treatment of constipation.
The aim of this paper was to investigate the effect and mechanism of paeonol on peritoneal macrophage M1 polarization in mice, explore whether the intervention action is related to the down-regulation of miR-155 and the inhibition of downstream JAK1-STAT1 pathway, and provide a new idea for the molecular mechanism of paeonol against atherosclerosis (AS). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-
γ (IFN-
γ) were used to stimulate macrophages for 24 hours to establish the M1 polarization model, and paeonol was given 24 hours before co-stimulation to provide a pre-protective effect on cells. CCK-8 assay was used to detect the cells damage induced by LPS and IFN-
γ co-stimulation; flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of M1 surface markers F4/80 and CD86. ELISA was used to detect the secretion of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-
α (TNF-
α) in supernatant. RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of miR-155, and Western blot was used to detect the protein expression at JAK1-STAT1-SOCS1 pathway. The results showed that LPS and IFN-
γ had no obvious damage to the cells at the optimal concentration, but they induced macrophages polarized to M1, resulted in high expression of M1 type marker factors F4/80 and CD86 on the cell surface, and increased secretion of IL-6 and TNF-
α on the cell surface (
P < 0.05 or
P < 0.01). Paeonol significantly reduced the LPS and IFN-
γ-induced high expression of F4/80 and CD86, the secretion of inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-
α (
P < 0.05 or
P < 0.01), decreased the expression level of miR-155, significantly down-regulated the protein phosphorylation level of JAK1-STAT1 and up-regulated the protein expression of SOCS1 (
P < 0.01) in RAW264.7 cells. The results showed that paeonol could inhibit M1 polarization of macrophages by down-regulating cell surface marker factors and inflammatory factors secreted by cells, which may be related to the down-regulation of miR-155 expression and the inhibition JAK1-STAT1 pathway activation.
To investigate the inhibitory effects of two
xanthone compounds, 1-hydroxy-2,3,4,8-tetramethoxy
xanthone (Fr15) and 1-hydroxy-2,3,4,6-tetramethoxy
xanthone (Fr17), on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells, and to further investigate their mechanism combined with transcriptomics. Cell counting was used to detect the effects of two
xanthone compounds Fr15 and Fr17 (0, 0.03, 0.15, and 0.3 mmoL·L
−1) on the proliferation of HepG2 cells; the effects of Fr15 and Fr17 on HepG2 cell cycle were detected by flow cytometry; the changes of autophagosomes count in cells were observed under fluorescence microscope; the expression of autophagy marker proteins SQSTM 1 (p62) and microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 I/II (LC3 I/II) in the cells was detected by Western blot; the differentially expressed genes between the control group and the experimental groups were analyzed by RNA-seq transcriptome sequencing; qRT-PCR was used to verify the differentially expressed genes in sequencing. The results showed that compounds Fr15 and Fr17 inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells with the increase in drug concentration and over time. Flow cytometry showed that Fr15 and Fr17 had little effect on HepG2 cell cycle. Fluorescence microscopy results showed that the number of autophagosomes in cells increased with the increase in drug concentration. Western blot showed that the expression of p62 protein was decreased and the expression of LC3 II protein was significantly increased after drug addition. The results of RNA sequencing showed that 26 102 and 52 351 differentially expressed genes were obtained in Fr15 and Fr17 respectively. Analysis of KEGG showed that drug treatment had a great effect on autophagy pathway. qRT-PCR verified that six up-regulated genes were related to autophagy, and their trend was consistent with sequencing results, where all six genes showed an up-regulated trend. Two
xanthone compounds Fr15 and Fr17 may inhibit proliferation of HepG2 cells by inducing autophagy.
With Lonicerae Japonicae Flos as an example, the method of “expert consensus of different regions” was used to screen the representative samples and evaluate their commodity grades. The correlation analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) of “commodity grade-appearance characteristics-component content” were carried out to reveal the scientificity of traditional commodity grade of Chinese medicinal materials. By referring to the existing literature and the grade investigation from the sample collection regions, 78 “initial grade” samples were screened out from 118 collected samples. Authoritative experts from four regions (
n = 4) including Linyi (Shangdong Province), Bozhou (Anhui Province), Anguo (Hebei Province) and Beijing were organized to evaluate their commodity grades, separately. Based on the grade consistency rate (
Ri ≥ 70%), 69 “local grade” samples were screened out from the “initial grade” samples. Based on the average grade consistency rate
(R¯i≥80%,n=4), 52 “authoritative grade” samples were screened out from the “local grade” samples, including 15 first-grade samples, 9 second-grade samples, 11 third-grade samples and 17 fourth-grade samples. For these “authoritative grade” samples, the main appearance characteristics were quantified and the contents of 13 components were determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). Furthermore, the total contents of six phenolic acids, four flavonoids and three iridoids were calculated, respectively. The results of correlation analysis showed that four appearance characteristics indices were correlated with the commodity grades: color, rate of yellow bars (including blooming flowers), rate of black heads (including black bars), and rate of stems and leaves (including bud debris). Five component content indices were correlated with the commodity grades: chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid C, sweroside, loganin and the total content of six phenolic acids. Furthermore, chlorogenic acid, loganin and the total content of six phenolic acids showed significantly negative correlation with the main appearance characteristics, indicating that the appearance characteristics of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos can reflect its internal quality, and these three indices can be used as quality markers (Q-markers). The results of hierarchical cluster analysis showed that the samples of four grades were classified into four categories, and the samples with the same grades and the same categories accounted for 80.8% of the total samples, while the samples with the different grades were obviously classified into different categories. The results of PLS-DA showed that the samples of different grades showed obvious intra-group aggregation and inter-group dispersion. The above results indicated that it was feasible to evaluate the traditional commodity grade of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos by the method of “expert consensus of different regions.” For the evaluation of traditional commodity grade of Chinese medicinal material, the samples should be representative, expert conclusions should have enough consensuses, and grade determination should be authoritative. As the fruit of clinical experience, traditional commodity grade can scientifically reflect the internal quality of Chinese medicinal materials.
