A Comprehensive Review on the Chemical Properties, Plant Sources, Pharmacological Activities, Pharmacokinetic and Toxicological Characteristics of Tetrahydropalmatine

Metabolomics study of graphene nuangong acupoint plaster for primary dysmenorrhea

Primary dysmenorrhea is a common gynecological disease with typical clinical symptoms and diverse treatment methods. Acupoint patch therapy is one of the traditional external treatments of traditional Chinese medicine, with a long history, and has been widely used in the treatment of many diseases in China. Graphene nuangong acupoint plaster (GNGAP) developed based on traditional acupoints and new materials have been used in the clinical treatment of primary dysmenorrhea, and satisfactory therapeutic effects have been achieved. However, the underlying mechanisms of GNGAP still need further investigation. In this study, we used estradiol benzoate combined with oxytocin intraperitoneally to establish dysmenorrhea model rats, and observed the torsion response, uterine organ coefficients, prostaglandin levels and metabolite changes of rats with dysmenorrhea model after the intervention of GNGAP, to elucidate the mechanism of the effect of GNGAP. Compared with normal rats, the dysmenorrhea model rats exhibited increased writhing response and latency time, increased uterine organ coefficient, and significant changes in 79 metabolites. Twenty-three significantly enriched pathways were discovered, including amino acid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, pyrimidine metabolism, and ovarian steroidogenesis, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of primary dysmenorrhea. Compared with the model group, the torsion response, latency time and uterine organ coefficient of rats in the acupoint patch group were significantly improved, and nine uterine metabolites were significantly altered, among which metabolites such as 4-pyridoxic acid, d-glucarate and Phenol were identified as potential biomarkers for the therapeutic effects of GNGAP. Vitamin B6 metabolism, Ascorbate and aldarate metabolism and Tyrosine metabolism were enriched in nine metabolic pathways. These findings contribute to the screening study of potential pathological metabolic pathways in primary dysmenorrhea. Additionally, they reveal the biological effects of GNGAP in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea at the metabolite level.

Large-scale separation of alkaloids from Corydalis decumbens by pH-zone-refining centrifugal partition chromatography and their anticomplement activity

Centrifugal partition chromatography in the pH-zone-refining mode was successfully applied to the separation of alkaloids from the crude extract of Corydalis decumbens. The experiment was performed with a two-phase solvent system composed of petroleum ether-ethyl acetate-ethanol-water (5:5:3:7, v/v/v/v) where triethylamine (10 mM) was added to the stationary phase and hydrochloric acid (10 mM) to the mobile phase. From 1.6 g of the crude extract, 43 mg protopine, 189 mg (+)-egenine, and 158 mg tetrahydropalmatine were obtained with a purity of 98.2%, 94.6%, and 96.7%, respectively. Tetrahydropalmatine showed an interesting anticomplement effect with CH50 0.11 and AP50 0.25 mg/mL, respectively. In a mechanistic study, tetrahydropalmatine interacted with C1, C3, C4, and C5 components in the complement activation cascade.

Corydalis and Drug-Induced Liver Injury: A Series of 2 Cases

Corydalis is an herbal plant found in Asian countries. Research has demonstrated multiple health benefits. It has also been implicated in drug-induced liver injury. Cannabis dispensaries market a sleep aid which has corydalis as an active ingredient. We present 2 cases of corydalis-induced hepatotoxicity. An asymptomatic female patient exhibited a rise and fall of her transaminases coinciding with the consumption and rechallenge of this sleep aid. A man with symptoms consistent with liver dysfunction began taking the same sleep aid. With discontinuance, his liver function returned to normal. These 2 clinical cases provide evidence for corydalis-induced liver injury.

Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analysis Reveals the Mechanism of Gibberellic acid Regulates the Growth and Flavonoid Synthesis in Phellodendron chinense Schneid Seedlings

The phytohormone gibberellic acids (GAs) play a crucial role in the processes of growth, organ development, and secondary metabolism. However, the mechanism of exogenous GA3 regulating the growth and flavonoid synthesis in Phellodendron chinense Schneid (P. chinense Schneid) seedlings remains unclear. In this study, the physicochemical properties, gene expression level, and secondary metabolite of P. chinense Schneid seedlings under GA3 treatment were investigated. The results showed that GA3 significantly improved the plant height, ground diameter, fresh weight, chlorophyll content, soluble substance content, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase activities. This was accompanied by elevated relative expression levels of Pc(S)-GA2ox, Pc(S)-DELLA, Pc(S)-SAUR50, Pc(S)-PsaD, Pc(S)-Psb 27, Pc(S)-PGK, Pc(S)-CER3, and Pc(S)-FBA unigenes. Conversely, a notable reduction was observed in the carotenoid content, catalase activity and the relative expression abundances of Pc(S)-KAO, Pc(S)-GID1/2, and Pc(S)-GH 3.6 unigenes in leaves of P. chinense Schneid seedlings (p < 0.05). Furthermore, GA3 evidently decreased the contents of pinocembrin, pinobanksin, isosakuranetin, naringin, naringenin, (-)-epicatechin, tricetin, luteolin, and vitexin belonged to flavonoid in stem bark of P. chinense Schneid seedlings (p < 0.05). These results indicated that exogenous GA3 promoted growth through improving chlorophyll content and gene expression in photosynthesis and phytohormone signal pathway and inhibited flavonoid synthesis in P. chinense Schneid seedlings.

Preparation of the Levo-Tetrahydropalmatine Liposome Gel and Its Transdermal Study

Purpose

The aim of this study was to develop a liposome gel containing levo-tetrahydropalmatine (l-THP) and evaluate its transdermal properties.

Methods

A L16 (43) orthogonal experiment was conducted to optimize the preparation of l-THP liposomes and assess their characterization and stability in a gel. The transdermal features were analyzed through in vivo and in vitro experiments on rats and Strat-M® membrane, respectively. The metabolism of l-THP in liver and skin S9 fractions was also studied.

Results

The optimization of the orthogonal experiment revealed that the ideal mass ratio of phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, and l-THP during preparation was 10:1:3. The resulting liposome exhibited a particle size of 68 nm, a PDI of 0.27, a drug loading of 4.33%, an encapsulation of 18.79%, and a zeta potential of -41.27 mV. Both the l-THP and its liposome-gel formulation were found to be stable for a duration of 45 days at 4 °C and 30 °C. During the in vivo transdermal study, the maximum concentration (Cmax) of l-THP from the liposome gel was 0.16 μg/mL, and the time to reach this maximum concentration (tmax) was 1.2 hours. The relative bioavailability of l-THP in the liposome gel was 233.8% compared to the emulsion. The concentration of l-THP (prepared in PBS) decreased at a rate of 0.0067 μg/mL/min in the liver S9 fraction and 0.0027 μg/mL/min in the skin S9 fraction, however, this difference was not observed when l-THP was encapsulated in liposomes. l-THP passed through the Strat-M® membrane at a rate of 0.0032 mg/cm2/h and 0.002 mg/cm2/h for the emulsion and liposome gel, respectively.

Conclusion

The optimal process for the preparation of l-THP liposomes was obtained. Compared to the emulsion, the liposomes provided greater bioavailability when used transdermally. The liposomes also provided greater stability for l-THP during storage.

Research Progress on Neuroprotective Effects of Isoquinoline Alkaloids

Neuronal injury and apoptosis are important causes of the occurrence and development of many neurodegenerative diseases, such as cerebral ischemia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. Although the detailed mechanism of some diseases is unknown, the loss of neurons in the brain is still the main pathological feature. By exerting the neuroprotective effects of drugs, it is of great significance to alleviate the symptoms and improve the prognosis of these diseases. Isoquinoline alkaloids are important active ingredients in many traditional Chinese medicines. These substances have a wide range of pharmacological effects and significant activity. Although some studies have suggested that isoquinoline alkaloids may have pharmacological activities for treating neurodegenerative diseases, there is currently a lack of a comprehensive summary regarding their mechanisms and characteristics in neuroprotection. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the active components found in isoquinoline alkaloids that have neuroprotective effects. It thoroughly explains the various mechanisms behind the neuroprotective effects of isoquinoline alkaloids and summarizes their common characteristics. This information can serve as a reference for further research on the neuroprotective effects of isoquinoline alkaloids.

Morphine Withdrawal-Induced Hyperalgesia in Models of Acute and Extended Withdrawal Is Attenuated by l-Tetrahydropalmatine

Effective pain control is an underappreciated aspect of managing opioid withdrawal, and its absence presents a significant barrier to successful opioid detoxification. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for effective non-opioid treatments to facilitate opioid detoxification. l-Tetrahydropalmatine (l-THP) possesses powerful analgesic properties and is an active ingredient in botanical formulations used in Vietnam for the treatment of opioid withdrawal syndrome. In this study, rats receiving morphine (15 mg/kg, i.p.) for 5 days per week displayed a progressive increase in pain thresholds during acute 23 h withdrawal as assessed by an automated Von Frey test. A single dose of l-THP (5 or 7.5 mg/kg, p.o.) administered during the 4th and 5th weeks of morphine treatment significantly improves pain tolerance scores. A 7-day course of l-THP treatment in animals experiencing extended withdrawal significantly attenuates hyperalgesia and reduces the number of days to recovery to baseline pain thresholds by 61% when compared to vehicle-treated controls. This indicates that the efficacy of l-THP on pain perception extends beyond its half-life. As a non-opioid treatment for reversing a significant hyperalgesic state during withdrawal, l-THP may be a valuable addition to the currently limited arsenal of opioid detoxification treatments.

High-Throughput Sequencing Reveals That Rotundine Inhibits Colorectal Cancer by Regulating Prognosis-Related Genes

Background: Rotundine is an herbal medicine with anti-cancer effects. However, little is known about the anti-cancer effect of rotundine on colorectal cancer. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the specific molecular mechanism of rotundine inhibition of colorectal cancer. Methods: MTT and cell scratch assay were performed to investigate the effects of rotundine on the viability, migration, and invasion ability of SW480 cells. Changes in cell apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. DEGs were detected by high-throughput sequencing after the action of rotundine on SW480 cells, and the DEGs were subjected to function enrichment analysis. Bioinformatics analyses were performed to screen out prognosis-related DEGs of COAD. Followed by enrichment analysis of prognosis-related DEGs. Furthermore, prognostic models were constructed, including ROC analysis, risk curve analysis, PCA and t-SNE, Nomo analysis, and Kaplan–Meier prognostic analysis. Results: In this study, we showed that rotundine concentrations of 50 μM, 100 μM, 150 μM, and 200 μM inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of SW480 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Rotundine does not induce SW480 cell apoptosis. Compared to the control group, high-throughput results showed that there were 385 DEGs in the SW480 group. And DEGs were associated with the Hippo signaling pathway. In addition, 16 of the DEGs were significantly associated with poorer prognosis in COAD, with MEF2B, CCDC187, PSD2, RGS16, PLXDC1, HELB, ASIC3, PLCH2, IGF2BP3, CLHC1, DNHD1, SACS, H1-4, ANKRD36, and ZNF117 being highly expressed in COAD and ARV1 being lowly expressed. Prognosis-related DEGs were mainly enriched in cancer-related pathways and biological functions, such as inositol phosphate metabolism, enterobactin transmembrane transporter activity, and enterobactin transport. Prognostic modeling also showed that these 16 DEGs could be used as predictors of overall survival prognosis in COAD patients. Conclusions: Rotundine inhibits the development and progression of colorectal cancer by regulating the expression of these prognosis-related genes. Our findings could further provide new directions for the treatment of colorectal cancer.