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Qixue Shuangbu Prescription (QSP) has been widely applied in the treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF). Previous clinical studies have found that the efficacy of processed QSP was significantly enhanced in the treatment of CHF. We have identified and analyzed the nonvolatile components before and after processing of QSP, and predicted the mechanism of synergistic effect after processing in the treatment of CHF. However, the synergistic mechanism of processed QSP caused by the difference of volatile components was still unclear. In this study, we developed a method of needle trap device coupled with gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry to elucidate the difference of volatile components between crude and processed QSP. The established method has been used to identify 104 volatile compounds in crude and processed QSP. The results of multivariate data showed 38 differential compounds were screened as potential markers, which would further explain the mechanism of processing synergistic effect of processed QSP. This study successfully developed the method to elucidate its processing mechanism based on the difference of volatile compositions between crude and processed QSP for the first time, and it would provide a novel analytical strategy for the impacts of different processing methods on main volatile compounds in traditional Chinese medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aconitum carmichaelii is widely used to treat chronic and intractable diseases due to its remarkable curative effect, but it is also a highly toxic herb with severe cardiac and neurotoxicity. It has been combined with honey for thousands of years to reduce toxicity and enhance efficacy, but there has been no study on the chemical constituent changes in the honey‐processing so far. In this study, the chemical constituents of A. carmichaelii before and after honey‐processing were characterized by ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed that a total of 118 compounds were identified, of which six compounds disappeared and five compounds were newly produced after honey‐processing, and the cleavage pathway of main components was elucidated. At the same time, 25 compounds were found to have significant effects on different products, among which four compounds with the biggest difference were selected for quantitative analysis by ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry. This study not only explained the chemical differences between the different products, but also helped to control the quality of the honey‐processed products more effectively, and laid a foundation for further elucidating the mechanism of chemical constituent change during the honey‐processing of A. carmichaelii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of global climate change on food systems will be broad, complex, and profoundly affected by urban context. Food-related urbanism has been investigated for decades to explore how food access influences placemaking and urban forms. With global climate change, foodscapes within urban spaces are an important consideration in urban design and planning for food security and community health. The distribution of catering businesses (restaurants and cafés), one critical method of access to food, is highly associated with urban spaces because of their high impact on diet patterns, human physical activities, travel behaviors, and the use of public spaces. This research explores the spatial associations that exist between the distribution of catering businesses and the design and planning of urban spaces in London. This quantitative research includes three parts: (1) uses Open Street Map data and the GIS spatial analysis method to study the distribution of catering businesses; (2) uses the imagery segmentation method in machine learning to categorize urban spaces into open, landscape, and conflict spaces; and (3) establishes the association between the distribution of catering businesses and the categories of urban spaces through Spearman's correlation and a linear regression model. The results indicate that the spatial distributions of catering businesses are highly correlated with urban spaces. Conflict and landscape spaces have a significant positive influence on the distribution of catering businesses, while open space has a significant negative influence. Based on the context of global climate change, this research contributes a quantitative urban design and planning approach to promote access to food increase food options and advocate active lifestyles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qixue Shuangbu Prescription (QSP) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula widely used for the treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF). Previous clinical studies have found that the efficacy of processed QSP has been significantly enhanced in the treatment of CHF. However, the synergistic mechanisms of processed QSP to enhance the treatment of CHF are still unclear. Generally, the changes in clinical effects mainly result from the variations of inside chemical basis caused by the TCM processing procedure. In this study, we developed a network pharmacology-integrated metabolomics strategy to clarify the difference of the effective compounds between crude and processed QSP, and further explain the mechanism of processed QSP to produce a synergistic effects. As a result, 69 different compounds were successfully screened, identified, quantified and verified as the most potential marker compounds. These different chemical components may play an anti-CHF and enhance the therapeutic effect through 52 action pathways such as estrogen signaling pathway, ubiquitin mediated proteolysis, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, etc. This study revealed that the proposed network pharmacology-integrated metabolomics strategy was a powerful tool for explaining the mechanism of synergistic action in the processing of QSP, further controlling the quality and understanding the processing mechanism of TCM formulae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guizhi Fuling Capsule (GFC) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula recorded in Synopsis of the Golden Chamber, which has achieved obvious effects in the treatment of uterine fibroids (UFs). Mediator complex subunit 12 (Med12) mutations were closely related to UFs in 85% of fibroid cases. The Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathway plays an important role in the occurrence and development of UFs. This study aims to explore the pharmacological mechanism of GFC against UFs in which the Med12-mediated Wnt/β-Catenin pathway is involved. Med12 was silenced in uterine fibroid cells (UFCs) using a lentivirus-based Med12 gene-specific RNA interference (RNAi) strategy. Cell proliferation was performed by CCK-8 assay, cell apoptosis and cell cycle were measured by flow cytometry. The rat model of UFs was established by injecting estradiol benzoate and progesterone. Forty-eight rats were divided into six groups, the low-dose GFC (L-GFC) group, the medium-dose GFC (M-GFC) group and the high-dose GFC (H-GFC) group were intragastrically treated with GFC solution at 0.25 g/kg, 0.50 g/kg and 1.00 g/kg per day for 8 weeks, the positive control (PC) group was administrated with mifepristone (2.70 mg/kg/day), the normal control (NC) group and the model control (MC) group were given equal volume of normal saline once a day for 8 weeks. The histopathological changes of uterine tissues were evaluated by H&E staining. The expression of Med12 in uterine tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. The protein and mRNA levels of associated genes were evaluated by western bolt and real time-PCR, respectively. Related indicators involved in Wnt/β-Catenin pathway, such as Wnt1, β-Catenin, Cyclin D1, TCF1/TCF7 and C-myc, were compared among different groups. The Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathway was inhibited after Med12 gene was knocked out in UFCs. GFC-containing serum could induce cell apoptosis, make the cell cycle stagnated in G0/G1 phase to inhibiting the proliferation and reduce the expression of Wnt1, β-Catenin, Cyclin D1, TCF1/TCF7, and C-myc in control-shRNA cells, while had no significant effect on Med12-shRNA cells. Compared with the MC group, the weight, endometrial thickness, and pathological structure of the uterus in the GFC treated groups were significantly improved. The expression of Med12, Wnt1, β-Catenin, Cyclin D1, TCF1/TCF7, and C-myc that related to Wnt/β-Catenin pathway in the GFC treated groups were decreased with the increase of dosage administration. GFC inhibited UFs growth, which was directly associated with Med12 modulated Wnt/β-Catenin signaling pathway. This study provided new perspective to understand the therapeutic mechanism of UFs. [Display omitted] • Guizhi Fuling Capsule (GFC) inhibited the proliferation of uterine fibroid cells by disrupting the normal Med12 expression. • GFC induced apoptosis and made the cell cycle stagnated in G0/G1 phase of uterine fibroid cells. • GFC improved the weight, endometrial thickness, and pathological structure of the uterus in uterine fibroids model rats. • GFC regulated the Med12-mediated Wnt/β-Catenin pathway to treating uterine fibroids in model rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]