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Bitterness, as one of the most important physiological sensations in animals, is primarily recognized through the mediation of bitter taste receptors. In recent years, it has been found that these receptors are not only expressed in taste bud cells on the tongue but also in the respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, reproductive, and nervous systems. They are involved in regulating various fundamental physiological processes and are now considered important targets for the treatment of various diseases. This paper reviewed the structure, classification, distribution, and signaling pathways of bitter taste receptors, their relationship with different diseases, and the role of bitter taste receptors agonists, aiming to provide a basis for scientific research on bitter taste receptors.

Background: Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) is relatively rare and is due to extraluminal compression of the coeliac artery by the median arcuate ligament of the diaphragm. Here, we report a case of MALS found in a patient with abdominal pain and retroperitoneal haemorrhage for education and dissemination., Case Summary: This article describes a 46-year-old female patient who was admitted to our hospital with abdominal pain as her chief complaint. She had experienced no obvious symptoms but had retroperitoneal bleeding during the course of the disease. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and noninvasive CT angiography (CTA) led to an initial misdiagnosis of pancreaticoduodenal artery aneurysm (PDAA) causing retroperitoneal hemorrhage. After intraoperative exploration and detailed analysis of enhanced CT and CTA images, a final diagnosis of MALS was made. The cause of the haemorrhage was bleeding from a branch of the gastroduodenal artery, not rupture of a PDAA. The prognosis of MALS combined with PDAA treated by laparoscopy and interventional therapy is still acceptable. The patient was temporarily treated by gastroduodenal suture haemostasis and was referred for further treatment., Conclusion: MALS is very rare and usually has postprandial abdominal pain, upper abdominal murmur, and weight loss. It is diagnosed by imaging or due to complications. When a patient has abdominal bleeding or PDAA, we should consider whether the patient has celiac trunk stenosis (MALS or other etiology). When abdominal bleeding is combined with an aneurysm, we generally think of aneurysm rupture and hemorrhage first, but it may also be collateral artery rupture and hemorrhage., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose., (©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

This research is to establish an HPLC method for determination of geniposidic acid, genipin-1-β-D-gentiobioside, geniposide, p-trans-coumaroylgenipin gentiobioside, chlorogenic acid, crocin-Ⅰ, crocin-Ⅱ and crocin-Ⅲ in Gardeniae Fructus at different harvest time. The detection wavelength was 238, 320 and 440 nm. Principal component analysis(PCA), correlation analysis, regression analysis and partial least squares(PLS) analysis were used to explore the relationship of color and content of eight components in Gardeniae Fructus. The result showed that the trend of the eight components in Gardeniae Fructus at harvest time in different three years was varied similarly. According to the variation of eight components at different harvest time, the mature and immaturate Gardeniae Fructus were discriminated. The content of crocin-Ⅰwas correlated positively with a~* of color significance. The redder color of Gardeniae Fructus showed the higher value of a~* and content of crocin-Ⅰ, indicating the better quality of Gardeniae Fructus. This method provided reference for justifying the color and quality of Gardeniae Fructus and scientific evidence for "assessing quality by distinguishing color".

Objective: To investigate the chemical constituents from Xanthium mongolicum., Methods: The constituents were isolated and purified by silicagel,Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Their structures were identified on the basis of spectral data and physiochemical characteristics., Results: Ten compounds were isolated and identified as hexadecanoic acid( 1), methyl 3, 4-dihydroxybenzoate ( 2), protocatechuic aldehyde( 3), caffeic acid methyl ester( 4), vanillic acid( 5), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid( 6), caffeic acid ethyl ester( 7), chlorogenic acid( 8), caffeic acid( 9), 3, 4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid( 10)., Conclusion: Compounds 1 ~ 5,7 and 10 are isolated from this plant for the first time.

In order to understand the contamination characteristics of PAHs in different environmental mediums of karst underground river, the authors chose the Qingshuiquan underground river as the study object. Based on the data of air, groundwater, sediment and soil samples collected during the same period from 2013 to 2014, contrastive analysis was conducted in light of the component spectra, the distribution features and the characteristic ratios as well as the chemical and physical properties of 16 kinds of PAHs. The results showed that 3 kinds of PAHs with 2-3 rings (naphthalenes, phenanthrene and fluoranthene) were dominant in the air and underground river water, which accounted for 71.66% and 54.84% of the total PAHs. And PAHs with 4-6 rings were dominant in the soil and sediment of the underground river, which accounted for 54.26% and 65.06% of the total .PAHs. The distribution of PAHs in environmental mediums along the underground river indicated that the mean concentration PAHs in upstream area was less than that of midstream, and that of midstream was less than that of downstream, because of pollution discharge and absorption. The ratios of specific PAHs indicated that the PAHs sources in upstream rural area mainly came from the combustion of grassy, wood and coal, the PAHs sources in Ganhuai village were mainly originated from petroleum, and the PAHs sources in the outlet of the underground river mainly came from both petroleum and its combustion.

To set standards for histomorphological studies on Lysimachia fortunei, an efficacious and widely applied folk medicine in this study, in order to develop its resources. Its species were identified by observing plant morphology and herbs appearance characters, preparing slices with routine methods and defining structural characters. According to the results of morphologic observation, leaves, stamen and pistil of this plant were different from the descriptions in Flora of China. The whole herb can be used in medicines, mainly including rhizomes, stems and leaves. According to the findings in the first study on microscopic structures, its rhizomes, stems and leaves were characteristic and worth identifying. The transaction tissue structures of rhizomes and stems were under developed and contained endodermis, secretory structures; Stems had sclerenchymata of different shapes of sclereids; Leaves were bifacial and had vascular bundles under midribs, which were surrounded by parenchymal sheathes. On the surface of leaves, stomata, glandular hairs and keratin lines were morphologically different in upper and lower epidermis. The herbal power had glandular hairs, sclereids and vessels. In conclusion, herbs of L. fortunei can be identified by the above histomorphological characteristics, which lays a foundation for further development and application of L. fortunei.