On January 2, 2020, The National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation listed Panacis Quinquefolii Radix (PQR) as a medicinal and food homologous product. PQR is the dry root of Panax quinquefolium L., which has the functions of replenishing qi and nourishing Yin, clearing heat and producing body fluid. It is often used for qi deficiency and Yin deficiency, heat exhaustion, asthma and phlegm, dry mouth and pharynx. PQR is sweet, slightly bitter and cool in nature, and enter the heart, lung and kidney meridian exerts the remedial and hygienical effect. At present, active components such as saponins, flavonoids, fatty acids, polyalkynes, volatile oils and other nutrients such as amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins and trace elements have been isolated from PQR. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that PQR has the effects of hypoglycemic, antihypertensive, anti fatigue, anti-oxidation, anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective and so on. In addition, PQR is recognized as a health care product to strengthen the body and dispel diseases. It is not only the raw material of Traditional Chinese medicine preparations, but also the treasure of dietary therapy and herbal cuisine. This study not only reviewed the botany, phytochemistry and pharmacology of PQR, but also summarized its quality control, toxicity and industrial applications for the first time. This paper not only summarizes the development status of PQR, but also analyzes the shortcomings of the current research on PQR, and puts forward the corresponding solutions, in order to provide reference for future scholars to study PQR.

Traditional Chinese medicine considers Lonicerae japonicae flos to have antibacterial detoxification, liver protection, and gallbladder protection. At present, studies have proven that Lonicerae japonicae flos has a good therapeutic effect on liver injury. Therefore, to confirm the clinical applicability of Lonicerae japonicae flos in the treatment of liver injury, we were the first to compare the pharmacokinetics of an oral ethanol extract of Lonicerae japonicae flos in normal rats and carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury model rats. A method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 3-caffeoylquinic acid, 4-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, protocatechuic acid, Sweroside, and Secoxyloganin in rat plasma by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The results show that the method is reliable and reproducible and can be used for quantitative determination of biological samples. The pharmacokinetic parameters showed that the area under the concentration–time curve of eight compounds in the model group was significantly increased. The results showed that the total absorption of the active components of Lonicerae japonicae flos in the blood increased, the clearance rate slowed down, and the bioavailability of Lonicerae japonicae flos increased in liver injury diseases.

The purpose of this article is to establish a method to use ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)-mass spectrometry (MS)/MS to simultaneously determine 9 main components of Lonicera japonica Thunb. in negative-ion scanning mode, and the main components were analyzed by chemometrics. The chromatographic separation uses the Thermo Hypersil GOLD column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.9 µm) with a constant temperature of 45 °C. The mobile phase consists of methanol and water containing 0.2% formic acid. The results show that 9 compounds had a good linear relationship (R² > 0.9991), and both intraday and interday precisions and stability have the eligible ranges of relative SDs (RSDs; 0.96%-2.26%, 0.52%-3.04%, and 0.85%-2.15%, respectively). The recovery rates were between 75.90% and 110.58%. The results of chemometrics including hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis showed that there were obvious differences in the content of active components in L. japonica from different regions, and the compounds with the highest contribution to the drug were identified. Through the UPLC-MS/MS combined chemometrics analysis of L. japonica, this experiment can provide a reference for further research on the modernization and innovation of L. japonica and the application research of a high level and multidirection.