Vascular disease remains the leading cause of death and disability, the etiology of which often involves atherosclerosis. The current treatment of atherosclerosis by pharmacotherapy has limited therapeutic efficacy. Here we report a biomimetic drug delivery system derived from macrophage membrane coated ROS-responsive nanoparticles (NPs). The macrophage membrane not only avoids the clearance of NPs from the reticuloendothelial system, but also leads NPs to the inflammatory tissues, where the ROS-responsiveness of NPs enables specific payload release. Moreover, the macrophage membrane sequesters proinflammatory cytokines to suppress local inflammation. The synergistic effects of pharmacotherapy and inflammatory cytokines sequestration from such a biomimetic drug delivery system lead to improved therapeutic efficacy in atherosclerosis. Comparison to macrophage internalized with ROS-responsive NPs, as a live-cell based drug delivery system for treatment of atherosclerosis, suggests that cell membrane coated drug delivery approach is likely more suitable for dealing with an inflammatory disease than the live-cell approach.

Coptidis rhizoma (CR) is the dried rhizome of Coptis chinensis Franch., C. deltoidea C. Y. Cheng et Hsiao or C. teeta Wall. (Ranunculaceae) and is commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for the treatment of various diseases including bacillary dysentery, typhoid, tuberculosis, epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, empyrosis, pertussis, and other illnesses. A literature survey was conducted via SciFinder, ScieneDirect, PubMed, Springer, and Wiley databases. A total of 139 selected references were classified on the basis of their research scopes, including chemical investigation, quality evaluation and pharmacological studies. Many types of secondary metabolites including alkaloids, lignans, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, saccharides, and steroids have been isolated from CR. Among them, protoberberine-type alkaloids, such as berberine, palmatine, coptisine, epiberberine, jatrorrhizine, columamine, are the main components of CR. Quantitative determination of these alkaloids is a very important aspect in the quality evaluation of CR. In recent years, with the advances in isolation and detection technologies, many new instruments and methods have been developed for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the main alkaloids from CR. The quality control of CR has provided safety for pharmacological applications. These quality evaluation methods are also frequently employed to screen the active components from CR. Various investigations have shown that CR and its main alkaloids exhibited many powerful pharmacological effects including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, hypoglycemic, anti-Alzheimer and hepatoprotective activities. This review summarizes the recent phytochemical investigations, quality evaluation methods, the biological studies focusing on CR as well as its main alkaloids.

The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) increases steadily worldwide. There is an urgent need for effective and safe IBD therapies. Accelerated resolution of inflammation is a new strategy for the management of inflammatory diseases. For effective and safe IBD treatment, herein a smart nanotherapy (i.e. oxidation‐responsive nanoparticles containing a proresolving annexin A1‐mimetic peptide Ac2‐26, defined as AON) is developed, which can release packaged Ac2‐26, in response to highly expressed reactive oxygen species (ROS) at diseased sites. AON effectively protects Ac2‐26 from degradation in the enzyme‐rich environment of the gastrointestinal tract. By delivering this nanotherapy to the inflamed colons of mice with IBD, site‐specific release and accumulation of Ac2‐26 in response to high levels of ROS at the inflammatory sites are achieved. Mechanistically, the Ac2‐26‐containing, oxidation‐labile nanotherapy AON effectively decreases the expression of proinflammatory mediators, attenuates trafficking and infiltration of inflammatory cells, promotes efferocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils, and increases phenotypic switching of macrophages. Therapeutically, AON reduces symptoms of inflammation, accelerates intestinal mucosal wound healing, reshapes the gut microbiota composition, and increases short‐chain fatty acid production. Additionally, oral delivery of this nanomedicine shows excellent safety profile in a mouse model, conferring the confidence for further development of a targeted precision therapy for IBD and other inflammatory diseases.