For screening the active phloroglucinols on influenza virus (H5N1) from Dryopteris crassirhizoma NaKai, a database was established including twenty-three phloroglucinols that had been isolated from Dryopteris crassirhizoma. Their inhibitory effect on the neuraminidase (NA) of influenza virus H5N1 was screened by molecular docking. As a result, three candidates were selected. The rhizomes of D. crassirhizoma were subjected to isolation and purification processes to obtain the inhibitor candidates. Thirteen phloroglucinols were obtained, including three selected candidates and two new phloroglucinols. The five phloroglucinols were investigated for their inhibitory activity on NA in vitro. The results showed that dryocrassin ABBA and filixic acid ABA exhibited inhibitory effects on NA with IC₅₀ as 18.59 ± 4.53 and 29.57 ± 2.48 μM, respectively, and the other three phloroglucinols showed moderate inhibitory activity. Moreover, the anti-influenza virus (H5N1) activity and cytotoxicity of dryocrassin ABBA and filixic acid ABA were tested on Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells with the cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) method. The results confirmed that dryocrassin ABBA exhibited an inhibitory activity with low cytotoxicity (TC₅₀ > 400 μM) against influenza virus (H5N1) which will have to be investigated in further detail. In conclusion, phloroglucinols from D. crassirhizoma were shown to have anti-influenza virus activity, and especially dryocrassin ABBA, one of the phloroglucinols, may have the potential to control influenza virus (H5N1) infection.

Lamiophlomis rotata (Benth.) Kudo (LR) is a traditional drug used by Chinese minorities such as Tibetans, Mongolians and Na Xi with the beneficial effects of hemostasis and alleviating pain. Flavonoids ingredients (P₁), iridoid glycosides ingredients (P₂) and maximus polarity components ingredients (P₃) were isolated from the aqueous extract of LR (AELR) with polyamide and macroporous adsorptive resins chromatographic columns. The hemostatic activity of these ingredients was estimated by the changes in bleeding time (BT), clotting time (CT) and blood coagulation parameters in mice or rats. RP‐HPLC was used to analyze the chemical composition of P₂. As a result, AELR and P₂ significantly shortened BT, CT and thrombin time (TT), and increased fibrinogen (FIB), but P₁ and P₃ showed no hemostatic effect during the experiment. Moreover, P₂ showed satisfactory hemostatic effect with dose‐effect relationship and low toxicity in mice. 8‐Dehydroxy shanzhiside, phloyoside II, shanzhiside methylester, loganin, and 8‐O‐acetylshanzhiside methylester were detected as the main iridoid glycosides in P₂ by RP‐HPLC. Our results suggest that iridoid glycosides may be the hemostatic activity ingredients of L. rotata and are a potential hemostatic medicine. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Although the rhizomes of Rheum nobile Hook. f. et Thoms (Polygonaceae) are widely used in Tibetan medicine, no previous investigations regarding the biological activities and rarely chemical constituents of this plant have been reported. As part of an ongoing search for novel bioactive agents, a phytochemical investigation of R. nobile led to the isolation of two new compounds Rheumone B (1) and piceatannol-4′-O-β-D-(6″-O-acetyl)-glucoside (2), together with 15 known compounds by gel filtration over Sephadex LH-20 and preparative HPLC. Their structures were determined by combined spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1–10 were evaluated for their ability to scavenge 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydzyl (DPPH) radical and compounds 7–10 showed relatively strong scavenging abilities with IC₅₀ values from 2.76 μM to 11.80 μM. In conclusion, naphthalene glycosides, stilbene glycosides, flavanols, especially anthraquinones are main chemical constituents of this plant. The ability to scavenge DPPH radical of compound 8 was the highest among compounds 1–10.

The efforts focused on discovering potential hepatoprotective drugs are critical for relieving the burdens caused by liver diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an important resource for discovering hepatoprotective agents. Currently, there are hundreds of hepatoprotective products derived from TCM available in the literature, providing crucial clues to discover novel potential hepatoprotectants from TCMs based on predictive research. In the current study, a large-scale dataset focused on TCM-induced hepatoprotection was established, including 676 hepatoprotective ingredients and 205 hepatoprotective TCMs. Then, a comprehensive analysis based on the structure–activity relationship, molecular network, and machine learning techniques was performed at molecular and holistic TCM levels, respectively. As a result, we developed an in silico model for predicting the hepatoprotective activity of ingredients derived from TCMs, in which the accuracy exceeded 85%. In addition, we originally proposed a material basis and a drug property-based approach to identify potential hepatoprotective TCMs. Consequently, a total of 12 TCMs were predicted to hold potential hepatoprotective activity, nine of which have been proven to be beneficial to the liver in previous publications. The high rate of consistency between our predictive results and the literature reports demonstrated that our methods were technically sound and reliable. In summary, systematical predictive research focused on the hepatoprotection of TCM was conducted in this work, which would not only assist screening of potential hepatoprotectants from TCMs but also provide a novel research mode for discovering the potential activities of TCMs.