Semen Cuscutae is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine and contains a series of compounds such as flavonoids, chlorogenic acids and lignans. In this study, we identified different kinds of compositions by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (MS). A total of 45 compounds were observed, including 20 chlorogenic acids, 23 flavonoids and 2 lignans. 23 of them are reported for the first time including 6-O-caffeoyl-β-glucose, 3-O-(4′-O-Caffeoylglucosyl) quinic acid, etc. Their structures were established by retention behavior, extensive analyses of their MS spectra and further determined by comparison of their MS data with those reported in the literature. As chlorogenic acids and flavonoids are phenolic compounds that are predominant in Semen Cuscutae, in conclusion, phenolic compounds are the major constituents of Semen Cuscutae.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is becoming a more prevalent public health issue in today's culture. The experimental study of Coptidis Rhizoma (CR) and its chemical components in AD treatment has been widely reported, but the principle of multi-level and multi-mechanism treatment of AD urgently needs to be clarified.Objective: This study focuses on network pharmacology to clarify the mechanism of CR's multi-target impact on Alzheimer's disease.Methods: The Phytochemical-compounds of CR have been accessed from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and Symmap database or HPLC determination. The values of Oral Bioavailability (OB) ≥ 30% and Drug Like (DL) ≥ 0.18 or blood ingredient were used to screen the active components of CR; the interactive network of targets and compounds were constructed by STRING and Cytoscape platform, and the network was analyzed by Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE); Gene Ontology (GO) function, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Pathway (KEGG) and metabolic pathway enrichment of targets were carried out with Metascape, the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) and MetaboAnalyst platform; Based on CytoHubba, the potential efficient targets were screened by Maximal Clique Centrality (MCC) and Degree, the correlation between potential efficient targets and amyloid β-protein (Aβ), Tau pathology was analyzed by Alzdata database, and the genes related to aging were analyzed by Aging Altas database, and finally, the core targets were obtained; the binding ability between ingredients and core targets evaluated by molecular docking, and the clinical significance of core targets was assessed with Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database.Results: 19 active components correspond to 267 therapeutic targets for AD, of which 69 is potentially effective; in module analysis, RELA, TRAF2, STAT3, and so on are the critical targets of each module; among the six core targets, RELA, MAPK8, STAT3, and TGFB1 have clinical therapeutic significance; GO function, including 3050 biological processes (BP), 257 molecular functions (MF), 184 cellular components (CC), whose functions are mainly related to antioxidation, regulation of apoptosis and cell composition; the HIF-1 signaling pathway, glutathione metabolism is the most significant result of 134 KEGG signal pathways and four metabolic pathways, respectively; most of the active components have an excellent affinity in docking with critical targets.Conclusion: The pharmacological target prediction of CR based on molecular network pharmacology paves the way for a multi-level networking strategy. The study of CR in AD treatment shows a bright prospect for curing neurodegenerative diseases.

The primary processed product of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (P. ginseng) is red ginseng. As technology advances, new products of red ginseng have arisen. Red ginseng products, e.g., traditional red ginseng, sun ginseng, black ginseng, fermented red ginseng, and puffed red ginseng, are commonly used in herbal medicine. Ginsenosides are the major secondary metabolites of P. ginseng. The constituents of P. ginseng are significantly changed during processing, and several pharmacological activities of red ginseng products are dramatically increased compared to white ginseng. In this paper, we aimed to review the ginsenosides and pharmacological activities of various red ginseng products, the transformation law of ginsenosides in processing, and some clinical trials of red ginseng products. This article will help to highlight the diverse pharmacological properties of red ginseng products and aid in the future development of red ginseng industrialization.

Processing is a traditional pharmacy technology based on traditional Chinese medicine theory. The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) ingredients should be processed before being used as a medicine. Processed bitter almonds are widely used in the clinic in TCM for the treatment of cough and asthma. In this work the amygdalin profile of three producing areas in China was determined, with respect to three differently processed bitter almond products: raw, stir-fried and scalded. Identification of the compounds was done by using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS). Results indicated that amygdalin, neoamygdalin and amygdalin amide were identified in the different processed bitter almonds. Meanwhile, amygdalin was used as a standard to calculate the quantification of amygdalin and the concentration ratio of neoamygdalin and total amygdalin by HPLC-DAD. The data suggested that composition of amygdalin isomers in bitter almonds was influenced by the processing method. It also gives a new understanding of the processing principle of bitter almonds. Moreover, the classification of different processed bitter almonds can be achieved on the basis of amygdalin isomers levels.

Rare ginsenosides are the major components of red ginseng. However, there has been little research into the relationship between the structure of ginsenosides and their anti-inflammatory activity. In this work, BV-2 cells induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or nigericin, the anti-inflammatory activity of eight rare ginsenosides, and the target proteins expression of AD were compared. In addition, the Morris water maze test, HE staining, thioflavins staining, and urine metabonomics were used to evaluate the effect of Rh4 on AD mice. Our results showed that their configuration influences the anti-inflammatory activity of ginsenosides. Ginsenosides Rk1, Rg5, Rk3, and Rh4 have significant anti-inflammatory activity compared to ginsenosides S-Rh1, R-Rh1, S-Rg3, and R-Rg3. Ginsenosides S-Rh1 and S-Rg3 have more pronounced anti-inflammatory activity than ginsenosides R-Rh1 and R-Rg3, respectively. Furthermore, the two pairs of stereoisomeric ginsenosides can significantly reduce the level of NLRP3, caspase-1, and ASC in BV-2 cells. Interestingly, Rh4 can improve the learning ability of AD mice, improve cognitive impairment, reduce hippocampal neuronal apoptosis and Aβ deposition, and regulate AD-related pathways such as the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the sphingolipid metabolism. Our findings conclude that rare ginsenosides with a double bond have more anti-inflammatory activity than those without, and 20(S)-ginsenosides have more excellent anti-inflammatory activity than 20(R)-ginsenosides.

In traditional Chinese medicine practice, drying method is an essential factor to influence the components of Chinese medicinal herbs. In this study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS)-based approach was used to compare the content of chemical compounds of mountain cultivated ginseng that had been natural air dried (LX-P) and vacuum freeze-dried (LX-L). Multivariate statistical analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and supervised orthogonal partial least squared discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA) were used to select the influential components of different samples. There were 41 ginsenosides unambiguously identified and tentatively assigned in both LX-L and LX-P. The results showed that the characteristic components in LX-P were ginsenoside Rb1, ginsenoside Rc, ginsenoside Rg6, dendrolasin, and ginsenoside Rb2. The characteristic components in LX-L were malonyl-ginsenoside Re, malonyl-ginsenoside Rb1, malonyl-ginsenoside Rc, malonyl-ginsenoside Rb1 isomer, malonyl-ginsenoside Rb2, malonyl-ginsenoside Rb3, malonyl-ginsenoside Rd isomer, gypenoside XVII, and notoginsenoside Fe. This is the first time that the differences between LX-L and LX-P have been observed systematically at the chemistry level. It was indicated that vacuum freeze-drying method can improve the content of malonyl-ginsensides in mountain cultivated ginseng.