Realgar, a traditional mineral Chinese medicine, has been used in China for more than 2000 years. It has been recorded in many ancient and modern works that it has anti-cancer and anti-tumor effects. Of course, colon cancer is also within the scope of its treatment. Realgar needs to be processed into realgar decoction pieces by water grinding before being used for medicine. To ensure the consistency of efficacy and quality of realgar decoction pieces, modern methods need to be used for further quality control. The research of traditional mineral Chinese medicine is relatively difficult, and the related research is less. The purpose of this study is to control the quality of realgar decoction pieces by modern analytical technology and analyze its components. On this basis, its anti-colon cancer activity was discussed. Several batches of realgar decoction pieces were analyzed by XRD, and the components of realgar decoction pieces were obtained. The quality control fingerprints of realgar decoction pieces were established by processing XRD spectra and similarity evaluation. Then, the effects of realgar decoction pieces on apoptosis of CT26 and HTC-116 cells were observed in vitro by Hoechst 33258 staining, flow cytometry, measurement of mitochondrial membrane potential and Western blot; In vivo, the mouse model of tumor-in-situ transplantation of colon cancer was established, and the related indexes were observed. The explorations showed that the XRD Fourier fingerprints of realgar decoction pieces samples that had the same phase revealed 10 common peaks, respectively. The similarity evaluation of the established XRD Fourier fingerprint was greater than 0.900. We also demonstrated that realgar decoction pieces can promote apoptosis and inhibit tumor growth in colon cancer cells, its activating effect on p53 protein, and its safety when used within reasonable limits. The quality control of realgar decoction pieces by XRD is scientific and has the inhibitory effect on colon cancer, which has the development potential.

Traditionally, fresh S. japonicum flowers (SJF) and S. japonicum flowers buds (SJFB) are dried prior to further processing and use. Here, we investigated the ways in which drying techniques, including sun drying (SD), steam drying (STD), microwave drying (MD), hot air drying (HAD, 40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C, 100 °C), and freeze drying (FD), alter the flavonoid composition of freshly-harvested SJF and SJFB. The flavonoid content of dried samples was determined by Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Detector (UPLC-DAD). Overall, different drying techniques had significantly different effects on the RU content, ranging from 10.63 % (HAD-80 °C) to 34.13 % (HAD-100 °C) in SJF and from 18.91 % (HAD-100 °C) to 29.16 % (HAD-40 °C) and 30.53 % (SD) in SJFB. To clarify the mechanism by which drying affects the RU content of S. japonicum flowers, we studied the activity of a rutin-hydrolyzing enzyme (RHE) isolated from SJF and SJFB using multiple separation and assay methods. According to the Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) results, the apparent molecular weight of the purified RHE was approximately 38 kDa. According to UPLC-DAD, RHE catalyzes the production of quercetin (QU) from rutin (RU), but not from other flavonoid glycosides. Drying fresh SJF and SJFB at low and high temperatures can inhibit RHE activity and prevent RU hydrolysis. Therefore, subjecting freshly-harvest SJF to HAD-100 °C, and freshly-harvest SJFB to SD or HAD-40 °C, can greatly increase the RU content. In particular, HAD is viable for large-scale application due to its simplicity and industrial feasibility.

The flowers of Panax ginseng C. A. Mey. (PG) and Panax notoginseng (Burkill) F. H. Chen ex C. H. Chow (PN) are morphologically indistinguishable after drying, leading to prevalent adulteration that compromises product quality and consumer safety. To address this issue, we developed a rapid, closed-tube molecular authentication method based on high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis. Species-specific primer pairs were designed to target the conserved ITS and rbcL-accD regions, with PNG-2 selected as the optimal candidate owing to its stable genotyping performance and moderate GC content. Our results established GC content, rather than amplicon length, as the primary determinant of the melting temperature (Tm). Notably, the experimentally measured Tm values were consistently 0.7–1.5 °C higher than theoretical predictions, a discrepancy attributable to the stabilizing effect of the saturated fluorescent dye. To ensure maximum diagnostic reliability, the HRM results were cross-validated through a three-tier system comprising ITS2 phylogenetic analysis, agarose gel electrophoresis, and Sanger sequencing. The practical utility and matrix robustness of the assay were further verified using a diversified validation cohort of 30 commercial samples, including 24 floral batches and 6 root-derived products (root slices and ultramicro powders). The HRM profiles demonstrated 100% concordance with DNA barcoding results, effectively identifying mislabeled products across different botanical matrices and processing forms. This methodology, which can be completed within 3 h, provides a significantly more cost-effective and rapid alternative to traditional sequencing-based methods for large-scale market surveillance and industrial quality control.

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) is widely used to separate, identify, and semi-quantify volatile and derivatizable semi-volatile constituents (mono-/sesqui-terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, fatty-acid derivatives) that carry the discriminatory chemical information needed for authentication and quality control of traditional Chinese medicinal materials (TCMMs). To frame the methodological landscape rather than merely list components, this synthesis draws on peer-reviewed GC–MS / HS‑SPME works mainly indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus (focusing on the last decade), using searches built around keyword clusters (GC–MS, volatile oil, TCM authentication/QC, processing) and prioritizing studies that report separation conditions, pretreatment rationale, identification confidence (spectral match + retention index), and chemometric discrimination. The covered evidence shows GC–MS reliability depends less on instrument prestige than on upstream choices: pretreatment selectivity and thermal bias govern which labile markers survive; co-elution and matrix effects require explicit deconvolution/alignment; and identification confidence needs RI anchoring and, where possible, standard cross-checks, while inconsistent validation reporting and GC's intrinsic inaccessibility of strongly polar non-volatiles remain the main bottlenecks. When framed as a separation-first workflow—integrating optimized pretreatment (distillation/SPME/SFE), derivatization strategies, and multivariate modelling—GC–MS delivers verifiable chemical fingerprints to track geographical, batch, and processing-induced changes, supporting more comparable, regulation-ready QC protocols for TCMMs.

Background and Objectives: To elucidate the material basis and molecular mechanisms of the Rehmanniae Radix–Sophorae Flos (RR-SF) herb pair for psoriasis treatment, and to verify causal effects of core targets from a genetic perspective, constructing an integrated “component–target–pathway–causality” evidence chain. Materials and Methods:A four-level strategy was employed: (1) UPLC-Q-TOF/MS identified chemical constituents of the RR-SF co-decoction; (2) network pharmacology screened active compounds (OB ≥ 30%, DL ≥ 0.10), predicted targets, constructed drug–compound–target–pathway and PPI networks, and performed GO/KEGG enrichment; (3) drug-target Mendelian randomization (MR) used eQTLs of 7 core targets as exposure and psoriasis GWAS as outcome, with IVW as primary method and MR-Egger, Cochran’s Q, leave-one-out, and Steiger tests for sensitivity analysis; (4) AutoDock Vina molecular docking verified binding between active compounds and core targets. Results: 109 constituents were identified, dominated by flavonoids (32), iridoids (26), and phenylethanoid glycosides (12). Network pharmacology yielded 14 active compounds and 159 shared targets, with SRC, MAPK3, RXRA, HSP90AA1, CTNNB1, AKT1, and MAPK1 as core hubs. Key pathways included IL-17, MAPK, Th17 differentiation, VEGF, PI3K-Akt, and NF-κB. MR confirmed causal associations: MAPK1 (OR = 2.58, 95% CI 1.49–4.46, P = 7.5 × 10⁻⁴, risk), HSP90AA1 (OR = 0.42, 95% CI 0.24–0.74, P = 2.6 × 10⁻³, protective), and SRC (OR = 2.00, 95% CI 1.04–3.87, P = 0.039). MAPK1 and HSP90AA1 remained significant after Bonferroni correction. Molecular docking identified quercetin–HSP90AA1 (−9.3 kcal/mol) and aeginetic acid–RXRA (−9.1 kcal/mol) as strongest interactions. Conclusions: RR-SF exerts anti-psoriatic effects via a multi-component–multi-target–multi-pathway mode. MR validated causality of core targets, and molecular docking identified quercetin–HSP90AA1 and aeginetic acid–RXRA as key intervention strategies, providing multi-dimensional evidence for precision psoriasis treatment.

Medicinal plants of the genus Atractylodes, primarily including Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC., Atractylodes chinensis (DC.) Koidz., and Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz., are important traditional Chinese medicinal herbs that are widely recognized for their functions of “strengthening the spleen and drying dampness” and have traditionally been used to treat digestive and metabolic disorders. In recent years, with the increasing global burden of liver diseases, Atractylodes species have attracted growing attention for their potential pharmacological value in liver disease management due to their abundant bioactive compounds and diverse pharmacological activities. This review summarizes reported biological and hepatoprotective effects and proposed mechanisms of Atractylodes medicinal plants and their bioactive compounds in liver-related experimental models, including models relevant to MASLD, ALD, hepatic fibrosis, and HCC. Preclinical studies have reported changes in lipid metabolism, oxidative-stress-related markers, inflammatory responses, fibrotic indices, and tumor-cell phenotypes, accompanied by modulation of signaling pathways including AMPK/SIRT1, PPAR, Nrf2/HO-1, TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB, NLRP3, and TGF-β1/Smad. However, much of the mechanistic evidence is based on pathway-associated changes rather than direct compound–target validation, and clinical evidence remains limited. Overall, the available findings provide a preclinical pharmacological rationale for further investigation of Atractylodes-derived compounds in liver diseases, while their clinical efficacy and therapeutic roles remain to be established.