Background: Lipid metabolism disorder appears to be one of the early features of alcoholic liver disease (ALD), which can be speculated via omics analysis including liver transcriptomics and gut microbiota. A complex consisting of the roots of Pueraria lobata and dried fruits of Prunus mume (PPC), which possesses hepatoprotective effects, could serve as a drug or functional food. The lack of non-polysaccharide compounds in PPC with their moderation effects on gut microbiota suggests the necessity for a relevant study. Methods: Six groups of Kunming mice (control, Baijiu injury, silybin, low, medium, and high) were modelled by gavage with Baijiu (for 14 days) and PPC (equivalent to a maximum dose of 9 g/kg in humans). The liver transcriptome data were analyzed to predict gene annotation, followed by the verification of gut microbiota, serum, tissue staining, immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to detect the components. Results: PPC normalized serum ALT (40 U/L), down-regulated TLR4-NF-κB signaling pathway to inhibit the release of TNF-α (90 pg/mL), improved the expression of occludin, claudin-4, and ZO-1, and restored the abundance of Muribaculaceae, Bacteroides and Streptococcus. Conclusion: PPC can alleviate ALD by regulating the gut microbiota with an anti-inflammatory and intestinal barrier, and has an application value in developing functional foods.

Mosla chinensis Maxim is an annual herb with many potential purposes in agricultural, industrial, and pharmaceutical fields. At present, the extract of the whole plant from M. chinensis has been proven to demonstrate antifungal, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. Previous studies focused on the enzyme pretreatment in hydrodistillation from M. chinensis. However, organic solvent or supercritical fluid carbon dioxide extraction (SFE-CO₂) methods, which are commonly utilized in industry, have seldom been studied and cannot provide multiple evaluations of yield. In this work, we analysed compounds from M. chinensis by HPLC–DAD, discussed n-hexane extraction, and conducted further investigations on SFE-CO₂ through the design of response surface methodology (RSM). The sample obtained from pilot-scale SFE-CO₂ was also tested against nine kinds of microorganisms. Single-factor results revealed that the extraction rates from M. chinensis by steam distillation, n-hexane extraction, and SFE-CO₂ were 1%, 2.09%, and 3.26%, respectively. RSM results showed a significant improvement in extraction rate through optimising pressure and time, and the interaction of both factors was more important than that of temperature–pressure and temperature–time. A pilot-scale test with an extraction rate of 3.34% indicated that the predicted RSM condition was operable. In addition, samples from the pilot-scale SFE-CO₂ showed antibacterial effects against three previously unreported bacteria (Gardnerella vaginalis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Propionibacterium acnes). These results fill the gap in previous research and provide more information for the application and development of M. chinensis in the future.

A total of 31 compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions of Anchusa italica Retz., which contained one ursane triterpenoid, 2α,3β,19α-trihydroxy-23-formyl-urs-12-en-28,21β-olide (1), and five norisoprenoids: (2R,6R,9S)-9-hydroxy-4-megastigmen-3-one-2-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3); (2R,6S,9S)-9-hydroxy-megastigman-4,7-dien-3-one-2-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4); (+)-isololiolide β-D-glucopyranoside (5); (2S,8R)-loliolide β-D-glucopyranoside (6a); and (2R,8S)-loliolide β-D-glucopyranoside (6b). It also contained 25 known compounds (2 and 7–30). The chemical structures of the compounds, inclusive of their absolute configurations, were ascertained using spectroscopic methods such as NMR, HR-MS, and quantum chemical calculations (computational NMR and ECD), in combination with relevant literature data. Moreover, the chemotaxonomic significance of the isolated substances was discussed, with compounds 1, 2, and 7–13 potentially broadening the application of triterpenes as taxonomic markers for the classification of the genus Anchusa.

Aconitum tanguticum (Maxim.) Stapf is a Tibetan medicinal plant with low toxicity. To obtain the major alkaloid heteratisine (HTS) for bioactivity evaluation, this study established a method combining deep eutectic solvent (DES) with ultrasound-assisted extraction. COSMO-RS screening identified menthol-octanoic acid (1:2) as the optimal solvent, giving a content of 0.321 mg/g, approximately 9.17 times that of ethanol. Extraction optimization was performed via response surface methodology on a 29-run Box–Behnken design, providing a validated optimum of 0.499 mg/g at 256.8 W, 30.5 min, 1:30.3 g/mL, and 39.7 °C. The fitting behavior of three machine learning models and quadratic polynomial regression (QPR) was compared on a 75-run non-structured dataset. XGBoost and GPR achieved high in-sample fitting performance (R² = 0.983 and 0.994), whereas QPR and Random Forest showed limited fitting (0.529 and 0.546). Condition-grouped nested validation demonstrated that none of the models could extrapolate beyond the observed dataset. Thus, the ML analyses were framed as in-sample diagnostic tools, with GPR offering uncertainty estimates to identify data-sparse regions. In HEK293T-TRPV1 cells, HTS pretreatment reduced capsaicin-induced Ca²⁺ signaling. In general, this study provides a DES-based extraction approach and a multi-model comparison framework for the utilization of A. tanguticum.