Danshensu, a type of dihydroxyphenyl lactic acid, is one of the most abundant active phenolic acids in the dried root of Salvia miltiorrhizae (Lamiaceae)—widely used traditional Chinese medicine. The effects of danshensu on platelet aggregation and thrombus formation in rats were examined using various methods. It was found that danshensu significantly reduced thrombus weight in 2 experimental thrombosis models; dose-dependent inhibition of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and arachidonic acid (AA)-induced platelet aggregation occurred in normal and blood stasis-induced rats; Danshensu also significantly mitigated blood viscosity, plasma viscosity and hematocrit levels. Moreover, danshensu significantly inhibited venous thrombosis-induced expression of cyclooxygenases-2 (COX-2) rather than cyclooxygenases-1(COX-1) in the venous walls, down regulated thromboxane B₂ (TXB₂) and up regulated 6-keto prostaglandin F_1α (6-keto-PGF_1α), normalizing the TXB₂/6-keto-PGF_1α ratio. In addition, danshensu did not induce gastric lesions and even had protective effects on aspirin-induced ulcer formation at doses as high as 60 mg/kg. These findings suggest that the antithrombotic and antiplatelet aggregation effects of danshensu are attributed to its highly selective inhibition of COX-2 and ability to normalize the thromboxane A₂(TXA₂)/prostacyclin(PGI₂) balance. These findings suggest that danshensu have great prospects in antithrombotic and antiplatelet therapy.

Paeonol protects endotoxin-induced acute kidney injury: potential mechanism of inhibiting TLR4-NF-κB signal pathway

Polymeric nanoparticles were widely used as delivery vehicles for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs, because of their targeting property and versatility. Mitochondria are one of the important organelles that regulate the apoptosis of cancer cells and can be considered as a pivotal target for cancer treatment. A pH-responsive charge-reversal and mitochondrial targeting nanoparticles, Vitamin B6-oligomeric hyaluronic acid-dithiodipropionic acid-berberine (B6-oHA-SS-Ber), were prepared in this study. Ber is a lipophilic cation that was conjugated with oHA through disulfide bonds to produce mitochondria-targeted conjugates (oHA-SS-Ber). B6 was conjugated to oHA to obtain B6-oHA-SS-Ber and the two types of Cur-loaded nanoparticles (Cur-NPs) were formulated by the dialysis method. Due to pKa of B6, the charge they carried in the tumor tissue acidic microenvironment can be transferred from negative charge to positive charge, further targeting mitochondria. In our study, we successfully synthesized B6-HA-SS-Ber and characterized the structure by ¹H-NMR. According to the results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we found that the B6-oHA-SS-Ber/Cur micelles could self-assembled in water to form spherical nanoparticles, with a hydrodynamic diameter of 172.9±13 nm. Moreover, in vitro cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, lysosome escape and mitochondrial distribution researches revealed the better effect of B6-oHA-SS-Ber/Cur micelles in comparison to oHA-SS-Ber/Cur. In vivo anticancer activities indicated that the B6-oHA-SS-Ber/Cur micelles exhibited effective inhibition of tumor growth.