Menthae Haplocalycis herba, one kind of Chinese edible herbs, has been widely utilized for the clinical use in China for thousands of years. Over the last decades, studies on chemical constituents of Menthae Haplocalycis herba have been widely performed. However, less attention has been paid to non-volatile components which are also responsible for its medical efficacy than the volatile constituents. Therefore, a rapid and sensitive method was developed for the comprehensive identification of the non-volatile constituents in Menthae Haplocalycis herba using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with linear ion trap-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap). Separation was performed with Acquity UPLC^® BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 mm × 100 mm, 1.7 μm) with 0.2% formic acid aqueous solution and acetonitrile as the mobile phase under gradient conditions. Based on the accurate mass measurement (<5 ppm), MS/MS fragmentation patterns and different chromatographic behaviors, a total of 64 compounds were unambiguously or tentatively characterized, including 30 flavonoids, 20 phenolic acids, 12 terpenoids and two phenylpropanoids. Finally, target isolation of three compounds named Acacetin, Rosmarinic acid and Clemastanin A (first isolated from Menthae Haplocalycis herba) were performed based on the obtained results, which further confirmed the deduction of fragmentation patterns and identified the compounds profile in Menthae Haplocalycis herba. Our research firstly systematically elucidated the non-volatile components of Menthae Haplocalycis herba, which laid the foundation for further pharmacological and metabolic studies. Meanwhile, our established method was useful and efficient to screen and identify targeted constituents from traditional Chinese medicine extracts.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as a unique form of natural medicine, has been used in Chinese traditional therapeutic systems over two thousand years. Active components in Chinese herbal medicine are the material basis for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Research on drug-protein binding is one of the important contents in the study of early stage clinical pharmacokinetics of drugs. Plasma protein binding study has far-reaching influence on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs and helps to understand the basic rule of drug effects. It is important to study the binding characteristics of the active components in Chinese herbal medicine with plasma proteins for the medical science and modernization of TCM. This review summarizes the common analytical methods which are used to study the active herbal components-protein binding and gives the examples to illustrate their application. Rules and influence factors of the binding between different types of active herbal components and plasma proteins are summarized in the end. Finally, a suggestion on choosing the suitable technique for different types of active herbal components is provided, and the prospect of the drug-protein binding used in the area of TCM research is also discussed.

Objective. To investigate the absorption property of the representative hydrolyzable tannin, namely corilagin, and its hydrolysates gallic acid (GA) and ellagic acid (EA) from the Fructus Phyllanthi tannin fraction (PTF) in vitro. Methods. Caco‐2 cells monolayer model was established. Influences of PTF on Caco‐2 cells viability were detected with MTT assay. The transport across monolayers was examined for different time points, concentrations, and secretory directions. The inhibitors of P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp), multidrug resistance proteins (MRPs), organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) and sodium/glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1), and tight junction modulators were used to study the transport mechanism. LC‐MS method was employed to quantify the absorption concentration. Results. The apparent permeability coefficient (P_app) values of the three compounds were below 1.0 × 10⁻⁶ cm/s. The absorption of corilagin and GA were much lower than their efflux, and the uptake of both compounds was increased in the presence of inhibitors of P‐gp and MRPs. The absorption of EA was decreased in the company of OATP and SGLT1 inhibitors. Moreover, the transport of corilagin, GA, and EA was enhanced by tight junction modulators. Conclusion. These observations indicated that the three compounds in PTF were transported via passive diffusion combined with protein mediated transport. P‐gp and MRPs might get involved in the transport of corilagin and GA. The absorption of EA could be attributed to OATP and SGLT1 protein.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in the educational landscape, with a significant shift towards e-learning and remote teaching practices. As such, it has become increasingly important to understand the role of innovative teaching practices, sustainable learning, and the adoption of e-learning tools in leveraging academic motivation for students’ mental well-being. Purpose: The study aims to determine whether academic motivation can helpful for mental wellbeing of students directly and through the adoption of e-learning tools, and sustainable learning considering the role of innovative teaching. Methods: Target population of this research were the students of Chinese universities. Data was collected from 308 students and was analyzed by using Mplus software. Results: Students expressed higher motivation, quality education and good mental health. Additionally, it was discovered that academic motivation helped the students to develop good academic record and mental health. Conclusion: The research’s conclusions can help the policy makers creating successful educational initiatives and programs that promote students’ overall growth. These results can also guide the university administration and teachers to adopt effective policies and practices for creating academic motivation in order to construct a healthy environment not just for better academic results but also for the well-being of students. Additionally, this research draws attention of future researchers to explore mechanisms that can drive students’ academic and psychological outcomes.

Influenza is an acute respiratory infection disease caused by the influenza virus. At present, due to the high mutation rate of influenza virus, it is difficult for the existing antiviral drugs to play an effective antiviral effect continually, so it is urgent to develop a new anti-influenza drug. Recently, more and more studies have been conducted on the antiviral activity ofAstragalus membranaceus, but the specific antiviral mechanism of this traditional Chinese medicine is not clear. In this study, the results proved that theAstragalus membranaceusinjection showed obvious anti-influenza virus activity. It could improve the survival rate of Raw264.7 cells which were infected with influenza virus, while it improved the blocking effect of influenza virus on cell cycle after infection, increased the SOD activity, and reduced the MDA content. At the same time, the innate immunity was affected by regulating the expression of TLR3, TAK1, TBK1, IRF3, and IFN-βin the TLR3-mediated signaling pathway, thus exerting its antiviral effect in vitro.