Traditional Chinese Medicine Products Research Articles

Online moisture detection technology and its application prospect in drying of traditional Chinese medicine

Drying is one of the most common unit operations in the production of traditional Chinese medicine. The drying process of traditional Chinese medicine materials is accompanied by the dynamic reduction of water content. As a key index to determine the end of the drying process, the moisture content of materials plays an important role in improving drying efficiency and saving energy. Recently, the drying process of traditional Chinese medicine is mostly monitored by offline detection, and there are few reports of online moisture detection applications. In this paper, the principle and current application of online inspection technology for the material drying process in different fields were introduced. The significance of online detection technology in drying of traditional Chinese medicine was also analyzed. Meanwhile, the application prospect of online detection technology in the field of drying of traditional Chinese medicine was predicted. In response to urgent transformation and upgrading of the traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing industry, the application of online moisture detection technology is expected to be a key breakthrough in the intelligent upgrading of traditional Chinese medicine drying technology and equipment.

Platycodon grandiflorum extract: chemical composition and whitening, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects.

Whitening cosmetics have a large market scale and broad development prospects, while whitening products of traditional Chinese medicine have always been a research hotspot. In this study, the whitening active extract of Platycodon grandiflorum (PGE) was isolated and purified for the first time, and the whitening activity mechanism and chemical composition of PGE were elucidated. A total of 45 components were identified via high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) analysis, including arbutin, syringin, chlorogenic acid, platycoside E, platycodin D3, baicalin, platycodin D, and luteolin. The scavenging rates of PGE toward DPPH and ABTS free radicals were 98.03% and 84.30%, respectively. The inhibition rate of PGE toward tyrosinase was up to 97.71%. The PGE had significant anti-inflammatory effects on RAW264.7 macrophages stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and had significant inhibition effects on tyrosinase and melanin generation of B16F10 cells stimulated by α-MSH. The results showed that the PGE achieved a synergistic whitening effect by inhibiting the activation of oxygen free radicals on tyrosinase, antioxidation, anti-inflammatory effect, enzyme activity, and melanin generation. As a whitening agent extracted from natural plants, PGE has great potential in the research and development of plant whitening cosmetics, which lays a foundation for the further development and utilization of Platycodon grandiflorum resources and also provides a theoretical basis for the development of green and organic whitening cosmetics.

Effective inhibition of coronavirus replication by Polygonum cuspidatum.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has infected more than 210 million individuals globally and resulted in over 4 million deaths since the first report in December 2019. The early use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for light and ordinary patients, can rapidly improve symptoms, shorten hospitalization days and reduce severe cases transformed from light and normal. Many TCM formulas and products have a wide application in treating infectious and non-infectious diseases. Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. (P. cuspidatum), is an important Traditional Chinese Medicine with actions of clearing away heat and eliminating dampness, draining the gallbladder to relieve jaundice, removing blood stasis to alleviate pain, resolving phlegm and arrest cough. In the search for anti-SARS-CoV-2, P. cuspidatum was recommended as as a therapeutic drug of COVID-19 pneumonia.In this study, we aimed to identifies P. cuspidatum is the potential broad-spectrum inhibitor for the treatment of coronaviruses infections. Methods: In the present study , we infected human malignant embryonal rhabdomyoma (RD) cells with the OC43 strain of the coronavirus, which represent an alternative model for SARS-CoV-2 and then employed the cell viability assay kit for the antiviral activity. We combined computer aided virtual screening to predicte the binding site and employed Surface plasmon resonance analysis (SPR) to comfirm the interaction between drugs and coronavirus. We employed fluorescence resonance energy transfer technology to identify drug's inhibition in the proteolytic activity of 3CLpro and Plpro. Results: Based on our results, polydatin and resveratrol derived from P. cuspidatum significantly suppressed HCoV-OC43 replication. 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of polydatin inhibited SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and Plpro, MERS Mpro and Plpro were 18.66, 125, 14.6 and 25.42 μm, respectively. IC50 values of resveratrol inhibited SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and Plpro, MERS Mpro and Plpro were 29.81 ,60.86, 16.35 and19.04 μM, respectively. Finally, SPR assay confirmed that polydatin and resveratrol had high affinity to SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV 3Clpro, MERS-CoV 3Clpro and PLpro protein. Conclusions: we identified the antiviral activity of flavonoids polydatin and resveratrol on RD cells. Polydatin and resveratrol were found to be specific and selective inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2, 3CLpro and PLpro, viral cysteine proteases. In summary, this study identifies P. cuspidatum as the potential broad-spectrum inhibitor for the treatment of coronaviruses infections.

Rapid determination of active components in Ginkgo biloba leaves by near infrared spectroscopy combined with genetic algorithm joint extreme learning machine

Near-infrared spectroscopy(NIRS) combined with band screening method and modeling algorithm can be used to achieve the rapid and non-destructive detection of the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) production process. This paper focused on the ginkgo leaf macroporous resin purification process, which is the key technology of Yinshen Tongluo Capsules, in order to achieve the rapid determination of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin in effluent. The abnormal spectrum was eliminated by Mahalanobis distance algorithm, and the data set was divided by the sample set partitioning method based on joint X-Y distances(SPXY). The key information bands were selected by synergy interval partial least squares(siPLS); based on that, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling(CARS), successive projections algorithm(SPA) and Monte Carlo uninformative variable(MC-UVE) were used to select wavelengths to obtain less but more critical variable data. With selected key variables as input, the quantitative analysis model was established by genetic algorithm joint extreme learning machine(GA-ELM) algorithm. The performance of the model was compared with that of partial least squares regression(PLSR). The results showed that the combination with siPLS-CARS-GA-ELM could achieve the optimal model performance with the minimum number of variables. The calibration set correlation coefficient R_c and the validation set correlation coefficient R_p of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin were all above 0.98. The root mean square error of calibration(RMSEC), the root mean square error of prediction(RMSEP) and the relative standard errors of prediction(RSEP) were 0.030 0, 0.029 2 and 8.88%, 0.041 4, 0.034 8 and 8.46%, 0.029 3, 0.027 1 and 10.10%, respectively. Compared with the PLSR me-thod, the performance of the GA-ELM model was greatly improved, which proved that NIRS combined with GA-ELM method has a great potential for rapid determination of effective components of TCM.

Current global status and future development of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019

Recognizing the potential of globalizing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this review summarizes the current global use of TCM for COVID-19, status of the internationalization of TCM, and strategy on globalizing TCM for COVID-19. COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus disease that has sparked a pandemic in March 2020 affecting over 110 countries. Although researchers have been racing to develop targeted anti-COVID-19 treatment and vaccine, they are still currently unavailable. Thus, in treating patients infected with COVID-19, western medicine mainly recommended symptomatic treatment and monitoring. Existing drugs are used in the context of clinical trials, and the FDA still not yet approved these drugs for COVID-19. On the other hand, TCM proposed herbal treatment for suspected individuals to take within their observation period, as well as for confirmed COVID-19 patients to take during active phase of disease and during recovery. In China, Integrative Chinese-Western Medicine had been used in treating 91.5% of COVID-19 patients and showed its strength in reducing disease severity, shortening recovery time, and lowering the mortality rate. Despite obstacles in globalizing TCM for the treatment of COVID-19, promoting appropriate use of locally registered TCM products may prevent disease in susceptible individuals, improve the quality of life, and assist in the recovery of COVID-19 patients. With increasing global acceptance, TCM may play a more important role in the battle against infectious disease in the future.

Use of Cardiovascular Drugs for Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Among Rural-Dwelling Older Chinese Adults.

Cardiovascular risk factors and related disorders are common among older adults, and use of various classes of cardiovascular (CV) drugs could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, data are sparse with regard to the use of CV drugs among rural-dwelling older adults in China. Therefore, this population-based study aimed to describe use of CV drugs among older adults living in the rural communities in China, while taking into account the use of CV drugs for primary and secondary prevention of CVDs. This study included 5,246 participants (age ≥65 years; 57.17% women; 40.68% illiteracy) in the baseline examination of the MIND-China study. In March-September 2018, data on health-related factors, CVDs (ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and stroke), and CV drug use were collected via face-to-face survey, clinical examination, and laboratory tests. We classified CV drugs according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system for western medications and specific cardiovascular effects for the products of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). We conducted descriptive analysis. The overall prevalence of major cardiovascular risk factors ranged from 14.30% in diabetes and 23.81% in dyslipidemia to 66.70% in hypertension, and CVDs affected 35.07% of all participants (36.28% in women vs. 33.47% in men, p = 0.035). In the total sample, calcium channel blockers (C08) were most commonly used (10.39%), followed by TCM products (7.64%), hypoglycemic agents (A10, 4.73%), renin-angiotensin system (RAS)-acting agents (C09, 4.61%), and lipid-lowering agents (C10, 4.17%). The proportions of CV drugs for primary prevention (i.e., use of CV drugs among people without CVD) were 3.14% for antithrombotic agents (mainly aspirin), 1.38% for lipid-lowering agents, and 3.11% for RAS-acting agents; the corresponding figures for secondary prevention (i.e., use of CV drugs among people with CVD) were 13.97%, 9.35%, and 7.39%. In conclusion, despite highly prevalent cardiovascular risk factors and CVDs, a fairly low proportion of the rural-dwelling older adults take CV medications for primary and secondary prevention. Notably, TCM products are among the most commonly used CV drugs. These results call for additional efforts to promote implementation of the evidence-based recommendations for prevention of CVDs in the primary care settings.

Quality Markers for Astragali Radix and Its Products Based on Process Analysis.

Due to the complex nature of traditional medicines, quality control methods need to cover two aspects: compliance of raw materials with quality standards and process control. Astragali radix (AR), the roots of Astragalus mongholicus Bunge, was selected in this study as an example of a widely used traditional medicine in various formulations. Astragaloside IV (AG IV) and calycosin 7-O-β-D-glucoside (CG) are used as the markers for the quality control of AR and its products in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. However, in the raw materials, malic acid esters of the CG and acetate esters of the astragaloside are easily decomposed into CG and AG IV during storage and processing of AR to make extracts for various preparations. The thermal stability of the isoflavonoids and astragalosides in decoction was studied. The level of CG and astragalosides (AG I/AG II/AG IV) was strongly affected by prolonged heat during processing, while calycosin was stable in the conditions. Also the major astragalosides in AR could fully converted into AG IV which eventually reaches a stable level under certain conditions. With calycosin and AG IV as marker components, practical, reproducible, and precise methods were established and applied to the quality analysis of AR from its raw materials to its intermediates and products. This study demonstrates that a full chemical profiles analysis of the whole manufacturing process (from “raw materials—intermediates/extracts—final product”) is important to identify quality markers (Q-markers) and even to establish proper analysis methods for traditional Chinese medicine products.

Understanding Traditional Chinese Medicine to strengthen conservation outcomes

AbstractNumerous treatments in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) involve the use of wildlife products, including some that utilize ingredients derived from endangered flora and fauna. Demand for such endangered wildlife products in TCM can threaten the survival of species and pose serious challenges for conservation.Chinese medical practice is embedded in the cultural fabric of many societies in East and Southeast Asia, and remains an integral part of everyday life and knowledge. It is grounded in principles and theories that have grown over hundreds of years and differ substantially from those of mainstream allopathic biomedicine.In order to address the threats posed by the medicinal consumption of endangered wildlife, conservation scientists and practitioners will benefit from a basic understanding of TCM. Such knowledge will enable conservationists to craft culturally nuanced solutions and to engage constructively with TCM stakeholders. However, conservationists typically lack familiarity with TCM as the incompatibility of many TCM concepts with those of the biomedical sciences poses a barrier to understanding.In this paper, we examine the core theories and practices of TCM in order to make TCM more accessible to conservation scientists and practitioners. A better understanding of TCM will enable conservationists to deliver more effective and lasting conservation outcomes.A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Diuretic Effect and Metabolomics Analysis of Crude and Salt-Processed Plantaginis Semen.

Plantaginis Semen (PS) is well recognized in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and health products. Crude PS (CPS) and salt-processed CPS (SPS) are the two most commonly used decoction pieces of PS, and are included in the 2020 edition of Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Although they all have multiple effects, the mechanisms for treating diseases are different and remain unclear, the processing mechanism of SPS is also indeterminate, which hinders their clinical application to a certain extent. In order to solve these problems and further develop PS in the clinical application. Here, we used saline-loaded model rats for experiments, and utilized an integrated approach consisting of pharmacological methods and metabolomics, which could assess the diuretic impact of CPS and SPS ethanol extracts on saline-loaded rats and elucidate the underlying mechanism. The results showed that CPS and SPS both produced increased urine volume excretion and urine electrolyte excretion, but the levels of aldosterone (ALD) and aquaporin 2 (AQP2) were decreased. And 30 differential metabolites such as linoleic acid, lysoPC(O-18:0), sphingosine-1-phosphate, lysoPC(18:0) were found, mainly involving three metabolic pathways. In conclusion, CPS and SPS both have a diuretic effect, and that of SPS is better. This work investigated the possible diuretic mechanisms of CPS and SPS which may also be the mechanism of PS for anti-hypertension. In addition, a holistic approach provided novel and helpful insights into the underlying processing mechanisms of TCM.

Rapid Analysis of Aristolochic Acid Analogues in Traditional Chinese Patent Medicine by LC-MS/MS

Aristolochic acids have been demonstrated to have renal toxicity, cause carcinogenesis, and may cause gene mutations. A series of risk control measurements have been adopted worldwide since 1990s. Some varieties of traditional Chinese medicine with high content of aristolochic acids have been banned in China. However, some species containing aristolochic acids in microscale are still in use. In recent years, with the continuous awareness of drug safety, the aristolochic acid analogues were generally considered to be of potential safety risks. Among these constituents, aristolochic acid I is still the one with most studies. Therefore, in addition to aristolochic acid I, it is necessary to establish an accurate and rapid method to determine other aristolochic acid analogues. LC-MS/MS methods based on multireaction monitoring mode was established to simultaneously determine 9 aristolochic acid analogues including 5 aristolochic acids and 4 aristolactams for the first time. Furthermore, the method was applied for Long dan Xie gan Pill, a traditional complex compound preparation with a long history for treatment of diseases including hepatochlic hygropyrexia, dizziness, tinnitus, and deafness. It has attracted widespread attention because of the aristolochic acid nephropathy. The crude drug Caulis Aristolochiae manshuriensis (Guanmutong) collected in the prescription was replaced by Akebiae Caulis (Mutong), and the established method helps to understand the product safety on market. As a result, aristolochic acid I, aristolochic acid Iva, and aristolactam I were detected and determined in one batch of Long dan Xie gan Pill among 25 batches of samples. It provided practical approach to demonstrate trace aristolochic acids and aristolactams. It was beneficial to control the safety of related traditional Chinese medicine products.

Study on improvement and mechanism of tableting properties of porous Fagopyri Dibotryis Rhizoma powders

At present, there are many difficulties in the development and production of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) tablets. This work aimed to explore the feasibility of improving dissolution difficulty and large dosage of TCM tablets by co-spray drying TCM extract with a small amount of pore-foaming agent ammonium bicarbonate. A series of porous Fagopyri Dibotryis Rhizoma powders were prepared by co-spray drying Fagopyri Dibotryis Rhizoma with different amounts of ammonium bicarbonate, and their powder pro-perties and tablet properties were comparatively investigated. At the same time, Fagopyri Dibotryis Rhizoma commercial tablets and raw material tablets were used as control drugs, the improvement degree of its compressibility and dissolution rate was investigated. The results showed that there were higher porosity, specific surface area and hollow spheroidal particles structure of powders via co-spray drying Fagopyri Dibotryis Rhizoma with NH_4HCO_3. Compared to parent and commercial Fagopyri Dibotryis Rhizoma tablets, the dissolution rates and compressibility of porous Fagopyri Dibotryis Rhizoma tablets were significantly increasing. High compressibility could increase drug loading by reducing excipients in manufacturing of tablets and lower the dose of Fagopyri Dibotryis Rhizoma tablets.

Application of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) traceability system based on TCM quality characteristics and HACCP system

It is crucial to establish a complete set of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) quality traceability management process system, in order to stabilize the pricing order of TCM market and reconstruct the transmission path of TCM quality signals. In this study, we reviewed the mature experience of food and drug supervision at home and abroad, analyzed the quality characteristics of TCM, and put forward that the quality control of TCM products can learn from the hazard analysis and critical control point(HACCP) system in food safety quality control. This study points out that the HACCP system provides not only technical guidance for the traceability management of TCM, but also ideas for improving the quality of TCM products and the safety risk control of TCM. The application of the HACCP system in TCM quality control can help establish an international dialogue platform for TCM and help realize the modernization and internationalization of TCM industry.

The Study of Medication Understanding and Medication Adherence in Chinese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Medication adherence (MA) is a key component to prevent complications of diabetes mellitus. Patients with better medication understanding (MU) showed higher MA. While there were numerous studies of MA in Chinese patients, there has not been any MU study. Objective: To assess the associations of MA and MU in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). To translate and validate the Chinese version of the Medication Understanding Questionnaire (C-MUQ). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 384 Chinese T2D patients. The MA was assessed using the proportion of days covered (PDC), and the MU was assessed using the C-MUQ. The multiple logistic regression was applied to simultaneously assess the association of MA (good or poor MA) with MU and other contributing factors including the sociodemographic characteristics and clinical conditions of patients. Results: The average PDC of study patients was 89.78% (SD 14.75%), and 77.08% of the patients were classified into the good MA group (PDC is 80% or greater). Based on multiple logistic regression as good MA as dependent variable, factors significantly associated with good MA were not long durations of diabetes, not using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) products, and the interaction effect of high education level and good MU. The adjusted odd ratio (AOR) were 0.28 (95% CI 0.10 to 0.79) for 25 years or more of diabetes durations, 0.33 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.89) for using TCM products, 3.28 (95% CI 1.94 to 8.62) for high education with poor MU, 4.09 (95% CI 1.46 to 7.36) for low education with good MU, and 5.32 (95% CI 2.49 to 11.34) for high education with good MU, respectively. Conclusion: To achieve good MA, the Chinese health professionals should concern about improving MU, especially in the low education patients. Keywords: Medication understanding, Medication adherence, Type 2 diabetes

Advances in application of capillary electrophoresis in pharmaceutical analysis

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is mainly applied in pharmaceutical analysis. All CE separation modes and detection methods show their characteristics and application abilities in the separation and analysis of different drug samples. The present review provides a brief cross section of new advances in CE application in pharmaceutical analysis, including for small molecular drugs and related substances (including chiral drug separation), traditional Chinese medicine and natural products, in vivo pharmaceutical analysis, and biological product analysis. However, the research on physical and chemical constant determination, affinity capillary electrophoresis and binding constant research (drug and receptor interaction, etc.), clinical biomarker analysis, metabolomics, and microchip CE analysis are not included. According to traditional pharmaceutical analysis developments, the recent advances in CE in compliance with pharmaceutical analysis regulatory requirements include CE capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C4D), improved detection sensitivity and precision, CE-sodium dodecyl sulfate (CE-SDS), imaged capillary isoelectric focusing (icIEF), antibody analysis, and so on. Combined with the references, this review also discusses the current requirements in the field of traditional pharmaceutical analysis, as well as the status, challenges and opportunities of CE in it. Some suggestions on CE application as a complementary analysis method for chemical drugs and traditional Chinese medicine analysis are put forward, and the characteristics and ability of CE in biological product analysis is expected to further development. The new development of CE-MS and improvement of CE repeatability may greatly expand the field of application of CE in the future. This review covers the improvements published between January 2017 and February 2020, as well as some important CE papers published in 2016.

Analysis of clinical trials of new drugs in China as of 2019

The research and development (R&D) of new drugs indicates scientific progress and economic development. However, little is known regarding ongoing or recent clinical trials in China. We analyzed data from clinical trials published before December 31, 2019, and found that the annual registration numbers are increasing annually in the country. Based on clinical indications, most tested drugs target cancers, nervous system, infections, and the cardiovascular system. Furthermore, clinical trials are mostly concentrated in Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangsu, and conducted by large pharmaceutical companies, with multiple trials for several generic drugs. Going forward, it will be necessary to promote R&D in China of clinically relevant innovative drugs, drug delivery systems, and novel traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and biological products, as well as to have a balanced distribution of clinical trials to sustainably meet public health needs.

Bletilla striata ecological planting patterns and technical principle analysis

Bletilla striata is a shallow-rooted herbaceous plant, which is highly dependent on the planting environment.In order to improve the quality of B.striata effectively and solve the contradiction between the production of traditional Chinese medicine and the ecological environment, a variety of simulated cultivation patterns have been explored in various producing areas. Through field investigation and literature collation, this paper sorted out 24 sets of simulated cultivation modes of B.striata, including 4 kinds of sub-forest imitative wild planting techniques, 10 kinds of B.striata-economic forest cooperative development mode, 14 kinds of intercropping techniques of B.striata and 1 kind of ecological rotation technique of B.striata-edible fungi under economic forest. Combining economic benefit, social benefit and ecological benefit, the advantages and disadvantages of these planting patterns were compared. The ecological principles of B.striata simulative cultivation are analyzed in detail, as follows:(1) the wild cultivation of B.striata simulative cultivation under forest is to utilize the complementary principle of land resources under forest and spatial light and heat resources, and carry out the compound cultivation of cultivating forest with medicine and growing with short growth;(2) the intercropping of B.striata makes full use of the difference in height and height of the two plants to meet their needs for light, humidity and ventilation, reduce the cost of shading and weeding, improve the risk-resistant ability of Chinese medicinal materials cultivation, and increase the utilization rate of land, and give consideration to the benefits of both length and length;(3) the ecological rotation technology of "B.striata-edible fungi" in economic forests is to realize the effective utilization of waste bacteria and residues according to the mutually beneficial relationship between B.striata and edible fungi. The promotion and optimization of B.striata imitated wild cultivation technology will further promote the sustainable development of B.striata industry.

Knowledge and attitudes about the use of pangolin scale products in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) within China

Abstract All eight pangolin species are threatened with extinction, largely through demand for their products including scales, meat and body parts. The demand for pangolin scales has gained attention from many conservation groups due to the large volumes involved in illegal trade. Market demand in China is one of the major drivers for international illegal trade according to confiscation reports, and many conservation interventions have been attempted to reduce this demand. The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) community plays a key role in regulating legal trade and combating illegal trade in pangolin scales. However, this community has been largely overlooked by previous conservation interventions directed at the pangolin scale trade. There has also been little research into the involvement of the TCM community in pangolin scale trade in China. To fill these knowledge gaps, we interviewed TCM doctors from 41 hospitals, shop owners/assistants from 90 TCM shops, two TCM wholesalers, and 2,168 members of the general public in Henan and Hainan provinces, China. Respondents' knowledge of and attitudes towards the pangolin scale trade were investigated using semi‐structured and structured questionnaires, with a total of 2,301 respondents. Our results show that TCM practitioners generally have poor awareness of the illegal nature of their behaviours and pangolin scale products involved. Awareness is particularly poor among participants at the end of the trade chain (i.e. end sellers). The public also generally lacked understanding of pangolin products in markets. Results also show that 20 (71%) of 28 doctors believed that the use of pangolin scales in at least some, if not all, treatments could be substituted by other ingredients. These findings suggest that raising awareness of the legality of pangolin scale products and petitioning TCM communities to use alternative substitutes for these products could constitute feasible and effective pangolin conservation interventions. This study provides the first insights into the knowledge of and attitudes towards the pangolin scale trade from the perspective of TCM practitioners, and suggests that collaborating with the TCM community is necessary to combat this illegal trade. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Cellular senescence and cancer: Focusing on traditional Chinese medicine and natural products.

Cancer is the principal cause of death and a dominant public health problem which seriously threatening human life. Among various ways to treat cancer, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and natural products have outstanding anti‐cancer effects with their unique advantages of high efficiency and minimal side effects. Cell senescence is a physiological process of cell growth stagnation triggered by stress, which is an important line of defence against tumour development. In recent years, active ingredients of TCM and natural products, as an interesting research hotspot, can induce cell senescence to suppress the occurrence and development of tumours, by inhibiting telomerase activity, triggering DNA damage, inducing SASP, and activating or inactivating oncogenes. In this paper, the recent research progress on the main compounds derived from TCM and natural products that play anti‐cancer roles by inducing cell senescence is systematically reviewed, aiming to provide a reference for the clinical treatment of pro‐senescent cancer.

Product improvement and secondary development of Pudilan Xiaoyan Oral Liquid based on clinical medication

Pudilan Xiaoyan Oral Liquid is widely used in clinical applications, with safe and effective results. Its coverage rate in the national first, second and third grade hospitals is as high as 71%. In this study, we analyzed and summarized the research progress on the material basis, quality control, production process and clinical medication of Pudilan Xiaoyan Oral Liquid based on the clinical diseases(parotitis, tonsillitis, pharyngitis), and deeply explored the intrinsic quality improvement and secondary development of Pudilan product. Pharmacodynamic material basis of Pudilan Xiaoyan Oral Liquid was explored through the network pharmacology technology and quality control indicators of the production process were optimized by cell anti-inflammatory experiments. Through these techno-logies, it would be more specific, scientific and effective to carry out process optimization of each link and multidimensional quality control of the whole process. The dosage and oral compliance for special patients(children) were explored, providing a reference for clinical pediatric medication of Pudilan Xiaoyan Oral Liquid. Simultaneously, it is helpful to expand the application market by developing Pudilan daily chemical products, and promote the traditional Chinese medicine products in terms of curative effect and daily life.

Exploring the dietary choices of Chinese women living with breast cancer in Vancouver, Canada

PurposeTo explore how Chinese Canadian patients with breast cancer make dietary choices and to understand their nutritional information needs in order to inform oncology healthcare providers about provision of optimal supportive care for this population.MethodsUsing interpretive description methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with first- and second-generation Chinese Canadian women aged 41–73 years living in Vancouver, Canada, who were diagnosed with breast cancer within the last 5 years. A follow-up focus group was held to validate emergent themes.ResultsNineteen women were interviewed; 6 participated in the focus group. Their accounts of dietary experiences following diagnosis focused on three areas: dietary change (including desired and implemented changes that participants believed would benefit their health), facilitators and barriers to dietary change, and information and resource needs. Dietary changes reported included avoiding or consuming greater amounts of certain foods, and taking traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and natural health products. Barriers to desired dietary change included the interplay between food preferences and family and social life, work-life balance, and cost and availability of specialty foods. Support from family members, however, facilitated participants’ consumption of more whole and natural foods after their cancer diagnosis. Participants obtained food and nutrition information from a variety of sources but had difficulty determining the reliability and accuracy of information. They requested timely, credible, culturally-relevant, and easily accessible dietary information.ConclusionsOncology healthcare providers would benefit from increased understanding of the dietary practices, including TCM, of Chinese women living with breast cancer. To facilitate communication and improve quality of care, healthcare professionals should provide credible and culturally relevant diet-related information in a variety of forms.