Cepharanthine Ameliorates Pulmonary Fibrosis by Inhibiting the NF-κB/NLRP3 Pathway, Fibroblast-to-Myofibroblast Transition and Inflammation.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is one of the sequelae of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and currently, lung transplantation is the only viable treatment option. Hence, other effective treatments are urgently required. We investigated the therapeutic effects of an approved botanical drug, cepharanthine (CEP), in a cell culture model of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis rat models both in vitro and in vivo.

Bioavailability Enhancement of Cepharanthine via Pulmonary Administration in Rats and Its Therapeutic Potential for Pulmonary Fibrosis Associated with COVID-19 Infection.

Cepharanthine (CEP) has excellent anti-SARS-CoV-2 properties, indicating its favorable potential for COVID-19 treatment. However, its application is challenged by its poor dissolubility and oral bioavailability. The present study aimed to improve the bioavailability of CEP by optimizing its solubility and through a pulmonary delivery method, which improved its bioavailability by five times when compared to that through the oral delivery method (68.

Recombinant Human HPS Protects Mice and Nonhuman Primates from Acute Liver Injury.

Acute liver injury shares a common feature of hepatocytes death, immune system disorders, and cellular stress. Hepassocin (HPS) is a hepatokine that has ability to promote hepatocytes proliferation and to protect rats from D-galactose (D-Gal)- or carbon tetrachloride (CCl)-induced liver injury by stimulating hepatocytes proliferation and preventing the high mortality rate, hepatocyte death, and hepatic inflammation. In this paper, we generated a pharmaceutical-grade recombinant human HPS using mammalian cells expression system and evaluated the effects of HPS administration on the pathogenesis of acute liver injury in monkey and mice.

In vitro and in vivo safety studies indicate that R15, a synthetic polyarginine peptide, could safely reverse the effects of unfractionated heparin.

Unfractionated heparin (UFH) is an anionic glycosaminoglycan that is widely used to prevent blood clotting. However, in certain cases, unwanted side effects can require it to be neutralized. Protamine sulfate (PS), a basic peptide rich in arginine, is the only approved antagonist for UFH neutralization.

Preclinical pharmacokinetics of M10 after intragastrical administration of M10-H and M10-Na in Wistar rats.

As a myricetin derivative, M10 is a potent agent of anti-chronic colonic inflammation. It has better activity than myricetin in preventing azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium - induced ulcerative colitis. Here, we introduce a sensitive quantification method based on ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of M10-H and M10-Na in Wistar rat plasma.

Application of ultra high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to investigate the regioselective glucuronidation of icaritin in vitro.

Icaritin is one of the Epimedium products with various biological activities. In the present study, we developed a rapid, reliable and robust UHPLC-MS/MS method to simultaneously determine unconjugated icaritin and its multiple glucuronides (icaritin-3-glucuronide, icaritin-7-glucuronide and icaritin-3,7-diglucuronide) in microsomal incubation systems, and applied it to study icaritin regioselective glucuronidation in vitro. We identified the involvement of human UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) isoforms in icaritin metabolism and further studied the kinetic profiles of icaritin glucuronidation using pooled human liver microsomes (HLMs), pooled rat liver microsomes (RLMs), pooled human intestine microsomes (HIMs) and UGTs, respectively.

New synthetic peptide with efficacy for heparin reversal and low toxicity and immunogenicity in comparison to protamine sulfate.

Protamine sulfate (PS), the only clinically approved antidote to unfractionated heparin (UFH), is widely used for cardiopulmonary surgery or other extracorporeal circulation situations. However, the applications of PS have accompanied various severe side-effects. In this study, we presented a novel synthesized peptide compound (RRRRR-RRRRR-RRRRR-sulfate, R15S) served as a safer UFH antidote.

Development and validation of a sensitive HPLC-MS/MS method for determination of chidamide (epidaza), a new benzamide class of selective histone deacetylase inhibitor, in human plasma and its clinical application.

Chidamide (epidaza), a new oral isotype-selective histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), which is just approved in China for the treatment of recurrent or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) in December 2014, is the first listed benzamide class of HDACi in the world, and is currently undergoing global clinical trials for solid tumor treatments. Here, we report a sensitive, rapid and robust HPLC-MS/MS method for determination of chidamide in human plasma. Plasma sample was subjected to a simple acetonitrile protein precipitation containing MS-275 used as an internal standard (IS).