Publications by authors named "Zifeng Pi"

The gut microbiota contribute significantly to the immune system. Low-medium polarity ginsenosides from wild ginseng (LWG) have potential immunomodulatory effects. However, how the LWG regulates gut microbiota to enhance immunity remains unclear.

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Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is partially affected by the integrity of the intestinal barrier. Licorice (GC), a medicinal and food-related herb, exhibits potent anti-inflammatory activity; however, studies on its mechanisms of action in RA are limited.

Method: Using a bovine type-II collagen-induced arthritis rat model, this study examined how GC influences the gut-joint axis to decrease RA.

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Article Synopsis
  • Fubai chrysanthemum is a traditional Chinese medicine known for its ability to improve visual fatigue and can also be used as a food.
  • Recent studies revealed 11 active substances from Fubai chrysanthemum that were found in rat plasma, indicating its potential medicinal properties.
  • The research showed that Fubai chrysanthemum helps protect eye cells from oxidative damage and increases cell vitality, suggesting its effectiveness in reducing visual fatigue by regulating cell apoptosis and oxidative stress responses.
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Background: Ginsenosides have received increased amounts of attention due to their ability to modulate the intestinal flora, which may subsequently alleviate alcoholic liver disease (ALD). The effects of ginseng fermentation solution (GFS) on the gut microbiota and metabolism in ALD patients have not been explored.

Purpose: This research aimed to explore the regulatory effect of GFS on ALD both in vitro and in vivo.

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Wu-tou decoction (WTD), a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It works by controlling intestinal flora and its metabolites, which in turn modulates the inflammatory response and intestinal barrier function. Small molecular compounds (SM) and polysaccharides (PS) were the primary constituents of WTD extract.

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Rationale: TongFu XieXia Decoction (TFXXD), a formulation rooted in traditional Chinese medicine and optimized through clinical practice, serves as an advanced version of the classic Da Cheng Qi decoction used for treating intestinal obstruction (IO), demonstrating significant therapeutic efficacy. However, due to the intricate nature of herbal compositions, the principal constituents and potential mechanisms of TFXXD have yet to be clarified. Accordingly, this study seeks to identify the active compounds and molecular targets of TFXXD, as well as to elucidate its anti-IO mechanisms.

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Seaweeds are classified as Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta, and Phaeophyta. They constitute a number of the most significant repositories of new therapeutic compounds for human use. Seaweed has been proven to possess diverse bioactive properties, which include anticancer properties.

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This study investigated the mechanism of characteristic non-volatile organic compounds (NVOCs) from ginseng Huang jiu (GH) in the treatment of alcoholic liver disease through UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS and network pharmacological analyses. Changes in NVOC contents in ginseng Huang jiu and ginseng-soaked wine fermented by different processing technologies were analyzed through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). A total of 96 ginsenosides were identified in ginseng Huang jiu throughout the fermentation process, which included 37 protopanaxadiol-type ginsenosides, 47 protopanaxatriol-type ginsenosides, and 4 oleanolic acid-type ginsenosides.

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Chrysanthemum is a kind of herb that can be used for both medicine and food. Although it has been shown to affect the redox damage of the lens, but the mechanism of action has not been systematically studied. This study identified the chemical profile of Fubai Chrysanthemum.

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Wu-tou decoction (WTD) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula which has been used for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for a thousand years. However, the underlying mechanism of WTD in treating RA is still unclear. In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to the role of gut microbiota and microbiota-derived metabolites in the treatment of RA.

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Paclobutrazol (PBZ) is a commonly used plant growth regulator (PGR) with good antibacterial activity. It has widespread applications in agricultural production. However, there is limited research reported on the potential risks of human health resulting from PBZ residues.

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In this study, an efficient screening method based on a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction method combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was established for the determination of 90 pesticides residues in Panax Ginseng. The accuracy of the method was then verified by analyzing the false positive rate and the screening detection limit in Ginseng. The results revealed that the screening detection limit of 33 of 90 pesticide residues were 0.

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Traditional Chinese medicine believes that qi deficiency is important pathogenesis and syndrome of liver cancer and thus is crucial in related research. However, the effect of qi deficiency on the occurrence and development of liver cancer is still unclear. This study aimed to establish a liver cancer model of qi deficiency through the swimming exhaustion and xenograft of human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

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Clearance of peripheral amyloid-β (Aβ) has been demonstrated particularly promising for overcoming the blood-brain barrier (BBB) hurdle to remove brain-derived Aβ associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, currently used therapeutic agents targeting peripheral Aβ cannot simultaneously achieve plasma Aβ enrichment and enhanced clearance, which may result in poor bioavailability and rather low efficacy. Moreover, most of therapeutic agents usually promote the unfavorable aggregation of Aβ.

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Lignans from Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill (LFS) has been proved to improve impaired cognitive ability thereby show potential in treating Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS and UHPLC-QQQ-MS were adopted cooperatively to establish a method synchronously detecting 10 kinds of LFS monomers in rat plasma samples.

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Herb pairs are the unique combinations of two relatively fixed herbs, intrinsically convey the basic idea of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions. The compatibility of Radix ginseng and Schisandra chinensis has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating Alzheimer's disease for many years. However, there are few studies on Radix ginseng-Schisandra chinensis herb pair, and the underlying action mechanism is still unclear.

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Crocins are highly valuable natural compounds for treating human disorders, and they are also high-end spices and colorants in the food industry. Due to the limitation of obtaining this type of highly polar compound, the commercial prices of crocins I and II are expensive. In this study, macroporous resin column chromatography combined with high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was used to purify crocins I and II from natural sources.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: As a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, Wu-tou decoction has been used for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for more than a thousand years. Identifying pharmacodynamic constituents (PCs) of WTD and exploring their in vivo process are very meaningful for promoting the modernization of TCM. However, the pathological state might change this process.

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Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the major obstacles for clinical effective chemotherapy. In this study, the effects and possible mechanisms of aloe-emodin (AE) were investigated on reversing the adriamycin (ADR)-induced resistance of MCF-7/ADR cells. AE could significantly reverse the ADR resistance in MCF-7/ADR cells.

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Article Synopsis
  • - New boronate affinity-based surface molecularly imprinted polymers (BDMIPs) were developed on 96-well microplates for efficient pharmacokinetic (PK) studies of rutin and its metabolites in rat plasma, eliminating the need for concentration and redissolution.
  • - The technology combines features of covalent and noncovalent effects, multiple cavities, and parallel processing, enhancing the efficiency and specificity of the analysis.
  • - Using UHPLC-MS/MS, this method achieved a detection limit 100 times better than traditional approaches, allowing for the simultaneous reporting of rutin and isoquercetin PK data, offering a promising tool for large-scale sample analysis in agriculture and food studies.
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Rationale: Qi-Shen-Ke-Li (QSKL) is a traditional Chinese formula used in clinical practice to treat chronic heart failure (CHF) in humans. To rationalize the use of this formula in clinical practice, the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution in rats after oral administration of QSKL were investigated using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC/TQ-MS).

Methods: The CHF model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of isoprenaline (ISO; also known as isoproterenol) and evaluated by HE staining and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurement.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder. Amyloid beta-protein (Aβ) plaques, which are the hallmark of AD, are formed from the imbalance of Aβ production and clearance accompanied by neuroinflammation, gut dysbiosis, and metabolite dysfunction. All of these processes give rise to neurochemical deficiencies and synaptic dysfunction, which ultimately contribute to recognition dysfunction.

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Aromatic carboxylic acids (ACAs), play important roles in preventive and therapeutic effects for some diseases. However, complex matrix effect and poor detection sensitivity make it difficult and even rare to detect ACAs in complex bio-samples. Herein, a stable isotope labeling derivatization (SILD) method based on one-pot synthesis of carboxylic amides by aniline (AN) and aniline-d (AN-d) was firstly designed for quantitatively monitoring ACAs under mild conditions.

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