Unraveling the mystery of efficacy in Chinese medicine formula: New approaches and technologies for research on pharmacodynamic substances

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the key to unlock treasures of Chinese civilization. TCM and its compound play a beneficial role in medical activities to cure diseases, especially in major public health events such as novel coronavirus epidemics across the globe. The chemical composition in Chinese medicine formula is complex and diverse, but their effective substances resemble “mystery boxes”. Revealing their active ingredients and their mechanisms of action has become focal point and difficulty of research for herbalists. Although the existing research methods are numerous and constantly updated iteratively, there is remain a lack of prospective reviews. Hence, this paper provides a comprehensive account of existing new approaches and technologies based on previous studies with an in vitro to in vivo perspective. In addition, the bottlenecks of studies on Chinese medicine formula effective substances are also revealed. Especially, we look ahead to new perspectives, technologies and applications for its future development. This work reviews based on new perspectives to open horizons for the future research. Consequently, herbal compounding pharmaceutical substances study should carry on the essence of TCM while pursuing innovations in the field.     

Combining synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy with multivariate methods for the analysis of petrol-kerosene mixtures

Synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) is a rapid, sensitive and nondestructive method suitable for the analysis of multifluorophoric mixtures. The present study demonstrates the use of SFS and multivariate methods for the analysis of petroleum products which is a complex mixture of multiple fluorophores. Two multivariate techniques principal component regression (PCR) and partial least square regression (PLSR) have been successfully applied for the classification of petrol-kerosene mixtures. Calibration models were constructed using 35 samples and their validation was carried out with varying composition of petrol and kerosene in the calibration range. The results showed that the method could be used for the estimation of kerosene in kerosene-mixed petrol. The model was found to be sensitive, detecting even 1% contamination of kerosene in petrol.     

Molecular electrostatic potentials as input for the alignment of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors in 3D QSAR

Comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA), a three-dimensional quantitative structure activity relationship (3D QSAR) paradigm, was used to examine the correlations between the calculated physicochemical properties and the in vitro activities (3'-processing and 3'-strand transfer inhibition) of a series of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase inhibitors. The training set consisted of 34 molecules from five structurally diverse classes: salicylpyrazolinones, dioxepinones, coumarins, quinones, and benzoic hydrazides. The data set was aligned using extrema of molecular electrostatic potentials (MEPs). The predictive ability of the resultant model was evaluated using a test set comprised of 7 molecules belonging to a different structural class of thiazepinediones. A CoMSIA model using an MEP-based alignment showed considerable internal as well external predictive ability (r2(cv) = 0.821, r2(pred) = 0.608 for 3'-processing; and r2(cv) = 0.759, r2(pred.) = 0.660 for 3'-strand transfer).     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of ethinylestradiol and levonorgestrel by partial least squares and principal component regression multivariate calibration

Two spectrophotometric methods for the determination of Ethinylestradiol (ETE) and Levonorgestrel (LEV) by using the multivariate calibration technique of partial least square (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR) are presented. In this study the PLS and PCR are successfully applied to quantify both hormones using the information contained in the absorption spectra of appropriate solutions. In order to do this, a calibration set of standard samples composed of different mixtures of both compounds has been designed. The results found by application of the PLS and PCR methods to the simultaneous determination of mixtures, containing 4–11 μg ml⁻¹ of ETE and 2–23 μg ml⁻¹ of LEV, are reported. Five different oral contraceptives were analyzed and the results were very similar to that obtained by a reference liquid Chromatographic method.     

Simultaneous Kinetic‐Spectrophotometric Determination of Hydrazine and its Derivatives by Partial Least Squares and Principle Component Regression Methods

Simultaneous kinetic‐spectrophotometric determination of a ternary mixture of hydrazine (HZ) and its derivatives by principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS) calibration is described. The methods were based on the difference observed in the reduction rate of iron(III) with HZ, thiosemicarbazide (TSCZ) and phenylhydrazine (PHZ) in the presence of 2,2′‐bipyridine (Bpy). The colored complex of [Fe(Bpy)₃]²⁺ was formed in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as micellar media, and then monitored at 520 nm. The results showed that simultaneous determination of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ could be performed in their concentration ranges of 1.0–70.0, 0.2–6.0 and 0.1–10.0 μg mL^?1, respectively. The root mean squares errors of prediction (RMSEP) of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ were 0.719, 0.164 and 0.105 (for PLS) 0.788, 0.166 and 0.993 (for PCR), respectively. Both methods (PCR and PLS) were validated using a set of synthetic sample mixtures and then applied for simultaneous determination of HZ, TSCZ and PHZ in water samples.     

Conjugate-gradient method for computing the Moore-Penrose inverse and rank of a matrix

A conjugate-gradient method is developed for computing the Moore-Penrose generalized inverseA of a matrix and the associated projectors, by using the least-square characteristics of both the method and the inverseA . Two dual algorithms are introduced for computing the least-square and the minimum-norm generalized inverses, as well asA . It is shown that (i) these algorithms converge for any starting approximation; (ii) if they are started from the zero matrix, they converge toA ; and (iii) the trace of a sequence of approximations multiplied byA is a monotone increasing function converging to the rank ofA. A practical way of compensating the self-correcting feature in the computation ofA is devised by using the duality of the algorithms. Comparison with Ben-Israel's method is made through numerical examples. The conjugate-gradient method has an advantage over Ben-Israel's method.After having completed the present paper, the author received from Professor M. R. Hestenes his paper entitledPseudo Inverses and Conjugate Gradients. This paper treated the same subject and appeared in Communications of the ACM, Vol. 18, pp. 40–43, 1975.     

Hydrido-Carbonyl Rhenium Clusters with a Square Geometry of the Metal Core. Synthesis and X-Ray Characterization of the Novel [Re4(μ-H)3(CO)16]− Anion

Three and tetranuclear ring clusters have been obtained by treatment of [Re₂(CO)₈(THF)₂] with carbonyl-rhenates containing two terminal hydrides. The reaction with [ReH₂(CO)₄]^- provided a selective route to the previously known [Re₃(-H)₂(CO)₁₂]^- triangular cluster anion 1. The reaction with [Re₂H₂(-H)(CO)₈]^- gave the novel [Re₄(-H)₃(CO)₁₆]^- anion 2, containing a rare example of a puckered-square metal cluster. Protonation of 1 is known to afford the neutral [Re₃(-H)₃(CO)₁₂] species 3. Analogously the reaction of 2 with a strong acid afforded the previously known square metal clusters [Re₄(-H)₄(CO)₁₆] 4. The reaction could not be reversed by treatment with bases. Photolysis of 4 gave the unsaturated complex [Re₂(-H)₂(CO)₈] 5: this is the reverse of the dimerization reaction, that in THF at room temperature produces 4 from 5. Thermal treatment (reflux in cyclohexane for 24 h) left 4 almost unchanged. A single crystal X-ray analysis of [NEt₄]2 showed a s/e/s/s (e=eclipsed, s=staggered) conformation of the Re(CO)₄ units, leading to a puckered geometry of the ring, at variance with the square-planar geometry of 4 (all eclipsed). Two of the three hydrides of 2 have been located as bridging the Re–Re edges from inside the metal ring, as previously observed in 4. Density functional computations indicated a puckered conformation as the most stable for both 2 and 4, with very low activation energies for ring inversion (6.6 and 2.2 kcal·mol^-1, respectively), but ruled out solid state fluxionality for 4, whose observed planar geometry must be attributed to packing stabilization.     

Simultaneous kinetic spectrophotometric determination of cyanide and thiocyanate using the partial least squares (PLS) regression

The partial least squares (PLS-1) calibration model based on spectrophotometric measurement, for the simultaneous determination of CN⁻ and SCN⁻ ions is described. The method is based on the difference in the rate of the reaction between CN⁻ and SCN⁻ ions with chloramine-T in a pH 4.0 buffer solution and at 30 °C. The produced cyanogen chloride (CNCl) reacts with pyridine and the product condenses with barbituric acid and forms a final colored product. The absorption kinetic profiles of the solutions were monitored by measuring absorbance at 578 nm in the time range 20-180 s after initiation of the reaction with 2 s intervals. The experimental calibration matrix for partial least squares (PLS-1) calibration was designed with 31 samples. The cross-validation method was used for selecting the number of factors. The results showed that simultaneous determination could be performed in the range 10.0-900.0 and 50.0-1200.0 ng mL⁻¹ for CN⁻ and SCN⁻ ions, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of cyanide and thiocyanate in water samples.     

2-[(卤代苯胺基)羰基]苯甲酸与Cu(Ⅱ)、Ni(Ⅱ)、Co(Ⅱ)的配合物研究

本文报道了4种2-[(卤代苯胺(?))羰基]苯甲酸与Cu(Ⅱ)、Ni(Ⅱ)、Co(Ⅱ)配合物的制备,并通过元素分析、热重分析、红外光谱和电子光谱分析以及磁化率测定对它们进行了表征.结果证明,配合物是通过羧酸根上羟基氧原子和酰胺羰基上氧原子配位成键,除Cu(Ⅱ)配合物分子为平面正方形结构外.其余均为八面体结构,只是扭曲程度不同.并对它们的配位场参数进行了计算.