Chenyue Liu

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, also known as Danshen in Chinese, has been widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in China and other Asia countries. Here, we summarize literatures of the historical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) interpretation of the action of Salvia miltiorrhiza, its use in current clinical trials, its main phytochemical constituents and its pharmacological findings by consulting Pubmed, China Knowledge Resource Integrated, China Science and Technology Journal, and the Web of Science Databases. Since 2000, 39 clinical trials have been identified that used S. miltiorrhiza in TCM prescriptions alone or with other herbs for the treatment of patients with CVD. More than 200 individual compounds have been isolated and characterized from S. miltiorrhiza, which exhibited various pharmacological activities targeting different pathways for the treatment of CVD in various animal and cell models. The isolated compounds may provide new perspectives in alternative treatment regimes and reveal novel chemical scaffolds for the development of anti-CVD drugs. Meanwhile, there are also some rising concerns of the potential side effects and drug-drug interactions of this plant. The insights gained from this study will help us to better understanding of the actions of this herb for management of cardiovascular disorders. As an herb of red root, S. miltiorrhiza will act as a potential red light to prevent the development of CVD.

Aim . In routine histopathology, decalcification is an essential step for mineralized tissues. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of different decalcification solutions on the morphological and antigenicity preservation in Sprague Dawley (SD) rat femurs. Materials and Methods . Four different decalcification solutions were employed to remove the mineral substances from rat femurs, including 10% neutral buffered EDTA, 3% nitric acid, 5% nitric acid, and 8% hydrochloric acid/formic acid. Shaking and low temperature were used to process the samples. The stainings of hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and immunohistochemical (IHC) were employed to evaluate the bone morphology and antigenicity. Key Findings . Different decalcification solutions may affect the quality of morphology and the staining of paraffin-embedded sections in pathological examinations. Among four decalcifying solutions, 3% nitric acid is the best decalcifying agent for HE staining. 10% neutral buffered EDTA and 5% nitric acid are the preferred decalcifying agents for IHC staining. Significance . The current study investigated the effects of different decalcifying agents on the preservation of the bone structure and antigenicity, which will help to develop suitable protocols for the analyses of the bony tissue.

that resulted in increased levels of flavin-containing monooxygenase-3 and trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). Moreover, the increased oxidative stress further accelerated aging by increasing tumor necrosis factor-α levels in serum and reducing Sirtuin 6 (Sirt6) expression in long bones, which prompted nuclear factor kappa-B acetylation as well as over-expression and activation of cathepsin K. FLL-treated aging mice revealed a non-osteoporotic bone phenotype and an improvement on the cognitive function. The mechanism underlying these effects may be linked to the regulation of gut microbiota diversity, antioxidant activity, and the levels of TMAO and Sirt6. FLL may represent a potential source for identifying anti-senile osteoporotic drug candidates.