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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Venenum Bufonis (VB), also called toad venom, has been widely used in clinic as a cardiotonic, anohyne and antineoplastic agents both in China and other Asian countries. However, its neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity limit its wide clinical application. Compared with extensive attention attracted with cardiotoxicity, the toxic effect of VB on Central Nervous System (CNS) is much less studied., Aim of the Research: This study was performed to examine the neurotoxicity caused by VB on Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, then to clarify the mechanism in vivo by investigating its action on the neuroinflammation which possibly attributed to the activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway and the attenuation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)., Materials and Methods: Rats administrated with 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt (CMC-Na) aqueous solution and VB (100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg) were sacrificed at 2h, 4h, 6h, 8h, 24h and 48h. The brain level of neurotransmitters and their corresponding receptors, pro-inflammatory cytokines, BDNF/TrkB and NF-κB pathway-related proteins were examined, respectively., Results: VB administration induced severe neurologic damage and neuroinflammation, as indicated by the disordered 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DA) and their corresponding receptors, together with the over production of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). VB also notably promoted the expression of p-NF-κBp65, p-IκBα, p-IKKα and p-IKKβ and down-regulated the expression of BDNF and TrkB., Conclusion: This study demonstrates that VB triggers neurotoxicity which probably is induced by neuroinflammation via activating of NF-κB pathway and attenuating the expression of BDNF., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Pearl and nacre are valuable traditional medicines to treat palpitations, convulsions or epilepsy in China for thousands of years. However, the active ingredients are not clear till now., Aim of the Study: The main purpose of the current investigation was to assess the anticonvulsant and sedative-hypnotic activity of pearl powder and nacre powder, including their corresponding 6 protein extracts., Material and Methods: Determination of the amino acid composition of the obtained protein was carried out by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) combined with 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate (AQC) pre-column derivatisation. The influence of the tested drugs on locomotor activity and convulsions latency was recorded. The contents of 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in brain were detected by enzyme-linked immunesorbent assay (ELISA) kits. In addition, immunohistochemistry was carried out to evaluate the changes of 5-HT3 and GABAB. In parallel, the expressions of them were demonstrated by western blot., Results: The obtained data suggested that pearl original powder (1.1g/kg), pearl water-soluble protein (0.2g/kg), pearl acid-soluble protein (0.275g/kg), pearl conchiolin protein (1.1g/kg), nacre original powder (1.1g/kg), nacre water-soluble protein (0.2g/kg), nacre acid-soluble protein (0.7g/kg) and nacre conchiolin protein (1.1g/kg) could down-regulate the expression of 5-HT3 and up-regulate the level of GABAB to varying degrees compared with the control group. Besides, drug administration also reduced the locomotor activity and increased convulsions latency with a certain mortality., Conclusions: These findings correlated with the traditional use of pearl and nacre as sedation and tranquilization agents, thus making them interesting sources for further drug development and also providing critical important evidence for the selection of quality control markers., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)