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Objective: To explore the major compound in Polygonati Rhizoma (Huang Jing, 黄精) for quality control. Methods: The major compound was isolated and analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and subsequently further identified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was optimized based on the previous methods reported in the Chinese Pharmacopeia (2015 edition). Results: The major compound was isolated from the natural material and identified as linoleic acid. A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method with robust linearity (R2 = 0.999 7), specificity, precision, stability, repeatability and recovery was developed for linoleic acid determination. TLC chromatogram was improved significantly after optimization for qualitative analysis. Conclusions: The optimized TLC method is practical and can be adopted for quality control of Polygonati Rhizoma (Huang Jing, 黄 精 ). The levels of linoleic acid vary between species of Polygonati Rhizoma (Huang Jing, 黄 精 ), with Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua (Jiang Xing Huang Jing, 姜型黄精) showing the highest contents. This study provides valuable information for quality control of Polygonati Rhizoma (Huang Jing, 黄精).

Sulforaphane (SFN) has attracted much attention due to its ability on antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and anti‐apoptotic properties, while its functional targets and underlying mechanism of action on brain injury caused by acute carbon monoxide poisoning (ACOP) have not been fully elucidated. Herein, we used a systematic network pharmacology approach to explore the mechanism of SFN in the treatment of brain damage after ACOP. In this study, the results of network pharmacology demonstrated that there were a total of 81 effective target genes of SFN and 36 drug–disease targets, which were strongly in connection with autophagy–animal signaling pathway, drug metabolism, and transcription disorders in cancer. Upon the further biological function and KEGG signaling pathway enrichment analysis, a large number of them were involved in neuronal death, reactive oxygen metabolic processes and immune functions. Moreover, based on the results of bioinformatics prediction associated with multiple potential targets and pathways, the AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway was selected to elucidate the molecular mechanism of SFN in the treatment of brain injury caused by ACOP. The following molecular docking analysis also confirmed that SFN can bind to AMPKα well through chemical bonds. In addition, an animal model of ACOP was established by exposure to carbon monoxide in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to verify the predicted results of network pharmacology. We found that the mitochondrial ultrastructure of neurons in rats with ACOP was seriously damaged, and apoptotic cells increased significantly. The histopathological changes were obviously alleviated, apoptosis of cortical neurons was inhibited, and the number of Nissl bodies was increased in the SFN group as compared with the ACOP group (p <.05). Besides, the administration of SFN could increase the expressions of phosphorylated P‐AMPK and MFN2 proteins and decrease the levels of DRP1, Caspase3, and Casapase9 proteins in the brain tissue of ACOP rats. These findings suggest that network pharmacology is a useful tool for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research, SFN can effectively inhibit apoptosis, protect cortical neurons from the toxicity of carbon monoxide through activating the AMPK pathway and may become a potential therapeutic strategy for brain injury after ACOP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern era, urban freshwater bodies play a significant role in global carbon (C) budgeting, therefore, impacting climate change under rising global mean temperature. However, the trend, magnitude and drivers of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in these urban freshwater bodies of China remain uncertain. This study investigated temporal changes in GHG emissions in urban water bodies, including artificial lakes, reservoirs, aquaculture ponds and rivers, within a year in Nanjing city in the areas of the Yangtze River delta of China. In addition, meteorological and hydrochemical parameters were measured to elucidate the key drivers of GHG emissions. The results showed that the average annual flux of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in aquaculture ponds was estimated to be 1355.6 mg CO2 m−2 day−1 and 116.6 mg CH4 m−2 day−1, followed by that of artificial lakes were 1172.2 mg CO2 m−2 day−1 and 44.1 mg CH4 m−2 day−1, rivers reached 775.9 mg CO2 m−2 day−1 and 23.9 mg CH4 m−2 day−1 and reservoirs were 170.1 mg CO2 m−2 day−1 and 7.2 mg CH4 m−2 day−1, respectively. The results further suggest that although artificial lakes and aquaculture ponds occupied only 23% of the cumulative area under lakes and ponds in the Yangtze River delta, contribute approximately 43%, about 27.5 Gg C, of total fluxes. Furthermore, high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and low dissolved oxygen (DO) coincided with the high GHG emissions. The study suggests that DO, DOC, temperature and wind speed are the key factors impacting the potential of GHG emissions in urban freshwater ecosystems. Strategic mitigation measures in the vicinity of the urban freshwater bodies could efficiently reduce carbon emissions in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]