Berberine chloride (BBR) is a natural isoquinoline alkaloid extracted from medicinal herbs. It has been reported that the intestinal absorption of BBR is very low. In this study, the absolute bioavailability of BBR was studied, and the enhancing effects of D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) on intestinal absorption were investigated in rats. BBR injection was administrated via the femoral vein at a dose of 1.0 mg kg(-1) in intravenous group, and BBR oral formulations were administrated by oral gavage at a dose of 100 mg kg(-1) in BBR control (control) group and BBR-TPGS (test) group, respectively. The result showed that BBR had a very low absolute bioavailability of 0.68%, and TPGS could enhance intestinal absorption of BBR significantly. TPGS at a concentration of 2.5% could improve peak concentration (C(max)) and area under the curve (AUC(0-36)) of BBR by 2.9 and 1.9 times, respectively. The absorption enhancing ability of TPGS may be due to its ability to affect the biological activity of P-glycoprotein and thereby reduce the excretion of absorbed BBR into the intestinal lumen. This study indicated that absolute bioavailability of BBR was 0.68% in rats, and TPGS was a good absorption enhancer capable of enhancing intestinal absorption of BBR significantly.

The incidence of malignant tumours is rising worldwide. Cancer is regarded as the leading cause of death and the most key obstacle to improve life expectancy in every country of the world in the 21st century. 1 Tumour is a new organism formed by the proliferation of local tissue cells under the action of various tumorigenic factors. The development of cancer consists of a number of complex stages of initiation, progression and promotion, in which the stage of progression is invertible which seems to be the phase for the most appropriate drug intervention. Although there are different types therapies targeting cancers, such as surgical resection, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, biotherapy therapy, molecular-targeted therapy and treatment of TCM, however, not every therapy achieves the expected optimal effect results. For instance, surgical resection can remove the tumour, the risk of advanced cancer is increased, and the survival rate is reduced. Clinical combination of first-line chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy can prevent the progress of cancer to some extent, but they may cause serious toxic effects, affect the metabolism and proliferation of normal tissues, and reduce the life quality of patients.

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The purpose of this study was to develop an in situ forming SAIB (sucrose acetate isobutyrate)-PLGA (poly (d, lactide-co-glycolide)) mixture matrix depot for sustained release of risperidone. The factors affecting the risperidone release kinetics were investigated to obtain further insight into the drug release mechanisms. The burst release in vitro was significantly reduced (4.95%) by using DMSO as solvent. And, increasing the PLGA content from 2 to 10% w/w decreased the initial release from 6.95 to 1.05%. The initial release in vivo decreased with increasing PLGA content (2.0% w/w PLGA, C(max) = 1161.7 ± 550.2 ng ml(-1); 10% w/w PLGA, C(max) = 280.3 ± 98.5 ng ml(-1)). The persistence (AUC(4-20 days)) over 20 days increased from 76.8 ± 20.7 to 362.8 ± 75.0 ng d ml(-1) by inclusion of 10% PLGA compared with the PLGA-free depot. These results demonstrate that the SAIB-PLGA mixture matrix depot could be useful as a sustained delivery system for risperidone.

Schisandra chinensis (known in Chinese as WuWeiZi, WWZ) has observable effects such as astringing the lung to stop coughs, arresting sweating, preserving semen and preventing diarrhea. The major components of WWZ include lignans, triterpenoids, organic acids and fatty acids. In this paper, a reliable method for the rapid identification of multiple components in WWZ by their characteristic fragments and neutral losses using UPLC-Q-TOF/MS technology was developed. After review of the literature and some reference experiments, the fragmentation pattern of several compounds were studied and summarized. Then, according to the corresponding characteristic fragments coupled with neutral losses in the positive or negative ion mode produced by different types of substances a rapid identification of target compounds was achieved. Finally, a total of 30 constituents of WWZ were successfully identified, including 15 lignans, nine triterpenoids, three organic acids and three fatty acids. The method established in this study not only provides a comprehensive analysis of the chemical ingredients of WWZ, providing a basis for further phytochemical studies on WWZ but also provides a more efficient way to solve the problem of identification of complex chemical constituents in traditional Chinese medicines.

Sleep disturbance is a widespread public-health problem that has a negative impact on quality of life for individuals and represents a serious economic burden for society (Dragioti, Bernfort, Larsson, Gerdle, & Levin, 2017). Approximately 23%-46% of breast cancer survivors (BCS) suffer from an "insomnia disorder," the most common sleep disorder, which is characterised as persistent difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep with a concomitant waking dysfunction (Fleming et al., 2019). Insomnia has been associated with various factors, such as joint pain, hot flushes, anxiety, depression and fear of recurrence in BCS (Desai et al., 2013; Lowery-Allison et al., 2018). Without supportive management, insomnia symptoms may even increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence (Palesh et al., 2014). Pharmacologic treatment can reduce sleep latency and increase total sleep time (TST) at night, but has limitations due to potential for drug dependency, drug tolerance and side effects (Morin, Gaulier, Barry, & Kowatch, 1992). It has been suggested that non-pharmacologic interventions such as mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and stress management interventions can also be used to cope with insomnia