台灣黃蘗及市售黃蘗之比較生藥學研究

Phellodendri Cortex was first recorded in Shen-nung’s Herbal and has been used as a bitter stomachic ever since. The drug is derived from the trunk bark of plants of the rutaceous Phellodendron genus. A total of 31 commercial samples of Phellodendri Cortex from the origins of Plellodendron amurense Ruprecht, P.chinense Schneid, P.wilsonii Hayata et Kanehira and P.amurense Rupr. var. sachalinense Fr. Schn. respectively were collected from the Taiwan and Japan herbal markets. The contents of the five quaternary alkaloids-berberine, palmatine,jatrorrhizine,phellodndrine and magnoflorine in these samples were determined by capillary electrophoresie. It was found that P.wilsonii(4.10±0.78%)and P.amurense var. sachalinense (4.18±1.03%)were superior to P.amurense(1.55±0.72%)and P.chinense(1.54±0.60%).Berberine was of the highest content in almost all damples. It occupied about 80% of the total alkaloids in the first two of the four herbs named above, but only about 40% in the latter two. From the data of chemical analysis of an herb’s constituents and from the herb’s texture and color, we can postulate the origin and quality of the herb. 黃蘗（Phellodendri Cortex）始載於《神農本草經》列為中品藥，為苦味健胃劑，用為治熱痢泄瀉、黃疸、痔瘡、便血、淋濁、帶下、瘡瘍等症。其來源主要為芸香料（Rutaceae）植物黃蘗（Phellodendron amurense Ruprecht）、川黃蘗（P. shinense Schneid）、台灣黃蘗（P. wilsonii Hay. et Kanehira）及其同屬近緣植物之幹皮。 為了解目前市售黃蘗之種類，並評價其品質，以供為用藥之依據，本研究由台灣及鄰近地區，搜集市售樣品計31件，以生藥組織學之方法鑑定其來源，並配合毛細管電泳法定量其成分。 由組織之鑑定結果，關黃蘗Phellodendron amurense Ruprecht有4件，川黃蘗P. shinense Schneid有14件，台灣黃蘗P. wilsonii Hay. et Kanehira有7件，日本黃蘗P. amurense Rupr. Var. Fr. Schm.有6件。 五種生物鹼成分為berberine, plmatine, jatrorrhizine, phelldendrine and magnoflorine等，由毛細管電泳法定量結果，台灣黃蘗（4.10±0.78%）及日本黃蘗（4.18±1.03%）含量高於關黃蘗（1.55±0.72%）及川黃蘗（1.54±0.60%）。而berberine之含量在這些藥材中均相當高，其中以台灣黃蘗及日本黃蘗含量約佔全生物鹼之80%，而關黃蘗及川黃蘗則約佔40％。台灣黃蘗品質頗佳，宜加以推廣栽培

Data from: The rise of health biotechnology research in Latin America: a scientometric analysis of health biotechnology production and impact in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico.

This paper analyzes the patterns of health biotechnology publications in six Latin American countries from 2001 to 2015. The countries studied were Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico. Before our study, there were no data available on HBT development in half of the Latin-American countries we studied, i.e., Argentina, Colombia and Chile. To include these countries in a scientometric analysis of HBT provides fuller coverage of HBT development in Latin America. The scientometric study used the Web of Science database to identify health biotechnology publications. The total amount of health biotechnology production in the world during the period studied was about 400,000 papers. A total of 1.2% of these papers, were authored by the six Latin American countries in this study. The results show a significant growth in health biotechnology publications in Latin America despite some of the countries having social and political instability, fluctuations in their gross domestic expenditure in research and development or a trade embargo that limits opportunities for scientific development. The growth in the field of some of the Latin American countries studied was larger than the growth of most industrialized nations. Still, the visibility of the Latin American research (measured in the number of citations) did not reach the world average, with the exception of Colombia. The main producers of health biotechnology papers in Latin America were universities, except in Cuba were governmental institutions were the most frequent producers. The countries studied were active in international research collaboration with Colombia being the most active (64% of papers co-authored internationally), whereas Brazil was the least active (35% of papers). Still, the domestic collaboration was even more prevalent, with Chile being the most active in such collaboration (85% of papers co-authored domestically) and Argentina the least active (49% of papers). We conclude that the Latin American countries studied are increasing their health biotechnology publishing. This strategy could contribute to the development of innovations that may solve local health problems in the region

Mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

The genetic make-up of an individual contributes to the susceptibility and response to viral infection. Although environmental, clinical and social factors have a role in the chance of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and the severity of COVID-191,2, host genetics may also be important. Identifying host-specific genetic factors may reveal biological mechanisms of therapeutic relevance and clarify causal relationships of modifiable environmental risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and outcomes. We formed a global network of researchers to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity. Here we describe the results of three genome-wide association meta-analyses that consist of up to 49,562 patients with COVID-19 from 46 studies across 19 countries. We report 13 genome-wide significant loci that are associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection or severe manifestations of COVID-19. Several of these loci correspond to previously documented associations to lung or autoimmune and inflammatory diseases3,4,5,6,7. They also represent potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection. Mendelian randomization analyses support a causal role for smoking and body-mass index for severe COVID-19 although not for type II diabetes. The identification of novel host genetic factors associated with COVID-19 was made possible by the community of human genetics researchers coming together to prioritize the sharing of data, results, resources and analytical frameworks. This working model of international collaboration underscores what is possible for future genetic discoveries in emerging pandemics, or indeed for any complex human disease