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Determination of serum HCV core antigen level reflects HCV viremia and may have clinical implications in liver transplant patients with HCV recurrence.

Disorders of lipid metabolism and inflammation play an important role in atherosclerosis. LongShengZhi (LSZ) capsule, a Chinese herbal medicine, has been used for treatment of patients with vascular diseases for many years. In this article, we determined the effect of LSZ on the progression of established atherosclerotic lesions in apoE-deficient (apoE−/−) mice. ApoE−/− mice were prefed high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks to induce atherosclerosis, then started with LSZ treatment contained in HFD for 10 weeks. Although LSZ had little effect on HFD-induced hypercholesterolemia, it substantially reduced en face and sinus aortic lesions. The reduction of lesions was associated with reduced macrophage/foam cell accumulation by activating ABCA1/ABCG1 expression. LSZ maintained the integrity of arterial wall by increasing collagen or smooth muscle cell content and inhibiting cell apoptosis. LSZ also attenuated HFD-induced fatty liver by down-regulating expression of lipogenic and cholesterol synthetic genes while activating expression of triglyceride catabolism genes. Moreover, LSZ demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory effects. In vivo, LSZ reduced serum TNF-α levels, infiltration of neutrophils, Kupffer cells, and expression of inflammatory cytokines in the liver. In vitro, it inhibited lipopolysaccharide or palmitate-induced expression of inflammatory cytokines in macrophages. Therefore, LSZ reduces atherosclerosis by ameliorating hepatic lipid metabolism and inhibiting inflammation.

Wenxin Keli (WXKL) is a widely used Chinese botanical drug for the treatment of arrhythmia, which is consisted of four herbs and amber. In the present study, we analyzed the chemical composition of WXKL using liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) to tentatively identify 71 compounds. Through typical separate procession, the total extract of WXKL was divided into fractions for further bioassays. Cardiomyocytes and zebrafish larvae were applied for assessment. In vivo arrhythmia model in Cmlc2-GFP transgenic zebrafish was induced by terfenadine, which exhibited obvious reduction of heart rate and occurrence of atrioventricular block. Dynamic beating of heart was recorded by fluorescent microscope and sensitive camera to automatically recognize the rhythm of heartbeat in zebrafish larvae. By integrating the chemical information of WXKL and corresponding bioactivities of these fractions, activity index (AI) of each identified compound was calculated to screen potential active compounds. The results showed that dozens of compounds including ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re, notoginsenoside R1, lobetyolin, and lobetyolinin were contributed to cardioprotective effects of WXKL. The anti-arrhythmic activities of five compounds were further validated in larvae model and mature zebrafish by measuring electrocardiogram (ECG). Our findings provide a successful example for rapid discovery of bioactive compounds from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) by activity index based approach coupled with in vivo zebrafish model.