Currently, the main treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) involves the surgical removal of tumors or liver transplantation. However, these treatments are often not completely curative, as they are associated with a risk for postoperative recurrence and metastasis. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are increasingly recognized as the main source for recurrence and metastasis after radical hepatectomies are performed. Many studies have demonstrated the association between the presence of either pre- or postoperative CTCs and an increased risk for HCC recurrence. To improve the therapeutic outcome of HCC, a personalized, comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach should be considered, involving the application of appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic measures targeting HCC CTCs in different stages throughout the course of treatment. This article proposes some HCC CTC-based strategies for the treatment of HCC, including the monitoring of HCC CTCs before, during and after radical hepatectomy, therapeutic targeting of HCC CTCs, prevention of the generation and colonization of CTCs, as well as the use of CTC indexes for the selection of indications, prediction of prognoses, and planning of individualized therapeutic regimens. Innovation and technological development of therapies targeting CTCs, as well as their translation into clinical practice, will help to effectively reduce postoperative recurrence and metastasis, and significantly prolong the survival of HCC patients.

The traditional Chinese medicines Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (LJF, Jinyinhua in Chinese) and Lonicerae Flos (LF, Shanyinhua in Chinese) refer to the flower buds of five plants belonging to the Caprifoliaceae family. Until 2000, all of these were officially listed as a single item, LJF (Jinyinhua), in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. However, there have recently been many academic controversies concerning the separation and combination of LJF and LF in administrative regulation. Till now there has been little work completed evaluating the relationships between biological activity and chemical properties among these drugs. Microcalorimetry and UPLC were used along with principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to investigate the relationships between the chemical ingredients and the antibacterial effects of LJF and LF. Using multivariate statistical analysis, LJF and LF could be initially separated according to their chemical fingerprints, and the antibacterial effects of the two herbal drugs were divided into two clusters. This result supports the disaggregation of LJF and LF by the Pharmacopoeia Committee. However, the sample of Lonicera fulvotomentosa Hsu et S. C. Cheng turned out to be an intermediate species, with similar antibacterial efficacy as LJF. The results of CCA indicated that chlorogenic acid and 3,4-Dicaffeoylquinic acid were the major components generating antibacterial effects. Furthermore, 3,4-Dicaffeoylquinic acid could be used as a new marker ingredient for quality control of LJF and LF.

Norathyriol is a metabolite of mangiferin. Mangiferin has been reported to inhibit α-glucosidase. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted to determine or compare those two compounds on inhibiting α-glucosidase in vitro and in vivo by far. In this study, we determined the inhibitory activity of norathyriol and mangiferin on α-glucosidase in vitro and evaluated their antidiabetic effect in diabetic mice. The results showed that norathyriol inhibited α-glucosidase in a noncompetitive manner with an IC50 value of 3.12 μM, which is more potent than mangiferin (IC50 = 358.54 μM) and positive drug acarbose (IC50 = 479.2 μM) in the zymological experiment. Both of norathyriol and mangiferin caused significant (p < 0.05) reduction in fasting blood glucose and the blood glucose levels at two hours after carbohydrate loading and it was interesting that mangiferin and norathyriol can make the decline of the blood glucose earlier than other groups ever including normal group in the starch tolerance test. However, norathyriol and mangiferin did not significantly influence carbohydrate absorption in the glucose tolerance test. Therefore, the antidiabetic effects of norathyriol and mangiferin might be associated with α-glucosidase, and norathyriol was more potent than mangiferin.

Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Tang (HLJDT), a traditional formula with four TCM herbs, has been used for hundred years for different diseases. The current study aimed to assess the inhibitory activity of HLJDT against H1N1 neuraminidase (NA-1), and identify potent NA-1 inhibitors from its plasma profile. The in vitro NA-1 study has shown that the water extract of HLJDT potently inhibited NA-1 (IC50 = 112.6 μg/ml; Ki = 55.6 μg/ml) in a competitive mode. The IC50 values of the water extracts of its four herbs were as follows: Coptidis Rhizoma, 96.1 μg/ml; Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex, 108.6 μg/ml; Scutellariae Radix, 303.5 μg/ml; Gardeniae Fructus, 285.0 μg/ml. Thirteen compounds found in the plasma profile of HLJDT were also identified as potent NA-1 inhibitors, which included jatrorrhizine, palmatine, epiberberine, geniposide, oroxylin A, berberine, coptisine, baicalein, wogonoside, phellodendrine, wogonin, oroxylin A-7-O-glucuronide and baicalin (sorted in ascending order by their IC50 values). Their inhibitory activities were consistent with molecular docking analysis when considering crystallographic water molecules in the ligand-binding pocket of NA-1. Our current findings suggested that HLJDT can be used as a complementary medicine for H1N1 infection and its potent active compounds can be developed as NA-1 inhibitors.