Recovering valuable compounds like salvianolic acid B (SaB) from industrial traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) wastewater is a significant challenge, as its self-assembly with pectin makes conventional membrane filtration ineffective. To address this practical bottleneck, we developed a pH-responsive adsorptive membrane from an amidoxime-modified polymer of intrinsic microporosity (AOPIM-1). A combination of experiments and molecular dynamics simulations revealed a competitive adsorption mechanism, where the membrane's strong electrostatic attraction actively breaks the pre-existing SaB-pectin complexes for selective capture. The membrane exhibited excellent stability and reusability in real Danhong injection wastewater over multiple cycles, achieving a final SaB recovery of 83.01 %. This study establishes a powerful strategy of using tailored chemical affinity to disrupt inhibitory molecular interactions, providing a blueprint for sustainable resource recovery in the pharmaceutical and biorefining industries.

Resource recycling has become a global concern, prompting extensive research into the potential value of waste materials. In this study, hierarchical porous carbon materials with significant electrochemical performance were prepared using the waste residue generated from the water extraction and alcohol precipitation processes of Chrysanthemum indicum L. Both the alcohol precipitate and NaCl exhibit good water solubility, facilitating the formation of a uniform molten salt precursor and ensuring the homogeneous pore structure in the porous carbon. NaCl precipitated upon cooling to form cubic crystals, which served as a template for the construction of micropores in porous carbon. Meanwhile, a thin-walled carbon structure was simultaneously formed, introducing many mesoporous defects. Compared to the untreated porous carbon (PCblank), the porous carbon (PCNaCl-3) fabricated with molten salt method exhibited a richer pore structure and a higher specific surface area. The multi-level pore structure of PCNaCl-3 exposed more active sites, resulting in a specific capacitance of 154.13 F & sdot;g- 1 at current density of 0.5 A & sdot;g- 1, which is 17 times higher than that of PCblank. Notably, the assembled PCNaCl-3// PCNaCl-3 symmetrical supercapacitor retained 142.22% of its initial specific capacitance after 10,000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 1 A & sdot;g- 1. This study provides ideas for the preparation of porous carbon with electrochemical properties, and offers a novel approach for the resource utilization of water-soluble waste.

Sleep disorders are a serious global health problem influenced by neuropsychiatric disorders, diseases, environment, diet, and other factors. Recent studies have revealed that gut microbes (GM) are closely associated with sleep. Their metabolites regulate circadian rhythms, neurotransmitter systems, and other physiological processes through the gut-brain axis, influencing brain homeostasis and contributing to the pathogenesis of insomnia. Suanzaoren decoction (SZRD) is a classic and well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription for the treatment of insomnia. Modern pharmacological research indicates that SZRD can maintain intestinal microbial homeostasis, regulate microbial metabolites, and safeguard the intestinal immune barrier. This review elucidates the pathophysiological interplay between sleep disorders and GM and summarizes the progress of research on SZRD in treating insomnia via the “microbes-gut-brain axis” by regulating intestinal microecology. It is expected to broaden the clinical application of TCM in insomnia treatment and provide a theoretical foundation for pharmacological innovation of classic TCM prescriptions.

Steam distillation is the primary method for extracting volatile oils from aromatic traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), yielding TCM hydrolates. Due to the low content of volatile oils in aromatic TCMs, a large amount of hydrolates containing volatile oil components are often obtained during the steam distillation process. Therefore, the efficient separation and enrichment of volatile oil components from the hydrolates are particularly important for improving the yield of volatile oils. Although the nanofiltration technology shows potential for volatile oil purification owing to its molecular-level sieving property, conventional nanofiltration membranes are limited by poor hydrophilicity, weak antifouling resistance, and the permeability-selectivity trade-off. Herein, a novel interlayer-structured thin-film nanocomposite membrane was successfully prepared via the following stepwise modification strategy: the metal-organic framework (MOF) ZIF-8 was grown in situ on the surface of a polyethersulfone (PES) support membrane, followed by hydrophilic modification with polydopamine (PDA) and interfacial polymerization to construct a polyamide selective layer. The resulting TFNi@ZIF-8@PDA membrane had an optimized microstructure with a thickness of approximately 100 nm and the smallest molecular weight cut-off (285 Da). Benefiting from the synergistic effect of porous ZIF-8 and hydrophilic PDA, the membrane not only exhibited excellent pure water permeation performance and over 98% rejection of divalent salts but also achieved a flux recovery rate close to 100%. Compared with previously reported MOF-based thin-film nano-composite membranes, TFNi@ZIF-8@PDA maintained high divalent salt rejection while achieving a pure water flux of 34.25 L center dot m-2 center dot h-1 center dot bar-1, demonstrating superior overall performance. The simple synthesis, high separation efficiency, and excellent antifouling performance of this novel nanocomposite membrane render it suitable for the green separation of TCM volatile oils and for industrial applications in the pharmaceutical and chemical fields.

Neurodegenerative diseases are increasingly linked to abnormalities in the gut–brain axis, yet the local intestinal interface at which luminal and mucosal perturbations are related with the central nervous system remains poorly defined. The gut neuroepithelial unit (GNU) is proposed as a localized mucosal signalling interface composed of sensory epithelial cells, enteric neurons, glia and adjacent immune-stromal elements that detect, encode and route intestinal information into neural, endocrine and immune outputs. This framework shifts the intestine from being a diffuse upstream modifier of brain pathology to a mesoscopic unit through which microbial products, barrier dysfunction, inflammatory cues and metabolic signals are transformed into disease-relevant gut-to-brain communication. Particularly, in Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, the GNU may function as a conditional interface that amplifies, filters or biases peripheral signals before they engage central circuits. The GNU therefore provides a tractable framework for mechanistic dissection, translational stratification and peripheral therapeutic targeting in neurodegeneration.

The active ingredients components of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can naturally create supramolecular structures like nanoparticles and micelles with well-defined functions through a dynamic assembly mechanism driven by noncovalent bonding interactions. In recent years, numerous studies have found that the supramolecular self-assemblies of TCM, which are also known as Chinese medicine supramolecules (CMS), exhibit better efficacy, higher bioavailability, and synergistic effects. In vivo fate analysis is a roadblock to revealing the active mechanisms of CMS. This review focuses on the in vivo dynamic biological fate of herbal self-assemblies and systematically elucidates their delivery characteristics in absorption barrier penetration, biofilm transport, and tissue-specific distribution. Meanwhile, this review summarizes the progress in applying cutting-edge detection techniques for tracking supramolecular behavior in vivo , including fluorescent labeling, isotope tracing, and multimodal imaging. By summarizing the existing research results, we aim to construct a systematic research framework for the in vivo behaviors of Chinese medicine self-assemblies and explore feasible analysis paths for Chinese medicine formulations. (c) 2026 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Essential oils (EO) constitute a class of volatile oily liquids with a wide range of applications in pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, and household chemicals. However, because of their low contents and complex compositions in plants, especially that of some components containing hydrophilic groups that can exist in the form of dissolved oils, their extraction and separation are often difficult. In this study, the membrane-enrichment process of EOs is systematically analyzed by separating nine representative oil/water emulsions used in traditional Chinese medicine using an alumina ceramic (AC) membrane. Owing to the differences in oil content and main component properties of different herbs, AC membranes exhibit different fluxes and oil-rejection rates for different EO emulsion. The highest oil-interception rate, of up to 79.55%, is exhibited for Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb. (EcT) EO. The droplet size and charge of the emulsions dominate the membrane-separation process. The AC membrane intercepts aldehydes, ketones, and ethers through strong adsorption, whereas highly hydrophobic olefins are intercepted via repulsion. In addition, a carbon layer is coated on the AC membrane to block the contact between alumina and EO components. The specific selective retention of volatile oil components by the AC membrane is verified. The components of EcT EO, enriched by the AC membrane, show 99.4% similarity to those obtained by traditional steam distillation, while exhibiting comparable antibacterial activity. This study provides new insights into membrane-material design for EO enrichment and offers guidance for matching EOs with suitable membrane materials.

Neurodegenerative disorders increasingly reflect failures of cellular state control rather than the linear accumulation of a single toxic lesion. Microglia become trapped in maladaptive states in which inflammatory activation is decoupled from effective cargo processing. Lipid droplet-accumulating microglia (LDAM) represent a recurrent convergence state across aging and neurodegeneration, characterized by persistent neutral lipid sequestration, reduced phagocytosis-to-degradation capacity, oxidative amplification, and chronic but functionally inefficient inflammation. LDAM emerges when lipid substrate influx exceeds the capacity of cholesterol efflux, lysosomal lipophagy, and mitochondrial β-oxidation, converting lipid droplets from transient buffers into stable metabolic anchors. This entrenchment is reinforced by mitochondrial exhaustion, vacuolar H+-ATPase-linked lysosomal deacidification, and inflammasome/interferon locking, often further amplified by cGAS-STING signaling. Together, these constraints converge on a state of metabolic-epigenetic locking that sustains permissive chromatin landscapes at pro-inflammatory loci. On this basis, state-resetting strategies are considered that rebalance lipid flux, restore organelle clearance capacity, and transiently restrain inflammatory amplification, while spatial multiomics and fluid biomarkers are discussed as candidate tools for stage- and niche-resolved stratification of combination interventions.

Natural products with identical parent skeletons exhibit highly similar physicochemical properties, bringing great challenges to efficient and precise separation. In this work, highly stable and catalytically active Lys-GO membranes were fabricated by cross-linking graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets with lysine (Lys) for the separation of matrine (MT) and oxymatrine (OMT). Within the confined two-dimensional channels constructed by adjacent GO nanosheets and amino acids, the positively charged MT molecules were enriched in the membrane and subsequently permeated at a high concentration. Simultaneously, the unreacted amino and carboxyl groups introduced by amino acids within the confined channels could convert OMT into MT by breaking the N→O coordination bond, further increasing the concentration of MT in the permeate. Under the synergistic effect of electrostatic interactions and catalysis, the Lys-GO membrane exhibits separation performance with single-step and two-step separation factors of 3.98 and 9.66, respectively. Owing to the bridging effect of amino acids, the Lys-GO membrane maintained stable separation performance over 72 h. Notably, besides catalyzing the cleavage of N→O coordination bonds commonly found in alkaloids, the Lys-GO membrane can also cleave ester bonds widely present in natural products, such as the conversion of chlorogenic acid into caffeic acid. This study provides a novel strategy for the separation and purification of small-molecule natural products from the perspective of confined catalytic membranes.

In the modernization of pharmaceutical manufacturing, the efficient valorization of complex natural extracts is frequently bottlenecked by the trade-off between conversion yield and substrate stability. While conventional biocatalytic membrane reactors (BMRs) target purified substrates, processing crude micellar extracts remains a formidable challenge. Herein, we report a BMR for the continuous, green production of high-value Ginsenoside Rd from crude Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS). Addressing the specific challenge of catalyzing bulky micellar substrates, a rational interface design was employed. Guided by structural analysis of beta-glucosidase (BGL), a "spacer arm" architecture utilizing polyethyleneimine (PEI) was constructed to overcome steric hindrance, with BGL site-specifically anchored via genipin (GNP). This design not only ensured active site accessibility but also restricted conformational unfolding, conferring exceptional robustness to the biocatalyst. Crucially, the transition to continuous flow operation resolved the "yield-purity" dilemma inherent to batch processing. By precisely decoupling the residence time from the operation time, the BMR effectively suppressed the non-selective degradation of the saponin matrix, a side-reaction that severely compromises product purity in conventional reactors. This process intensification enabled a seamless integration with solvent-free product recovery, delivering high-purity Rd (>82.9%) with a low Mass Intensity (MI) of 7.79. This work establishes a scalable and generic paradigm for the high-efficiency processing of chemically sensitive natural product.

ABSTRACT Janus membranes (JMs) promise advanced liquid separations, but fabrication speed, substrate universality, and precise configurational control remain challenging. Here, we report an ultrafast and universal interfacial engineering strategy to construct JMs with desirable micro‐nano structures. Founded on a rapidly formed tannic acid/polyethyleneimine (TA/PEI) platform, the approach utilizes highly reactive stearoyl chloride (SC) for minute‐scale hydrophobic modification. Crucially, a novel physicochemical control principle is revealed. Specifically, interfacial wettability and tension are modulated at the molecular level by phytic acid (PA). Through this modulation, the membrane's physical immersion depth is governed to provide unprecedented, quantifiable control over hydrophilic layer thickness during liquid‐liquid interface modification. This enables tailored JMs exhibiting pronounced asymmetric super‐wettability (water contact angle (WCA) difference >157°) and tunable unidirectional liquid transport. Demonstrated across diverse metallic and polymeric substrates, the resulting JMs show remarkable separation performance for challenging mixtures, alongside exceptional stability. This facile and controllable strategy overcomes previous limitations in speed, universality, and regulation of asymmetric configurations, offering a versatile platform for designing nano‐engineered functional materials for sophisticated liquid separation applications.

The effective treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is challenging because of its complex and controversial pathological mechanisms. Moreover, multiple barriers, such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB), reduce drug delivery efficiency. Microglia-related neuroinflammation has recently attracted increasing attention as a possible cause of AD and has become a novel therapeutic target. Therefore, overcoming the BBB and targeted delivery of anti-inflammatory agents to microglia seem to be effective practical strategies for treating AD. A large proportion of natural active extracts possess exceptional immunomodulating capabilities. In this study, the cooperative delivery of berberine (Ber) and palmatine (Pal) by transferrin-decorated extracellular vesicles (Tf-hEVs-Ber/Pal), which can cross the BBB and precisely target microglia, was performed. This nanosystem effectively cleared amyloid β-protein (Aβ) aggregates, significantly regulated the neuroinflammatory environment both in vitro and in vivo and markedly altered the behavior and improved the cognitive and learning abilities of AD model mice. The efficacy of a microglia-targeting combined therapeutic approach for AD was demonstrated, which broadens the potential application of Chinese herbal ingredients.

While nanofiltration (NF) holds promise for separating small molecules, effectively separating structurally similar compounds like monophenols remains challenging. This study unveils a novel NF separation strategy based on the often‐overlooked phenomenon of solute self‐assembly. Using a combination of experimental and computational approaches, a direct link between monophenol self‐assembly and rejection behavior during NF is established. The self‐assembly of monophenols, primarily driven by π–π stacking interactions, is shown to significantly influence their rejection rates, with larger, more numerous self‐assemblies experiencing higher rejection. Furthermore, a clear relationship between monophenol structures and self‐assembly strength is established, revealing that the number and Hydrogen (H)‐bonding capacity of substituents on the aromatic ring dictate the propensity for self‐assembly. This insight enables the development of a predictive model for monophenol self‐assembly, which is validated through NF experiments using binary mixtures, confirming that predictable differences in self‐assembly behavior can be leveraged for selective separation. This study establishes solute self‐assembly as a tunable parameter for enhancing NF separation of similarly sized molecules.

This study explored the influence of self-assembly on the ultrafiltration (UF) rejection of salvianolic acid B (SaB), a model polyphenolic compound. Employing a combined approach of experimental analysis and molecular dynamics simulations (MDS), we demonstrated pH-dependent self-assembly of SaB at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. At lower pH, larger self-assemblies formed, exhibiting enhanced adsorption onto the membrane surface due to electrostatic attraction. This pH-dependent behavior significantly impacted rejection rates through size exclusion and adsorption mechanisms, leading to a decrease in SaB rejection from 100% to 31% as the solution pH increased from 2.4 to 5.6. These findings transcend the specific case of SaB, offering valuable insights into the broader role of self-assembly in UF processes. This knowledge holds potential applications in optimizing separation processes across diverse fields such as food, pharmaceuticals, and environmental science.

Four unreported compounds (1-4) and five known compounds (5-9) were isolated from ethyl acetate extracts of Ligusticum chuanxiong by a silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and semi-preparative HPLC. The planar structures of compounds 1-4 were confirmed by analyzing their HR-ESIMS, IR, and NMR spectra. Compounds 1 and 2 feature a norphthalide mono-ring skeleton derived from phthalide by the loss of one carbon atom. In addition, the absolute configurations of compounds 1-4 were elucidated by comparing their experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. The results of xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activities in vitro revealed seven compounds (1-4, 6-8) exhibited notable inhibitory activities on XO, which was validated by the molecular docking results. In particular, compounds 4 and 7 possessed excellent activities. Further structure-activity relationship indicated that the hydroxyl, carbonyl, and C3═C8 double bond of phthalides have an important influence on XO inhibitory activities. This study is the first report of norphthalides and phthalides from ethyl acetate extracts of Ligusticum chuanxiong demonstrating XO inhibitory activities and their structure-activity relationship, thereby providing important insights for the discovery of novel and safe therapeutic agents for gout and hyperuricemia from natural products.

BACKGROUND:Berbamine (BBM), a natural bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid, has demonstrated promising effects in ameliorating pathological process and inflammation response in central neuronal system (CNS). Alzheimer's disease (AD), primarily characterized by amyloid-beta (Aβ)-containing extra-cellular plaques and abnormal "autophagy-brake regulation" of neuroinflammation, currently lacks of effective therapeutic options. Therapeutics of BBM on AD is indeed intriguing, and the potential targets and mechanisms are vague yet. PURPOSE:This study is designed to elucidate the therapeutic potential of BBM on AD, focusing particularly on its ability to enhance autophagy, induce microglial M2 polarization, and to uncover the underlying molecular mechanisms and implicated targets. METHODS:The therapeutic efficacy of BBM was systematically investigated in APP/PS1 mice, with a focus on its potential to enhance autophagy, induce M2 polarization in microglia, and facilitate the clearance of Aβ plaques. Cognitive function was rigorously assessed through a series of behavioral tests, including the Morris Water Maze and Object Location Task. Immunofluorescence was employed to visualize the spatial distribution of inflammatory cytokines and autophagic markers within the brain parenchyma. Quantitative measurements of these cytokines were obtained using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Western blotting was utilized to analyze protein profiles associated with autophagy and microglial phenotypes. Additionally, chemo-proteomics and molecular docking techniques were applied to identify the key molecular targets of BBM. RESULTS:BBM treatment significantly ameliorated cognitive dysfunction and reduced Aβ plaque deposition in APP/PS1 transgenic mice. Notably, BBM promoted microglial polarization from the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype to the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, accompanied by attenuation of neuroinflammation. Mechanistically, BBM exerted its effects through inhibition of mTOR signaling via direct interaction with the FKBP12-rapamycin-binding domain, thereby restoring autophagic flux and facilitating M2 microglial polarization. The mTOR activator MHY1485 abrogated the beneficial effects of BBM, highlighting the pivotal role of mTOR inhibition in its mechanism of action. CONCLUSIONS:BBM promotes M2 microglial polarization and restores autophagic flux in AD by inhibiting mTOR signaling, representing a novel dual-modulatory mechanism for AD intervention. These findings highlight BBM's ability to target mTOR and intersecting pathways, offering a promising disease-modifying therapeutic approach for AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.

It has become a key issue in the membrane separation field to overcome the trade-off effect arose from membrane contamination to increase the retention rate with high flux. This work proposed a strategy for inducing molecular self-assembly to construct a porous crystalline contamination architecture with low mass transfer resistance on the membrane surface. The near planar and amphiphilic structural characteristics of baicalin (BA) molecules provided a natural advantage for their self-assembly on membrane surfaces. By introducing a tunable carbon layer on the surface of a macroporous ultrafiltration alumina ceramic (AC) membrane and utilizing the ordered self-assembly of BA, efficient enrichment of BA at high flux was achieved. The carbon layer prevented the rapid coordination of BA with aluminum ions and provided tunable groups as the weak interaction sites for the hydrophilic and hydrophobic ends of BA molecule, enabling BA self-assembling with different growth of crystal advantages. The highly graphitized H-C@AC membrane surface induced the formation of vertically upright nanosheets of BA, forming a loose and porous contamination layer. It achieved 100 % retention of BA at a high flux of 130.79 L m- 2h- 1 due to the reduced mass transfer resistance. The H-C@AC membrane displayed similar enrichment abilities for scutellarin, which has a similar structure to BA. Moreover, the separation factor for BA and geniposide, which have similar molecular weights, reached 9.47 for the H-C@AC membrane. This work provides a design concept for the efficient enrichment of small-molecule compounds at high fluxes in terms of contamination layer construction.

This study presents a novel biocatalytic membrane (BM) system for the continuous production of high-purity ginsenoside Rd. Recognizing that enzymes concentrated on one side of BM caused by reverse filtration hinder substrate access and catalytic efficiency, polyethyleneimine (PEI) and polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) were added during dopamine (DA) deposition. They effectively disrupted the clustering of enzyme molecules, enabling a more homogeneous enzyme distribution within BMs, as confirmed by microscopy, activity assays, and simulations. This controlled dispersion, facilitated by Protein-Polyelectrolyte Complexes (PPCs) formation, significantly improved substrate accessibility and catalytic performance. Exceptional catalytic performance was exhibited by the optimized PDA/PEI BM (using 1800 Da PEI), enabling highly efficient conversion of Rb1 to Rd. This high conversion efficiency, coupled with the inherent temperature-dependent solubility of Rd, enables a remarkably simple purification process. By exploiting Rd precipitation upon cooling, high-purity (93.1 %) Rd was achieved at a 55.6 % recovery from a 70 % purity Rb1 feed using a simple solid-liquid separation, eliminating the need for other separation techniques. This study provides new insights into the preparation of BMs and offers innovative strategies for the transformation and purification of ginsenosides.

Graphene oxide (GO) is used for developing next-generation filtration and separation membranes. GO membranes (GOMs) have several novel mass transport properties that cannot be achieved by most advanced commercial membranes; therefore, GOMs are vital for product refinement and solvent recovery in the environment and manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries. However, issues such as permeability-selectivity trade-off, swelling, fouling, and the difficulty of specific recognition limit the applicability of GOMs in molecular separation. GO composite membranes (GOCMs) exhibit improved intrinsic properties compared to GOMs and expand the involved application range. Therefore, the latest research progress on GOCMs should be introduced to promote further development in the field of membrane separation. In this review, the recently developed preparation methods of GOCMs and the existing challenges associated with high-performance GOCMs are summarized. Subsequently, the effect of various modification strategies on the important properties of GOCMs, including water permeability, selectivity, solute adsorption, mechanical stability, and antifouling properties, are discussed. The molecular-separation mechanisms of GOCMs are then presented, followed a discussion of the use of artificial intelligence-assisted research models in GOCMs design and modification. Lastly, GOCMs applications in molecular separation are discussed. Future research directions for further advancing these membranes have also been provided.