Peng Gao

Schizonepeta tenuifolia Briq., a traditional Chinese medicine belonging to the Lamiaceae family, has a history of medicinal use spanning thousands of years in East Asian countries. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the plant’s botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and quality control, thereby exploring its future therapeutic and scientific potential. A total of 150 compounds have been reported in S. tenuifolia, including essential oil, flavonoids, organic acids, polysaccharides, and other constituents. Studies have shown that S. tenuifolia extracts and their bioactive components exhibit a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, antitumor, immunomodulatory, hemostatic, antidepressant, and anti-allergic effects. Furthermore, evaluating the quality of S. tenuifolia is crucial for ensuring the stability of its bioactive components and overall clinical efficacy. These findings underscore the significant development potential of S. tenuifolia as a medicinal and edible plant. However, further studies in animal and human models are needed to evaluate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying its biological activities and to confirm its clinical efficacy. To ensure a transparent and reproducible literature search, a comprehensive search on S. tenuifolia was conducted using scientific databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, CNKI, Elsevier, and SpringerLink, alongside classical texts, official pharmacopoeias, floras, and doctoral and master’s theses. The search was performed using keyword combinations such as “Schizonepeta tenuifolia”, “Schizonepetae Herba”, “phytochemistry”, “pharmacological activities”, and “quality control”, covering records from inception to August 2026. Studies were selected based on their relevance to the botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and quality control of S. tenuifolia. After removing duplicates and screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, a total of 105 eligible studies were included in this review.

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Glehnia littoralis (GL) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine used to clear the lungs and benefit the stomach. Glehnia littoralis polysaccharides (GLPs) constitute one of the primary active ingredients of GL, demonstrating notable biological activities including immunomodulatory, antioxidant activity, and antitumor effects. Aim of the study: This review aims to provide the latest and the most comprehensive information on GLPs, specifically investigating their extraction technologies, isolation and purification methods, structural characteristics, and pharmacological activities of GLPs. It seeks to lay a foundation for further investigating pharmacological activities and application scope and guide the safe clinical practice of GLPs. Materials and methods: PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Elsevier, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and other online databases were used to collect literature about extraction, isolation, and purification methods, structural characteristics, and pharmacological activities of GLPs published before January 2025. Results: Polysaccharides are the main active ingredient of GL. Currently, 19 types of GLPs have been extracted. Methods of extracting GL include hot water extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction, and enzyme extraction. The most frequently used method of separation and purification within GLP is column chromatography, often entailing cellulose column chromatography and ion exchange chromatography. GLPs have various pharmacological activities, including immunomodulatory, antioxidant, and antitumor. Conclusions: While GLPs show promising immunomodulatory and antitumor effects, elucidating their structure–activity relationships is essential for advancing our understanding and requires future research.

The clinical safety and therapeutic performance of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are closely tied to its quality. However, with the rapid expansion of the TCM industry, conventional quality control approaches based on empirical observations and single-metabolite quantification have become increasingly inadequate for addressing the complex and variable requirements of quality assessment. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI)—with strong capabilities in data processing and pattern recognition—has emerged as a promising tool for establishing predictive models to efficiently handle heterogeneous, multi-source datasets (such as spectra, chromatograms, images, and textual information). This enables intelligent prediction of quality indicators and anomaly detection, and offering novel strategies for modernizing TCM quality control. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of commonly applied machine learning and deep learning algorithms, systematically outlining recent advances in AI-enabled sensing applications such as image recognition, odor analysis, authenticity verification, origin tracing, quality grading, and storage-age determination. It further emphasizes the integration of AI with multi-omics and bioinformatics approaches for efficacy-oriented evaluation and safety assessment, including identification of Q-markers, elucidation of pharmacodynamic mechanisms, and predictive modeling of both endogenous and exogenous toxic metabolites. It also identifies key challenges and technical bottlenecks, and outlines priorities for building scalable, regulation-aware, data-driven quality-control systems that support the sustainable, high-quality development of the TCM industry.

Traditional Chinese medicine is a complex medical system characterized by multiple metabolites, targets, and pathways, known for its low drug resistance and significant efficacy. However, challenges persist within Traditional Chinese medicine, including difficulties in assessing the quality of Botanical drugs, reliance on experiential knowledge for disease diagnosis and treatment, and a lack of clarity regarding the pharmacological mechanisms of Traditional Chinese medicine. The advancement of digital intelligence technology is driving a shift towards precision medicine within the Traditional Chinese medicine model. This transition propels Traditional Chinese medicine into an era of precision, intelligence, and digitalization. This paper introduces standard digital intelligence technologies and explores the application of digital intelligence technologies in quality control and evaluation of Traditional Chinese medicine, studies the research status of digital intelligence technologies in assisting diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases, and further promotes the application and development of digital intelligence technologies in the field of Traditional Chinese medicine.

Bridged polysilsesquioxanes (BPSs) are emerging biomaterials composed of synergistic inorganic and organic components. These materials have been investigated as ideal carriers for therapeutic and diagnostic systems for their favorable properties, including excellent biocompatibility, physiological inertia, tunable size and morphology, and their extensive design flexibility of functional organic groups to satisfy diverse application requirements. Stimuli-responsive BPSs can be activated by both endogenous and exogenous stimuli, offering a precise, safe, and effective platform for the controlled release of various targeted therapeutics. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of stimuli-responsive BPSs, focusing on their synthetic strategies, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, while critically assessing their capabilities for controlled release in response to specific stimuli. Furthermore, practical suggestions and future perspectives for the design and development of BPSs are presented. This review highlights the significant role of stimuli-responsive BPSs in advancing biomedical research.

Introduction: Dajianzhong decoction (DJZD), a classic famous prescription, has a long history of medicinal application. Modern studies have demonstrated its clinical utility in the treatment of postoperative ileus (POI). But none of the current quality evaluation methods for this compound is associated with efficacy. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the quality markers (Q‐Markers) connected to the treatment of POI in DJZD. Methodology: Ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UPLC‐Q‐Exactive Orbitrap‐MS) was used to identify the main constituents in DJZD. Based on the qualitative results obtained by fingerprinting, chemical pattern recognition (CPR) was used to analyse the key components affecting the quality and finally to establish the network of the active ingredients in DJZD with POI. Results: A total of 64 chemical components were detected. After fingerprint analysis, 13 common peaks were identified. The fingerprint similarity of 15 batches of samples ranged from 0.860 to 1.000. CPR analysis was able to categorically classify 15 batches of DJZD into two groups. And gingerenone A, methyl‐6‐gingerdiol, 6‐gingerol, and hydroxy‐β‐sanshool contributed to their grouping. Twelve common components interact with the therapeutic targets for treating POI. In addition, the mechanism of this prescription for treating POI may be related to the jurisdiction of the neurological system, the immunological system, and the inflammatory response. Conclusions: This integrated approach can accurately assess and forecast the quality of DJZD, presume the Q‐Markers of DJZD for POI, and lay the foundation for studying the theoretical underpinnings and exploring the mechanism of DJZD in the treatment of POI.