Aconitum episcopale Levl., known as a characteristic Aconitum specie in China, is a perennial herbaceous plant classified into Aconitum L. (Ranunculaceae), which mainly distributes in northwest Yunnan and southwestern Sichuan. As a commonly traditional Chinese medicine, the root of A. episcopale has been used to treat anemofrigid-damp arthralgia, arthralgia, cold hernia and anesthesia analgesia with the effects of expelling wind and removing damness, warming menstruation and relieving pain. It also is used for solving other Aconitums poisoning in folk. In order to obtain more information for research and development of A. episcopale, the chemical components and pharmacological research on A. episcopale were reviewed. It is beneficial for future research, development and utilization of Aconitum and search for traditional herbal resources.

Althaea officinalis (Malvaceae), mainly distributed in Europe and China, is an ornamental, edible and medicinal plant, which is effective in reducing cough and phlegm. To better develop and utilize A. officinalis, 46 kinds of compounds including flavonoids, phenolic acids, steroids, coumarins and other types isolated from this plant are summarized, and their pharmacological effects such as anti-tussive, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities are discussed in this review.

There are about 1000 species in the genus Ficus and many can be used for medicinal purpose. The medicinal plants of this genus mainly contain terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, and coumarins. In this paper, we summarized flavonoids isolated from the genus Ficus and their pharmacological effects including anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antioxidant, antiviral, protective activities on the cardiovascular system and other activities.

Oxaliplatin (L-OHP) is a new platinum anticancer drug, which is used for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer or the adjuvant treatment of stage III colon cancer. T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias (T-ALLs) are invasive thymocytic malignant tumors with poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of L-OHP on human T-ALL cell lines MOLT-4, Jurkat, CCRF-CEM, and CEM/C1 cells. The CCK-8 method results showed that L-OHP significantly inhibited T-ALL cells proliferation. The inhibition of these T-ALL cells prolife by L-OHP seems to be related to the induction of cell cycle arrest. The effect of L-OHP on the cell cycle distribution of T-ALL cells varies with cell types. As to cells apoptosis, Annexin V/Propidium iodide assay disclosed that L-OHP prominently induced T-ALL cells apoptosis by activating the pathways of mitochondrial biogenesis and is more sensitive to MOLT-4 cells. Western blot analysis showed that L-OHP treatment could promote apoptosis through down-regulated Bcl-2 protein level, up-regulated Bax and caspase-9 proteins levels and cell cycle arrest by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in MOLT-4 cells. Our results indicate that L-OHP, as a new type of platinum anticancer drug, may attract more attention in the future treatment of T-ALL.