ABSTRACT
Wuzhi tablet (WZ) is a prescribed herbal medicine extracted from Schisandra sphenanthera, which is widely used to protect the liver injury and drug-induced hepatotoxicity in clinical practices. Previous studies showed that WZ significantly increased the blood concentrations of tacrolimus, cyclosporine A, paclitaxel by inhibiting the cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A)-mediated metabolism. CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 are the most important isoenzymes among the CYP3A subfamily. However, there are some differences in the catalytic and inhibitory activities between CYP3A4 and CYP3A5, which may lead to different risk of drug-drug and herb-drug interactions, and the risks may be further amplified in vivo. Currently, few reports have compared the herbal medicine inhibitory effects between CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 mediated metabolic reactions. Therefore, detailing the inhibitory effect of WZ on CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 will help understand and predict the potential herb-drug interaction. The results showed that WZ inhibited CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 in a NADPH-, time- and concentration- dependent manner. WZ showed more potent inhibition on CYP3A5 than CYP3A4. Cautions warranted when combining WZ with other therapeutic drugs to avoid the potential herb-drug interaction.
ABSTRACT
Objective To understand the prevalence of small for gestational age (SGA) in Zhuang population, and to analyze the potential factors of SGA. Methods A total of 3 839 live births in the Wuming District People’s Hospital and Wuming Maternal and Child Health Hospital from January 2016 to January 2018 were recruited. Random Forest, 2 test and Logistic regression model were used for statistical analyses. Results The incidence of SGA was 9.6% (368/3 839), and it was 6.9% (142/2 049) and 12.6% (226/1 790) for male and female infants respectively. Random Forest method showed that second-trimester intrauterine growth restriction’s importance score was the highest, but gestational week’s was the lowest. Also, seven important variables were selected by this method. Unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that parity <2, the height of mothers <1.55 m, insufficient gestational weight gain, second-trimester intrauterine growth restriction were risk factors for SGA, but pre-pregnancy BMI ≥18.5 kg/m2 and male infants were protective factors. Conclusions The incidence of SGA is slightly higher, among the Zhuang population in Guangxi. SGA is affected by many factors. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the status of intrauterine growth and adopt comprehensive measures to control and reduce the incidence of SGA.
ABSTRACT
This study was aimed to investigate the effects of six Schisandra lignans of Wuzhi tablet (WZ, a preparation of ethanol extract of Schisandra sphenanthera) on the pharmacokinetic process of digoxin (DG, a classical P-gp substrate) after intravenous and oral administration in rats. The effect of Schisandra lignans on the transportion of DG in Caco-2 cells was further elucidated. Our data showed that the plasma concentrations of DG were increased to different extent following co-administration of schisandrin A, schisandrin B, schisandrol B and schisantherin A, respectively. Schisandrol B showed the most potent effect among the six lignans. However, schisandrin C and schisandrol A showed little effect on pharmacokinetic of DG. Schisandrol B led to 99.0% (P < 0.05) and 109.2% (P < 0.05) increase in the AUC after orally or intravenously administered of DG, suggesting that co-administration of schisandrol B induced a more potent effect on increasing hepatic bioavailability of DG than that of intestinal. Furthermore, in vitro transport experiment showed that schisandrin A, schisandrin B, schisandrol B and schisantherin A inhibited P-gp-mediated efflux of DG, suggested that these lignans inhibited the P-gp-mediated efflux of DG. In conclusion, the exposure of DG in rats was increased when co-administered with Schisandra lignans, and schisandrol B showed the strongest effect. The dramatic increase in oral bioavailability of digoxin in the presence of schisandrol B may be due to the inhibition of hepatic/renal P-gp activity.
ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of midazolam (MDZ) under different oral dosages in rats, and determine the optimum oral dosage of MDZ, a CYP3A probe substrate in vivo. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given a single oral dosages of MDZ at 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 or 20 mg·kg-1. Plasma concentrations of MDZ and its major metabolite 1-hydroxyl midazolam (1-OH MDZ) were determined at different time points using a validated LC-MS/MS method. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using non-compartmental model. The Cmax, AUC0-t and AUC0-∞ of MDZ and 1-OH MDZ were linearly increased over the dose range of 1-5 mg·kg-1 (r > 0.99), but not at the dose of 15 or 20 mg·kg-1. The AUC/Dose at 1-10 mg·kg-1 were not significant different, but that of 15 or 20 mg·kg-1 were significantly higher. No significant sedative reaction was observed in all the rats at dosages of 1-5 mg·kg-1, however loss of righting reflex was observed in rats receiving dosages of 10-20 mg·kg-1. In conclusion, the optimized oral dose of MDZ was 1-5 mg·kg-1 when MDZ is used as the CYP3A probe substrate in rats.
ABSTRACT
This study was aimed to determine the hepatic and small intestinal distribution of active lignans in rats after treated with Wuzhi tablet (WZ, Schisandra sphenanthera extract) by LC-MS/MS method. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were sacrificed at 0.25, 1.5, 4, 6, 10, 24 h after an oral administration of WZ, and then hepatic and small intestinal samples were collected for analysis. The results showed that concentrations of lignans in liver and small intestine of rats were decreased with WZ pretreated time. The concentrations of all lignans in rat liver and small intestine at 0.25 h were the highest after a single oral administration. All lignans was undetectable in all tissues 24 h after oral dosing, suggesting lignans of WZ were eliminated rapidly in rats. The concentrations of schisandrin A, schisandrol B and schisantherin A in small intestine were much higher than those in the liver, suggesting the effect of WZ on the intestinal metabolism enzyme might be more potent than that on the liver. In short, the current results suggest that lignans of WZ were not accumulated in rat liver and small intestine. The concentrations of lignans of WZ in small intestine were much higher than those in liver.
ABSTRACT
The study aims to evaluate the effect of long-term pretreatment of the rat with Wuzhi tablet (WZ) on hepatic and intestinal CYP3A mRNA and protein expression and activity. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administered of midazolam (2 mg·kg-1) with or without 14 days of pretreatment of WZ (0.25 g·kg-1) to determine CYP3A activity. Meanwhile, RNA and protein of rats liver and intestine samples were prepared 24 h after the last dose of 14 days of WZ treatment to determine CYP3A mRNA and protein expression. Long-term treatment of WZ increased the mRNA expression of hepatic Cyp3a1, Cyp3a9 and intestinal Cyp3a9 by 54.6%, 188.3% (PP<0.05), respectively;and increased the protein expression of hepatic CYP3A by 43.2%. However, after long-term treatment of WZ, the AUC of orally administered of midazolam in the WZ group was increased 29.9% (WZ pretreatment group) and 154.2% (WZ coadministered group) compared to that of control group. In conclusion, long-term treatment of WZ increased the mRNA and protein expression of CYP3A, while could inhibit the activity of CYP3A.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the possibility of BMSCs differentiating into neurons under thc condition of in vitro culture by striatal extracts (SEs) from 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced PD rats. Methods PD rat models were established by stereotaxic injection of 6-OHDA into the right medial forebrain bundle. Bilateral striatum was dissected; lesion striatal extracts (L-SEs) and intact striatal extracts (I-SEs) were prepared. The in vitro isolated and expanded third-passage BMSCs were induced by the 2 striatal extracts, respectively. Cells were observed under phase contrast microscope. The differentiated cells were detected and measured by immunocytochemical stain with nestin, neuron special enolase (NSE), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and tyroxine hydroxylase (TH). Besides that, some other BMSCs were cultured in the serumal culture solution (Ser-C) and free serum culture solution (F-SerC) as controls. Results Morphological changes of BMSCs after treatment could be observed under contrast phase microscope. Some cells even had enations and some cells in the L-SEs and I-SEs inducement groups were out of shape. Cells in the Ser-C treatment group grew well, while cells in F-SerC treatment group could not grow well. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that GFAP positive cells expressed in the Ser-C treatment group; the GFAP and nestin positive cells in the L-SEs inducement group were increased and the GFAP and NSE positive cells in the L-SEs inducement group were increased as compared with those in the Ser-C treatment group; furthermore, the percentages of GFAP positive cells in the L-SEs and I-SEs inducement groups (53.09±32.27%, 54.60±33.14%) were significantly different with those in the Ser-C treatment group (15.05±3.92%, P＜0.05) and those were not obviously different between the L-SEs and I-SEs inducement groups (P＞0.05). No TH positive cells existed in all the groups. Conclusion SEs from 6-OHDA-induced PD rats can lead to morphological changes of BMSCs, and some cells have enations. A certain number of cells express neural special proteins after inducemet, including GFAP positive cells and some nestin/NSE positive cells.