Excretion of three alkaloids from Simiao Pills in urine, feces, and bile between normal and type 2 diabetic rats / 中国中药杂志

This study investigated the differences in excretion kinetics of three alkaloids and their four metabolites from Simiao Pills in normal and type 2 diabetic rats. The diabetes model was established in rats by injection of streptozotocin, and the alkaloids in urine, feces, and bile of normal and diabetic rats were detected by LC-MS/MS to explore the effect of diabetes on alkaloid excretion of Simiao Pills. The results showed that 72 h after intragastric administration of the extract of Simiao Pills, feces were the main excretion route of alkaloids from Simiao Pills. The total excretion rates of magnoflorine and berberine in normal rats were 4.87% and 56.54%, which decreased to 2.35% and 35.53% in diabetic rats, which had statistical significance(P<0.05). The total excretion rates of phellodendrine, magnoflorine, and berberine in the urine of diabetic rats decreased significantly, which were 53.57%, 60.84%, and 52.78% of those in normal rats, respectively. After 12 h of intragastric administration, the excretion rate of berberine in the bile of diabetic rats increased significantly, which was 253.33% of that of normal rats. In the condition of diabetes, the excretion rate of berberine metabolite, thalifendine significantly decreased in urine and feces, but significantly increased in bile. The total excretion rates of jateorrhizine and palmatine in the urine increased significantly, and t_(1/2) and K_e changed significantly. The results showed that diabetes affected the in vivo process of alkaloids from Simiao Pills, reducing their excretion in the form of prototype drug, affecting the biotransformation of berberine, and ultimately increasing the exposure of alkaloids in vivo, which would be conducive to the hypoglycemic effect of alkaloids. This study provides references for the clinical application and drug development of Simiao Pills in diabetes.

Comparative analysis of pharmacokinetics and intestinal absorption of six alkaloids between Sanmiao Pills and Simiao Pills in rats / 中国中药杂志

The present study investigated the differences in pharmacokinetics and intestinal absorption of six alkaloids in Sanmiao Pills and Simiao Pills in rats and explored the different efficacies of the two formulae. After oral administration of Sanmiao Pills and Simiao Pills in rats, blood samples were collected at different time points. Samples were prepared for the determination of six alkaloids in plasma by UPLC-MS/MS. The chromatography was performed on an ACE Excel 3 C_(18 )column with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid in water as the mobile phase for gradient elution. Analytes were detected in the positive ion mode. Plasma concentrations and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. Intestinal absorption of alkaloids was investigated by single-pass intestinal perfusion and absorption parameters of ingredients were calculated. The results showed that the UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of concentrations of six alkaloids in plasma was developed and validated by methodological investigations, such as specificity, calibration curves, precision, accuracy, recovery, matrix effect, and stability. The results of the pharmacokinetic assay revealed that C_(max) and AUC values of phellodendrine, berberine, magnoflorine, berberrubine, and jatrorrhizine in Simiao Pills were significantly increased, and CL/F values were reduced as compared with those in Sanmiao Pills, which indicated the increase in plasma concentrations of alkaloids. The intestinal absorption parameters K_(a )and P_(eff) values of phellodendrine, berberine, and jatrorrhizine in Simiao Pills were higher than those in Sanmiao Pills. The intestinal absorption and plasma concentrations of alkaloids in Simiao Pills were significantly higher than those in Sanmiao Pills, suggesting that the composition of Simiao Pills was more conducive to the alkaloids into the blood to resist inflammation and lower uric acid.

Tissue Distribution of 14 Bioactive Components After Oral Administration of Gegen Qinlian Tang in Rats / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the tissue distribution of major bioactive components from Gegen qinlian Tang(GQT) in rats,and to reveal the mechanism for the efficacy of GQT by the tissue targeting of its bioactive ingredients in vivo. Method:After oral administration of GQT in rats,tissues were collected at different time points,including small and large intestine,liver,heart,spleen,lung,and kidney.Samples were prepared for determination of 14 bioactive components of GQT in tissue homogenate by HPLC-MS/MS.The chromatography separation was performed on an Agilent ZORBAX SB-C18 column(2.1 mm×100 mm,3.5 μm) with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid in water for gradient elution.Electrospray ionization(ESI) was applied and operated in the positive ion mode.Meanwhile,naringin was used as the internal standard for determining. Result:HPLC-MS/MS for simultaneous determination of 14 components from GQT in tissue homogenate was developed and validated by specificity,calibration curves,recovery test,matrix effect,precision,accuracy,and stability.In the small intestine,the the area under the curve(AUC0-10 h) of major isoflavonoids(puerarin,3'-hydroxypuerarin,and daidzein) were 22 174.9,15 893.1,3 882.5 h·mg·L-1,major flavonoids(baicalein,wogonin,wogonoside,and baicalin) were 15 423.6,15 408.4,7 017.3,3 697.7 h·mg·L-1,and major alkaloid(berberine) was 2 544.0 h·mg·L-1,respectively.The distribution of these ingredients in the small intestine was significantly higher than that in other tissues. Conclusion:The effective ingredients of GQT are mainly distributed in the intestinal tissues,which speculates that the anti-inflammatory and antidiarrheal activities of GQT may be related to its targeting in the intestine.

Analysis of Mechanism of Artesunate in Treatment of Liver Cancer Based on Metabolomics / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To study on the antitumor mechanism of artesunate in the treatment of liver cancer based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Method: CellTiter-Glo® Luminescent Cell Viability Assay was used to detect activity of artesunate with different concentrations (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100 μmol·L-1) on human liver cancer Huh7, SMMC-7721 cells for 24, 48, 72 h. GC-MS was employed to analyze the changes of metabolites of artesunate in two kinds of hepatoma cells (Huh7, SMMC-7721) for 24 h. The data was preprocessed by Postrun Analysis 4.41 workstation. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to analyze two sets of differential metabolites and to analyze metabolic pathways of differential metabolites based on MetaboAnalyst 3.0 software. Result: Compared with the normal group, after two kinds of liver cancer cells was treated by artesunate, a total of 39 identical metabolites in the cells have undergone significant changes, which were mainly related to five metabolic pathways,including biosynthesis of aminoacyl-transfer RNA (tRNA), metabolism of alanine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid, metabolism of glycine, serine and threonine, metabolism of arginine and proline, metabolism of glutathione. Conclusion: Artesunate (12.5-100 μmol·L-1) can inhibit the growth of liver cancer cells (Huh7, SMMC-7721), it mainly involves five metabolic pathways, which may be the pathway of artesunate against liver cancer.

Pharmacokinetic characteristics of fourteen main components of Gegen Qinlian Decoction in rats / 中国中药杂志

A specific and selective UPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of isoflavonoids(3'-hydroxy puerarin, puerarin, daidzin, daidzein, genistin, genistein), flavonoids (baicalin, baicalein, wogonoside, wogonin, liquiritin)and alkaloids(berberine, jatrorrhizine, palmatine)(14 bioactive compounds) of Gegen Qinlian Decoction(GQD) in plasma. The pharmacokinetics characteristics of 14 bioactive compounds were study after oral administration of GQD at a single dose to rats. Prednisolone was used as the internal standard of liquiritin, and naringin was used as the internal standard of the other thirteen analytes. After the plasma samples were processed by precipitation protein method, the constituents and internal standards were gradient eluted by using a Zorbax SB-18 column with a mobile phase of acetonitrile(A) and 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution(B) using a gradient elution of 0-2.5 min, 15%-30% A; 2.5-3.5 min, 30%-35% A; 3.5-5.0 min, 35%-40% A; 5.0-9.0 min, 40%-60% A; 9.0-11.0 min, 60%-15% A, and the flow rate was 0.4 mL·min⁻¹. The auto sampler was conditioned at 25 °C and the sample injection volume was 5 μL. A mass spectrometry was applied with electrospray ionization (ESI) ion source in the positive and negative ion multiple reaction monitoring(MRM) mode. All pharmacokinetic parameters were processed by non-compartmental analysis with DAS 3.2.2 software. The results showed that the linear correlation coefficient of the 14 components were all greater than 0.99, indicating that the method had good linearity in their respective concentration ranges. Post-preparative stability (25 °C, 24 h), short-term stability(25 °C, 12 h), long-term stability (-20 °C, 7 d), and freeze and thaw stability (3-cycles) of the fourteen constituents were examined to evaluate the stability of methodology. The results of the inner and inter-day relative standard deviations were both less than 10%, indicating legitimate precise and accuracy to the requirement of biological sample analysis. The assay method is proved to be sensitive, accurate and convenient. It can be applied to the pharmacokinetic study of the fourteen analytes. The kinetic parameters of the related drugs were calculated according to the blood concentration of the 14 components. The results showed that the MRT0-t of the isoflavones and flavonoids was 7.5-11.8 h, T1/2z were mainly in 11.0-29.7 h, and the AUC0-t flavonoids were larger than the isoflavones. The MRT0-t of alkaloids were between 4.3-7.2 h, T1/2z were 1.0-5.0 h, AUC0-t were less than flavonoids and isoflavones. The results suggest that flavonoids and isoflavones have a high concentration of blood and long time of action, which are beneficial to the anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects. The concentration of alkaloids in the body is low and the time of action is short, and it may play its bacteriostasis in the intestinal tract.

Antipyretic and anti-asthmatic activities of traditional Chinese herb-pairs, Ephedra and Gypsum / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Mahuang-Shigao herb-pair is a famous formula composed of Ephedra and Gypsum. The herb-pair is frequently used for treating cold symptoms and bronchial asthma in the clinical practice of Chinese medicine (CM). In the present study, we evaluated evidence for the benefit of combined use of Ephedra and Gypsum by analyzing the antipyretic and anti-asthmatic activities of Ephedra-Gypsum.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The antipyretic effects of Ephedra-Gypsum were evaluated in yeast-induced hyperthermia test. Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, including control group, standard aspirin group, and 3 Ephedra- Gypsum groups of different doses (6, 12, 24 g/kg). Ephedra-Gypsum extract and asprin were administered orally 6 h after the injection of yeast solution and body temperature was measured every 1 h for 8 h. The antiasthmatic effects of Ephedra-Gypsum were evaluated using an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthmatic rat model. Thirty-six male SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups. Rats were alternately sensitized and OVA+Al(OH) challenged by exposure to mists of ovalbumin. Ephedra-Gypsum extracts (6, 12, 24 g/kg) or dexamethasone were administered 45 min prior to the allergen challenge for 8 days. Latent period and the weight of wet to dry ratio of lung were determined. In addition, the eosinophils in blood and white blood cell (WBC) were counted by an YZ-Hemavet Analyzer.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The Ephedra-Gypsum extracts at test dose (6, 12, 24 g/kg) significantly and dose-dependently attenuated yeast-induced fever in rats. The Ephedra-Gypsum extracts also prolonged the latent period, reduced OVA-induced increases in eosinophils and WBC, and decreased the wet and dry weight ratio of the lungs in the anti-asthmatic test.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>These findings indicate that the Ephedra-Gypsum extract has antipyretic and anti-asthmatic properties. Hence, the results support additional scientific evidence in prescriptions.</p>

Study on material basis of Mahuang Fuzi Xixin decoction for anti-inflammation and immune suppression based on combined method of serum pharmacochemistry and serum pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

To investigate me material basis of Mahuang Fuzi Xixin decoction (MFXD) for anti-inflammation and immune-suppression based on the combined method of serum chemical and serum pharmacological. The LC-MS/MS fingerprints of MFXD, drug-containing serum and blank serum were compared to define the components in plasma. Histamine, β-hexosaminidase released from RBL-2H3 cell infulenced by drug-containing serum at different time points were measured by ELISA. The effect of drug-containing serum on lipopolysaccharide-induced splenocyte proliferation at different time points were determined by MTT. A correlation analysis was made on components of MFXD and pharmacological indexes based the stepwise regression method. After the intragastrical administration with MFXD, 32 components were discovered in rat serum, including 27 prototype components (10 from Mahuang, 13 from Fuzi and four from Xixin) and five unknown components. Compared with blank serum, drug-containing serum could reduce the release of histamine from RBL-2H3 induced by antigen at different time points (P < 0.05); except the 4-hour drug-containing serum, all of the remaining drug-containing serums could inhibit the RBL-2H3 mastocyte degranulation induced by antigen at different time points (P < 0.05). Drug-containing serum could significantly lipopolysaccharide-induced mouse splenocyte proliferation at 15 and 30 min (P < 0.05). A regression analysis was made on the chemical data of components absorbed into blood and pharmacological indexes, i. e. release rate of histamine, release rate of β-hexosaminidase and inhibition rate of splenocyte. This suggested the close correlations among methyl pseudo-ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and histamine released from RBL-2H3 induced by antigen; pseudoephedrine, hypaconine, methyl pseudoephedrine and β-hexosaminidase released from RBL-2H3 induced by antigen; as well as benzoyl hypaconine, benzoylaconine, 14-benzoyl-10-OH-mesaconine, mesaconine and lipopolysaccharide-induced mouse splenocyte proliferation. Methylpseudoephedrine, pseudoephedrine, benzoyl hypaconine, benzoylaconine and mesaconine may be part of material basis of MFXD on anti-inflammation and immune suppression.

Simultaneous determination of six components in Yupingfeng Decoction by high-performance liquid chromatography / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a HPLC-based method for simultaneous determination of 2 classes of compounds (flavonoids and chromones) and 6 their effective components,(including prin-O-glucosylcimifugin, cimifugin, 4'-O-beta-D-glucosyl- 5-O-methylvisamminol, quercetin, sec-o-glucosylhamaudol and formononetin), in Yupingfeng Decoction.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>HPLC-based separation of the agents was performed on Agilent Extend-C(18) column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) at 25 degrees with the mobile phase of MeOH-1% acetic acid water solution (gradient elution), flow rate of 0.8 ml/min and detection wavelength of 254 nm.</p><p><b>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</b>HPLC allowed simultaneous quantitative determination of the 6 components in Yupingfeng Decoction, and they showed good linear relationships when their sample amount ranged 90-1810 ng, 97-1940 ng, 190-1906 ng, 105-3144 ng, 88-2625 ng and 109-3279 ng, respectively, with correlation coefficients all beyond 0.9999 and average recovery rates of 98.2%, 99.1%, 97.3%, 97.8%, 98.8% and 99.2%, respectively. This simple and convenient method accommodated a broad linear range with high sensitivity and precise and reproducible results.</p>

Research on the influence of compatibility on fingerprint of Glycyrrhiza uralensis in mahuang decoctions by HPLC / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To set up the HPLC fingerprint of Glycyrrhiza uralensis in decoctions prepared from various combinations of the recipe named Mahuang decoctions and study the influence of compatibility on fingerprint of G. wralensis in decoctions.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The RP-HPLC method was used, chromatography conditions were Zorbax SB-C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm), the acetonitrile-1.2% acetic acid (gradient elution) as mobile phase and detective wavelength at 254 nm.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The method is stable and reliable with a good reproducibility and provides a reference standard for the quality control of G. uralensis, it can be used to determine the fingerprint of G. aralensis in Mahuang decoctions. The result showed that 8 peaks were common in the fingerprint of G. uralensis in Mahauang decoctions. The area changes of 8 common peaks in decoctions prepared from various combinations of Mahuang decoctions were studied.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The fingerprint of G. uralensis in Mahuang decoctions is markedly influenced by herba ephedrae and ramulus cinnamomi and semen armeniacae amarum. The areas of 7 common peaks were reduced obviously, while the relative areas of 6 common peaks were increased remarkably.</p>

The qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis of purification of salvianolic acids by macroreticular resin / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To purify salvianolic acids by macroreticular resin,then mensurate the contents of salvianolic acids and analyse the chromatogram with HPLC.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Make salvianolic acids with macroreticular resin; mensurate the content of Salvianolic acids with UV spestrophotometry: the control compound is protocaechuic aldehyde, and the wavelength is 281 nm. Analysis the chromatogram with HPLC, and compare the chromatogram in different technics: zorbax ODS column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm), mobilephase: 1% aceticacid-water and methanol in different proportions, the wavelength is 281 nm.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The contents of salvianolic acids is 53.8%; HPLC chromatogram indicate that the method is reasonable to make salvianolic acids.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Determination of contents and HPLC chromatogram can control the quality of Salvianolic acids more accurately.</p>