Considerations from FDA Food Traceability to Chinese Medicinal Materials Traceability / 中国实验方剂学杂志

As a Chinese saying goes， "good Chinese medicinal material makes good medicine"， the traceability of Chinese medicinal materials is closely related to the high-quality development of Chinese medicine industry. This article intends to analyze the "new era of smarter food safety blueprint" and Proposed Rule for Food Traceability related to food traceability of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration （FDA）， including food traceability list， critical tracking events， and examples of exemptions. By studying the process and consideration of the construction of the FDA food traceability system， as well as the specific traceability requirements of fresh herbs， vegetables and fruits in the FDA food traceability system that are related to Chinese medicinal materials， on the one hand， it provides research materials for the communication and discussion of Chinese medicinal materials traceability， on the other hand， it also provides reference for the construction of food traceability system in China. To sort out the idea of constructing a traceability system for Chinese medicinal materials suitable for the current development status of traditional Chinese medicine， the contents to be considered are as follows：①To determine the traceability list of Chinese medicinal materials based on the risk control of Chinese medicinal materials. ②Determine the critical tracking links and information in the Chinese medicinal materials industry chain， and standardize the traceability information of Chinese medicinal materials. ③The quality information of Chinese medicinal materials should be reflected in the traceability of Chinese medicinal materials. ④Within the scope of the traceability list of Chinese medicinal materials， enterprises should be encouraged to make voluntary traceability by selecting Chinese medicinal materials with a good foundation of traceability work.

Study on potential hepatotoxicity of main monomers of Polygonum multiflorum based on liver micro-tissue / 中国中药杂志

In this study, we aimed to establish a rat liver micro-tissue evaluation system to evaluate the hepatotoxicity of the main monomers in Polygonum multiflorum. Rat primary hepatocytes were isolated and purified by two-step in situ perfusion method to prepare hepatic parenchymal cells. The ultra-low adsorption plate and the inverted model were used to establish an in vitro hepatotoxicity evaluation system. After the system was established, the main monomer components(monanthone with emodin type, rhein, emodin, emodin-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, physcion) of P. multiflorum were selected for in vitro hepatotoxicity evaluation. This study showed that the primary cells of the liver can form liver micro-tissues in the low adsorption plate method and the mold perfusion method, with good liver structure and function, which can be used to evaluate the hepatotoxicity of the drug to be tested after long-term administration. The five monomers to be tested in P. multiflorum can significantly affect the proliferation of primary liver micro-tissues in rats in a dose-and time-dependent manner. The hepatotoxic effects were as follows: monanthone with emodin type > rhein > emodin > emodin-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside > physcion. The results suggested that the emodin-type monoterpene and rhein might be the potential hepatotoxic components, while the metabolites of emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside and emodin methyl ether showed more toxic risks. The rat primary hepatocyte micro-tissue model system established in this experiment could be used to achieve long-term drug administration in vitro, which was consistent with the clinical features of liver injury caused by long-term use of P. multiflorum. The experimental results provided important information and reference on the clinical application and toxic component of P. multiflorum.

Study on hepatotoxicity of physcion based on liver metabolism in vitro / 中国中药杂志

To evaluate the hepatotoxicity risks of physcion on the basis of the bilirubin metabolism mediated by glucuronidation of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases 1A1(UGT1A1 enzyme). The monomers were added into the rat liver microsomes to test the hepatotoxicity by using bilirubin as UGT1A1 enzyme substrate, with apparent inhibition constant K_i as the evaluation index. Liver microsome incubation in vitro was adopted to initiate phase Ⅱ metabolic reaction and investigate the inhibitory effect of physcion. Then the phase Ⅰ and Ⅱ metabolic reactions were initiated to investigate the comprehensive inhibition of metabolites and prototype components. The results showed that when only the phase Ⅱ reaction was initiated, physcion directly acted on the UGT1A1 enzyme in a prototype form, exhibited weak inhibition and the inhibition type was mixed inhibition; When the phase Ⅰ and Ⅱ reactions were initiated simultaneously, the inhibitory effects of physcion on UGT1A1 enzyme became strong and the inhibition type was mixed inhibition, suggesting that physcion had phase Ⅰ and Ⅱ metabolic processes, and the metabolites had strong inhibitory effect on UGT1A1 enzyme. This experiment preliminarily proved that the metabolites of physcion may be the main components to induce hepatotoxicity.