Qualitative and quantitative analyses of Tripterygium hypoglaucum in Yinning Tablets, a compound traditional Chinese herbal preparation / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses of Tripterygium hypoglaucum in Yinning Tablets, a compound preparation of traditional Chinese herbal medicine.@*METHODS@#Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was used for qualitative analysis of Tripterygium hypoglaucum in Yining Tablets and the analytical protocols were optimized. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantitatively analyze the content of triptolide (the main active ingredient of Tripterygium hypoglaucum) in Yinning Tablets.@*RESULTS@#The results of TLC analysis showed that the test sample of Yinning Tablets and the positive control samples both produced clear, well separated spots without obvious interference in the blank samples. Assessment of the influences of the thin-layer plates from different manufacturers, temperature and humidity on the test results demonstrated good durability of the test. HPLC analysis of triptolide showed a good linear relationship within the concentration range of 1-100 μg/mL (regression equation: A=22.219C-19.165, r=0.9999); the contents of triptolide in 3 batches of Yinning tablets were 0.34, 0.34, and 0.28 μg per tablet, all within the range of 0.28-0.34 μg per tablet. It was finally determined that each Yinning tablet should not contain more than 0.6 μg of triptolide.@*CONCLUSION@#TLC and HPLC are simple, accurate, durable and specific for qualitative and quantitative analyses of Tripterygium hypoglaucum in Yinning Tablets.

Sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate prevents postoperative peritoneal adhesions in rats by enhancing the activity of the peritoneal fibrinolytic system / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) in preventing postoperative peritoneal adhesions in rats and explore the mechanisms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty SD rats were randomized into 4 equal groups, including a blank control group, adhesion model group, and high-, moderate-, and low-dose STS-treated groups, and were subjected to injuries of the parietal peritoneum and cecum to induce peritoneal adhesions, followed by intraperitoneal administration of saline and STS at the doses of 20, 10, and 5 mg/kg for 7 consecutive days, respectively. Another 15 untreated rats served as the blank control group. The adhesion scores in each group were recorded after the treatments; the activity of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) in peritoneal lavage fluid was measured, tPA/PAI-1 protein ratio in the peritoneal tissue was determined by ELISA, and the expressions of TGF-β1 and collagen I were detected by immunohistochemistry. The anastomotic healing model was used to assess the impact of STS on wound healing.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Intraperitoneal administration of STS effectively prevented peritoneal adhesion without affecting anastomotic healing in the rats. Compared with the adhesion model group, the STS-treated groups showed increased peritoneal lavage fluid tPA activity and tPA/PAI-1 ratio in the ischemic tissues with lowered TGF-β1 and collagen I expressions in the ischemic tissues.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Intraperitoneal administration of STS can prevent peritoneal adhesion and enhance local fibrinolysis in rats, and these effects may be mediated by TGF-β signaling pathway.</p>

Prostaglandin E2 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation through EP2 prostanoid receptor / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)) on the proliferation of cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cells and explore which subtypes of EP prostanoid receptor mediate the action.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RT-PCR was used to determine COX-2 and EP receptor mRNA expression levels in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line Hep3B and human normal hepatocyte line QSG7701. Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was employed to investigate the effect of PGE(2), selective EP2 receptor agonist butaprost and EP3/EP4 receptor agonist PGE1 alcohol on the proliferation of the cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>COX-2 mRNA was highly expressed in Hep3B cells but scarcely in QSG7701 cells. Hep3B cells expressed the mRNAs for all the EP receptor subtypes, but EP2 and EP4 receptors were much more strongly expressed than EP1 and EP3 receptors. PGE(2) significantly promoted Hep3B cell proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and 10 µmol/L PGE(2) increased the cell proliferation by 22.57% (P<0.001) after a 48-h incubation; treatment with 0.1, 1.0, and 10 µmol/L PGE(2) for 72 h resulted in significantly increased cell proliferation by 12.13% (P<0.01), 17.58% (P<0.01) and 33.07% (P<0.001), respectively. EP2 receptor agonist butaprost (20 µmol/L) increased Hep3B cell proliferation by 21.96% (P<0.001), but the EP3/EP4 receptor agonist PGE(1) alcohol (2-20 µmol/L) exhibited no significant mitogenic effect in Hep3B cells, and 200 µmol/L PGE(1) alcohol decreased the cell viability.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Selective activation of EP2 receptor promotes Hep3B cell proliferation, indicating the predominant role of EP2 receptor in mediating the mitogenic effect of PGE2.</p>

Effect of Changtong oral liquid on fibroblast proliferation in normal and adhesive rat peritoneal tissues / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of Changtong oral liquid (CTOL) on the proliferation of cultured fibroblasts derived from normal peritoneum (NFs) and adhesive peritoneum (AFs) of rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty male SD rats were randomized into 4 groups, including a normal serum group and 3 CTOL groups with CTOL treatment at low, medium or high doses. Serum samples were obtained from the abdominal arteries of the rats after oral treatment with CTOL for 7 days. The fibroblasts were isolated from the peritoneum by means of tissue culture, and the passage 3-8 cells were cultured with the sera of the normal control and CTOL groups for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. MTT assay was used to observe the proliferation of the fibroblasts.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The dose of CTOL was inversely correlated to the absorbance but positively to the growth inhibition rates. Compared with the NFs cultured in normal control rat serum, the NFs in serum from CTOL groups showed no obviously changes in the absorbance at 24 and 48 h, but displayed significant reduction at 72 and 96 h (P<0.01). Compared with the AFs in normal rat serum, the AFs in the 3 CTOL groups all showed significantly decreased absorbance at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h (P<0.05). At the same time point, the inhibition rate of AFs in low-dose CTOL group showed no significant difference from that in the normal control group, but CTOL at a medium dose resulted in a significantly higher inhibition rate of AFs at 72 h (P<0.05). High-dose CTOL produced significant differences in the inhibition rates of AFs and NFs (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CTOL can inhibit the proliferation of AFs and NFs in vitro. AFs appear to be more sensitive to CTOL, which has a dose-dependent inhibitory effect of AF proliferation.</p>

Determination of arsenic content in Changtong oral liquid by inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry / 南方医科大学学报

To determine arsenic content in Changtong oral liquid, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was employed, which generated linear calibration curves in the range of 5-25 ng/ml for As (r=0.9998). The average recovery of As was 98.94% (n=5, RSD=2.58%).