Ligustilide delays senescence of auditory cortex in mice by inhibiting ferritinophagy / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate the mechanism of ligu aged 2 months of the same strain were used as the constilide (LIG) in delaying the senescence of auditory trol (Ctrl) group. Auditory brainstem response test was cortex and treating central presbycusis. Methods used to detect the auditory threshold of mice before and Forty C57BL/6J mice aged 13 months were randomly di after treatment. Levels of serum MDA and activity of vided into ligustilide low-dose(L-LIG) group, ligustil serum SOD were detected to display the level of oxidative ide medium-dose (M-LIG) group, ligustilide high-dose stress. The pathological changes of auditory cortex were (H-LIG) group and aging (Age) group, and 10 mice observed by HE staining. Ferroptosis was observed by

Molecular mechanism of ligustilide attenuating OGD/R injury in PC12 cells by inhibiting ferroptosis / 中国中药杂志

The aim of this study is to explore the mechanism of ligustilide, the main active constituent of essential oils of traditional Chinese medicine Angelicae Sinensis Radix, on alleviating oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion(OGD/R) injury in PC12 cells from the perspective of ferroptosis. OGD/R was induced in vitro, and 12 h after ligustilide addition during reperfusion, cell viability was detected by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) assay. DCFH-DA staining was used to detect the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species(ROS). Western blot was employed to detect the expression of ferroptosis-related proteins, glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4), transferrin receptor 1(TFR1), and solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11), and ferritinophagy-related proteins, nuclear receptor coactivator 4(NCOA4), ferritin heavy chain 1(FTH1), and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3(LC3). The fluorescence intensity of LC3 protein was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. The content of glutathione(GSH), malondialdehyde(MDA), and Fe was detected by chemiluminescent immunoassay. The effect of ligustilide on ferroptosis was observed by overexpression of NCOA4 gene. The results showed that ligustilide increased the viability of PC12 cells damaged by OGD/R, inhibited the release of ROS, reduced the content of Fe and MDA and the expression of TFR1, NCOA4, and LC3, and improved the content of GSH and the expression of GPX4, SLC7A11, and FTH1 compared with OGD/R group. After overexpression of the key protein NCOA4 in ferritinophagy, the inhibitory effect of ligustilide on ferroptosis was partially reversed, indicating that ligustilide may alleviate OGD/R injury of PC12 cells by blocking ferritinophagy and then inhibiting ferroptosis. The mechanism by which ligustilide reduced OGD/R injury in PC12 cells is that it suppressed the ferroptosis involved in ferritinophagy.

Establishment of gas chromatography for content determination of five volatile components in Qingxuan pills / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To estab lish a meth od for the determination of 5 volatile components as menthone ，menthol， pulegone，piperitone and ligustilide in Qingxuan pills. METHODS Seven batches of Qingxuan pills were taken as test samples and determined by gas chromatography. The gas chromatographic column was DB- 5 sillica capillary column ，the carrier gas was nitrogen，the inlet temperature was 200 ℃. The sample size was 1 μL，and the split ratio was 10 ∶ 1. The temperature was programmed（the initial temperature was kept at 100 ℃ for 2 min，and then raised to 220 ℃ at 5 ℃/min for 2 min），and the temperature of the flame ionization detector was 250 ℃. RESULTS The chromatographic peaks of menthone ，menthol，pulegone， piperitone and ligustilide reached the baseline separation ；the linear ranges of the five components were 0.008-0.388，0.010-0.527， 0.006-0.327，0.006-0.312，0.053-2.672 mg/mL（all r＞0.999 0）；the average recoveries were 96.33％（RSD＝1.23％，n＝6）， 96.92％（RSD＝1.38％，n＝6），97.53％（RSD＝1.81％，n＝6），96.80％（RSD＝1.89％，n＝6）and 95.61％（RSD＝0.77％， n＝6）；the contents of the five components were 0.009-0.070，0.040-0.157，0.017-0.150，0.008-0.049 and 0.144-0.932 mg/g， respectively. CONCLUSIONS The gas chromatography method established in this study is simple and accurate ，which can simultaneously determine the contents of five volatile components in Qingxuan pills .

Mitophagy mediated by ligustilide relieves OGD/R-induced injury in HT22 cells / 中国中药杂志

Mitochondrion, as the main energy-supply organelle, is the key target region that determines neuronal survival and death during ischemia. When an ischemic stroke occurs, timely removal of damaged mitochondria is very important for improving mitochondrial function and repairing nerve damage. This study investigated the effect of ligustilide(LIG), an active ingredient of Chinese medicine, on mitochondrial function and mitophagy based on the oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion(OGD/R)-induced injury model in HT22 cells. By OGD/R-induced injury model was induced in vitro, HT22 cells were pre-treated with LIG for 3 h, and the cell viability was detected by the CCK-8 assay. Immunofluorescence and flow cytometry were used to detect indicators related to mitochondrial function, such as mitochondrial membrane potential, calcium overload, and reactive oxygen species(ROS). Western blot was used to detect the expression of dynamin-related protein 1(Drp1, mitochondrial fission protein) and cleaved caspase-3(apoptotic protein). Immunofluorescence was used to observe the co-localization of the translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20(TOMM20, mitochondrial marker) and lysosome-associated membrane protein 2(LAMP2, autophagy marker). The results showed that LIG increased the cell viability of HT22 cells as compared with the conditions in the model group. Furthermore, LIG also inhibited the ROS release, calcium overload, and the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential in HT22 cells after OGD/R-induced injury, facilitated Drp1 expression, and promoted the co-localization of TOMM20 and LAMP2. The findings indicate that LIG can improve the mitochondrial function after OGD/R-induced injury and promote mitophagy. When mitophagy inhibitor mdivi-1 was administered, the expression of apoptotic protein increased, suggesting that the neuroprotective effect of LIG may be related to the promotion of mitophagy.

Content determination and transferring rules of seven components in Angelicae Sinensis Radix and its processed products / 中国中药杂志

A HPLC method was established for simultaneous determination of two organic acids(chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid) and five phthalides(senkyunolide I, senkyunolide H, senkyunolide A, ligustilide, and butylidenephthalide) in Angelicae Sinensis Radix and its processed products to clarify the underlying material transferring rules. The analysis was performed on a Welch Ultimate C_8 column(4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm) with acetonitrile(A)-0.085% phosphoric acid water(B) as the mobile phase in a gradient elution mode at the flow rate of 1.1 mL·min~(-1), the column temperature of 25 ℃, the detection wavelength of 280 nm, and the injection volume of 10 μL. Under these conditions, the content of the above-mentioned seven components was analyzed in 15 batches of Angelicae Sinensis Radix and its processed products, and the transfer rate of each compound was calculated. As a result, in the processed products, the average content of chlorogenic acid was slightly decreased and that of ferulic acid was equivalent to the medicinal materials. The content of senkyunolide I, senkyunolide H, senkyunolide A, and butylidenephthalide showed an increasing trend in the processed products as compared with the medicinal materials. The mass fraction of ligustilide in the medicinal materials was above 0.7%(0.94% on average), meeting the requirement of 0.6% in the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards, but was 0.47% on average in the processed products, which was decreased by 50% approximately. Further investigation showed that the content of ligustilide in freshly made processed products of Angelicae Sinensis Radix did not change significantly compared with that in the medicinal materials, indicating that the loss of ligustilide in the processed products mainly occurred in the storage. Therefore, Angelicae Sinensis Radix is suitable for storing in the form of medicinal materials and the freshly made processed products should be used except for special cases. Additionally, it is recommended to control the content of volatile oils or ligustilide in medicinal materials and processed products of Angelicae Sinensis Radix to ensure its effectiveness in clinical medication.

Development and application of a chemical transformational method for the indirect measurement of ligustilide content in Angelica sinensis / 药学学报

The poor stability of the ligustilide (LIG) makes its quantitation in Angelica sinensis (AS) difficult. This study establishes a chemical conversion method for the determination of ligustilide content in AS and proposes a national pharmacopoeia standard. Mechanical agitation and sonication of a powdered AS extract in a methanol/cyprolamine mixture facilitated the stabilization and transformation of ligustilide. Using an external reference HPLC-DAD method, the cyclopropyl-ligustilide (LIGc) content in the mixture could be determined. The content of ligustilide was greater than 1.0% based on 144 AS specimens including 68 obtained from the originally planted areas of Qinghai and Gansu Province; 55 specimens were obtained from Minxian and Weiyuan County medicine markets, and 21 specimens for which the storage period reached or exceeded 1.5 years. According to the Hong Kong Chinese materis medica standards, the content of ligustilide in AS should not be lower than 0.6%. The developed method could also be applied to the quality control of other Chinese medicinal materials (such as Ligusticum chuanxiong) or Chinese patent medicines in which ligustilide is the main component.

Pharmacokinetic study on five components in phthalide target areas of Chaxiong and its β-CD inclusion compounds based on UPLC-MS/MS / 中国中药杂志

This study aims to establish a method for the determination of the concentration of five main components of phthalide target areas of Chaxiong(CPTA) and its inclusion of β-CD in the plasma of rats, and determine the pharmacokinetic parameters, absolute bioavailability and relative bioavailability of CPTA/β-CD inclusion compound in vivo. The plasma concentrations of senkyunolide A, N-butylphthalide, new osthol lactone, Z-ligustilide and butenyl phthalide were determined with UPLC-MS/MS. The content determination was conducted at the chromatographic conditions as follows: Shim-pack GIST C_(18)-AQ HP column(2.1 mm×100 mm, 3 μm), mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid solution(A)-acetonitrile(B), gradient elution, flow rate of 0.3 mL·min~(-1), column temperature of 35 ℃ and injection volume of 2 μL. The mass spectra were obtained with electrospray ion source(ESI), positive ion mode and multi reaction monitoring. CPTA/β-CD inclusion compound was prepared by grinding method, DAS 2.0 software was used to model the data, and the absolute bioavailability of CPTA and relative bioavailability of inclusion compound were calculated. Finally, the methods for the determination of five components of senkyunolide A, N-butylphthalide, new osthol lactone, Z-ligustilide and butenyl phthalide in CPTA, were successfully established. The linear relationship among the five components was good within their respective ranges, r>0.99. The absolute bioavailability of the five components in rats was 22.30%, 16.32%, 21.90%, 10.16% and 12.43%, respectively. After CPTA/β-CD inclusion was prepared, the relative bioavailability of the five components was 138.69%, 198.39%, 218.01%, 224.54% and 363.55%, respectively, significantly improved. This method is rapid, accurate and sensitive, so it is suitable for the pharmacokinetic study of extracts in traditional Chinese medicine and their preparations.

Effect of ligustilide on oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion-induced mitochondria fission in PC12 cells / 中国中药杂志

This study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of ligustilide, the main active ingredient in Ligusticum wallichii, on mitochondria fission after PC12 cell injury induced by oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion(OGD/R). In the experiment, an OGD/R model was established in vitro, and PC12 cells were pre-treated with ligustilide for 3 h, and then the cell viability was detected by CCK-8 method. The effect of different concentrations of ligustilide on the morphology of PC12 cells after OGD/R injury was observed under an inverted microscope. Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe the mitochondrial fission of PC12 cells after OGD/R injury. DCFH-DA immunofluorescence staining method was used to detect intracellular reactive oxygen species(ROS) changes. Changes in mitochondria membrane potential(MMP) were detected by flow cytometry. Hochest 33258 was used to observe the apoptosis of PC12 cells. Western blot was used to detect changes in cytochrome C(Cyt C) content in mitochondria and cytoplasm, and mitochondrial fission-related proteins Drp 1 and Fis 1. All results showed that compared with the model group, ligustilide significantly increased the survival rate of PC12 cells and the number of cells. Further experiments showed that ligustilide inhibited the release of ROS and decline of mitochondrial membrane potential in PC12 cells after OGD/R injury. Moreover, ligustilide reduced the release of Cyt C and promoted the expressions of Drp1 and Fis1 in mitochondrial fission proteins. Verification experiments showed that mitochondrial fission inhibitor mdivi-1 decreased cell survival rate and inhibited fission. The results indicated that ligustilide exerted neuro-protective effects by promoting mitochondrial fission and reducing cell damage. It preliminary proves that the mechanism of ligustilide on ischemic brain injury may be related to the promotion of mitochondrial fission and the maintenance of cell homeostasis.

Simultaneous Determination of 7 Constituents in Xiaoshuan Enteric-coated Capsules by HPLC-wavelength Switching Method / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE： To establish a method for simultaneous determination of 7 active constituents in Xiaoshuan enteric-coated capsules， such as chlorogenic acid， amygdalin， paeoniflorin， ferulic acid， senkyunolide Ⅰ， calycosin glycoside and ligustilide. METHODS： HPLC method was adopted. The determination was performed on Agilent Eclipse Plus C18 column with mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-0.1％ phosphoric acid （gradient elution）. The detection wavelengths were set at 326 nm for chlorogenic acid， 210 nm for amygdalin， 230 nm for paeoniflorin， 321 nm for ferulic acid， 334 nm for senkyunolideⅠ， 274 nm for calycosin glycoside and 260 nm for ligustilide. The flow rate was set at 1.0 mL/min， and the column temperature was 35 ℃. The sample size was 10 μL. RESULTS： The linear range was 1.16-34.81 μg/mL for chlorogenic acid， 1.85-55.48 μg/mL for amygdalin， 13.22-396.50 μg/mL for paeoniflorin， 13.50-405.09 μg/mL for ferulic acid， 1.75-52.51 μg/mL for senkyunolideⅠ， 2.74-82.18 μg/mL for calycosin glycoside， 7.67-230.07 μg/mL for ligustilide （r＝0.999 1-0.999 7）， respectively. The limit of quantity were 0.056， 0.103， 0.085， 0.013， 0.136， 0.184 and 0.276 μg. RSDs of precision， stability （24 h） and reproducibility tests were lower than 2.0％ （n＝6）. Average recoveries were 99.3％，98.6％，98.8％，99.7％，97.1％，97.6％ and 99.2％ （RSD＜2.0％， n＝6）. CONCLUSIONS： Established method is accurate and simple. It can be used for simultaneous determination of 7 constituents in Xiaoshuan enteric-coated capsules.

Optimization of extraction process of Xiaoruzeng Capsules based on orthogonal design in information entropy theory / 中草药

Objective: To optimize the extraction process parameters of seven herbs in Xiaoruzeng Capsules (XC). Methods: The content of paeoniflorin, ferulic acid, hesperidin, imperatorin and ligustilide was determined by HPLC. The extraction rate of five kinds of index components, the dry extract yield of extracted herbs and the fingerprint similarity of extracts were comprehensively evaluated. The orthogonal experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of ethanol concentration, extraction solvent, extraction time and extraction times on the extraction process. The information entropy weighting method was used to determine the objective weight of each index, and the extraction process parameters of seven herbs in XC were optimized. Results: According to the comprehensive scoring results, it was determined that the best extraction process of the preparation was to add six times the amount of 50% ethanol, and decocted two times for 2 h each time. The average score of the three batches of verification scores was 99.72, and the RSD was 0.24%. Conclusion: The preferred process has high extraction rate, with good stability and repeatability, which is suitable for mass production of the preparation.

Rapid determination of seven components in Angelica sinensis based on near infrared spectroscopy / 中草药

Objective: To established a rapid nondestructive determination method for the multi-marker constituents in Angelica sinensis by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with the partial least squares (PLS) method in order to improve the quality control for A. sinensis. Methods: A total of 108 batches of A. sinensis from different origins were collected for the research. An Ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) method was established to measure the content of the seven components in A. sinensis, which were adopted as the reference value. And the integrating sphere diffuse reflection mode was employed to collect the NIR spectrum. The quantitative calibration model between the near infrared spectrum and the reference content of each component to be measured was established by PLS and other chemometrics methods. Each part of the modeling process was optimized respectively, including the selection of calibration set and validation set, different pretreatment methods and different spectral section. Results: The correlation coefficient for calibration set of chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, ligustilide, butylidenephthalide, senkyunolide I and levistilide A were 0.937 6, 0.970 2, 0.963 4, 0.991 1, 0.962 4, 0.966 6 and 0.947 6, respectively; The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) were 0.072 1, 0.038 9, 0.011 3, 0.483 0, 0.017 5, 0.178 0 and 0.097 0, respectively. The predicted values of NIRS models and the measured values of UPLC showed a good linear relation, which presented a great prediction ability of the models. Conclusion: The methods of NIRS combined with PLS can be applied for the rapid content determination of seven components in A. sinensis including chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, ligustilide, butylidenephthalide, senkyunolide I and levistilide A, which is proved to be simple and reliable.

Optimization of Extraction Technology of Volatile Oil and Inclusion Technology in Quhan Zhufeng Granules / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE： To establish the method for content determination of ligustilide and to optimize the extraction technology of volatile oil and inclusion technology in Quhan zhufeng granules. METHODS： HPLC method was adopted. The determination was performed on Waters C18 column with mobile phase consisted of methanol-water （70 ∶ 30， V/V） at the flow rate of 1 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 327 nm， and the column temperature was 30 ℃. The sample size was 10 μL. Using yield of volatile oil and the content of ligustilide as index， with soaking time， the amount of adding water and extraction time as factors， the extraction technology was optimized by orthogonal test. Using inclusion rate， the yield of inclusion compound and yield of volatile oil as index， with ratio of volatile oil to β-cyclodextrin， inclusion temperature and inclusion time as factors， the inclusion technology of volatile oil was optimized by orthogonal test. RESULTS： The linear range of ligustilide was 0.4-4 μg（r＝0.999 9）； RSDs of precision， stability and reproducibility tests were all lower than 2％ （n＝6）. The recoveries were 96.75％-102.03％（RSD＝2.06％，n＝6）. The optimal extraction technology of volatile oil included 10-fold water （mL/g）， soaking for 15 min， extracting for 8 h. Average yield of volatile oil was 0.310 7％， and average content of ligustilide was 0.418 0 mg/g. The optimal inclusion technology of volatile oil included ratio of β-cyclodextrin and volatile oil was 1 ∶ 8 （mL/g）； inclusion temperature was 50 ℃； inclusion time was 3 h. Average inclusion rate was 69.43％， and the yield of inclusion compound was 58.89％； the yield of volatile oil was 14.15％. CONCLUSIONS： Established determination method is simple， accurate and stable. The optimal extraction technology of volatile oil and inclusion technology are stable and feasible.

Comparison of Pharmaceutical Characterization and Tissue Distribution Between Chuanqi Ophthalmic Microemulsion in situ Gel and Normal in situ Gel / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: In this paper,the effect of microemulsion in Chuanqi ophthalmic microemulsion in situ gel was investigated. Method: The effect of microemulsion was confirmed by the parallel comparison between the Chuanqi microemulsion in situ gel and normal in situ gel,including study of pharmaceutical characterization and tissue distribution. Result: The average particle sizes of Chuanqi microemulsion in situ gel and normal in situ gel were (38.20±0.13) nm and (985±37) nm,respectively.Microemulsion could maintain the properties of nanocarrier in a microemulsion in situ gel composite system.The result of tissue distribution study showed that only ligustilide could be detected.This was related to the nature of these three indicator components(ligustrazine,ligustilide and astragaloside A).The common logarithm of oil and water partition coefficient of ligustilide(lgP) was 2.87,which was consistent with the range of lgP of ideal ophthalmic drugs(lgP=2.0-3.0).The ligustilide from Chuanqi microemulsion in situ gel could be detected in the cornea,vitreous body and retina,and this compound from normal in situ gel could only be detected in the cornea with low content.At the same time,microemulsion could increase the content of ligustilide in corneal tissues. Conclusion: The characteristics of microemulsion nanocarriers can increase the solubility of ligustilide,compared with normal in situ gel,it can be better distributed in the tears outside the corneal,it reaches the cornea with a higher concentration,and forms a corneal concentration gradient,and ligustilide is transported from the anterior ocular region to the posterior ocular region through the transocular barrier.

Quality Analysis of Standard Decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To prepare standard decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma and conduct its quality analysis.Method: According to the requirements of standard decoction,15 batches of standard decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from three producing areas were prepared,the HPLC fingerprint was established and the quality analysis was carried out by cluster analysis;under common pattern of fingerprint,the simultaneous determination of four index components (ferulic acid,senkyunolide I,senkyunolide A and ligustilide) was established by HPLC.The transfer rates of main components,dry extract yield,pH value of samples were measured.Result: A total of 15 batches of standard decoctions of Chuanxiong Rhizoma were fingerprinted by Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine (edition of 2012A).Twenty-two common peaks were identified,and their similarities were all greater than 0.92,and peak 11,13,17,18,19 and 20 were identified qualitatively as ferulic acid,senkyunolide I,senkyunolide A,n-butylphthalide,coniferyl ferulate and ligustilide,respectively.The quality overview of standard decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from three producing areas could be distinguished through cluster analysis,which showed that there were differences in quality of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from different producing areas,but the quality was relatively stable in different batches of samples from the same origin.Under common pattern,there were four major components in 15 batches of standard decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma,including ferulic acid,senkyunolide I,senkyunolide A and ligustilide.Contents of senkyunolide A (0.176 3-0.249 8 g·L-1) and senkyunolide I (0.065 2-0.103 4 g·L-1) was high in the standard decoction,content of ligustilide (0.040 0-0.089 8 g·L-1) followed,and content of ferulic acid (0.022 0-0.042 3 g·L-1) was the lowest,transfer rates of the above four components were 6.63%-11.82%,33.32%-55.98%,1.26%-3.73% and 16.39%-33.05%,respectively.Dry extract yield of the standard decoction was 12.69% to 19.78%,and the pH was 4.54 to 4.82.Conclusion: This study establishes the fingerprint and multi-component determination methods of standard decoctions of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from various producing areas,which is suitable for quality control of this standard decoction.

Application of magnetic nanoparticle-assisted erythrocyte membrane fishing assay on active compounds screening from Angelica sinensis / 中草药

Objective: To improve the screening efficiency of the active ingredients in natural products by building up a kind of novel and efficient magnetic nanoparticle-assisted cell membranes (MN-CMs) fishing assay employing specific affinity interactions between active ingredients and receptors on cell membranes (CMs). Methods: The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were combined with erythrocyte membrane of rabbits to fish active ingredients from water extracts of Angelica sinensis, and the fishing results were analyzed by GC-MS. Results: The particle size of the self-made magnetic beads was about (250.6 ± 3.3) nm (n = 3) with PDI index at 0.010 ± 0.003 (n = 3), and the beads were monodisperse, strongly magnetic and superparamagnetic, the saturation magnetization was 83.4 emu/g. The combination of MNPs and CMs was stable, the maximum combined amount was 1.02 mg CMs/10 mg MNPs, and the combination was able to keep better enzyme activity of CMs in the fishing assay. GC-MS results showed that ligustilide was fished out as the active compound from water extracts of A. sinensis by MN-CMs assay with the retention time at 20 min, and the new established fishing assay could effectively avoid the interference of inactive components. Conclusion: Ligustilide, one of the active ingredients in A. sinensis, can be screened out by the established fishing assay of MN-CMs. The developed fishing method in this workmakes up for some deficiencies of traditional screening method and provides a novel and efficient way to screen ingredients from natural products.

Preparation and stability of Compound Cheqinggao microemulsion / 中草药

Objective: To optimize the composition of Compound Cheqinggao microemulsion and investigate its stability. Methods: Suitable emulsifier, co-emulsifier, and oil phase were selected by solubility method, and the pseudo ternary phase diagram was drawing by water titration. Then, the factors with the mass fraction of emulsifier, co-emulsifier, and oil phase as the independent variables, and the drug loading and particle size as response value, using Box-Behnken design-response surface method to determine the best prescription ratio and investigate its stability. Results: The optimal composition of substrate from Compound Cheqinggao microemulsion was as follows: 33% of polyoxyethylene hychogenated castor oil (RH40), 16% of polyethylene glycol (PGE400), 16% of Isopropyl palmitate, and 35% of water. Under these conditions, drug loading was 224.17 mg/mL and the particle size was 56.50 nm. Compound Cheqinggao microemulsion has good stability at 4 ℃ and 25 ℃ in dark conditions. Conclusion: The prepared microemulsion has good appearance, high drug loading, suitable particle size, and good stability, which could greatly increase the solubility of Compound Cheqinggao volatile oil.

Optimization of processing technology for prepared Chuanxiong Rhizoma by D-optimal response surface methodology with comprehensive weighted of multi-index / 中草药

Objective: To optimize the processing technology for prepared Chuanxiong Rhizoma by D-optimal response surface methodology with comprehensive weighted of multi-index. Methods: The single factor experiment was used to optimize the dilution ratio and the moistened time of rice wine. Then, based on the contents of five main components (ferulic acid, ligustilide, senkyunolide A, senkyunolide I, and 3-butylidenephthalide), the D-optimal response surface methodology was used to optimize the rice wine dosage, stir-fried temperature, and stir-fried time in the processing technology for prepared Chuanxiong Rhizoma. Results: The optimal processing technology for prepared Chuanxiong Rhizoma was mixed with 20% rice wine, moistened for 75 min, and stir-fried for 12 min at 156 ℃. Also, it was found that the contents of senkyunolide A, senkyunolide I, and 3-butylidenephthalide in prepared Chuanxiong Rhizoma had increased, and it should be associated with processing. Conclusion: The processing technology for prepared Chuanxiong Rhizoma optimized by D-optimal response surface methodology with comprehensive weighted of multi-index can be used to optimize the process parameters, promote the stability and repeatability of the processing technology, which can significantly control the inner quality of prepared Chuanxiong Rhizoma to ensure effectiveness in clinical application.

Quantitative Study on Simultaneous Determination of Nine Components in Renshen Nüjin Pills Based on QAMS / 中国药学杂志

OBJECTIVE: To establish a quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker (QAMS) method for simultaneous determination of senkyunolide H, senkyunolide I, senkyunolide A, ligustilide, oxypaeoniflorin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoylpaeoniflorin and α-cyperone in Renshen Nüjin pills, in order to provide basis for studying its quality standards.METHODS: The analysis of the methanol extract of Renshen Nüjin pills was performed on Agilent Zorbax SB C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm,5 μm), with mobile phase composed of methanol-acetonitrile (2∶1)-0.1% phosphoric acid solution at a flow rate of 0.9 mL•min-1 in gradient elution mode. The column temperature was maintained at 30 ℃, and the detection wavelengths were set at 280, 230 and 242 nm. Paeoniflorin was selected as the internal standard, and the relative correlation factors (RCF) of senkyunolide H, senkyunolide I, senkyunolide A, ligustilide, oxypaeoniflorin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoylpaeoniflorin and α-cyperone were determined by HPLC. The accuracy and feasibility of the method were validated by comparing the results of QAMS method and external standard method.RESULTS: The standard curves of senkyunolide H, senkyunolide I, senkyunolide A, ligustilide, oxypaeoniflorin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoylpaeoniflorin and α-cyperone had good linear relationship in the ranges of the tested concentrations. The precision, stability and repeatability complied with the requirements of methodology. The recoveries were 97.38%, 98.16%, 98.84%, 99.63%, 97.04%, 99.14%, 100.04%, 96.93% and 98.48%, RSDs were 1.38%, 1.18%, 0.97%, 0.86%, 1.68%, 1.30%, 0.57%, 1.32% and 1.19%, respectively. No significant differences were observed in the determination results by QAMS method and external standard method.CONCLUSION: The QAMS method can be used for the content determination and quality control of the nine components in Renshen Nüjin pills.

Quality Standard Improvement for Angelica Sinensis / 中国药师

Objective: To establish and optimize the HPLC fingerprints of Angelica sinensis medicinal material and determine the ligustilide content to improve the quality standard for Angelica sinensis and improve the quality control level of Chinese angelica medici-nal material and preparations. Methods: A method for the determination of ligustilide was optimized by HPLC. The column was eluted on an Agilent ZORBAX SB C18(250 mm×4. 6 mm, 5 μm) column with acetonitrile-water (60 ∶ 40) as the mobile phase. The flow rate was 1. 0 ml·min-1, the detection wavelength was 326 nm, and the column temperature was at 35 ℃. The HPLC fingerprints of 13 batches of Angelica sinensis from different origins and methodological investigations were established and validated to set up an HPLC fingerprinting evaluation method for Angelica sinensis. Acetonitrile-0. 1% formic acid was used as the mobile phase with gradient elu-tion. The flow rate was 1. 0 ml·min-1, the detection wavelength was 280nm, and the column temperature was at 25℃. Results: The results showed that under the above HPLC conditions, ligustilide had good linearity within the range of 0. 032 3-0. 645 5 mg·ml-1(r=0. 999 9), and the average recovery was 100. 5% (RSD=1. 61% ,n=6). The quality fraction of ligustilide in Angelica sinensis was 0. 885 6%-2. 382 2% . Through the establishment of HPLC fingerprints of Angelica sinensis, the characteristic profiles with better peak shape and degree of separation and 18 common peaks with better resolution were obtained. The similarities of the 13 batches of angelica were all between 0. 9 and 1. 0. Conclusion: According to the methodological investigation, the HPLC fingerprints and ligustilide con-tent determination method of Angelica sinensis are simple, reliable, stable and feasible.

Determination of Six Index Components in Xiaoyao Pills by Quantitative Analysis of Multi-components by Single Marker / 中国药师

Objective:To develop a method of quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker (QAMS) for six active constituents in Xiaoyao pills. Methods:Using glycyrrhizic acid as the reference, an HPLC method with a Kromasil C18 column (250 mm ×4.6 mm,5 μm) was applied,the mobile phase was acetonitrile(A)-0.1% phosphoric acid solution(B) with gradient elution (0-10 min,5 % A;10-25 min,5 % →20 % A;20-70 min,15 % →60 % A and 40-60 min,60 % A). The detection wavelength was 280nm,the column temperature was 35℃ and the injection volume was 10 μl. The relative correction factors among the six index components were detected by QAMS. The contents of the six index components were determined by an external standard method and QAMS to compare the results obtained from the two different methods and verify the practicability and stability of QAMS. Results:The established QAMS was used to determine the six index components in Xiaoyao pills,and totally 6 batches of Xiaoyao pills were determined.There were no significant differences in the calculated values and the determined ones (P > 0.05). Conclusion:The QAMS method is simple,effective and accurate in determining the contents of the six index components in Xiaoyao pills,which can be used for the quality control of Xiaoyao pills and provide reference for the further study.