ABSTRACT
Prunellae Spica is the dry ear of the labiaceae plant Prunella vulgaris， which is a traditional medicine and food plant with many functions. Prunellae Spica can clear liver-fire， improve eyesight， disperse knot detumescence. It owns hot and bitter flavors and cold property. It goes to the liver， gallbladder meridian， and is a kind of commonly-used antifebric. Prunellae Spica has been used in the treatment of mammary gland diseases since ancient times.The mammary abscess， mammary nodules， mammary carcinoma of traditional Chinese medicine all belong to breast disease， and the liver meridian is most closely related to these diseases. With the development of social life， breast disease has gradually become the most primary health problem for women. Modern pharmacological studies show that Prunellae Spica contains terpenoids， phenolic acids， flavonoids and other biological active components， which have anti-inflammatory， antibacterial， hormone regulation， anti-tumor and other effects. Prunellae Spica inhibits the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase （p38 MAPK）/nuclear factor kappa-B （NF-κB） pathway to play an anti-mastitis role， interferes with the effects of estrogen receptors or regulates lipid levels to treat breast hyperplasia， and treats breast cancer through promoting the apoptosis of breast cancer cells， inhibiting the migration of breast cancer cells， regulating the division of breast cancer cells and other ways. While referring to the relevant literature， it was found that Prunellae Spica often exerted pharmacological effects through multi-channels and multi-target regulation， but most of the studies did not specify the specific target of its effect， which needs further study. In this review， the effects and mechanisms of Prunellae Spica in the treatment of various breast diseases were summarized， so as to provide a reference for further research on the wider clinical therapeutic effects of Prunella subtilis and its therapeutic effects on breast diseases.
ABSTRACT
ObjectiveMetabolic syndrome is the inherent phenotype of many diseases， which seriously endangers the cardio-cerebrovascular system. Prunellae Spica can regulate lipid metabolism disorder in high-fat mice and inhibit the metabolic disorder of liver injury. This study analyzed the effect of Prunellae Spica on metabolic syndrome and its mechanism， and it is of great significance to find potential safe drugs from natural products. MethodIn this study， the metabolic syndrome model was induced by fructose. The metabolomics method based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS） was used to explore the effect and mechanism of Prunellae Spica on rats with metabolic syndrome. ResultPharmacological results showed that Prunellae Spica significantly reduced the body weight， blood lipid level and lipid peroxidation level and inhibited the release of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in rats with metabolic syndrome. Thus， Prunellae Spica protected the liver and maintained its normal functions. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that metabolites in the serum of rats with metabolic syndrome changed significantly， which was improved after Prunellae Spica treatment. Compared with the metabolites in normal group， 11 differential metabolic markers were found in rats with metabolic syndrome. Compared with model group， Prunellae Spica group had 8 significantly different metabolic markers， among which phosphate， pyruvic acid and succinic acid were common markers. Pathway analysis indicated that the regulatory effect of Prunellae Spica was mainly related to citrate cycle， glycolysis and gluconeogenesis， serine/threonine and glycine metabolic pathways. ConclusionPrunellae Spica can be used as a potential natural source for the treatment of metabolic syndrome. It can regulate the metabolic disorder in metabolic syndrome via energy and amino acid metabolism.
ABSTRACT
Objective:To establish the quality evaluation method of Prunellae spica dispensing granules based on three quality indexes of standard decoction. Methods:Fourteen batches of Prunellae spica were collected from different habitats. According to technical requirements, fourteen batches of Prunellae spica standard decoction and three batches of formula granules were prepared and the paste-forming rates were calculated. The fingerprints of Prunellae spica standard decoction and formula granules were established by Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC). The similarity values of fingerprints between dispensing granules and standard decoction were calculated. The content and transferring rate of Rosmarinic acid were determined and calculated. Results:The average paste-forming rate of Prunellae spica was (12.59±2.32)%. The paste-forming rates of the three batches were 11.14%, 10.78% and 10.39% respectively. The average content of Rosmarinic acid in standard decoction was (18.99±9.74)mg/g. The average transferring rate was (60.58±7.87)%. The contents of three batches were 7.40 mg/g, 7.49 mg/g and 7.09 mg/g. The transferring rates were 52.06%, 50.10% and 50.40% respectively. Nine common fingerprint peaks were identified in the fingerprints of standard decoction and formula granules, two of which were identified as Rosmarinic acid and Caffeic acid by comparison of reference substance. The fingerprints similarity of Prunellae spica dispensing granules and standard decoction were 0.954, 0.973 and 0.952, respectively. Conclusions:The quality indexes of three batches of formulation granules are consistent with standard decoction. This method could provide reference for the establishment of quality standard of Prunellae spica dispensing granules.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To observe the effect of Prunellae Spica extracts (PS) on the lipid metabolism in Zuker Diabetes Fatty (ZDF) rats based on AMP-activated protein kinase/acetyl CoA carboxylase (AMPK/ACC) signaling pathway.Method: The 32 male ZDF (fa/fa) type 2 diabetic rats were randomly divided into model group,metformin group (180 mg·kg-1·d-1),and low and high-dose PS groups (12.25,24.5 mg·kg-1·d-1),with 8 in each group.8 male Zuker Lean (ZL) rats were selected as normal group.Body weight and fasting blood glucose were monitored at the 0th,4th and 8th weeks after administration.After 8 weeks,abdominal aorta blood was collected,serum was frozen at-20℃ by centrifugation,liver tissue was frozen at-80℃,fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde and embedded in paraffin.Serum triglyceride (TG),cholesterol (CHO),low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and free fatty acid (FFA) levels were measured by radioimmunoassay.Fat droplets in hepatocytes were measured by oil red O staining.Gene expressions of AMP-activated protein kinase-alpha 2(AMPKα2),Acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) in liver were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR).Protein expressions of p-AMPKα were observed by immuno-histochemical (IHC) method.Result: Compared with the normal group,the T2DM model group showed significant increases in serum levels of TG,CHO,LDL-C,FFA and lipid droplets in hepatocytes.AMPKα2 mRNA expression was decreased,while ACC1 and ACC2 mRNA expressions were increased significantly.p-AMPKα protein expression in liver was decreased significantly (PPα2,down-regulation in mRNA expressions of ACC1 and ACC2,and up-regulation in protein expression of p-AMPKα(PPConclusion:PS can effectively improve liver lipid metabolism in ZDF rats.Its mechanism may be related to the regulation of AMPK/ACC signaling pathway in liver.
ABSTRACT
Prunellae Spica is a perennial edible and medicinal plant, rich in antioxidant substances. Total flavonoids (TFC), Phenolics (TPC), triterpenoids (TSC), polysaccharides (PC) and their antioxidant capacities (by the FRAP, DPPH and ABTS⁺ methods) of ethyl acetate fraction, n-butanol fraction and other fractions of aqueous extract from Prunellae Spica were investigated in this study. Then the multivariate statistical method was adopted to analyze the relationship between the multiple pharmaceutical ingredients and antioxidant capacities of Prunellae Spica. The results showed that ethyl acetate fraction had relatively high concentration of TFC (0.61±0.10) g·g⁻¹DW, TPC (0.52±0.09) g·g⁻¹DW, and TSC (0.21±0.03) g·g⁻¹DW, with high scavenging capacity of DPPH (3.1±0.38) mmol·L⁻¹·g⁻¹DW and FRAP (2.56±0.35) mmol·L⁻¹·g⁻¹DW. Hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) results indicated the information from chemical compositions and antioxidant capacity can represent the "differences" of different fractions. Canonical correlation analysis (CCorA) revealed a high positive correlation between the amounts of multiple chemical compositions and the antioxidant capacities (r=0.970 0), and the first canonical variate had been reached. Moreover, ABTS⁺ method showed a low response to the compositions of different fractions, so this method may not be suitable for evaluation of Prunellae Spica antioxidant capacities, while DPPH evaluation method was more suitable for TSC and TPC. The results of this study have important reference significance for the evaluation method on antioxidant activity of Prunellae Spica in the field of food or medicine as well as for the development of related extracts.
Subject(s)
Antioxidants , Flavonoids , Phenols , Plant ExtractsABSTRACT
AIM To prepare colon-targeted pellets of Prunellae Spica effective components and to evaluate the in vitro drug-release behaviors.METHODS Fluidized bed coating method was adopted in the preparation of pellets.With in vitro accumulative release rate as an evaluation index,hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HMPC),polyacrylic resin (Eudragit S100) and triethyl citrate (TEC) amounts as influencing factors,orthogonal test was applied to optimizing the formulation.The in vitro drug-release behaviors were evaluated with rosmarinic acid content as an index.RESULTS The optimal formulation was determined to be 5％ for HPMC amount,70％ for Eudragit S100 amount,and 20％ for TEC amount.The obtained pellets attained an accumulative release rate of more than 90％ in pH 7.6 PBS (transportation for 2 h),while no drug dissolution was found in pH 1.0 HCl (transportation for 2 h) or pH 6.8 PBS (transportation for 3 h).CONCLUSION Colon-targeted pellets of Prunellae Spica effective components can achieve in vitro colon-targeted effect.
ABSTRACT
The present study was designed to analyze the major constituents in Prunellae Spica and establish a method for simultaneous determination of two constituents contained in Prunellae Spica. High performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) technique was used to identify the constituents in the extractive of Prunellae Spica. High performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC-ELSD) was used to simultaneously quantify two kinds of constituents contained in Prunellae Spica. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to compare the similarity and difference among samples from different regions of China. In the present study, 22 compounds were identified and some new fragmental pathways of triterpenic acids were discovered. An accurate and reliable HPLC-ELSD method was developed and validated for the first time to simultaneously quantify multiple constituents, including rosmarinic acid, maslinic acid, corosolic acid, betulin, oleanolic acid, and ursolic acid in the extract of Prunellae Spica. (PCA) revealed some similarities and differences among different samples from different regions of China. In conclusion, our results from this study would be helpful in establishing a scientific and rational quality control method for Prunellae Spica.