ABSTRACT
Chondrocyte inflammation and catabolism are two major features in the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Chelidonine, a principal alkaloid extracted from Chelidonium majus, is suggested to show anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, and anti-oxidation activities in various diseases. However, its potential effects on OA cartilage degeneration remains unclear. To evaluate the effect of chelidonine on OA and its underlying mechanism, we incubated chondrocytes with interleukin (IL)-1β and chelidonine at varying concentrations. Then, we performed the CCK-8 assay, fluorescence immunostaining, reverse transcription PCR, ELISA, and western blotting to evaluate cell viability, catabolic/inflammatory factors, levels of extracellular matrix (ECM)-related proteins, and the involved pathways. H&E and Safranin-O staining and ELISA were performed to measure cartilage degradation and synovial inflammation. Chelidonine suppressed the IL-1β-mediated catabolism and inflammation of chondrocytes. Chelidonine suppressed the NF-κB pathway activation. Similarly, our in vivo experiment showed that chelidonine partially attenuated cartilage degradation while inhibiting synovial inflammation. Chelidonine inhibited inflammation and catabolism through modulation of NF-κB pathways in vitro, thereby avoiding rat cartilage degeneration and synovial inflammation within OA.
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OBJECTIVE：To study the improvement eff ects and p otential mechanism of chelidonine on CCl 4-induced hepatic fibrosis model rats. METHODS ：According to the random number table method ，a total of 48 rats were randomly divided into normal control group ，model group ，chelidonine low-dose ，middle-dose and high-dose groups （0.125，0.25，0.50 mg/kg），positive control group （Liver-protecting tablet ，0.42 g/kg），with 8 rats in each group. Except for normal control group ，other groups were given CCl 4-olive oil solution intraperitoneally for 8 weeks to induce hepatic fibrosis model. From the fifth week of modeling ， normal control group and model group were given water intragastrically ；administration groups were given relevant medicine intragastrically，once a day ，for consecutive 10 weeks. After last intragastric administration ，hepatic index of rats was calculated. The levels of aspartate aminotransferase （AST），alanine aminotransferase （ALT）and hyaluronic acid （HA）in serum and the level of hydroxyproline （Hyp）in liver tissue were determined. The staining of collagen fibrin in rat liver was observed. The protein expression of α-smooth muscle actin （α-SMA），microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3（LC3）and p 62 as well as the phosphorylation level of phosphoinositide 3 kinase（PI3K），protein kinase B （Akt）and mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR）in liver tissue were determined ；mRNA expression corresponding to above protein were also determined. RESULTS ：Compared with normal control group ，the hepatic index ，the serum levels of AST ，ALT，HA and Hyp ，the percentage of positive staining area for collagen fibrin ，the mRNA and protein expression of α-SMA and LC 3- Ⅱ were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. Protein expression of p 62，phosphorylation levels of PI 3K，Akt and mTOR as well as mRNA expression of p 62，PI3K，Akt and mTOR were significantly down-regulated （P＜0.05）. Compared with model group ，phosphorylation levels of PI 3K and mTOR were decreased significantly in chelidonine low-dose group （P＜0.05）. The changes of above indexes in chelidonine middle-dose and high-dose groups （except for liver index ， HA level in middle-dose group ） were reversed significantly （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS：Chelidonine can attenuate CCl 4-induced liver fibrosis in rats ；the mechanism of it may be associated with activating PI 3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and inhibiting autophagy.
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Objective::To determine the relationship between the characters and the main components of Chelidonii Herba pieces. Method::The main components of the samples were determined by HPLC, and the characters of Chelidonii Herba Pieces were evaluated by sensory evaluation. The correlation between the characters and components was calculated by correlation formula. Result::The content of 6 components, such as chelidonine, was determined by HPLC. Based on the result of sensory evaluation, there was a certain correlation between the characters and the components. Character descriptions that " some have visible white powder, some have white pubescence, and sometimes they have visible yellow florets" had a very low similarity with total alkali, indicating that these characters and total alkali content was not related. The similarity between the description of " hollow stem" had a high similarity with total alkali content, indicating that the amount of stem was related to the total alkali content. The character description of " more broken leaves" was negatively correlated with total alkaloids in the similarity, which indicated that the content of total alkaloids was less when there were more leaves(or more broken leaves), otherwise, the content of total alkaloids was relatively higher. Conclusion::The established HPLC method is simple and feasible. This study objectively quantifies the descriptions of Chelidonii Herba pieces characters, correlates them with the main components of Chelidonii Herba pieces, and then preliminarily judges the quality of Chelidonii Herba pieces according to the appearance of the characters, which provides a theoretical basis for the identification of Chelidonii Herba pieces in the market by experience, and ideas for the study of the characters of other traditional Chinese medicines.
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OBJECTIVE： To investigate the effects of chelidonine on proliferation， collagen synthesis and TGF-β1 receptor of activated hepatic stellate cells CFSC-8B. METHODS： CFSC-8B cells in logarithmic phase were collected and then divided into normal control group， model group， solvent group （ethanol）， positive control group （1 μg/mL colchicine ethanol solution）， chelidonine low， medium and high concentration groups （2.1， 4.2， 8.4 μg/mL chelidonine ethanol solution）. Except for normal control group， other groups were activated with 20 μg/L TGF-β1 for 24 h； the latter 5 groups were intervened with relevant medicine for 24 h. Cell proliferation of activated cells was assayed by CCK-8 assay. Hydroxyprolin （Hyp） content was assayed by enzyme digestion； the levels of typeⅠ collagen （Col-Ⅰ） and type Ⅲ collagen （Col-Ⅲ） were assayed by ELISA； the expressions of TβR-Ⅰ and TβR-Ⅱ protein were assessed by Western blot； mRNA expressions of α-SMA， TβR-Ⅰ and TβR-Ⅱ in hepatic stellate cells were assessed by RT-PCR. RESULTS： Compared with normal control group， cell proliferation rate， Hyp content， the levels of Col-Ⅰ and Col-Ⅲ， the protein expressions of TβR-Ⅰ and TβR-Ⅱ as well as mRNA expressions of α-SMA， TβR-Ⅰ and TβR-Ⅱ were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. Compared with model group， there were no significant difference in above indexes of hepatic stellate cells in solvent group （P＞0.05）； there were no significant difference in the proliferation rate of hepatic stellate cells in chelidonine low concentration group （P＞0.05）， above indexes of hepatic stellate cells were decreased significantly in positive control group and chelidonine high concentration group （P＜0.05）. The decrease of Hyp and Col-Ⅲ levels were not significant in chelidonine medium concentration， but other above indexes were decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. Compared with chelidonine medium concentration group， the rate of cell proliferation， Col-Ⅰ level， protein and mRNA expressions of TβR-Ⅰ and TβR-Ⅱ were decreased significantly in chelidonine high concentration group （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS： Chelido- nine can inhibit the proliferation， collagen synthesis as well as the protein and mRNA expressions of TβR-Ⅰand TβR-Ⅱ in activated CFSC-8B cells.
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AIM:To determine the contents of sinomenine and chelidonine in Tong’an Injection(Caulis sinomenii, Chelidonium majus Linn, etc). METHODS: HPLC was used. The conditions included the gradient elution with methanol-0.1% triethylamine. The detection wavelength was set at 280 nm. RESULTS: The calibration curve was linear in the range of 162-1 620 ?g for the sinomenine and the range of 35-350 ?g for chelidonine, respectively. The average recovery for sinomenine was 99.56% and the relative standard deviation was 0.41%(n=5). The average recovery for chelidonine was 99.46% and the relative standard deviation was 0.62% (n=5). CONCLUSION: The method is simple, rapid and specialty. It can be used for the determination of sinomenine and chelidonine in Tong’an Injection.