Platycodi radix beverage ameliorates postprandial lipemia response through lipid clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoprotein: A randomized controlled study in healthy subjects with a high-fat load

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Elevation of postprandial lipemia characterized by a rise in triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins can increase the risk of atherogenesis. The objective of this study was to investigate postprandial lipemia response to a single dietary fat/sugar load test and monitor beneficial changes induced by the consumption of Platycodi radix (AP) beverage in healthy subjects. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 52 subjects were randomly assigned to either placebo or AP beverage group with a high-fat shake in a randomized controlled crossover trial. Postprandial blood was collected at 0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 h and analyzed for TG and lipoprotein lipase mass. Inhibition of pancreatic lipase was determined in vitro. RESULTS: AP inhibited pancreatic lipase activity in vitro (IC₅₀ = 5 mg/mL). Compared to placebo beverage, AP beverage consumption with a high-fat shake induced significant increase of plasma lipoprotein lipase mass (P = 0.0111, β estimate = 4.2948) with significant reduction in very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) TG concentration (P = 0.038, β estimate = −52.69) at 6 h. Based on significant correlation between high-fat dietary scores MEDFICTS and postprandial TG responses in VLDL (P = 0.0395, r = 0.2127), subgroup analysis revealed that 6 h-postprandial VLDL TG response was significantly decreased by AP consumption in subjects with MEDFICTS ≥ 40 (P = 0.0291, β estimate = −7214). CONCLUSIONS: AP beverage might have potential to alleviate postprandial lipemia through inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity and elevating lipoprotein lipase mass. Subgroup analysis revealed that subjects with high-fat dietary pattern could be classified as responders to AP beverage among all subjects.

Research on radix notoginseng for improving CKD rat renal fibrosis / 重庆医学

Objective To investigate the effects of notoginseng and guiding medicinals mediated notoginseng for improving the renal inter stitial fibrosis in rats with chronic kidney-disease(CKD)by regulating TGF-β signaling pathway.Methods A total of 100 male SD rats were randomly divided into five groups:normal group(NOR,n =20),model group(CKD,n =20),radix notogin-seng group(RN,n =20),radix notoginseng plus platycodi group (RNP) and radix notoginseng plus cinnamon group (RNC,n =20).Except for the NOR group,the CKD rat model in other groups was established by adenine gavage.After modeling,the NOR group and CKD group were given the same volume of normal saline by gavage,while the group RN,RNP and RNC were given corresponding drugs by gavage,for 4 weeks.After 4 weeks,the rats in each group were sacrificed for collecting serum and detecting the renal function(serum Scr,BUN),the renal tissues were taken for conducting HE and Masson staining.Then the renal tissue pathological damage severity was observed.The expressions of FN and LN in kidney tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry and the expressions of TGF-[β,α-SMA were detected by Western blot method.Results Compared with the NOR group,the model group exhibited the renal dysfunction(P＜0.01),renal interstitial severe fibrosis manifestation and increased collagen deposition(P＜0.05),and the expression of kidney tissues α-SMA(P＜0.01),TGF-β(P＜0.01),FN and LN were significantly increased.Compared with the model group,the renal function in various treatment groups was improved,Scr(P＜0.01)and BUN(P＜0.01)were significantly decreased,the renal interstitial fibrosis degree was reduced,collagen desposition was decreased(P＜0.05),renal tissue α-SMA(P＜ 0.05),TGF-β(P＜0.05),FN and LN expression were reduced to some extent,in which the effect of RNC group was stronger than that of the RN group and RNP group.Conclusion Notoginseng and guiding medicinals mediated notoginseng can retard the progression of renal interstitial fibrosis caused by adenine in CKD rat in varying degrees,its mechanism maybe reduce the expression of TGF-β protein.

An HPLC-MS/MS method for the quantitative determination of platycodin D in rat plasma and its application to the pharmacokinetics of Platycodi Radix extract / 中国天然药物

AIMS@#To develop an HPLC-MS/MS method for the quantification of platycodin D (PD) in rat plasma, and to acquire the main pharmacokinetic parameters of PD after oral administration of pure PD or of Platycodi Radix extract (PRE) containing PD.@*METHOD@#Plasma samples were pretreated with solid-phase extraction using an Oasis® HLB SPE cartridge. Madecassoside was used as the internal standard (IS). Chromatographic separation was achieved on an ODS column (100 mm × 2.1 mm i.d., 3.5 μm) with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile/water (30 : 70, V/V) containing 0.1 mmol·L(-1) ammonium acetate at a flow rate of 0.25 mL·min(-1). The detection was performed on a triple quadruple tandem mass spectrometer using an electrospray ionization (ESI) source with a chromatographic run time of 3.0 min. The detection was operated by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) of the transitions of m/z 1 223.6→469.2 for PD and of m/z 973.6→469.2 for madecassoside (IS), respectively.@*RESULTS@#The calibration curve was linear from 5 to 2 000 ng·mL(-1) (r(2) >0.99) with a lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of 5 ng·mL(-1). The intra- and inter-day precision (relative standard deviation, RSD) values were below 15% and the accuracy (relative error, RE) was from -15% to +15% at three quality control (QC) levels. Plasma concentrations of PD were determined for 24 h after i.v. administration of PD, and oral administration of PD and PRE, respectively. The absolute oral bioavailability of PD in rats was found to be (0.48 ± 0.19)% when administered PD, and to be (1.81 ± 0.89)% when administered PRE.@*CONCLUSION@#The developed HPLC-MS/MS method was successfully applied to assess the pharmacokinetic parameters and oral bioavailability of PD in rats after administration of PD and Platycodi Radix extract.