Preparation of nanoemulsion spray from Moslae Herba volatile oil and its antibacterial activity / 中国中药杂志

Moslae Herba is a commonly used aromatic Chinese medicinal with volatile oil as the main effective component and exhibits broad-spectrum antibacterial and antiviral effects. However, the irritation and instability of Moslae Herba volatile oil necessitate the preparation into a specific dosage form. In this study, the steam distillation method was employed to extract the Moslae Herba volatile oil. The content of thymol and carvacrol in Moslae Herba volatile oil was determined by HPLC as(0.111 9±0.001 0) and(0.235 4±0.004 7) mg·mL~(-1), respectively. Pseudo-ternary phase diagrams and surfactants compounding were applied in the selection of the optimal excipients(surfactant and cosurfactant). On this basis, a nanoemulsion was prepared from the Moslae Herba volatile oil and then loaded into pressure vessels to get sprays, whose stability and antibacterial activity were evaluated afterward. With clarity, viscosity, smell and body feeling as comprehensive indexes, the optimal formulation of the Moslae Herba volatile oil nanoemulsion was determined as follows: Moslae Herba volatile oil∶peppermint oil∶cremophor EL∶absolute ethanol∶distilled water 7.78∶1.58∶19.26∶6.15∶65.23. The as-prepared nanoemulsion was a light yellow transparent liquid, with Tyndall effect shown under the irradiation of parallel light. It has the pH of 5.50, conductivity of 125.9 μS·cm~(-1), average particle size of 15.45 nm, polydispersity index(PDI) of 0.156, and Zeta potential of-17.9 mV. Under a transmission electron microscope, the Moslae Herba volatile oil nanoemulsion was presented as regular spheres without adhesion and agglomeration. Stability test revealed that the Moslae Herba volatile oil nanoemulsion was stable at 4-55 ℃, which was free from demulsification and stratification within 30 days. After the centrifugation at 12 000 r·min~(-1) for 30 min, there was no stratification either. The nanoemulsion had good inhibitory effects on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and resistant S. aureus strains, with the minimum inhibitory concentrations of 0.39, 3.12 and 1.56 mg·mL~(-1), respectively. The above results demonstrated that the nanoemulsion was prepared feasibly and showed stable physical and chemical properties and good antibacterial effects. This study provides a practicable technical solution for the development of anti-epidemic and anti-infection products from Moslae Herba volatile oil.

Establishment of an antibacterially effective components fingerprint for quality evaluation of Scutellariae Radix (Huangqin) / 药学学报

A chemical fingerprint is an important mean for quality control of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM); however, there is much redundant information in a conventional fingerprint that can affect its availability and accuracy. In this work, the antibacterial biopotency of Scutellariae Radix (Huangqin, HQ) was determined according to the parallel line method of quantitative response. HPLC was adopted to detect the chemical fingerprint of HQ; Grey relational analysis (GRA) was used to identify the primary effective components. The results showed that the antibacterial biopotency of 15 batches of HQ ranged from 0 to 1 000 U·g-1 and the average potency was 556.29 ± 258.57 U·g-1 (1 U is equivalent to the bacteriostatic activity of 2.25 μg gentamicin). There were 34 characteristic peaks in the fingerprints of the samples and their similarities were 0.255-0.991. Eight components (P33, P30/baicalein, P19/baicalin, P15, P29, P34, P31/wogonin and P28) are positively related to antibacterial biopotency and selected from the top ten components of the grey correlation sequence to define the antibacterially effective components fingerprint of HQ. This fingerprint can clearly distinguish the commodity specification and grade, and can also characterize the morphology, components and the bacteriostatic potency differences of HQ. In summary, we established an antibacterially effective components fingerprint which provides simplified information on the antibacterial activity of Scutellariae Radix and could significantly improve the efficacy, specificity, and discriminative ability of the fingerprint for HQ, and could be a useful reference for the comprehensive quality evaluation of other TCM.

Phenolic acids from Arnebia euchroma mifepristone in anti-early pregnancy of SD rattus norvegicus / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Observing the effect of phenolic acids from Arnebia euchroma assist mifepristone in anti-early pregnancy of SD rattus norvegicus.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Feed the SD rattus norvegicus with phenolic acids from A. euchroma during the 7 th to 9 th day, and then we observe the restaining rate of pregnancy. At the same time, we determine the progesterone level in blood serum in the ways of radioimmunoassay.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>720 g x kg(-1) enolic aids from A. euchroma can markedly increase the restaining rate of pregnancy (P < 0.05) than that only mifepristone dose (8.0 g x kg(-1)). In addition, the number of everage still bith increase, however, to the pogesterone level in blood serum. It has little effect.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The effect of phenolic acids from A. euchroma assist mifepristone in anti-early pregnancy of SD rattus norvegicus is clear, and it dosen't work in the ways of decreasing the pogesterone level.</p>