Textual Research on Trionycis Carapax / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Trionycis Carapax is a commonly used Chinese medicine in clinical practice. Modern research on Trionycis Carapax mainly focuses on experimental research and clinical observation， which has been rarely reported in the literature. Based on the literature on medicinal herbs， medical books， prescriptions of all dynasties， this study carried out systematic textual research on the historical evolution and changes of the name， origin， producing areas， quality， efficacy， indications， processing methods， and contraindications of the Trionycis Carapax. As revealed by the textual analysis， the origin of Trionycis Carapax is Trionyx sinensis， and the carapace of T. steindachneri is not suitable for the preparation of Trionycis Carapax. The genuine producing areas of Trionycis Carapax include Yueyang， Jingzhou， southeast Anhui， and western Jiangsu in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze river. Regarding the quality， the number of ribs of Trionycis Carapax， such as seven ribs and nine ribs， is often used as the quality evaluation standard in ancient Chinese herbal books. However， through literature research and field inspections on the medicinal material markets， it is not advisable to take rib number as a quality evaluation criterion in modern times. With the change of the times， the efficacy and indications of Trionycis Carapax have gradually expanded on the basis of Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica （Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing）， and later generations widely apply it in internal medicine， surgery， gynecology， pediatrics， etc. It should be noted that the treatment of labor heat and bone steaming by Trionycis Carapax is derived from Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica， not Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs （Yao Xing Lun） mentioned in ancient books such as Amplification on Materia Medica （Ben Cao Yan Yi）. The processing methods of Trionycis Carapax are diverse， which are dominated by traditional vinegar processing. In terms of contraindications， Trionycis Carapax should not be compatible with bauxite and marble and is contraindicated in pregnant women. Those with spleen deficiency， weak stomach， and liver deficiency without heat should use it with caution. This study is expected to provide the basis for radical reform and further development and clinical utilization of Trionycis Carapax.

Specific PCR method for identification of Trionycis Carapax and its preparation / 中国中药杂志

Trionycis Carapax is a commonly used animal medicine in Chinese medicine. It's difficult to identify Trionycis Carapax and its adulterants because of the loss of morphological characteristics after processing. To establish an efficient and stable method to identification Trionycis Carapax, this study combines SDS method with column purification to extract genomic DNA, uses universal primers for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing, and designs the specific primers based on the differences in the sequences of Pelodiscus sinensis and their adulterants. When the annealing temperature was 62 °C and the number of cycles was 35, the designed primer Biejia-272.F/R was used for PCR amplification and got optimum results. The crude drug and preparation of P. sinensis were all amplified to obtain a specific band of approximately 300 bp, while the adulterants showed no such a band. This method can be used as a rapid and accurate method to identify the authenticate of P. sinensis.

Spectrum-activity relationship on anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacy of Trionycis Carapax / 中草药

Objective: To investigate the spectrum-activity relationship between HPLC of Trionycis Carapax from different regions and its anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacy, in order to reveal the "active component group" for anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacy of Trionycis Carapax. Methods: The samples from 12 regions were determined with the HPLC-DAD method. The representative standard fingerprint was calculated using the Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Version 2004A). The common patten and the principal component analysis (PCA) were established. Using the LX-2 hepatic stellate cell as a hepatic fibrosis model of Trionycis Carapax to study its inhibition on the hepatic fibrosis cells. The spectrum-effect relationship was studied by SPSS 19.0 software. Results: Seven common peaks in the HPLC-fingerprint of Trionycis Carapax were obtained. It was tentatively concluded that peaks 2 and 5 related better to the inhibitory effect of LX-2 cells (OD value) in the seven characteristic peaks. Peak 4 had the strongest correlation. And the quality of Trionycis Carapax was influenced by the concentration of peak 4 obtained by PCA. Conclusion: All the samples could inhibit the proliferation of LX-2 hepatic stellate cell in some extent. There may be a certain relationship between HPLC fingerprint and anti-hepatic fibrosis efficacy. In addition, the research could be used as the quality control method of Trionycis Carapax.