RESUMEN
Decoction is the most commonly used dosage form in the clinical treatment of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). During boiling, the violent movement of various active ingredients in TCM creates molecular forces such as hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, hydrophobic interactions and electrostatic interactions, which results in the formation of self-assembled aggregates in decoction (SADs), including particles, gels, fibers, etc. It was found that SADs widely existed in decoction with biological activities superior to both effective monomers and their physical mixtures, providing a new idea to reveal the pharmacodynamic material basis of Chinese herbal medicine from the perspective of component interactions-phase structure. Recently, SADs have become a novel focus of research in TCM. This paper reviewed their relevant studies in recent years and found some issues to be concerned in the research, such as the polydispersity of decoction system, instability of active ingredient interactions during boiling, uncertainty of the aggregates self-assembly rules, and stability, purity, yield of the products. In this regard, some solutions and new ideas were presented for the integrated development and clinical application of SADs.
RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE To establish the fingerprint of Huangqin decoction （HQD）， to separate the phase states and screen the active phase states of antidermatophytic activity so as to study the spectrum-effect relationship. METHODS HPLC method was adopted using baicalin as reference， the fingerprints of 10 batches of HQD were drawn and the similarity evaluation was carried out using the Similarity Evaluation System of Chromatographic Fingerprint of TCM （2012 edition） to determine the common peak； the phase states of HQD were separated and characterized by high-speed centrifugation and membrane dialysis. The minimum inhibitory concentrations （MIC） of HQD and its different phase states against Trichophyton mentagrophytes were determined simultaneously. Using the peak area of 37 common peaks as independent variable， MIC as dependent variable， Pearson correlation analysis was performed by using SPSS 21.0 software. RESULTS A total of 37 common peaks were obtained in HPLC fingerprints of 10 batches of HQD， with the similarity higher than 0.99. Ten components were identified， such as albiflorin， paeoniflorin， liquiritin apioside， baicalin， melaleuca glycoside A， wogonoside， baicalein， glycyrrhizic acid， wogonin and oroxylin A. HQD was split into 3 phase states， such as precipitation phase （HQD-P）， solution phase （HQD-S） and nano phase （HQD-N）. The morphology of HQD-P was irregular granular， and the average particle size was 4.670-91.522 μm. The morphology of HQD-S was uniform flakes， and no particle size was detected. HQD-N was spherical in shape and the particle size was （129.0±12.9） nm. MIC values of each phase state of HQD against T. mentagrophytes in different phase states were HQD-N （4.64 mg/mL） ＜HQD （5.85 mg/mL） ＜HQD-P （7.37 mg/mL） ＜HQD-S （12.89 mg/mL） at the same dosage. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the peak area of 25 of the 37 common peaks （including identified components） was significantly negatively correlated with MIC （absolute values of correlation coefficient＞0.95 and P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS The chemical composition of 10 batches of HQD is consistent； HQD-N is the active phase state of HQD. Ten components such as paeoniflorin， liquiritin apioside and baicalin may be the main active components of HQD. The antidermatophytic effect of HQD is closely related to its component content and physical phase state.
RESUMEN
Decoction is a traditional clinical way of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） compound. A series of complex physical and chemical changes are often involved in the process of decoction， which presents a mixed-phase system. In most studies on the TCM compound decoction， it has always focused on the amounts of chemical substances in decoction， while the phase properties and existence forms of these components are neglected. Most of the chemical components exist in the mixed-phase system as molecules， ions or other particles. According to the particle size of the contained particles， the differences among the phases， including true solution phase， colloidal phase， suspended phase and precipitated phase， lead to their differences in pharmaceutical and biological effects. Based on the above research background， this paper takes the phase state differences of decoction as the breakthrough point， and systematically reviews the physicochemical properties， the physical structures of the active components and the biological effects of the decoction caused by the phase state differences. The phase state differences of TCM compound decoction have been found to be closely related to their efficacy， which might be a good perspective to investigate the possible mechanism. It might provide a beneficial reference for the exploration of related basic research on TCM compounds.
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Ma-Xing-Shi-Gan Decoction is a classic prescription. However, the interaction among multiple components of the decoction and the change of phase state are not clear. Moreover, the relationship between the physical phase state aggregated by multiple components and the efficacy still needs to be studied. In this study, we monitored the particle size changes of Ma-Xing-Shi-Gan Decoction in real time. Then we isolated different phase states by centrifugation, analyzed their composition distribution and tested their antibacterial activity. We added chemical interference agents to investigate the interaction of multi-component physical phase states accompanied by the observation of particle size change and morphology. We also studied the correlation between antibacterial activity and physical structure of phase states. The results showed during boiling process the degree of hybridization of particles was decreased and the particle size distribution was narrowed and stabilized at 170 nm. The distribution of organic and inorganic components was heterogeneous among different phase states. S-13500, supernatant isolated by 13 500 ×g centrifugation, constituted by ephedrine, amygdalin, glycyrrhizic acid and inorganic components Ca, K, Mg, etc., had the strongest antibacterial activity. The molecular interaction force in the active physical phase state was mainly hydrophobic and hydrogen bond. The destruction of the interaction force will lead to the change of phase structure and the decrease of antibacterial activity in vitro and in vivo. This study confirms that, in the boiling process of the Ma-Xing-Shi-Gan Decoction, the chemical components interweave and interact to form new physical phase states, leading to heterogeneous distribution of components. The antimicrobial activity of the active phase depends on both chemical composition and physical structure, which provides a direct evidence for the physical basis of the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine.
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The membrane phospholipid organisation in the red cells of humans suffering from chronic myeloid leukaemia has been analysed using the amino-group labelling reagent trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid and the fluid-sensing fluorophore, Merocyanine 540. Unlike the normal human erythrocytes, trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid in intact chronic myeloid leukaemia erythrocytes modified about 30% phosphatidylserine, under controlled conditions. Also, the chronic myeloid laukaemia red cells, but not the normal cells, were found to bind the fluorescent dye Merocyanine 540. These results demonstrate that loss of the transmembrane phospholipid asymmetry in chronic myeloid leukaemia erythrocytes is accompanied by an enhancement in the outer surface fluidity and, therefore, suggest that the red cells membrane phase-state asymmetry originates probably from the asymmetric arrangements of phospholipids across the membrane bilayer.