Effects of penetration enhancers on percutaneous permeability of geniposide in Xiao'er Ninhuang tuire cataplasms / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the different permeation enhancers on the transdermal permeation of Xiao'er Niuhuang tuire cataplasms (XNTC).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Using improved franz-type diffusion cell with excised rat skin in vitro as the transdermal barrier, the content of permeated geniposide was determined by HPLC to study the kinetic parameters such as cumulative permeation quantity and permeation rate.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The result showed that the process of penetrating of geniposide in XNTC through skin could be in accordance with zero-rade releasing equation and XNTC was stable during the course of experiment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>5% Propylene glycol (PG)-azone (2:3) has the best permeation-enhancing effect, and the results provided a primary basis for the future research on Xiao'er Niuhuang tuire cataplasms.</p>

In vitro anti-inflammatory effects of different solution fractions of ethanol extract from Melilotus suaveolens Ledeb / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Melilotus suaveolens Ledeb (M. suaveolens Ledeb) has long been used as a folk medicine in inflammation-related therapy. This study was undertaken to determine the anti-inflammatory effect of the plant.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Petroleum ether fraction, ethyl acetate fraction, n-butanol fraction, aqueous fraction were obtained from ethanol extract of M. suaveolens Ledeb and evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). While dexamethasone (DM) was used as a positive control, the effects of different solution fractions of ethanol extract on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) mRNA, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) mRNA, COX-2 and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) of LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells were studied by real-time PCR, Western blot analysis and immunocytochemical assay, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Coumarin was one of the main ingredients in different solution fractions of ethanol extract except the aqueous fraction with no inflammatory effect. The petroleum ether fraction, ethyl acetate fraction and n-butanol fraction of ethanol extract could inhibit the production of TNF-alpha mRNA, COX-2 mRNA and NF-kappaB to some extent.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Different solution fractions of ethanol extract from M. suaveolens Ledeb had similar anti-inflammatory effect as did dexamethasone except the aqueous fraction. Coumarin was likely to be essential to the anti-inflammatory effect, and other ingredients might attribute to their different anti-inflammatory effects from the HPLC fingerprint.</p>