Quality evaluation of Cnidii Fructus in commodity grade based on theory of "quality evaluation through morphological identification" / 中国中药杂志

From the perspective of market classification of Cnidii Fructus, this paper revealed the scientific connotation of evaluating the quality grade of Cnidii Fructus by its appearance traits. Thirty batches of Cnidii Fructus in different grades were selected as the research objects. The canonical correlation analysis and principal component analysis(PCA) were used to explore the measurement values of 15 appearance traits and intrinsic content indexes. The results of correlation analysis showed that except the aspect ratio, the 5 appearance trait indexes(length, width, 1 000-grain weight, broken grain weight proportion, and chroma) and 9 internal content indexes(the content of moisture, total ash, acid insoluble ash, osthole, imperatorin, 5-methoxy psoralen, isopimpinellin, xanthotoxin, and xanthotol) showed significant correlation to varying degrees. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between the first typical variable U_1 composed of appearance traits and the first typical variable V_1 composed of internal content indexes(CR_1=0.963, P<0.01). The results of PCA showed that the classification results of appearance traits for 30 batches of Cnidii Fructus were consistent with the actual information of the samples. Under the same analysis conditions, 30 batches of Cnidii Fructus were reclassified by 9 groups of internal content indexes, and the analysis results were consistent. From the classification standard of the appearance traits of the system study, the statistical results of 6 appearance traits of Cnidii Fructus showed a correlation with grades. There was a good correlation between the appearance and the internal content of Cnidii Fructus, and the appearance quality effectively predicted the level of the internal content. There is a certain scientific basis for the quality classification of Cnidii Fructus by main appearance traits. Appearance classification can replace quality grading to realize the "quality evaluation through morphological identification" of Cnidii Fructus.

Regulation of Hypnotic Active Components of Cnidii Fructus on Melatonin Synthesis Rate-limiting Enzyme AANAT in Rats with PCPA-induced Insomnia / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To observe the effects of Cnidii Fructus hypnotic active components （CHC） on the behaviors of rats with p-chlorophenylalanine （PCPA）-induced insomnia and melatonin （MT） synthesis rate-limiting enzyme arylalkylamine <italic>N</italic>-acetyltransferase （AANAT）， and explore the protective mechanism of CHC on the pineal gland. Method:Male SD rats of SPF grade were randomly divided into a blank control group， a model group， a MT group， and high-， medium-， and low-dose CHC groups with 10 rats in each group. Except for the blank control group， other groups received 4.5% PCPA suspension at 10 mL·kg^-1， intragastric administration， for two consecutive days. After PCPA model of insomnia was established， normal and model groups were gavaged at the same volume of 2% Tween-80， MT control group （10 mg·kg^-1）， CHC was high， medium and low （60， 30， 15 mg·kg^-1）， 10 mL·kg^-1， once a day， for consecutive 7 days. Four days after administration， open field， elevated cross maze， and pentobarbital sodium-induced sleep tests were conducted， respectively. Serum MT was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The mRNA expression level of AANAT was determined by real-time fluorescence-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR）. The expression of AANAT protein in the pineal gland was detected by Western blot. Result:Compared with the results in the blank control group， the total distance of open field activity and standing times and duration in the central area were increased （<italic>P</italic><0.05， <italic>P</italic><0.01）， the proportions of open arm entry （OE%） and open arm time （OT%） were decreased （<italic>P</italic><0.05）， and the sleep latency was prolonged （<italic>P</italic><0.01） in the model group. Compared with the model group， no significant difference was observed in the low-dose CHC group， while other groups exhibited reduced total distance of activity （<italic>P</italic><0.05， <italic>P</italic><0.01）， elevated OE% （<italic>P</italic><0.05）， shortened sleep latency， and prolonged sleep time （<italic>P</italic><0.05， <italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with the serum MT in the blank control group， that in the model group was decreased （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with the model group， no significant difference was observed in the low-dose CHC group， while other groups displayed increased serum MT （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. The mRNA and protein expression of AANAT was decreased in the model group as compared with that in the blank control group （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with the model group， the MT group and the high-dose CHC group showed up-regulated expression （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. Conclusion:CHC improved the behavioral indexes of PCPA-induced insomnia， increased the synthesis and secretion of MT in pineal cells， and elevated the serum MT level， which was related to the up-regulation of the mRNA and protein expression of AANAT in the pineal gland.

HPLC fingerprint of Cnidii Fructus formula granule and determination of six main coumarin components / 中草药

Objective: To establish an HPLC fingerprint of Cnidii Fructus formula granule analysis method for simultaneous determination of six main coumarin components, including osthol, xanthotoxin, xanthotol, bergapten, imperatorin and isopimpinellin, in order to provide reference for the study of the material basis of Cnidii Fructus formula granule. Methods: The method was performed by high performance liquid chromatography with a Waters XBridge C18 (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column and methanol (A)-0.1% acetic acid (B) as the mobile phase for gradient elution. The flow rate was 0.5 mL/min, the injection volume was 10 μL and the column temperature was 40 ℃. The detection wavelength was set at 320 nm. The chromatographic fingerprint evaluation system published by the State Pharmacopoeia Commission (2012 Edition) was used to establish the fingerprint of Cnidii Fructus formula granule, and the content of six main coumarin components was simultaneously determined. Results: The research on the 18 batches of Cnidii Fructus formula granule showed that the fingerprint similarity was greater than 0.992 and 19 common peaks were calibrated with satisfied peak resolution. The content determination results showed that the content of both xanthotoxin and osthol were the main coumarin components in Cnidii Fructus formula granule. According to the methodological investigation, the precision RSD values were all less than 1.6%. The sample was stable within 48 h and this method had good repeatability. The average recovery rates of xanthotol, xanthotoxin, imperatorin, isopimpinellin, bergapten and osthol were 100.69%, 101.03%, 99.48%, 100.88%, 101.27% and 100.35%, respectively. All of these coumarin components’ RSD were less than 2.5%. The six components showed a good linear relationship within a certain concentration range. The results of the content determination of xanthotol, xanthotoxin, isopimpinellin, bergapten, imperatorin and osthol respectively were 8.01-8.29, 2.37-2.63, 4.30-4.61, 4.04-4.40, 3.45-3.90 and 6.02-6.80 mg/g among the 18 batches of the Cnidii Fructus formula granule. Conclusion: The fingerprint method and the determination method of six main coumarin components in the Cnidii Fructus formula granule established in this study are simple, stable, accurate and reliable. This method can be used for the quality control of the Cnidii Fructus formula granule.

Effects of hypnotic active components of Cnidii Fructus on expression of hippocampal Clock genes and amino acid neurotransmitters in PCPA insomnia rats / 中草药

Objective To study the hypnotic mechanism of Cnidii Fructus hypnotic active constituent (SCZ) on the expression of clock genes and hippocampal neurotransmitters in insomnia rats. Methods The insomnia model was established by intraperitoneal injection of para-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA). SCZ at low (25 g/kg), medium (50 g/kg), and high (100 g/kg) conentrations were ig administrated respectively at the same time with diazepam as positive group, intragastric administration of PCPA was performed in insomnia rats for three days, The expression levels of Clock, Bmal1, Cry1, Cry2, Per1, Per2, and Per3 were detected by real-time PCR. The expression levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamic acid (Glu) in hippocampus dentate gyrus were detected by immunohistochemistry. The changes of contents of GABA and Glu were determinated by immunohistochemistry and high performance liquid chromatography. Results The results of immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of GABA in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of rats in the model group was significantly reduced compared with the control group, and the expression level of Glu was significantly increased (P < 0.05, 0.01). Compared with the model group, the expression level of GABA in SCZ medium and high dose group was significantly increased, and Glu expression was reduced significantly (P < 0.01). HPLC results showed that the GABA expression level in the hippocampus of the model group was significantly decreased compared with the control group, and the expression level of Glu was significantly increased (P < 0.05, 0.01). Compared with the model group, the expression level of Glu in hippocampus of rats in SCZ medium and high dose group was significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and the expression of GABA in rats with high and low doses of SCZ was significantly increased (P < 0.01). The results of Clock gene expression test showed that the expression of Clock and Bmal1 gene in the model group was significantly increased (P < 0.05) compared with the control group, and the expression levels of Cry1, Per1, and Per2 genes were significantly decreased (P < 0.05, 0.01). Compared with the model group, the expression of Clock and Bmal1 gene in the SCZ medium dose group was significantly decreased (P < 0.01); The expression levels of Cry1, Per1, and Per2 in the SCZ high dose group were significantly increased (P < 0.05, 0.01). The Per1 gene expression in the SCZ low-dose group was significantly increased (P < 0.01). Conclusion Cnidii Fructus hypnotic active components can increase the expression of Cry1, Per1, and Per2 gene by reducing the hypnosis of hippocampal Clock and Bmal1 expression. The increased expression of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA and the decreased expression of excitatory neurotransmitter Glu can inhibit the occurrence and development of insomnia, which can regulate the sleep-wake cycle for clinical treatment of insomnia.