Treatment strategy and thought on classical herbal formulae for coronavirus disease 2019 / 中国中药杂志

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) refers to the pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV) infection in 2019. It is highly infectious, with quick spreading and a wide range of impact. It has been broken out in many countries around the world and has become a public health emergency of international concern. Chinese medicine has a long history in treating plague, and viral disease is the clinical advantage in Chinese medicine. Under the premise that there is currently no specific drug treatment, Chinese medicine has achieved certain effects in the treatment of COVID-19, which has attracted much attention and has been upgraded to a national strategy. Regarding the treatment of COVID-19 with Chinese medicine, it is believed that in terms of the name of Chinese medicine, the modern connotation of "uniform of typhoid and febrile disease" should be re-recognized, and it is advisable to use drugs based on specific clinical prescriptions and indications. In terms of pathogenesis, the COVID-19 has the pathogenesis rules including from the mild to severe conditions, from the surface to the inside, from the excess syndrome to the deficiency syndrome. We should pay attention to the Taiyang syndrome damaged by wet disease in initial stage, Shaoyang syndrome complicated with Yangming syndrome in the middle stage, phlegm-heat obstructing lung in critical period, lung and spleen deficiency in the recovery stage. In terms of clinical treatment strategies, Dayuan Yin is recommended to induce sweat and disperse the stasis in early stage. Xiaochaihu Decoction and Maxing Shigan Decoction is used to relieve both exterior and interior symptoms in middle stage. In critical stage, Tingli Dazao Xiefei Decoction, Weijing Decoction, Xuanbai Chengqi Decoction, Xiaoxianxiong Decoction, and Sanzi Yangqin Decoction are considered to reduce phlegm and clear heat. We should pay attention to nourishing Qi and strengthening the spleen by Zhuye Shigao Decoction, Sha-shen Maidong Decoction, and Liujunzi Decoction in the later recovery period. It shall be noted that, no matter in the initial mild stage, the middle and critical stages, or in the later recovery stage, Chinese medicine plays an important role, including preventing mild to severe disease, shortening the fever time, improving cough symptoms, increasing blood oxygen saturation and reducing mortality. Many studies have shown that the classical herbal formulae can alleviate the cytokine storm, regulate the immune imbalance, and produce the potential effect of synergistic treatment for COVID-19 through multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways.

Establishment of HPLC fingerprint and determination method of three index components of classical herbal formula substance benchmarks of Xiebai Powder / 中草药

Objective: To establish the HPLC fingerprint and the determination method of three index components of the classical herbal formula substance benchmarks of Xiebai Powder. Methods: Fingerprint chromatographic conditions were as following: detection wavelength 254 nm/325 nm, column temperature 35 ℃; flow rate 0.8 mL/min; injection volume 25 μL; mobile phase consisting of 0.1% aqueous formic acid (A) and acetonitrile (B); binary gradient elution: 0-20 min, 5%-10% B; 20-33 min, 10%-15% B; 33-50 min, 15%-20% B; 50-95 min, 20%-58% B. Ten batches of substance benchmarks of Xiebai Powder fingerprints were collected and evaluated by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Committee "Chinese Medicine Chromatographic Fingerprint Similarity Evaluation System 2012 Edition" software. Chromatographic conditions of content determination: detection wavelength 237 nm, column temperature 30 ℃; flow rate 1.0 mL/min; injection volume 5 μL; mobile phase consisting of 0.1% aqueous phosphoric acid (A) and acetonitrile (B) for binary gradient elution: 0-10 min, 5%-20% B; 10-18 min, 20%-60% B; 18-26 min, 60%-100% B; 26-38 min, 100% B; 38-41 min, 100%-5% B; 41-45 min, 5% B. Results: Based on the matching results, 55 common peaks were determined at a wavelength of 254 nm, and 57 common peaks were determined at a wavelength of 325 nm. Three substances, mulberroside A (S), liquiritin and ammonium glycyrrhizinate, were identified in the common peaks. After methodological research, its precision, stability and reproducibility were good. Ten batches of substance benchmarks of Xiebai Powder fingerprints were evaluated with reference fingerprints, and their similarities were greater than 0.9. The average recovery rates of mulberroside A (S), liquiritin and ammonium glycyrrhizinate were 97.82%, 97.40% and 105.81%, respectively. The RSD (n = 6) was 4.41%, 2.51% and 1.19%, respectively, which met the require of 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The three components had good linearity in the range of 25.25-2525 ng, 25-2 500 ng and 8.5-850 ng, respectively. The method had good precision, stability and repeatability. The contents of 10 batches of substance benchmarks of Xiebai was determined. The content of mulberry A was 11.6-35.5 mg/g, the content of liquiritin was 0.1-1.6 mg/g, and the content of glycyrrhizic acid was 0.3-2.5 mg/g. The range of the contents of these ingredients was large, which indicated that the quality of mulberry husks and licorice herbs from different places was quite different. Conclusion: The establishment of the HPLC fingerprint and the determination method of three index components of the classical herbal formula substance benchmarks of Xiebai Powder provided some bases for the study of the quality standard of substance benchmarks of Xiebai Powder.

Research and development strategies in classical herbal formulae / 中国中药杂志

As an outstanding representative of traditional Chinese medicine prescription, classical herbal formulae are the essence of traditional Chinese medicine great treasure. To support the development of classical herbal formulae, the state and relevant administrative departments have successively promulgated the relevant encouraged policies.But some key issues of classic herbal formulae in the development process have not reached a unified consensus and standard, and these problems were discussed in depth here.The authors discussed the registration requirements of classical herbal formulae, proposed the screening specific indicators of classical herbal formulae, determination basis of prescription and dosage,screening method of production process, and the basic principle of clinical localization, in order to bring out valuable opinions and provide a reference for classical herbal formulae development and policy formulation.