Identification of geographical origins of raw American ginseng and tablets based on stable isotope ratios.

BACKGROUND: American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is a medicine food homology plant, whose origin determines the medicinal and economical values. Therefore, a reliable method for the determination of its geographical origin must be established. An accurate, common and stable method to identify geographical origins of raw American ginseng and tablets was established by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). 53 samples from 5 origins were collected and analyzed for isotope ratios of the elements C, H, O and N. The result showed that δ(2)H, δ(18)O and δ(15)N values were different among each geographical origin. The δ(2)H, δ(18)O and δ(15)N values were also used to establish discrimination model of geographical origin. According to verification test, the discrimination model of geographical origin was accurate and stable. The δ(2)H, δ(18)O and δ15N values were also found no significant difference between raw American ginseng and its tablet, so the discrimination model of geographical origin could also be used to discriminate the geographical origin of American ginseng tablet. In conclusion, the δ(2) H, δ(18) O and δ(15) N values can be used to discriminate the geographical origin of raw American ginseng and its tablet.

[Feature Selection and Interpretation in Infrared Quantitative Models of Liquiritin and Glycyrrhizin in Radix Glycyrrhizae].

Feature selection can improve the interpretation of the modeling variables to a certain extent by selecting variables from the complex spectra backgrounds. However, the improvement of models interpretation does not mean that the modeling variables have the exact physical or chemical significance. In this paper, We explore the relation between the chemical characteristics of target components and the spectrum variables selected with 3 kinds of variables selection methods which are moving window partial least squares regression (mwPLS), synergy interval partial least squares regression (siPLS) and competitive adaptive re-weighted sampling (CARS), and compare the interpretation difference of the variables selected with the above variables selection methods. The results show that the variables selected with mwPLS accord with ν(φ)C=C of liquiritin and δCH3 or δCH2 of glycyrrhizin, which are the obvious spectra differences between the flavonoids and saponins in Radix Glycyrrhizae, and the variables selected with siPLS are the characteristic intervals combinations of the flavonoids or saponins in Radix Glycyrrhizae, which is the combination of ν(ø)C=C, ν(ø)C-O, ν(ø)C-H of flavonoids or the combination of νC-O vC-H, νO-H of saponins while the variables selected with CARS can better accord with most of the characteristic peaks from 1000 to 4000 cm(-1) of liquiritin or glycyrrhizin in Radix Glycyrrhizae, and the predict performance of the infrared quantitative model established on the spectroscopic variables selected with CARS can be improved. Therefore, most of the variables selected with CARS can be interpreted by the characteristic peaks in the infrared characteristic region of the target components, which is beneficial to improve the interpretation of the quantitative model.

Anxiolytic and sedative effects of dehydroeffusol from Juncus effusus in mice.

Dehydroeffusol, a phenanthrene isolated from Juncus effusus L., possesses characteristic anxiolytic and sedative properties, as determined by an array of behavioral tests in mice. In the elevated plus-maze test, dehydroeffusol significantly increased the number of entries into the open arms and the time the mice spent in these arms in a dose-dependent manner, with a minimum effective dose of 2.5 mg/kg. Dehydroeffusol also significantly increased the head-dips of mice in the hole-board test in a dose-dependent manner, with a minimum effective dose of 5 mg/kg. Dehydroeffusol reduced mouse locomotion in the open-field test with a minimum effective dose of 5 mg/kg. In the rota-rod test, 1-5 mg/kg dehydroeffusol did not decrease the fall-down time of mice. The above results confirm that dehydroeffusol possesses anxiolytic and sedative properties and does not affect the general movement coordination of mice. This suggests that dehydroeffusol is a novel anxiolytic chemical derived from herbal medicines.

[Evaluation of LC-MS chromatograms of pericarps from Illium species].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the chemical characteristics of pericarps from Illicium species for developing a taxonomic and identification method for Illicium species. METHOD: Twenty two samples from 17 Illicium species were detected with HPLC-MS. The chromatographic data were analyzed by cluster analysis using SAS software. RESULT: According to the similarity of chemical constituents of 22 samples. Illicium can be divided into five chemical sections. At the same time, the distribution of pseudoanisatin, 6-deoxypseudoanisatin, pseudomajucin was evaluated in 22 samples. CONCLUSION: The chemical constituents of pericarp of Illicium species can be characterized well by LC-MS chromatograms. LC-MS chromatograms can be used to identify the Chinese star anise. The results provided a certain basis to classify the Illicium species.

[Combination similarity algorithm on chromatographic fingerprints].

The similarity of chromatographic fingerprints is one of the effective approaches evaluating the quality stability of Chinese medicine, and the cosine of angle plays an important role in the application of similarity. However, the cosine approach is insensitive to the data difference when the distribution range of the data sets is wide. When the data proportion of the reference sample and the test sample is greatly different, it confirms that the sensitivity of the cosine to the differences of the peaks owned by both the reference sample and the test sample differs from the peaks owned only by the reference sample or the test sample in this study. The method considers the peaks owned by one sample in addition to peaks owned by both samples, and determines their own appropriate weigh targeting for the maximal homostasis value of proportion among the peaks of all of Smilax glabra Roxb. samples. The method based on sample data could reflect the difference in the chemical composition area ratio between the reference sample and test samples sensitively, and measures the similarity among the nine Smilax glabra Roxb. samples, which is a new similarity algorithm for evaluating the quality stability of herbal medicines.

[Content deternmination of glycyrrhizic acid in cortex glycyrrhizae].

Glycyrrhizic acid content in Fen Gancao (barked licorice root) and its rough bark (Cortex Glycyrrhizae) was determined by HPLC. The result showed that at least three unknown ingredients were detected in Cortex Glycyrrhizae which were not in Fen Gancao, and glycyrrhizic acid content in the Cortex Glycyrrhizae is higher than that in Fen Gancao. It suggests that Cortex Glycyrrhizae can be used as the material not only to extract glycyrrhizic acid but also for making additives. Furtheronore, Fen Gancao should be further studied in order to reveal the differences of pharmacological effects between Fen Gancao and Licorice Root (Radix Glycyrrhizae).

[Determination of adulteration musk by GC-MS, SPME and HS2000].

Musk is one of the rare traditional Chinese medicinal materials and is usually sophisticated with different adulterants. Some new adulterants have been detected by GC-MS, SPME and HS2000.

[Applications of solid-phase microextraction technique in natural product analysis].

Solid-phase microextraction is a new technique of analysis. It has many merits and expanse foreground. A Review of the principle, recent development and applications of solid-phase microextraction is given, focusing on natural product analysis, especially on Chinese traditional medicine. Twenty-nine references are cited in the paper.

[The changes of some chemical components in banxiaxiexintang decoction of different combinations].

OBJECTIVE: The contents of bererine, palmatine and glycyrrhizin acid in Banxiaxiexintang decoction of different combinations were determined by PR-HPLC. METHOD: A Shim-pack CLC-ODS column was used with a mobile phase of CH3CN-H2O (31:69; 0.005 moL.L-1 -pentanesulfonic acid sodium salt, H3PO4: pH 3.0) for bererine andpalmatine, which were detected at the wavelength of 275 nm. A YWG-C18 column was used with a mobile phase of CH3OH-H2O-HAc(62:37:1) for glycyrrhizin acid which was detected at the wavelength of 260 nm. RESULT: Each herbs' combination influences the contents of the 3 components. CONCLUSION: The experiment is an attempt to study the comical foundation of traditional Chinese prescription.