[Radix hedysari extract promotes peripheral nerve regeneration].

Treatment of peripheral nerve injury is a major challenge in clinical practice. With advances in molecular biology and development of microsurgical techniques and tissue engineering, peripheral nerve repair procedures have been greatly improved. In the last 10 decades, most treatments for peripheral nerve injury in animal models have achieved histological and functional recovery, the treatments in humans, however, produce insufficient recovery, especially for proximal nerve injury. Increasing attention has been paid to the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for promoting peripheral nerve regeneration, since these remedies often display effective clinical outcome, minor side effects and effectiveness for multiple targets. Although TCM has complex ingredients and the specific pharmacological mechanisms for their effectiveness are still unclear, an effective clinical outcome is welcomed by many clinicians. In the past 20 years, we have made a series of detailed studies including the toxicity tests, pharmacodynamic tests, pharmacological experiments etc, about a new traditional formula which mainly contains the Radix hedysari, Epimedium etc. RESULTS have shown that this formula is safe to be used in both animals and humans with no toxicity and adverse effect, and systemic administration of this formula could enhance the peripheral nerve regeneration.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of anthraquinones in rhubarbs by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector and mass spectrometry.

Rhubarb is well known in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) mainly due to its effective purgative activity. Anthraquinones, including anthraquinone derivatives and their glycosides, are thought to be the major active components in rhubarb. To improve the quality control method of rhubarb, we studied on the extraction method, and did qualitative and quantitative analysis of widely used rhubarbs, Rheum tanguticum Maxim. ex Balf. and Rheum palmatum L., by HPLC-photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and HPLC-mass spectrum (HPLC-MS) on a Waters SymmetryShield RP18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 µm). Amount of five anthraquinones was viewed as the evaluating standard. A standardized characteristic fingerprint of rhubarb was provided. From the quantitative analysis, the rationality was demonstrated for ancestors to use these two species of rhubarb equally. Under modern extraction methods, the amount of five anthraquinones in Rheum tanguticum Maxim. ex Balf. is higher than that in Rheum palmatum L. Among various extraction methods, ultrasonication with 70% methanol for 30 min is a promising one. For HPLC analysis, mobile phase consisted of methanol and 0.1% phosphoric acid in water with a gradient program, the detection wavelength at 280nm for fingerprinting analysis and 254 nm for quantitative analysis are good choices.

Effects of Hedysari polysaccharides on regeneration and function recovery following peripheral nerve injury in rats.

It has been demonstrated that aqueous extract of Radix Hedysari Prescription and modified Radix Hedysari Prescription could improve the regeneration of injured peripheral nerve. Radix Hedysari is a main component in these two formulas. We hypothesized that Hedysari polysaccharides (HPS), a main active ingredient, could also enhance peripheral nerve regeneration after nerve injury in adult animals. In the present study, we examined the effects of HPS on sciatic nerve regeneration for 6 weeks following clamping in rats (administrated orally of 2 ml HPS liquid daily, 0.25 g/ml). The results showed that HPS was able to enhance sciatic function index (SFI) value, tibial function index (TFI) value, peroneal nerve function index (PFI) value, conduction velocity, and the number of regenerated myelinated nerve fibers, suggesting the potential clinical application of HPS for the treatment of peripheral nerve injury in humans.

[Traditional Chinese medicine and formulas of improving peripheral nerve regeneration].

Peripheral nerve impairment is a common complication in surgery, which repair relates directly to the recovery of motor function and sensory function. Clinical researchers always do nerve sutrure using microsurgical technique and adjuvant treatment to improve peripheral nerve regeneration. Western medicine used usually of adjuvant drugs, such as neurotrophic factors, are limited by their defects in clinical application. Traditional Chinese medicine classifies peripheral nerve impair as paralysis and arthromyodynia, considers that it is the result of defects of meridian and vessels, QI and blood, bones and muscles. So, drugs used usually are QI invigorating herbs, blood circulation promoting herbs for unblocking collaterals, and nourishing herbs, including astragali, hedysari, ginkgo leaf, angelica, danshen root, paeoniae radix, epimedium, chuanxiong, and common basic formulas, such as Buyang Huanwu decoction, Huangqi Guizhi Wuwu decoction, Huoxue Kangyuan decoction, compound radix hedysari, etc. To be ready for further study and development, we review the traditional Chinese medicine and formulas in this article.

Pro-apoptotic and microtubule-disassembly effects of ardisiacrispin (A+B), triterpenoid saponins from Ardisia crenata on human hepatoma Bel-7402 cells.

Ardisiacrispin (A+B) is a mixture of ardisiacrispins A and B, derived from Ardisia crenata with a fixed proportion (2:1). The present study was conducted to investigate its anticancer activity on human cancer cells and its underlying mechanism of action. The (IC50)s of ardisiacrispin (A+B) on proliferation of several human cancer cell lines were in the range of 0.9-6.5 microg/ml by sulphorhodamine B-based colorimetric assay, in which Bel-7402 was the most sensitive cell line. Moreover, ardisiacrispin (A+B) induced dose-dependent apoptosis in Bel-7402 cells at doses of 1-10 microg/ml by flow cytometry, and resulted in the changes of the mitochondrial membrane depolarization, membrane permeability enhancement, and nuclear condensation in a dose-dependent manner through high-content screening analysis. Furthermore, ardisiacrispin (A+B) could disassemble microtubule in Bel-7402 cells; the fluorescence intensity of microtubules decreased at the concentration of 5-20 microg/ml. These findings suggest that ardisiacrispin (A+B) could inhibit the proliferation of Bel-7402 cells by inducing apoptosis and disassembling microtubule.

Induction of apoptosis accompanying with G(1) phase arrest and microtubule disassembly in human hepatoma cells by jaspolide B, a new isomalabaricane-type triterpene.

Jaspolide B is a novel isomalabaricane-type triterpene isolated from sponge Jaspis sp. We investigated its effects on human hepatoma cells in this study. After 48 h of incubation, jaspolide B inhibited the growth of Bel-7402 and HepG2 cells with IC(50) values of 29.1 and 29.5 µM, respectively. Incubation with 0.5 µM of jaspolide B caused time-dependent induction of apoptosis in up to 66.8% of Bel-7402 cells for 48 h, and the induction of apoptosis was confirmed by the enhancement of mitochondrial masses and cell membrane permeability, and nuclear condensation in Bel-7402 and HepG2 cells. Moreover, jaspolide B arrested cell cycle progression at G(1) phase of human hepatoma cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, treatment of the compound caused dose-dependent disassembly of microtubule cytoskeleton in Bel-7402 cells at indicated concentrations, and this effect being similar but weaker than that of colchicine, a well-known microtubule-disassembly agent. We conclude that the anti-cancer effect of jaspolide B relates to the apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest and microtubule disassembly, and these multiple mechanisms of jaspolide B, especially the induction of apoptosis, open interesting perspectives for further exploration of the isomalabaricane-type terpenes and compounds of marine sponge origin as potential anticancer agents.