Understanding differences between Rheum palmatum and R. franzenbachii from perspective of chemistry, efficacy and toxicity / 中国中药杂志

Rheum franzenbachii (called Tudahuang in local) has some similarities with R. palmatum (rhubarb) collected by "China Pharmacopoeia" and is often used as a substitute of rhubarb. Can Tudahuang simply replace rhubarb in the application or whether is there difference between Tudahuang and rhubarb, and what is the difference it is important to verify the difference and understand its proper application in the field of clinical practice. In this paper, we discussed the differences of the two herbs from the views of chemistry, efficacy and toxicity based on the author's previous research work as well as literatures, by using the major role of the rhubarb "diarrhea" as the basic point. The analysis result showed that the role of diarrhea Tudahuang was much weaker than that of rhubarb. The reason lies in the difference between the contents of combined anthraquinones component. While acute toxicity in mice of Tudahuang is stronger than that of rhubarb. Thus, Tudahuang should not simply replace rhubarb in practice.

High performance liquid chromatography characteristic spectrum of artificial musk / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)characteristic spectrum of artificial musk.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>HPLC was performed on a HiQ Sil C18 analytical column(4.6 mm×250 mm)with the mobile phase of methanol/water(90:10 v/v);the detection wavelength was 254 nm and the column temperature was maintained at 25 ℃. The similarities among 10 batches of artificial musk samples were anlysised in accordance with the System for Evaluating the Similarities among the Chromatographic Fingerprints of Traditional Chinese Drugs,which is recommended by Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The similarities among these 10 batches of artificial musk ranged between 0.999 and 1.000.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>HPLC is a convenient,accurate and reliable technique for establishing the specific spectum of artificial musk and therefore can be used for the quality control of this product.</p>

Euphorbia kansui roots induced-diarrhea in mice correlates with inflammatory response / 中国天然药物

AIM@#Euphorbia kansui (E. KS) is a traditional medicine used in China for thousands of years with the effect of propulsion in the gastrointestines. However, there is no reported study of E. KS on gastrointestinal motility until now. The aim of this work is to study the effect of E. KS on the propulsion of gastrointestines, and to elucidate the possible mechanism of action.@*METHODS@#E.KS was prepared as a 30% ethanol extract and used for the experiment of small and large intestines of mice by oral administration with three different dosages (1.2, 0.6 and 0.3 g·kg(-1)). The feces were observed in vivo. The morphology was carried out to detect if there are any changes in the intestines after the extract of E. KS administration. The assays of mRNA and protein expression were employed to observe IL-1β, TNFα and caspase 3.@*RESULTS@#It was shown that the extract of E.KS promoted diarrhea in mouse feces after administration, inhibited the contraction of smooth muscle of mouse small intestine and caused the inflammatory exudation on the mucosa of the intestines, enhanced the expression of both mRNA and the protein levels of IL-1β and TNFα in the small or large intestines.@*CONCLUSION@#The results showed that the extract of E. KS acted on the intestinal smooth muscle with propulsion of feces involving the irritation of the intestines with acute inflammatory reactions.

Systematic study on QAMS method for quality control of Panax notoginseng / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a quantitative method of multi-components by single marker (QAMS) for determining ginsenoside Rg1, Rb1, Rd, Re and notoginsenoside R1 for the purpose of the quality control of Panax notoginseng.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The relative correction factors (RCFs) between the five active saponins were determined by HPLC-DAD. With any of the five consituents as reference, a QAMS method was established for detect the quantitation of the other four consituents. The durability of the method was evaluated with five different HPLC instruments, five different Cis18 chromatographic columns and four detective wavelengths. Subsequently, the new QAMS method was used to determine the contents of five saponins contained in 43 batches of notoginseng samples, and compare with external standard methods, in order to evaluate the accuracy of the QAMS method.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>When the five saponins were taken for reference, there was no significant difference between the contents of Rg1, Rb1, Rd, Re and R1 contained in the 43 batches of medicines calculated by the QAMS method (Wf) and the content determination result of the external standard method (Ws). The ratio of their results was (Ws/Wr) (94.02 +/- 2.11)%-(99.75 +/- 0.79)%, suggesting that the method was highly accurate. Their relative correction factors showed good durability, ranging between 0.42%-3.7%, 0.52%-3.5% and 0.79%-4.9%, respectively, with different chromatographic columns, different instruments and different detective wavelengths. The relative retention value method could be adopted for accurately position the chromatographic peak of the five consituents, with their values ranging between 0.18%-13%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>An accurate, rapid and highly durable QAMS method is established for simultaneous determination and location of five saponins, so as to provide reliable basis for the application of the QAMS method in quality control of traditional Chinese medicines.</p>

Study on yield and quality of Scutellaria baicalensis from different habitats / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the economical characters, yield characters and major effective ingredient content of Scutellaria baicalensis from different habitats.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The characters were studied by field randomized block test combining analysis of variance, correlation analysis and quality analysis.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>There are significant differences in yield and quality of the crude drugs from different habitats.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The crude drug from Pingyi (Shandong province) is better than those from other habitats.</p>