Determination of Trace As,Sb and Bi in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with Movable Reducing Bed Hydride Generator (MRBHG) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer

The TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) as a natural medicinal material is gaining increasing worldwide recognition. Therefore, the safety, toxicity, quality and efficacy of TCM have to be critically evaluated before they can be put in clinical trials or placed on the market.     

Comparative chemical analysis of Radix Astragali and Radix Hedysari by HPLC

Radix Astragali and Radix Hedysari, two famous traditional Chinese medicines (TCM), were considered to possess the same efficacy in TCM traditionally. However, modern pharmacological and phytochemical investigations showed that they were different in efficacy and chemical constituents to some degree. In this study, the principal constituents of the two drugs, isoflavonoids and saponins, were comparatively analysed using HPLC-UV and HPLC-ELSD methods. The results showed that there were some common compounds, especially flavonoids, in both drugs, while the differences in the types and contents of their chemical constituents, especially in saponins, were also obvious. The similarities and differences of the chemicals may be responsible, at least partially, for the similarities and differences in their efficacies or bioactivities.     

First report of isolation of maleamic acid from natural source Polygonatum cirrhifolium—A potential chemical marker for identification

Polygonatum cirrhifolium (Meda) plant is being used in number of rejuvenating Ayurvedic formulations. Ever rising demands, lack of natural sources, and insufficient quantity, to meet the requirements of market, the raw material has led toward the use of official substitutes recommended by the Department of AYUSH that has further encouraged manufacturers for adulteration of formulations by other substandard/spurious raw drugs. Literature reveals that more than 60% Ayurvedic parameters as well as pharmacological actions of Ashtawarga plants do not match with their substitutes leading to reduced efficacy of the drugs along with loss of faith for use of herbal drugs. Consumers are forced to pay for the material which has never been used for high-cost claimed formulation. The situation is being exploited by manufacturers because regulatory authorities lack the tools (marker compound) needed for identification of authentic plant. Methanolic extract of rhizomes of plant was subjected to column chromatography. Isolated compound has been characterized as (Z)-4-amino-4-oxobut-2-enoic acid (maleamic acid/maleamate/maleic monoamide/maleic acid monoamide) by chemical test, melting point, IR/NMR/mass/UV spectral analysis. It is the first report in Polygonatum genus and can be used as a marker for identification of the plant in market formulations.     

Analysis of active components of rhinoceros, water buffalo and yak horns using two-dimensional electrophoresis and ethnopharmacological evaluation

Cornu Rhinoceri Asiatici (rhinoceros horn, RH), Cornu Bubali (water buffalo horn, WBH), and Cornu Bovis grunniens (yak horn, YH) are traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and have been used in China for thousands of years. In this study, ethnopharmacological experiments were used to evaluate and verify the traditional efficacies of horns. Area under curve (AUC) was used to quantify the pharmacological efficacy strength of three horns. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) was used to analyze the protein components in horns, as a result, 14 common protein spots in rhinoceros horn, water buffalo horn, and yak horn electrophoresis gels were found by image analysis. Then linear regression analysis was used to establish the correlation between pharmacological efficacies and components in the horns, and five potential active components were selected from the 14 common protein spots. Finally, two protein spots from five were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). In this study, a simple method to construct correlation between components and efficacy strength was explored by linear regression analysis, which could be applied to screen potential active components of animal horns.     

Pharmacokinetics screening for multi-components absorbed in the rat plasma after oral administration traditional Chinese medicine formula Yin-Chen-Hao-Tang by ultra performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry combined with pattern recognition methods

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used in many oriental countries for thousands of years and played an indispensable role in the prevention and treatment of diseases, especially the complicated and chronic ones. It is a very complex mixture containing hundreds or thousands of different components. Pharmacokinetic study on active constituents in TCM preparations is a good way for us to explain and predict a variety of events related to the efficacy and toxicity of TCM. A selective and sensitive method of ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS) was first developed to screen the potentially bioactive components in vivo, using the semi-quantitative determination of multicomponents in the rat plasma after a single oral administration of Yin-Chen-Hao-Tang (YCHT), a famous TCM formula for liver disorders. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were built to evaluate the differences of pharmacokinetic behaviors (time-course) of the absorbed components of YCHT. Here, we report that the developed method was successfully applied to monitoring the pharmacokinetic time-course of 21 compounds in rat plasma, and were grouped in 3 separate clusters using pattern recognition approaches (both HCA and PCA). Comparing the body dynamics of each composition, the initial choice of the following 9 compounds as the candidate components was: 7-methoxycoumarin-6-hydroxyl sulfate, genipingentiobioside, geniposide, 6,7-dimethylesculetin, peak 16, chimaphylin, 6-dementhoxycapillarisin, capillarisin, rhein. Pharmacokinetics based-UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS combined with HCA and PCA approaches can provide a reliable and suitable means of identifying and screening potentially bioactive components contributing to pharmacological effects of TCM, further prospecting natural products in the search for new leads in drug discovery.     

基于“成分-药效”关联分析的六味地黄丸质量控制方法

本文以中药复方制剂六味地黄丸为研究示例,分别进行六味地黄丸药效成分明确化鉴别、典型药理模型的药效实验、成分与药效的关联分析,共鉴别出六味地黄丸中16个成分.通过成分与药效的关联性分析,得出4个与典型药理模型药效相关的成分.建立了指标性成分的含量测定方法学,通过"成分与药效"的关联性分析所得出指标性成分的含量测定方法,可实现对中药复方制剂六味地黄丸的质量控制.     

Mit chinesischer Medizin zu neuen Arzneimitteln: Auf Wirkstoffsuche im Fernen Osten

For many centuries, the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has played an important role in China for the therapy of diseases. The continuous use and development of the TCM has enabled to build up an extensive knowledge and experience regarding the medicinal plants and their pharmacological activities. In the last decades, the secondary metabolites of the TCM plants were isolated to characterise their chemical structures and their profiles of biological activity. Several of the lead structures were resp. are being developed to marketable drugs as demonstrated for the examples of huperzin, camptothecin and artemisinin.     

中药中微量元素的存在状态与生物活性关系的研究

本题实质上是中药有效化学成分(ECC)的研究．得出了下列一些研究结果，1．提出了中药TE和中药ECC的研究思路即以中药中TE的存在状态为核心，以中药中TE和有机成分(OC)的相互作用为基础来开展中药TE和中药ECC的研究工作．2．根据中医药理论，运用系统论的原则和方法论以及贝塔朗菲定律．以大量实验结果为基础．提出了“中药有效化学成分的配位化学学说”。其核心是:(1)中药中的有效化学成分可以是OC，也可能是TE;(2)中药中的ECC更有可能是二者的配合反应所形成的配合物．3.在中药中OC和TE的相互配合反应中．即改变了TE的存在在状态后．发现了生物活性和药理作用变化的规律性:(1)有的配合物具有原来二种成分的生物活性;(2)有的配合物则可提高某一成分的生物活性或降低其毒副作用;(3)有的配合物测产生二者所不具备的新的生物活性;(4)TE的生物利用度均有所提高．4．从实验中发现了一些有较好生物活性和药理作用的配合物．为新型配合物中药新药的研制提出了一个新思路．新方向．新方法．5．采用了配位化学的理论和研究方法，把pH电位法和计算机平衡模拟技术相结合，为中药ECC和中药TE的研究工作提供了新的方法．     

刺五加注射液近红外含量预测模型谱段选择规律和消除溶剂干扰方法的探讨

目前中药制剂生产过程中缺乏全过程参数检测和质量控制技术手段,不同生产批次药品化学成分差异较大、质量不够稳定、临床使用疗效和安全性不理想,因此,建立其完善的质量评价体系及其准确快速的质量评价方法,成为中药质量控制的重中之重.通过对刺五加注射液近红外(near infrared,NIR)含量预测模型的谱段选择规律和消除溶剂干扰方法的探讨,发现采用表征混合物结构差异的结构相关谱段结合含量相关谱段作为NIR组分预测模型谱段,用基于水为参比光谱的样本光谱建立含量预测模型,并利用水作为参比光谱识别和提取待分析组分的光谱信息,可以得到较理想的NIR含量预测结果.通过对刺五加注射液中绿原酸、紫丁香苷和刺五加苷E组分的近红外光谱结构相关谱段和含量相关谱段的归属,分别建立了绿原酸、紫丁香苷和刺五加苷E组分的含量预测模型,可用于快速分析刺五加注射液中不同组分的含量.     

Combinational numeral fingerprint spectra of Glycyrrhiza and analysis of common peak ratio invariableness in HPLC

To overcome the instability of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) fingerprint spectra (FPS) and to build up absolute identification standard of TCM, the construction method of combinational numeral fingerprint spectra (CNFPS) was set up. The analysis of invariableness based on CNFPS was carried out. It can be used as absolute quantitative standard to identify the difference of TCM samples. According to this method, the HPLC FPS of components extracted from Glycyrrhiza root samples by ethanol was analyzed. Stable results and accurate quality evaluation were obtained perfectly. The common peak ratio invariableness is an absolute standard in identifying TCM samples, which is better than the similarity method of the FPS.     

中药活性成分研究是中药现代化的重要组成部分

中药现代化是一个逐步发展、不断完善和充实的长期的系统工程。中医药在我国民族生存和繁衍的几千年历程中起着至关重要的作用,具有自己的特色和优势,是中华民族的宝贵财富,既要继承,又要创新和发展。中药现代化可以有多种模式,只要有利于人民健康,有利于传承和发展中医药,不管采取何种模式均应得到鼓励和欢迎。中药的活性成分研究是中药现代化的重要组成部分：一方面,一些活性成分能直接或作为先导化合物间接发展成药物;另一方面,活性成分又为中药复方现代化提供物质基础。这体现在活性成分既在现代化中药的制造和生产中起到标准化作用,同时活性成分也是中药复方专利最重要的核心组成部分。     

阐明中药科学内涵 推进中药现代化与创新药物研究进程

众所周知,中药对中华民族的繁衍昌盛发挥了不可磨灭的功绩。但是,作为经验医学,中药具有与生俱来的不足,诸如：缺乏采用循证医学原则提供的现代临床试验数据和结果;作用机理和作用物质尚不清楚;缺乏严格、科学的质量监控标准和方法。因此,难以保证达到作为药物所必须具备的“安全、有效、稳定、可控”的质量要求。这个问题如果不能妥善解决,不仅难于保证国人对疾病防治的需求,更难走向国际医药主流社会。通过多年的思考与实践,为揭示中药的科学内涵,推动中药现代化和创新药物研究,我们提出了一些新的研究思路和方法。     

Screening of enzyme inhibitors from traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used for more than 4000 years. By comparison with large combinatorial chemistry libraries and natural products of the West for high-throughput screening (HTS) of new drugs discovery, an advantage of TCM is that the preparation has clear efficacies on the therapy of some diseases. Although the effective components are not clear, the clear efficacies of TCM have been identified for long time practice, Therefore, TCMs should be valuable lead compound libraries with a definite therapy efficacy from the viewpoint of HTS. Nevertheless, current HTS technologies are not easily adapted to investigate TCMs because they are designed for screening a relatively pure known chemical at a known concentration. In contrast, TCMs are mixtures of unknown compounds in unknown concentrations that may differ markedly between samples from different plants. This article reviews the current and future researches on the enzyme inhibitors screening from TCM.     

Application of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in research of traditional Chinese medicine

It is well known that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays a more and more important role in modern pharmaceutical industry. It has been used in the therapy of many diseases for several thousand years because of its high pharmacological activity, low toxicity and rare side effects. In TCM, as an important group of secondary metabolites, essential oils have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is the most commonly used technique for the analysis of liposoluble constituents, especially volatile/semi-volatile compounds, and their metabolites in biological fluids due to its high resolution, selectivity and sensitivity. This review briefly describes the applications of GC-MS for the isolation and characterization of volatile compounds from TCM. In addition, GC-MS methods adopted in the metabolic profiling of volatile compounds in biological matrices are also described.     

Roles of paeoniflorin and senkyunolide I in SiWu decoction on antiplatelet and anticoagulation activities

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a complex system, which consists of numerous compounds with related mechanisms to maximize therapeutic efficacy with minimal adverse effects. Some new methods disclosing the contribution of these constituents as well as their relationship in the formula are necessary for elucidating the bio‐active constituents and the working mechanisms of TCM. In this study, depletion of target components using preparative HPLC followed by antiplatelet and anticoagulation activities evaluation was first applied to investigate the roles of paeoniflorin and senkyunolide I in a well‐known formula, SiWu decoction. The results showed that both paeoniflorin and senkyunolide I not only directly brought about some bio‐activities, but also indirectly made the contribution to the total bio‐activity reflection of SiWu decoction, especially the latter should deserve to be drawn attention to the research of complicated bio‐active constituents of TCM or its formula. So, the significant and effective approach will be very useful for the elucidation of the contribution of each different chemical constituent to the bio‐activity of a TCM formula. Furthermore, this study demonstrated the potential utilization of preparative HPLC in the research of TCM.     

中药质量评价关键问题与分析方法探讨

该文针对我国目前中药质量评价体系现状,总结了中药质量评价的关键科学问题,并围绕"发现"与"控制"有效成分的中药质量评价方法进行探讨.笔者结合多年中药质量分析研究工作经验,分析了中药"谱-效"关系研究、全时段等基线多波长融合指纹图谱、生物活性测定法3种质量评价与检测方法的研究内容、手段、适用范围等,为丰富、完善中药质量控...     

Quantitative analysis of two adulterants in Cynanchum stauntonii by near-infrared spectroscopy combined with multi-variate calibrations

Authentication of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) has become important because they can be adulterated with relatively cheap herbal medicines similar in appearance. Detection of such adulterated samples is needed because their presence is likely to reduce the pharmacological potency of the original TCM and, in the worst cases, the samples may be harmful. The aim of this study was to develop a rapid near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analytical method which was supported by multi-variate calibration, e.g. partial least squares regression (PLSR) and radial basis function artificial neural networks (RBF-ANN), in order to quantify the TCM and the adulterants. In this work, Cynanchum stauntonii (CS), a commonly used TCM, in mixtures with one or two adulterants ?? two morphological types of TCM, Cynanchum atrati (CA) and Cynanchum paniculati (CP), were determined using NIR reflectance spectroscopy. The three sample sets, CS adulterated with CA or CP, and CS with both CA and CP, were measured in the range of 800?C2500 nm. Both PLSR and RBF-ANN calibration models provided satisfactory results, even at an adulteration level of 5 mass %, but the RBF-ANN models with better root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) values for CS, CA, and CP arguably performed better. Consequently, this work demonstrates that the NIR method of sampling complex mixtures of similar substances such as CS adulterated by CA and/or CP is capable of producing data suitable for the quantitative analysis of mixtures consisting of the original TCM adulterated by one or two similar substances, provided the spectral data are interrogated by multi-variate methods of data analysis such as PLS or RBF-ANN.     

Synthesis of the Diverse Glycosides in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a huge treasure trove for the discovery and development of modern pharmaceuticals. Indeed, numerous biologically and pharmacologically significant molecules have been identified from TCM; among them, a considerable portion belongs to glycosides. These glycosides are extremely diverse in structures, consisting of a large variety of aglycones, glycans, as well as glycosidic linkages. In addition, these glycosides occur frequently as a complicated mixture of congeners in the nature sources. This micro‐heterogeneity leads to the isolation of a homogeneous glycoside in an appreciable amount a formidable task. Therefore, development of synthetic approaches toward these nature glycosides has received great attention. In this account, we summarize our twenty‐year efforts spent on this topic. Fifty five representative TCM‐relevant glycosides synthesized by our group are highlighted. Based on the aglycone structure, these glycosides are categorized into three groups, i.e., steroid glycosides, triterpene glycosides, and flavonoid and phenolic glycosides. Typical synthetic approaches are discussed, showing the demanding tactics for regio‐ and stereo‐controlled installation of glycans and overall manipulation of protecting groups. These expedient and scalable synthetic approaches have provided practical alternatives to the accessibility of these TCM components and thus opportunities for their in depth biological and pharmacological studies.     

基于微量热法的板蓝根提取方法和活性部位挑选

应用TAM Air微量热系统, 采用微量热法, 考察不同提取方法的板蓝根水煎液及其化学萃取部位在37 ℃时, 对大肠杆菌生长代谢的影响. 结合中医药理论, 分析板蓝根水煎液及其化学萃取部分的药效作用及其差异, 挑选板蓝根药材最佳的提取方法和抑菌最强的活性部位, 并采用试管稀释法求出抑菌活性最强部位的最小抑菌浓度(MIC). 结果表明微量热法可用于常用中药——板蓝根的提取方法和活性部位的挑选, 为进一步研究中药的药性基础提供了一种新的、快速灵敏的技术和方法.