Monoterpene Glycosides from the Roots of Paeonia lactiflora

The roots of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. is one of the most important traditional Chinese medicines, which has been used for the treatment of dizziness, spasm, menstrual disorder, spontaneous and night sweating, and as a general analgesic1. Chemical constitu…     

ICP-AES法检测芍药对矿质元素的吸收利用

为了分析芍药对土壤矿质元素的吸收利用规律,采用ICP-AES法检测了不同产地芍药根和相应土壤中K,Ca,Na,Mg,Fe,Cu等主要矿质元素含量.结果表明:不同产地的芍药对土壤中矿质元素的吸收利用效率不同,反映在不同产地的芍药根中有些矿质元素含量有明显差异,从而使各地芍药药材质量在矿质元素方面也有差异,以黑龙江和内蒙古...     

Chemical interaction between Paeonia lactiflora and Glycyrrhiza uralensis,the components of Jakyakgamcho‐tang,using a validated high‐performance liquid chromatography method: Herbal combination and chemical interaction in a decoction

The herbal combination is the basic unit of a herbal formula that affects the chemical characteristics of individual herbs. In the present study, a method of simultaneous determination of the 11 marker compounds in Jakyakgamcho‐tang was developed using high‐performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection. The validated analytical method was successfully applied to approach the chemical interaction between Paeonia lactiflora and Glycyrrhiza uralensis in co‐decoction. In P. lactiflora, the contents of gallic acid, oxypaeoniflorin, (+)‐catechin, paeoniflorin, and benzoylpaeoniflorin were decreased, while those of albiflorin and benzoic acid were increased; in G. uralensis, the contents of liquiritin, isoliquiritin, ononin, and glycyrrhizin were decreased, when decocting two herbs together. Moreover, as the ratio between P. lactiflora and G. uralensis was increased, the contents of chemical contents from each herb were proportionally increased. However, each content of marker compound per the gram of herbal medicine was decreased as the ratio of combinative herbs increased. The results showed that P. lactiflora and G. uralensis affect the extraction efficiency of chemical compounds in a Jakyakgamcho‐tang decoction. Overall, the method established in this study was simple, rapid, and accurate, and would be useful for the determination of marker compounds and for the investigation of the chemical interaction between herbal medicines.     

Capillary high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for rapid analysis of pinane monoterpene glycosides in Cortex Moutan

In this study, a rapid and reliable assay has been developed for quantification of pinane monoterpene glycosides in cortex Moutan; it is based on capillary high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (capillary HPLC-ESI MS). This method utilizes capillary HPLC for the separation of seven pinane monoterpene glycosides in a methanol extract of the botanical sample followed by negative ion electrospray ionization and single ion monitoring (SIM). The compounds of interest in the sample were unambiguously identified on the basis of information about retention time and quasi-molecular ions ([M-H](-)) or adduct ions ([M+HCOO](-)). Validation parameters of the method were established. The linearity range was 1.01-105.5 microg/mL with the square of correlation coefficients lying in the range of 0.9965-0.9997, limits of detection were on the fmol level, the average recoveries varied between 91.8 and 101.0%, and good precision values (RSD, 1.2-4.91%) for peak area were obtained. After validation, the applicability of the method for determination of these pinane monoterpene glycosides in cortex Moutan has been demonstrated.     

Paeonenoides D and E: Two New Nortriterpenoids from Paeonia lactiflora and Their Inhibitory Activities on NO Production

Two new nortriterpenoids, paeonenoides D and E ( 1 and 2 , resp.), together with seven known compounds, were isolated from the roots of Paeonia lactiflora. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic evidence. Compounds 1 – 7 were screened for inhibitory effects against NO production in LPS‐induced RAW246.7 macrophages and for cytotoxic activities against HL‐60, Hep‐G2, and SK‐OV‐3 cell lines. Compounds 1 – 3 and 5 – 7 exhibited inhibitory activities with IC₅₀ values in the range of 9.6–32.2 μM . Triterpenoids with an epoxide ring and a free COOH function, 1 – 3 , showed effectively increased activities compared with other pentacyclic triterpenoids. Compounds 1 – 6 showed significant cytotoxic activities against the Hep‐G2 cell line and modest cytotoxic activities against HL‐60 and SK‐OV‐3 cell lines.     

Neurite Outgrowth-Promoting Compounds from the Petals of Paeonia lactiflora in PC12 Cells

Isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside and astragalin, flavonol glucosides, were isolated from the petals of Paeonia lactiflora as neurite outgrowth-promoting compounds. Isoquercitrin, formed by demethylating the B ring of isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside or by adding a hydroxyl group to the B ring of astragalin, was evaluated for neurite outgrowth-promoting activity and was compared with the activities of isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside and astragalin. The activities of isorhamnetin, kaempferol, and quercetin, aglycones corresponding to isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside, astragalin, and isoquercitrin, respectively, were also evaluated. Isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside and astragalin showed much stronger neurite outgrowth-promoting activities than the activities of the other tested flavonoids. They exhibited relatively weak anti-oxidant activities and moderate AChE inhibitory activities compared to the activities of the other tested flavonoids. Isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside and astragalin promoted morphological neurite outgrowth and the expression of neurofilaments induced by NGF in PC12 cells. Isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside and astragalin might be candidate compounds as neural differentiation agents in peripheral nerves and functional food ingredients preventing cognitive decline.     

An efficient high-speed counter-current chromatography method for the preparative separation of potential antioxidants from Paeonia lactiflora Pall. combination of in vitro evaluation and molecular docking

Paeonia lactiflora Pall., one of the most famous classical herbal medicine, has been used to treat diseases for over 1200 years. In this research, the functional ingredients were purified by online-switch two-dimensional high-speed counter-current chromatography combined with inner-recycling and continuous injection mode. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by investigating the 2,2′-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride-induced oxidant damage in vitro and confirmed through molecular docking. n-Butanol/ethyl acetate/water (2:3:5, v/v) solvent system was used for the first-dimensional separation and optimized the sample loading. Two pure compounds and a polyphenol-enriched fraction were separated. The polyphenol-enriched fraction was separated with a solvent system n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (2:8:4:6, v/v) with continuous injection mode. Five compounds were successfully separated, including gallic acid ( 1 ), methyl gallate ( 2 ), albiflorin ( 3 ), paeoniflorin ( 4 ), and ethyl gallate ( 5 ). Their structures were identified by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. The results from the antioxidant effect showed that albiflorin had stronger antioxidant activity. Molecular docking results indicated that the affinity energy of the identified compounds ranged from -3.79 to -8.22 kcal/mol and albiflorin showed the lowest affinity energy. Overall, all those findings suggested that the strong antioxidant capacity of albiflorin can be potentially used for the treatment of diseases caused by oxidation.     

Chemical Diversity and Potential Target Network of Woody Peony Flower Essential Oil from Eleven Representative Cultivars (Paeonia × suffruticosa Andr.)

Woody peony (Paeonia × suffruticosa Andr.) has many cultivars with genetic variances. The flower essential oil is valued in cosmetics and fragrances. This study was to investigate the chemical diversity of essential oils of eleven representative cultivars and their potential target network. Hydro-distillation afforded yields of 0.11–0.25%. Essential oils were analyzed by GC-MS and GC-FID which identified 105 compounds. Three clusters emerged from multivariate analysis, representative of phloroglucinol trimethyl ether (‘Caihui’), citronellol (‘Jingyu’, ‘Zhaofen’ and ‘Baiyuan Zhenghui’) and mixed (the rest of the cultivars) chemotypes. ‘Zhaofen’ and ‘Jingyu’ also exhibited low levels of other rose-related compounds. The main components were subjected to a target network approach. Drug-likeness screening gave 20 compounds with predictive blood–brain barrier permeation. Compound target network identified six key compounds, namely nerol, citronellol, geraniol, geranic acid, cis-3-hexen-1-ol and 1-hexanol. Top enriched terms in GO, KEGG and DisGeNET were mostly related to the central nervous system (CNS). Protein—protein interactions revealed a core network of 14 targets, 11 of which were CNS-related (targets for antidepressants, analgesics, antipsychotics, anti-Alzheimer’s and anti-Parkinson’s agents). This work provides useful information on the production of woody peony essential oils with specific chemotypes and reveals their potential importance in aromatherapy for alternative treatment of CNS disorders.     

Species differentiation and quality assessment of Radix Paeoniae Rubra (Chi-shao) by means of high-performance liquid chromatographic fingerprint

There are two species under the monograph of Radix Paeoniae Rubrae ("Chi-shao" in Chinese) in Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2005 edition-Paeonia lactiflora Pallas and Paeonia veitchii Lynch. Due to different species and growing conditions, there are significant chemical differences between the two species, which may result in the improper clinical usage under the same name. Chemical pattern expressed by high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) fingerprint analysis can play an important role in species differentiation and quality control of Radix Paeoniae Rubra. In the present work, HPLC fingerprints of two kinds of Radix Paeoniae Rubra have been established and analysed with chemometric methods including similarity evaluation and principal component analysis. Both of the fingerprint common patterns of the two species comprise 13 characteristic peaks, nine of which were common peaks of the two species. However, significant differences between the roots of P. veitchii and P. lactiflora exist not only in the content of certain constituents, especially phenolic acids but also in peak-to-peak ratios expressed by the fingerprint patterns. According to the recent pharmacological studies on polyphenolic constituents, root originating from P. veitchii may possess better efficacy and quality than that from P. lactiflora. Our research reveals that further pharmacological investigation is very necessary to determine whether the two species should be embodied under the same monograph in Chinese Pharmacopoeia.