Abstract
Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine has been used to prevent and cure disease in China for thousands of years and has gained global interest in recent decades. The Erding formula is a Chinese Pharmacopeia (ChP)-listed herbal preparation used for treating sore throat, carbuncles and boils. Esculetin is a ChP quality control (QC) marker for these indications. A previous study found that a new indication, hyperuricemia, can be added to the Erding formula. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate whether the traditionally used marker, esculetin, still has bioactivity for hyperuricemia, which is substantially different from the original indications. The study analyzed the quantity of esculetin by high-performance liquid chromatography, assessed the therapeutic effect of esculetin using animal model, and then characterized esculetin and its metabolites in serum via ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The results showed that the esculetin content in the aqueous Erding extract was 0.26±0.05% (w/w). Both the Erding extract and esculetin significantly reduced uric acid levels. Six metabolites of esculetin were identified in mice serum. This study revealed a rational scientific approach to prove esculetin is a reliable bioactive and QC marker for Erding formula in hyperuricemia treatment which contributed to ensure product quality and therapeutic efficacy.
Highlights
Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine (TCHM) has been used in China for centuries to prevent and cure disease (Liang et al, 2009)
In this study, we aimed to identify whether the pre-existing marker esculetin is a potential bioactive and quality control (QC) marker for the Erding formula when used to treat hyperuricemia by investigating its therapeutic effects in an animal model and identifying its metabolites in serum
Methanol and acetonitrile used in the experiments were of highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) grade and were obtained from Fisher Scientific (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)
Summary
Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine (TCHM) has been used in China for centuries to prevent and cure disease (Liang et al, 2009). TCHM generally uses several medicinal herbs together, which is quite different from the monotherapies used in Western medicine (Liang et al, 2009; Song et al, 2015). Erding granules are an herbal formula containing Viola yedoensis Makino (Viola), Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz. According to the Chinese Pharmacopeia (ChP), the Erding formula is used to treat sore throat, carbuncles and boils due to its heat-clearing and detoxifying properties. Esculetin is a QC marker for the original Erding granule indications listed above, based
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