Abstract
BackgroundCalculus Bovis (:C.Bovis) is one of the most precious and commonly-used medicinal materials in Japan and China. As the natural occurrence is very rare, a source of supply for C. Bovis is far behind the actual need and great efforts have been taken for some substitutes of natural C. Bovis. Unfortunately, very little information is available on the quality and/or clinical efficacy of medication based on C. Bovis. To ensure sustainable use of traditional therapeutic agents derived from C. Bovis, we felt that several issues needed to be addressed: 1) the source of the C. Bovis materials and quality control; 2) the role of taurine in the efficacy of C. Bovis.MethodsNine samples of natural C. Bovis and its substitutes were collected. ICP-MS was used for elemental analysis and the characterization was performed by principal component analysis (PCA) and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) as multivariate approaches. The efficacy of C. Bovis was evaluated for morphology, viability and beating pattern on cultured cardiac myocytes and/or fibroblasts.ResultsPCA and multi-elemental focus was effective in discriminating C. Bovis samples derived from different habitats. A satisfactory classification using SIMCA was obtained among Australia C. Bovis, other habitats and the substitutes. Australian samples had better batch uniformity than other habitats and were composed of fewer elements. We have used Australian C. Bovis for assessment on its bioactive compounds. Rat cardiac cells incubated with C. Bovis extract (0.01-0.1mg/ml) maintained normal morphology, viability and beating pattern. Cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts treated for 48 h with CA (0.5mM) or DCA (0.1mM) caused cell injury, as reflected by changes in appearance and a reduction of viability detected by the MTS assay. In cardiomyocytes, 0.5 h exposure of CA (0.5mM) markedly decreased the velocity ratio of beating, whereas the simultaneous addition of 1 mM taurine largely prevented the decrease.ConclusionsThe multi-elemental focus provided some references for the quality control and the efficacy of C. Bovis. Taurine partly attenuated the harmful actions of bile acids. It is plausible that the relationship between taurine and the bile acids contributes to therapeutic effect of C. Bovis.
Highlights
Calculus Bovis (:C.Bovis) is one of the most precious and commonly-used medicinal materials in Japan and China
Very little information is available on the quality and/or clinical efficacy of medication based on traditional animal sources
Cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts treated for 48 h with Cholic acid (CA) or deoxycholic acid (DCA) caused cell injury, as reflected by changes in appearance and a reduction of viability detected by the MTS assay (Figure 4)
Summary
Calculus Bovis (:C.Bovis) is one of the most precious and commonly-used medicinal materials in Japan and China. As the natural occurrence is very rare, a source of supply for C. Bovis is far behind the actual need and great efforts have been taken for some substitutes of natural C. Very little information is available on the quality and/or clinical efficacy of medication based on C. Calculus Bovis (Goo in Japanese, Niuhuang in Chinese, the gallstone of Bos Taurus domesticus Gmmelin) is one of the most precious and commonly-used medicinal materials in Japan and China. Bovis is far behind the actual need since the natural occurrence of C. Bovis is closely correlated with quality of the source materials. Very little information is available on the quality and/or clinical efficacy of medication based on traditional animal sources
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