Classic Prescription Of Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Articles

Study on the anti-oxidative function of effective components of some traditional Chinese medicines

The incidence and mortality of bronchial asthma are increasing, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is widely regarded as the common cause of clinical exacerbation of asthma. Ma-Xing-Gan-Shi decoction (MXGSD), a classic traditional Chinese medicine prescription, is well-known for treating respiratory diseases, while the mechanism of effecting on RSV-exacerbated asthma remains to be explored.In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which MXGSD exerts a protective effect on asthma exacerbated by RSV in vivo and in vitro.MXGSD is composed of four Chinese medicine, including Ephedra intermedia Schrenk & C.A.Mey. (herbaceous stem, 27g), Prunus armeniaca L. (dry seed, 27g), Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. (radix and rhizome, 18g), and Gypsum fibrosum (main component: CaSO4·2H2O, 54g). In the present study, the exacerbated asthmatic mice model with the treatment of OVA plus RSV was replicated, and accompanied by the TMT proteomic analysis and further experimental investigations. Then, the protective effect of MXGSD (13.2, 6.6, 3.3 g/kg/d, 7d) on the mice treated by OVA plus RSV, and the mechanism of regulating TRPV1 was explored. In addition, the intracellular Ca2+ concentration of 16HBE cells pretreated with MXGSD medicated serum was also tested after stimulation with the TRPV1 agonist capsaicin.The results suggested that MXGSD could reduce the levels of inflammation cells, airway hyperresponsiveness, and pathological damage of lung tissue. TMT quantitative proteomics analysis and further experimental exploration revealed that MXGSD could reduce the levels of IL-4, IL-13, PGE2, and SP in BAL and down-regulate the expression of TRPV1 mRNA and protein in lung tissue. Furthermore, 16HBE cells stimulated by capsaicin showed an increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration, while the pretreatment of MXGSD medicated serum could reduce it.MSGSD showed a protective effect on RSV-exacerbated asthma, which may be related to its regulation of TRPV1 expression and reduction of Th2 cytokines and neurogenic inflammatory mediators. It may provide an objective basis and reference for the clinical application of MXGSD.

Simultaneous determination of twelve bioactive constituents in Buyang Huanwu decoction by HPLC‐DAD‐ELSD and HPLC‐TOF/MS

Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BYHYD) is a classical traditional Chinese medicinal prescription that has been widely used for treating cerebrovascular illnesses for hundreds of years. In this study, a comprehensive analytical method has been developed for quantitative analysis of the major constituents in BYHWD. This method was based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array and evaporative light scattering detectors (HPLC-DAD-ELSD) on a common reverse-phase C(18) column. HPLC coupled with on-line time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-TOF/MS) was additionally adopted to provide further validation for the constituents. It was found that 0.3% aqueous formic acid and acetonitrile was the optimum mobile phase for gradient elution. This method, which showed excellent precision and accuracy, was successfully applied to quantify the bioactive constituents in six BYHWD products. The validated HPLC-DAD-ELSD method, together with the HPLC-TOF/MS analysis, provided a new basis for assessing the quality of traditional Chinese medicinal prescription consisting of many bioactive components.

Usefulness of traditionally defined herbal properties for distinguishing prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine from non-prescription recipes

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely practiced and is considered as an attractive to conventional medicine. Multi-herb recipes have been routinely used in TCM. These have been formulated by using TCM-defined herbal properties (TCM-HPs), the scientific basis of which is unclear. The usefulness of TCM-HPs was evaluated by analyzing the distribution pattern of TCM-HPs of the constituent herbs in 1161 classical TCM prescriptions, which shows patterns of multi-herb correlation. Two artificial intelligence (AI) methods were used to examine whether TCM-HPs are capable of distinguishing TCM prescriptions from non-TCM recipes. Two AI systems were trained and tested by using 1161 TCM prescriptions, 11,202 non-TCM recipes, and two separate evaluation methods. These systems correctly classified 83.1–97.3% of the TCM prescriptions, 90.8–92.3% of the non-TCM recipes. These results suggest that TCM-HPs are capable of separating TCM prescriptions from non-TCM recipes, which are useful for formulating TCM prescriptions and consistent with the expected correlation between TCM-HPs and the physicochemical properties of herbal ingredients responsible for producing the collective pharmacological and other effects of specific TCM prescriptions.

Effect of Liuwei Dihuang decoction on the function of hypothalamus–pituitary–ovary axis in senescence-accelerated mouse

Liuwei Dihuang decoction (LW) is a classical traditional Chinese medicinal prescription used clinically in the treatment of the diseases manifesting “Kidney-Yin” deficiency syndrome such as cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and the diseases related to the disorder of endocrine function including climacteric syndrome, sexual inadequacy, sterility and hyperplasia of prostate, etc., in traditional Chinese medicine in China. In this study, age-related functional change of hypothalamus–pituitary–ovary (HPO) axis and the effect of LW were studied in senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM). The results showed that the oestrus cycle and diestrus of SAM-prone/8 (SAMP8) were significantly prolonged from 5 months old. The level of serum estrogen was significantly higher in 3-month-old SAMP8 than that in age-matched SAMR1, and markedly declined from 5 months old and kept no significant change from 5 to 11 months old. The pituitary LH was markedly raised from 7 months old. Oral administration of LW improved the shortened estrus, increased the ovary weigh and significantly reduced the pituitary content of LH in 9-month-old SAMP8. These results suggested that the imbalance of HPO axis occurs at the early age in SAMP8 and LW modulates or improves the imbalance of HPO axis in SAMP8 during aging process.