1.Establishment of LC-MS/MS method for the determination of forsklin in rat plasma and its pharmacokinetics
Dianwei SONG ; Decai WANG ; Zhiyun MENG ; Ruolan GU ; Meihui SHI ; Zhuona WU ; Jingze WANG ; Guifang DOU
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2012;(2):149-153
Objective To develop a sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) method for the determination of forsklin in rat plasma.Methods After extraction with methyl tert-butyl ether,chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 column with the mobile phase consisting of water ( 0.1% formic acid)-acetonitrile in a gradient elution mode.A tandem mass spectrometer equipped with electrospray ionization (ESI) source was used as detector in the positive ion mode.Quantification was performed using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) with the precursor product combination ions of m/z 411→375.3 and 285→193 for forsklin and diazepam.Results Good linearity was obtained in the 0.5-1000 ng/ml range for the analyte and the analytical method was validated in terms of specificity,precision,accuracy,recovery,stability and matrix effect.These assays gave RSD values always lower than 14.4% and RE values between -3.5 % and 3.8%.In addition,the specificity,extraction recovery,stability and matrix effect were satisfactory.Conclusion Due to its high sensitivity,specificity and simplicity,the method could be used for pharmacokinetic studies of forsklin.
2.Determination of aconitine in dog tissue homogenates by HPLC-MS/MS and its application to in vitro metabolic stability study
Cuiping YANG ; Sha LIAO ; Tianhong ZHANG ; Jinglai LI ; Xiaoying WANG ; Jinxiu RUAN ; Zhenqing ZHANG
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2012;(3):256-260
Objective To develop a HPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of aconitine and study thein vitro metabolic stability of aconitine in dog tissue homogenates.Methods The chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 column.The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and water with 0.2% formic acid and 5 mmol/L ammonium acetate.A triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization interface source was used for the quantitative determination in the positive selective reaction monitor mode.Aconitine was incubated with dog tissue homogenates and samples were withdrawn at different time points and precipitated by acetonitrile with internal standards citalopram.Results Aconitine showed good linear relationship over the range from 5 to 500 ng/ml.The recoveries of aconitine were between 85.73% and 92.12% at three QC concentration levels.The intra- and inter-day precisions were 5.32% - 8.95% and 5.45% - 8.86%,respectively.After incubation,about 20% of aconitine were cleared in the liver and small intestine,and t1/2 were 460.6 and 521.3 min,respectively.But none was metabolized in the stomach and kidney.Conclusion These results demonstrated that aconitine was mainly metabolized in the liver and small intestine at a slow rate.
3.Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 inhibitor as Parkinson′s disease novel therapeutics:research advances
Xiaoyu ZHAN ; Xuhong REN ; Xinhua HE
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2016;(1):97-103,133
Parkinson′s disease(PD)is a common disease caused by multiple factors and characterized by pathological degen?eration in the dopaminergic neural system. Based on its pathogenic factors,PD can be divided into several subtypes,so it is essential to develop therapeutic agents based on the main pathogenic factor of each subtype of PD. Recently it is confirmed that the mutation of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2(LRRK2)gene leads to increased activity of the LRRK2 notably,and then causes neurodegeneration. Thus developing LRRK2 inhibitors to modulate the kinase activity will be a novel therapy for the PD subtype which is caused by LRRK2 gene mutation. LRRK2,either a kinase or a GTPase,has two drug binding sites. Therefore,two types of LRRK2 inhibitors are being studied,one is the kinase inhibitor and the other is GTPase inhibitor. This paper summarizes the recent progress in the dis?covery and development of LRRK2 inhibitors.
4.Gut microbiota and Alzheimer′s disease
Tongju LI ; Yang ZHAO ; Guoming DONG ; Dexian JIA ; Baiping MA
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2016;(1):15-19,32
Gut microbiota(GM)consists of a complex community of microorganism species that live in the digestive tracts of animals including humans. Dysbiosis is believed to involve in the development of some diseases. Recently dysbiosis in the patients with Alzheimer′s disease(AD)and AD rat models was reported. GM may influence the pathogenesis and development of AD in several ways. Some neurotoxic substances produced by GM can invade into the brain via circulation and impair the neural functions. These sub?stances include ammonia,cyanobacteria-producedβ-N-methylamino-L-alanine,saxitoxin,anatoxin-αand amyloid. The decrease in brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)in hippocampus and cerebral cortex induced by dysbiosis contributes to the cognitive dys?function. Dysbiosis related endotoxin can induce inflammation,which is one important risk factor for obesity,insulin resistance(IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus(TIDM). AD and diabetes have good correlation and similarity. Probiotics,prebiotics and Chinese herbal medicines can rebuild GM and have been reported to ameliorate the memory loss of AD patients or model rats. However ,whether and how their preventative and therapeutic effects on AD mediated by GM are worthy of further investigation.
5.Protective effect of Ento-Ⅰplastic against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats
Fanmao JIN ; Zhixue ZHANG ; Yin WANG ; Hairong ZHAO ; Youyun YANG ; Xi HUANG ; Chenggui ZHANG
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2016;43(3):504-508,528
Objective To research the protective effect of Ento-Ⅰagainst cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats,and to evaluate its analgesic and anticoagulating effects in mice. Methods The ischemic model was established with line embolism to block the middle cerebral artery of male rats. The 56 rats were randomly assigned into 7 groups of sham-operation,blank-matrix,nor?
mal saline,Ento-Ⅰplastic of 3 doses(6.67,3.33,1.67 mg/kg),and ozagrel sodium(8.3 mg/kg,ip). The effect of Ento-Ⅰplastic on anti-cerebral ischemia was measured by nervous function scores and the areas of cerebral infarction were determined by TTC staining for the calculation of cerebral infarction rates. The analgesic effect of Ento-Ⅰplastic was determined with acetic acid-induced twisting experiment. Sixty KM mice were randomly allocated into blank-matrix,aspirin,aspirin-plastic,and Ento-Ⅰplastic of 3 doses(5,10 and 20 mg/kg),the number of mouse twisting were recorded right after intraperitoneal injection of 0.7%acetic acid solution at the time of 1 h after the last administration. Moreover,the anticoagulant activity of Ento-Ⅰplastic was tested by glass capillary method. Re?sults The results of acetic acid-induced twisting experiment displayed that Ento-Ⅰplastic of all 3 dose groups(5,10 and 20 mg/kg) could significantly reduce the number of body torsion and increase the inhibitory rates of twisting,compared with that of blank matrix group(the inhibitory rates of twisting for 3 dose groups were 21.79%,48.89%,and 56.15%,respectively),with dose-response man?ner. According to the results of glass capillary test,the clotting time of mouse blood could be significantly prolonged by mid-(10 mg/kg)and low-dose(5 mg/kg)of Ento-Ⅰplastic with corresponding clotting time of(155.20±54.19)s and(155.80±73.84)s,compared with normal saline group at(92.10 ± 24.61)and blank-matrix group at(80.40 ± 48.09,P<0.05). The experiment results of the isch?emia-reperfusion injury by line embolism method in rats exhibited that Ento-Ⅰplastic in mid-dose(3.33 mg/kg)could significantly re?duce the neurological scores after 24 h of reperfusion injury,from(2.33 ± 0.52)of normal saline group to(1.00 ± 0.00)of mid-dose group(P<0.01). The results from TTC staining revealed that the cerebral infarction rates of normal saline group and blank-matrix group were(24.89±7.24)%and(27.72±7.89)%,respectively,whereas those of 6.67 mg/kg and 3.33 mg/kg group of Ento-Ⅰplastic were(14.01±2.65)%and(14.73±4.94)%,respectively. Compared to the 2 negative-control groups,both the high-and mid-dose of Ento-Ⅰplastic could significantly reduce the cerebral infarction rates after ischemic reperfusion injury in rats (P<0.01). Conclu?sion Ento-Ⅰplastic demonstrates strong analgesic and anticoagulant effects,and could substantially reduce the neurological scores and reduce cerebral infarction rates for ischemia-reperfusion injured rats. These are likely to be the mechanism of action for Ento-Ⅰplastic realizing its anti-cerebral ischemia effect.
6.Progress in the application of metabonomics technology in toxicology research
Xianzhong YAN ; Bo SUN ; Xiangbo DU
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2014;(4):379-392,399
Metabonomics is a new member in the omics field following the development of genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, with its research object being the collection of metabolites-metabolome, the downstream products of life. Even with the development of past decade, there are still many problems to be solved in the area of experimental techniques, data analysis and results annotation. Any xenobiotics would cause the disturbance of homeostasis of organisms, resulting in the changes of metabolites. Consequently, toxicology is one of the major application areas of metabolomics, and is the earliest one. Metabolomics has been widely used in the early toxicological screening of leads, preclinical and clinical toxicology of drugs in animals and human, as well as in surrogate models such as cell lines and zebrafish. Annotation techniques for metabolic data have also been developed. In this paper, the development of metabolomic techniques and its application in toxicology are reviewed.
7.Preventive effect of Senecio cannabifolius Less.Ⅱon perfluoroisobutylene inhalation-induced acute lung injury in rats
Jiadan SUN ; Xiaobo WANG ; Shuang JIANG ; Ronggang XI ; Ye TIAN
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2014;(4):444-448,472
Objective To preliminarily investigate the effect and possible mechanisms of Senecio cannabifolius Less.Ⅱ(FHC-Ⅱ) on perfluoroisobutylene (PFIB) inhalation-induced acute lung injury. Methods Totally 156 rats were randomly assigned to three groups: the control group, the PFIB group and the FHC-Ⅱ prevention group, with 32, 62 and 62 rats in each group respectively. The FHC-Ⅱprevention group were given FHC-Ⅱthree times per day at the dosage of 340 mg/kg before PFIB exposure. 1 h after the last time of FHC-Ⅱ administration, the FHC-Ⅱ prevention group were exposured to gaseous PFIB (0.2 mg/L) for 10 minutes in a static whole-body exposure inhalation system. The survival rate of the rats were recorded at 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 and 72 h post PFIB exposure;the lung index and total protein content in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured at 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 8 h, 16 h and 24 h; IL-1β and IL-8 in sera were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 h post PFIB exposure and the histopathological examination of the lung tissue was performed at 8 h post PFIB exposure. Results FHC-II significantly reduced the content of the total protein in BALF, lung index and the levels of IL-1β and IL-8 in aera as well, and dramatically alleviated the histopathological changes in the lung tissue. Conclusion FHC-Ⅱ demonstrates some preventive effect on PFIB inhalation-induced acute lung injury in rats.
8.Change in expression of interleukin-17 in C57 mice′s spinal cord injury area
Shiyuan DENG ; Zhuoqiang WANG ; Zhen XU ; Chao MA
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2014;(6):698-702,706
Objective To investigate the mechanism of expression of interlenkin (IL)-17 in C57 mice′s spinal cord clamp area,and to provide new targets for clinical treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods Male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups. In the spinal cord injury group,mice were made into spinal cord clamp model. In the sham surgery group, the dura was cut without injuring the spinal cord. The IL-17 neutralizing antibody group received IL-17 neutralizing antibody injection through the cadual vein at 1 hour after the spinal cord clamp . Mouse scale for locomotion (BMS)was applied to evaluate the mice's behavior change of hindlimb in 1-7 days,the real time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to detect the change in the expression of spinal cord injury district TNF-αmRNA each time,HE staining was conducted to detect the morphological changes of spinal cord injury of the sham surgery group,the spinal cord injury group and the IL-17 neutralizing antibody group at the 7th days. Results After spinal cord injury,the mice's BMS score were 9 in the sham surgery group;in the model of spinal cord injury group,the mice's BMS score were 0 on the 1st day,and 2.9 on the 7th day. In the IL-17 neutralizing antibody group,the mice's BMS score were 0 on the 1st day,and 3.5 on the 7th day. The expression of IL-17 mRNA in the injury area peaked at the 3rd hour,which showed statistical difference when compared with sham surgery group (P<0.05),and then decreased. In other times,it had no statistical difference when compared with sham surgery group (P>0.05),and the expression of IL-17 mRNA reduced the lowest levels on the 7th day. The 7th day following spinal cord injury,mice's spinal cord tissue was complete normal in the sham surgery group. In the spinal cord injury group,a large number of mice's nerve cells were necrotic, a lot of cells formed vacuolated. In the IL-17 neutralizing antibody group, part of mice's nuclear neurons were shrinking, cells formed vacuolated, but part of cells remained morphologically complete. Conclusion IL-17 is involved in secondary immune inflammatory process of spinal cord injury, it may be targets for intervention in the treatment of spinal cord injury.
9.Complement system and tumor:research progress Complement system and tumor:research progress
Chang NING ; Wenwei CHEN ; Yan LI ; Guojiang CHEN
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2014;(5):516-520,521
Complement system is an important component of innate immunity and has been recognized as an effective means to inhibit tumor. However,in last decades,accumulating studies showed unexpected results that the complement components and their activation products could promote development of malignancies by secreting growth factors,activating signal pathway and promoting tumor angiogenesis. Herein,the relationship between the complement system and tumor is reviewed.
10.PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway and its application in tumor
Shi WANG ; Longlong LUO ; Ming LV ; Yuanfang MA
Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research 2015;(2):143-147
PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway as a T cell immune response co-stimulatory signaling pathway plays an important role in adaptive immunity. PD-1 is a major co-receptor expressing on T cells, binding with its ligands(PD-L1 and PD-L2), PD-1 can inhibit T cell activation and protect the body against the attacks from its own immune system. In addition to adjusting and maintaining autoimmune tolerance, in tumor cells PD-L1 expression is up-regulated, while in the virus-infected T cells PD-L1 expression is also upregulated. PD-1 / PD-L1 are involved in the tumor and infectious pathogen immune evasion, thus blocking the PD-1 / PD-L1 signaling pathway has become a hot research of cancer and chronic diseases. Currently, there are several anti-PD-1 or PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies approved by the FDA to enter clinical studies, which have shown significant anti-cancer effect.