OBJECTIVETo study the metabolism of berberine and palmatine in prescription compatibility of Wuji Wan in human intestinal flora.

METHODThe L9 (3(4)) orthogonal design was adopted to compare prescription compatibility of nine groups of Wuji Wan composed of Coptis chinensis, Evodiae and fried Radix paeoniae alba into and single ingredient of C. chinensis. They were cultivated with fresh human excrements under anaerobic conditions for 24 h. A HPLC-UV method was adopted for determining berberine and palmatine in bacteria culture medium, in order to compare the metabolism of the two components in different prescription compatibility.

RESULTMetabolism of berberine was positively correlated with doses, whereas metabolism of palmatine was negatively correlated with doses in extracts from C. chinensis. Compound compatibility speeded up the metabolism of berberine in low dose, which was positively related to the doses of Evodiae and fried Paeoniae Alba Radix; meanwhile Compound compatibility slowed down the metabolism of berberine in high dose, which was negatively related to the dose of Evodiae. Compound compatibility speeded up the metabolism of palmatine in high dose, which was negatively related to the doses of Evodiae and fried Paeoniae Alba Radix.

CONCLUSIONThe metabolism of the compatibility of Wuji Wan speeds up, when Coptis chinensis components metabolite rapidly in intestinal flora; while the metabolism of the compatibility of Wuji Wan slows down, when C. chinensis components metabolite slowly in intestinal flora. Therefore, they show a balanced effect. Additionally, different proportion of C. chinensis, Evodiae and fried Paeoniae Alba Radix cause difference in metabolism speed of berberine and palmatine to some extent.