OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of aerosol inhalation of Chuankezhi injection on lung index and tissue morphol-ogy of trachea,lung and esophagus in guinea pigs. METHODS:40 guinea pigs were randomly divided into blank control group (normal saline),Chuankezhi high-dose,medium-dose and low dose (2.48,1.24 and 0.62 ml/kg) groups. Each treatment group was administrated by inhaling the atomized injection,once a day,20 ml/kg,for consecutive 2 weeks. The general situation of guin-ea pigs was observed 1 h after each time of medication;1 h after last medication,lung index of guinea pigs was detected,as well as the tissue morphology of left lung,right lung,trachea and esophagus by HE staining. RESULTS:Compared with normal control group,the general situation of guinea pigs were normal in Chuankezhi high-dose,medium-dose and low dose groups;there was no difference in lung index and all of them were about 0.653;tissue section staining showed that no abnormal lesion was found in these tissues. CONCLUSIONS:2 weeks of aerosol inhalation of Chuankezhi injection have no significant effect on lung index and the tissue morphology of trachea,lung and esophagus of guinea pigs.

Due to the scarcity of resources of Ziziphi spinosae semen (ZSS), many inferior goods and even adulterants are generally found in medicine markets. To strengthen the quality control, HPLC fingerprint common pattern established in this paper showed three main bioactive compounds in one chromatogram simultaneously. Principal component analysis based on DAD signals could discriminate adulterants and inferiorities. Principal component analysis indicated that all samples could be mainly regrouped into two main clusters according to the first principal component (PC1, redefined as Vicenin II) and the second principal component (PC2, redefined as zizyphusine). PC1 and PC2 could explain 91.42%of the variance. Content of zizyphusine fluctuated more greatly than that of spinosin, and this result was also confirmed by the HPTLC result. Samples with low content of jujubosides and two common adulterants could not be used equivalently with authenticated ones in clinic, while one reference standard extract could substitute the crude drug in pharmaceutical production. Giving special consideration to the well-known bioactive saponins but with low response by end absorption, a fast and cheap HPTLC method for quality control of ZSS was developed and the result obtained was commensurate well with that of HPLC analysis. Samples having similar fingerprints to HPTLC common pattern targeting at saponins could be regarded as authenticated ones. This work provided a faster and cheaper way for quality control of ZSS and laid foundation for establishing a more effective quality control method for ZSS.

In this study, an analytical method was developed and used to quantify simultaneously protocatechuic acid, neochlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid and 1, 3-dicaffeoylquinic acid--four bioactive compounds contained in Fructus Xanthii using UPLC. The contents of four phenolic components of 28 batches of samples collected from different product areas and markets were determined and compared by means of this established method. The mobile phase was composed of methanol and water containing 0.1% phosphoric acid. Chromatography was monitored at dual-wavelengths--220 and 327 nm. Flow rate was 0.4 mL x min(-1) and column temperature was 35 degrees C. The correlation coefficient between concentration and chromatographic peak area of protocatechuic acid, neochlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid and 1, 3-dicaffeoylquinic acid was over 0.9999 in the range of 0.3570-35.70, 2.500-250.0, 1.060-106.1, 1.010-101.0 microg x mL(-1), respectively. The average recoveries of the four compounds were 97.68%, 99.55%, 97.92% and 100.4%, respectively. In conclusion, the established method can rapidly attain an accurate and reproducible result used to control the quality of Fructus Xanthii.