OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of Wenyang Chubi Decoction (WYCBD), a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and collagen-I (COL-I) in a mouse model of scleroderma. METHODS: Scleroderma was induced in BALB/c mice by daily local injection of bleomycin for three weeks and the mice were randomly divided into untreated, WYCBD-treated and normal saline (NS) treated groups, with another group of BALB/c mice as normal control. WYCBD and NS were given orally for one month respectively. Histopathology in the skin and lungs of the mice were examined. The CTGF and COL-I expressions in the skin or skin lesions were detected by immunohistochemical Elivision assay. RESULTS: The expression levels of CTGF and COL-I in the untreated group were significantly higher than those in the normal control group (P<0.05). Compared with the NS-treated group, the WYCBD-treated group had significant improvement in the skin and lung histopathology and remarkably decreased expression levels of CTGF and COL-I (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Scleroderma mice showed high expressions of CTGF and COL-I in the skin. WYCBD had the effects of decreasing the CTGF and COL-I expressions and improving the skin fibrosis.

OBJECTIVEWater content in concentrated extract (WCCE), the concentration of ethanol used in precipitation (CEA) and the quantity of ethanol added( QEA) are three important variables in the first ethanol precipitation of Danshen injection. In this work, the relationships between the three variables and total solid removal, Danshensu (DSS)retention and DSS purity were investigated.

METHODExperiments according to central composite design were carried out and mathematical models were developed.

RESULTThe models were accurate and predictive. The relative deviations between prediction results and experimental results were less than 3%. The influences of the three variables were discussed with a response surface method. The decrease of WCCE and the increase of CEA both caused more precipitation and increase the purity of DSS. However, more loss of DSS was observed. The increase of QEA increased total solid removal. DSS retention and DSS purity increased first and then decreased when QEA increased.

CONCLUSIONThis result suggests the addition of ethanol should be optimized according to WCCE and CEA to obtain better supernatant

Chemical Precipitation ; Ethanol ; chemistry ; Models, Statistical ; Reproducibility of Results ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; Water ; chemistry