This article introduced the herbal medicine studies on Bupleurum in recent years, focused on the classification just like morphological and chemical classification, microscopic characteristics and molecular biology classification for Bupleurum. Identification combined with a variety of classification is the most effective method for Bupleurum. Due to the short supply of Bupleurum in the current market the current Bupleurum classification studies should focuses on combining pharmacological research to expand the Bupleurum's herbal sources.
Bupleurum ; chemistry ; classification ; cytology ; Microscopy

In order to select high quality and suitable Bupleuri Radix varieties in Qingchuan, and establish a new comprehensive method to evaluation the quality of Bupleuri Radix, 12 characters of 14 samples were evaluated by DTOPSIS and grey related degree. The results showed that varieties No. 8 and No. 10 had high quality. DTOPSIS and grey related degree gave the uniformity result, and the biggest difference of value of Ci in DTOPSIS method was 46. 33% , but the biggest difference of the weighting correlation number( r (i)) in grey related degree was only 13.10%. The DTOPSIS combined with grey related degree can evaluate the quality of Bupleuri Radix comprehensively and objectively.
Bupleurum ; chemistry ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; supply & distribution ; Quality Control ; Statistics as Topic ; methods

Bupleurum chinense is a commonly used Chinese medicinal material, which has been used medicinally in China for over 2000 years, the development of it is of great value. There have been great advances of studies on its embryology and seed biology in recent years. In this paper, we make a review of the growth of its embryo and fruit, the characteristics of dormancy and storage and the germination of its seed. Besides, we summarize the reasons of its low germination rate and the achievements in improving the situation, for the purpose of providing reference in research on seed physiology of B. chinense.
Bupleurum ; chemistry ; growth & development ; physiology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Plant Dormancy ; Seeds ; chemistry ; growth & development ; physiology

Bupleurum chinense used in the study were cultivated in the experimental fields of Gansu agricultural University for three years. The seeds of B. chinense were collected every 3 days 10 d after the blossom. The result showed that the 1 000-grain fresh weight reached the maximum 43 d after the blossom and then decreased rapidly, at the mature period the fresh weight of seeds were falling to the same level of the dry weight. The dynamic change of the grain dry matter accumulation showed as an S-shape curve, the rapid increase stage was 25-34 d following the flower, and the grain filling was ended 46 d after blossom. Grain filling rate was under the law "fast-slow-fast-slow". And there were two peaks of grain filling rate appeared, after reached the second peak 28 d after the flower the filling rate decreased rapidly and stayed steadily 43 d after flowering. The dehydration rate was also measured at its maximum 43 d following flower. The indexes of seeds all reached the top 52 days following the blossom, when the germination rate reached the peak (34.33%) and water content of seeds was near 10%. The rate of germination and the 1 000-graid weight of seed showed significant positive correlation, while the water content of seeds was found significant negatively correlation with germination percentage. So the best time for harvest should be 52 d after flowering (9 month), the seeds collected at that time showed both high quality and germination rate.
Bupleurum ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Flowers ; growth & development ; Germination ; Seeds ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Water ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo investigate ingredient differences of the aerial part of Bupleurums from different germplasm resources by HPLC.

METHODTwenty-one different germplasm resources were sown and cultured at the same conditions and the aerial parts of the biennial plants were analyzed by HPLC.

RESULTThe chromatograms were established and the data were analyzed by Hierarchical Cluster Analysis to compare the similarity of the samples. The results showed that ingredients from various germplasm resources were significantly different, which indicated the germplasm diversity of Bupleurum.

CONCLUSIONThe method can be used for comparison of the ingredient differences and quality control, the results provide important references for classification of Bupleurum species.

Bupleurum ; chemistry ; classification ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Cluster Analysis ; Plant Components, Aerial ; chemistry

UPLC-Q-TOF-MS was used to analyze the chemical differences in Bupleurum. chinense,B. marginatum,B. marginatum var. stenophyllum and B. smithii var. parvifolium. Chromatographic separation was carried out on an Acquity HSS T3 C_(18) column( 2. 1 mm ×100 mm,1. 8 μm,Waters) with the mobile phase composed of 0. 1% formic acid in water-acetonitrile in the gradient elution. A hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry( Q-TOF-MS~E) was used for mass spectrometric analysis. Finally,25 peaks were identified based on their exact mass data and fragmentation characteristics. B.chinense,B.marginatum,B. marginatum var. stenophyllum and B. smithii var. parvifolium were obviously clustered into 3 types through processing by principal component analysis( PCA). There was almost no difference between B. chinense and B. marginatum. However,the compounds existed in B. chinense were different from those in B. marginatum var. stenophyllum,and B. smithii var. parvifolium.
Bupleurum ; chemistry ; classification ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Phytochemicals ; analysis ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Depression is a kind of mental illness accompanied by complex etiology and pathogenesis in clinic. With the quickening pace of circadian rhythm and increase of life pressure in modern society, the incidence of depression is increasing year by year. Nowadays, some typical antidepressant Western medicines, such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), have been used as the main therapeutic drugs in clinic. Unfortunately, administration of these drugs will result in severe adverse reactions, slow treatments, and low cure rates, thus obviously they can not be used for a long term. Sini San, which originated from written by Zhang zhongjing, is a prescription widely applied in clinic for curing mental illness and also a basic Chinese herbal formula for modern treatment of depression. This article would review the research progress on antidepressant effects of Sini San based on single herbs of Bupleuri Radix and Paeoniae Radix Alba, herb-pair of Bupleuri Radix-Paeoniae Radix Alba, and formula of Sini San, providing directions and ideas for future research on complicated Chinese herbal formulae.
Antidepressive Agents ; pharmacology ; Bupleurum ; chemistry ; Depression ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Paeonia ; chemistry

Through consulting the herbs and medical books of past dynasties, combining with modern literature and field investigation, this paper made textual research on the name, origin, producing area, harvesting and processing of Bupleuri Radix used in the Catalogue of Ancient Classical Prescriptions(the first batch).From Han to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the source of Bupleuri Radix was a mixture of Bupleurum and Peucedanum, it's hard to define the origin of authentic products.In Tang Dynasty, Caryophyllaceae had been used as Bupleuri Radix. In Song Dynasty, it was clear that the genuine production area of Bupleuri Radix was Yinzhou, its origin was B. corzonerifolium and B. yinchowense.After the Ming Dynasty, B. chinense gradually became the mainstream. It has been confirmed that there were differences in the efficacy between Stellaria dichotoma in Caryophyllaceae and Bupleurum in Umbelliferae, however, the use of S. dichotoma is still attributed to Bupleuri Radix. In the Qing Dynasty, S. dichotoma was distinguished from Bupleuri Radix as another medicine. Among the prescriptions containing Bupleuri Radix included in the Catalogue of Classical Prescriptions in Ancient China(the first batch), the mainstream of genuine Bupleuri Radix should be B. scorzonerifolium and B. chinense. It is suggested that the genuine base of Bupleuri Radix should be selected according to the current resources and industrial development of Bupleuri Radix, and it should conform to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
Bupleurum/chemistry* ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Prescriptions

It is generally believed that high-quality Bupleurum scorzonerifolium roots possess specific morphological characteristics, being red, robust, and long with strong odor. However, the scientific connotation of these characteristics has not been elucidated. According to the theory of "quality evaluation through morphological identification", we studied the correlations between appearance traits(the RGB value of root surface, root length, root diameter, dry weight, and ratio of phloem to xylem) and content of main chemical components(volatile oils, total saponins, total flavonoids, total polysaccharides, and seven saikosaponins) of B. scorzonerifolium roots. Epson Scanner and ImageJ were used to scan the root samples and measure the appearance traits. Ultraviolet spectrophotometry and HPLC were employed to determine the content of chemical components. The correlation, regression, and cluster analyses were performed to study the correlations between the appearance traits and the content of chemical components. The results showed that the content of volatile oils and saikosaponins were significantly correlated with RGB value, root length, and root diameter, indicating that within a certain range, the roots being redder, longer, and thicker had higher content of volatile oils and saikosaponins. According to the appearance traits and chemical component content, the 14 samples from different producing areas were classified into four grades, and the differences in morphological traits and chemical component content were consistent among different grades. The findings in this study demonstrate that appearance traits(RGB value, root length, and root diameter) can be used to evaluate the quality of B. scorzonerifolium roots. Meanwhile, this study lays a foundation for establishing an objective quality evaluation method for B. scorzonerifolium roots.
Bupleurum/chemistry* ; Saponins/analysis* ; Oleanolic Acid/analysis* ; Oils, Volatile/analysis* ; Plant Roots/chemistry*

AIMTo study the lignan glycosides from the roots of Bupleurum scorzonerifolium. Chromatography methods was used to isolate compounds and chemical and spectral methods were used to identify the structures of isolated compounds.

RESULTSTwo lignan glycosides were isolated from the roots of B. scorzonerifolium and their structures were identified as 2, 3-E-2,3-dihydro-2-(3'-methoxy-4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-phenyl)-3-hydroxymethyl-5-(3"-hydroxypropenyl )-7-methoxy-1-benzo [b] furan (1) and 2, 3-E-2, 3-dihydro-2-( 3'-methoxy-4'-hydroxy-phenyl)-3-hydroxymethyl-5-( 3"-hydroxypropenyl)-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1-benzo[b]furan (2), both of them which were the mixture of (+)2S,3R- and (-)2R,3S-type diastereoisomer and in both of them the amount of (+)2S,3R-type was a little more than that of the (-)2R,3S-type.

CONCLUSIONCompounds 1 and 2 were isolated from B. scorzonerifolium for the first time. (+)2S, 3R-2, 3-Dihydro-2-(3'-methoxy-4'-hydroxy-phenyl)-3-hydroxymethyl-5-(3"-hydroxypropenyl)-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-1-benzo[b] furan is a new compound.

Bupleurum ; chemistry ; Glycosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Lignans ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Molecular Conformation ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry