Based on the summarization of literatures on regulation of gastrointestinal electricity with acupuncture, the regulation effect of acupuncture, its influencing factors and its mechanism were analyzed in this article. It is found that the regulation effect can be influenced by many factors such as different acupuncture techniques, frequency, point selection, manipulations and the physical condition of the object. The effect of acupuncture appears great variety, which manifests as reinforced, inhibited or a kind of two-way regulation. And it is also held that the effect of acupuncture relies on the integrity of the nerve system. Nuclei, neurotransmitters, body fluid and gastrointestinal hormone also take part in the acupuncture effect. Therefore, studies on mechanism of acupuncture effect on gastrointestinal electricity should be strengthened in the future.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Electrophysiology ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; chemistry ; physiology ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo prepare enteric coated pellets containing panax notoginseng saponins.

METHODPanax notoginseng saponins loaded pellets were prepared by Extrusion-Spheronization method, and coated by Eudragit L30D-55 using Glatt fluid bed with the bottom spray process, central composite design was used to optimize the coating prescription.

RESULTThe drug release of enteric coated pellets of panax notoginseng saponins pellets would be lower than 5% in 2 h in simulated gastric fluid, but reach above 85% in 3 h in simulated human gastroenteric environment.

CONCLUSIONThe enteric coated pellets of panax notoginseng saponins have good acid residence to avoid panax notoginseng saponins from degrading in gastric acid.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; methods ; Drug Stability ; Gastric Acid ; chemistry ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; drug effects ; Humans ; Models, Biological ; Panax notoginseng ; chemistry ; Saponins ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Tablets, Enteric-Coated ; chemistry

To probe further into the viscosity of gastrointestinal mucus, the samples of gastrointestinal mucus were taken from fifty normal people and were tested with Low-Shear 30 viscometer, and then the viscosity model was obtained. The results indicated that the apparent viscosity of large intestine mucus is greater than that of small intestine and stomach. The gastrointestinal mucus is a kind of non-Newtonian fluid when its apparent viscosity rapidly decreases with the increase of shear rate. When the shear rate increase well enough, the apparent viscosity of gastrointestinal mucus becomes a constant, and the gastrointestinal mucus appears to be a Newtonian fluid.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; chemistry ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucus ; chemistry ; Rheology ; Viscosity ; Young Adult

Glycosides are important active components in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Their pharmacological activity, pharmacokinetic characteristics and in vivo existence become hotspots of current studies. The metabolic pathways of these glycosides are de-glycosylation mainly mediated by gut microbiota. After glycosides were metabolized into aglycones, they could be absorbed more easily and show better pharmacological effects. In this article, we reviewed the main glycosidase in gut microbiota which helps metabolize TCM glycosides, relevant bacterial strains which generate glycosidase, as well as the de-glycosylated metabolic pathways of the representative glycosides, on the basis of gut microbiota's important roles in in vivo metabolism and efficacy of TCM glycosides. We also preliminarily solved problems in studies on de-glycosylation of TCM glycosides.
Animals ; Bacteria ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Glycosides ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Glycosylation ; Humans ; Metagenome

In order to study the stability of akebia saponin D (ASD) in biological fluids in vitro, the determination methods of ASD were established in this study. Akebia saponin D was dissolved in artificial gastric juice, intestinal juice and gastrointestinal contents of rats, respectively, then thermostatically maintained at 37 degrees C. At time intervals after degradation, samples were withdrawn and the concentrations of ASD were determined by HPLC, from which stability of it at different biological specimen was evaluated. As a result, ASD was totally degraded in large intestinal contents of rats in 8 hours. ASD was very stable in artificial gastric juice, intestinal juice and gastric contents of rats. All of the above data proved that ASD was easily degraded by coliform bacteria but stable in acid environment and with the presence of digestive enzyme.
Animals ; Drug Stability ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Humans ; Rats ; Saponins ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics

Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) is an effective orally administered antibody used to protect against various intestinal pathogens, but which cannot tolerate the acidic gastric environment. In this study, IgY was microencapsulated by alginate (ALG) and coated with chitooligosaccharide (COS). A response surface methodology was used to optimize the formulation, and a simulated gastrointestinal (GI) digestion (SGID) system to evaluate the controlled release of microencapsulated IgY. The microcapsule formulation was optimized as an ALG concentration of 1.56% (15.6 g/L), COS level of 0.61% (6.1 g/L), and IgY/ALG ratio of 62.44% (mass ratio). The microcapsules prepared following this formulation had an encapsulation efficiency of 65.19%, a loading capacity of 33.75%, and an average particle size of 588.75 μm. Under this optimum formulation, the coating of COS provided a less porous and more continuous microstructure by filling the cracks on the surface, and thus the GI release rate of encapsulated IgY was significantly reduced. The release of encapsulated IgY during simulated gastric and intestinal digestion well fitted the zero-order and first-order kinetics functions, respectively. The microcapsule also allowed the IgY to retain 84.37% immune-activity after 4 h simulated GI digestion, significantly higher than that for unprotected IgY (5.33%). This approach could provide an efficient way to preserve IgY and improve its performance in the GI tract.
Alginic Acid/chemistry* ; Chitin/chemistry* ; Chitosan ; Delayed-Action Preparations ; Digestion ; Drug Compounding ; Drug Liberation ; Gastrointestinal Tract/metabolism* ; Immunoglobulins/metabolism* ; Oligosaccharides

Carboxylic acids play an important role in both aerobic and anaerobic metabolic pathways of both the snail and the parasite. Monitoring the effects of infection by schistosome on Biomphalaria alexandrina carboxylic acids metabolic profiles represents a promising additional source of information about the state of metabolic system. We separated and quantified pyruvic, fumaric, malic, oxalic, and acetic acids using ion-suppression reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to detect correlations between these acids in both hemolymph and digestive gland gonad complex (DGG's) samples in a total of 300 B. alexandrina snails (150 infected and 150 controls) at different stages of infection. The results showed that the majority of metabolite pairs did not show significant correlations. However, some high correlations were found between the studied acids within the control group but not in other groups. More striking was the existence of reversed correlations between the same acids at different stages of infection. Some possible explanations of the underlying mechanisms were discussed. Ultimately, however, further data are required for resolving the responsible regulatory events. These findings highlight the potential of metabolomics as a novel approach for fundamental investigations of host-pathogen interactions as well as disease surveillance and control.
Animals ; Biomphalaria/*chemistry/*parasitology ; Carboxylic Acids/*analysis/metabolism ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Gastrointestinal Tract/chemistry ; Hemolymph/chemistry ; Schistosoma mansoni/*chemistry/*growth & development

The experiment was designed to study the mechanism of increasing efficiency of Ligustrum lucidum steamed with wine. Rats in vivo with gastrointestinal perfusion model were used. The contents of salidroside and specnuezhenide in the fluid of gastrointestinal perfusion of rats were measured by HPLC at different time points after dosing. Then the K(a) and absorption percentage were calculated. Specnuezhenide could be detected in the fluid of gastrointestinal perfusion of specnuezhenide. The K(a) of the specnuezhenide and salidroside in the fetal intestines are 0.055 3 and 0.144 2 h(-1) respectively and the total absorptivity are 24.46% and 60.14% respectively after 4 hours. The K(a) in the stomach are 5.70 and 8.26 h(-1) respectively and the total absorptivity are 34.21% and 47.23% respectively after 4 hours. The experiment proved that specnuezhenide can be metabolized into salidroside which is more beneficial for gastrointestinal absorption. The experiment proved that specnuezhenide can be metabolized into salidroside both in the rat's stomach and the fetal intestine and compared with the specnuezhenide salidroside is more conducive to gastrointestinal absorption. The results suggested that the increasing efficiency on liver and kidney of L. lucidum steamed with wine has business with the fact that Specnuezhe nide is more conducive to the body after it is changed into salidroside.
Animals ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; metabolism ; Glucosides ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Intestinal Absorption ; Male ; Phenols ; chemistry ; Pyrans ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

α-HgS is the main component of traditional Chinese medicine cinnabar, while β-HgS is the main component of Tibetan medicine Zuotai. However, there was no comparative study on the dissolution and absorption in gastrointestinal tract and bioaccumulation in organs of mercury in Cinnabar, Zuotai, α-HgS and β-HgS. In this study, the dissolution process of the four compounds in the human gastrointestinal tract was simulated to determine the mercury dissolutions and compare the mercury dissolution of different medicines and the dissolution-promoting capacity of different solutions. To explore the absorption and bioaccumulation of cinnabar and Zuotai in organisms, mice were orally administered with clinical equivalent doses cinnabar and Zuotai. Meanwhile, a group of mice was given α-HgS and β-HgS with the equivalent mercury with cinnabar, while another group was given β-HgS and HgCl2 with the equivalent mercury with Zuotai. The mercury absorption and bioaccumulation capacities of different medicines in mice and their mercury bioaccumulation in different tissues and organs were compared. The experimental results showed a high mercury dissolutions of Zuotai in artificial gastrointestinal fluid, which was followed by β-HgS, cinnabar and α-HgS. As for the mercury absorption and bioaccumulation in mice, HgCl2 was the highest, β-HgS was the next, and a-HgS was slightly higher than cinnabar. The organs with the mercury bioaccumulation from high to low were kidney, liver and brain. This study is close to clinical practices and can provide reference for the clinical safe medication as well as a study model for the safety evaluation on heavy metal-containing medicines by observing the mercury dissolution, absorption, distribution and accumulation of mercury-containing medicines cinnabar and zuotai.
Animals ; Brain ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; metabolism ; Kidney ; metabolism ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Mercury ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Mercury Compounds ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Mice ; Solubility

OBJECTIVETo determine the equilibrium solubility of pulchinenosiden D in different solvents and its n-octanol/water partition coefficients.

METHODCombining shaking flask method and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to detect the n-octanol/water partition coefficients of pulchinenosiden D, the equilibrium solubility of pulchinenosiden D in six organic solvents and different pH buffer solution were determined by HPLC analysis.

RESULTn-Octanol/water partition coefficients of pulchinenosiden D in different pH were greater than zero, the equilibrium solubility of pulchinenosiden D was increased with increase the pH of the buffer solution. The maximum equilibrium solubility of pulchinenosiden D was 255.89 g x L(-1) in methanol, and minimum equilibrium solubility of pulchinenosiden D was 0.20 g x L(-1) in acetonitrile.

CONCLUSIONUnder gastrointestinal physiological conditions, pulchinenosiden D exists in molecular state and it has good absorption but poor water-solubility, so increasing the dissolution rate of pulchinenosiden D may enhance its bioavailability.

1-Octanol ; chemistry ; Acetonitriles ; chemistry ; Biological Availability ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacokinetics ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Intestinal Absorption ; Kinetics ; Methanol ; chemistry ; Pulsatilla ; chemistry ; Solubility ; Solvents ; chemistry ; Water ; chemistry