Xanthii Fructus has been traditionally used for the treatment of rhinitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and eczema. In this study, a high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array (HPLC-PDA) method was developed and then used for the simultaneous analysis of eight phenylpropanoids in Xanthii Fructus. The analytical column used for this separation was a SunFire™ C₁₈ column, maintained at 40℃. The mobile phase used was 1.0% acetic acid in distilled water and 1.0% acetic acid in acetonitrile with gradient elution. For identify of each component, the mass spectrometer (MS) was used a Waters triple quadrupole mass spectrometer requipped with electrospray ionization (ESI) source. The HPLC-PDA method showed good linearity: correlation coefficients were ≥ 0.9996. The limits of detection and quantification of the eight compounds were 0.02 – 0.04 and 0.06 – 0.14 µg/mL, respectively. The extraction recoveries ranged from 97.51 to 108.67%. The relative standard deviation values of intra- and inter-day precision were 0.06 – 1.55 and 0.09 – 1.68%, respectively. The validated HPLC-PDA method was applied to simultaneously analyse the amounts of eight phenlypropanoids in Xanthii Fructus.
Acetic Acid ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Eczema ; Limit of Detection ; Methods ; Rhinitis ; Water

Broussonetia kazinoki Siebold. (B. kazinoki) has long been used in the manufacture of paper in Asian countries. Although B. kazinoki leaves (BK) have been employed in dermatological therapy, use of BK has not been tested in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). Using Nc/Nga mice, which are genetically predisposed to develop AD-like skin lesions, we confirmed the efficacy of BK in AD treatment. BK extract was applied topically to Dermatophagoides farinae-induced AD-like lesions in Nc/Nga mice, and the effects were assessed both clinically and by measuring skin thickness on the back and ears. We measured the effects of BK extract on plasma levels of IgE and IL-4. We also measured the ability of BK extract to inhibit the secretion of hTARC in HaCaT cells after stimulation by TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma. We found that BK extract significantly reduced ear and dorsal skin thickness and the clinical signs of AD, as well as significantly down-regulating the plasma levels of IgE and IL-4 (p<0.01 for each comparison). Moreover, 500 mug/mL of BK extract inhibited hTARC secretion in HaCaT cells by activated TNF-alpha/IFN-gamma by about 87%. These findings suggest that topical application of BK extract has excellent potential in the treatment of AD.
Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Broussonetia* ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Ear ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Interleukin-4 ; Mice* ; Mites* ; Plasma ; Pyroglyphidae ; Skin ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

For efficient quality control of the Samryeongbaekchul-san decoction, a powerful and accurate an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS) method was developed for quantitative analysis of the thirteen constituents: allantoin (1), spinosin (2), liquiritin (3), ginsenoside Rg1 (4), liquiritigenin (5), platycodin D2 (6), platycodin D (7), ginsenoside Rb1 (8), glycyrrhizin (9), 6-gingerol (10), atractylenolide III (11), atractylenolide II (12), and atractylenolide I (13). Separation of the compounds 1 - 13 was performed on a UPLC BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.7 µm) at a column temperature of 40 ℃ with a gradient solvent system of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid aqueous-acetonitrile. The flow rate and injection volume were 0.3 mL/min and 2.0 µL. Calibration curves of all compounds were showed good linearity with values of the correlation coefficient ≥ 0.9920 within the test ranges. The values of limits of detection and quantification for all analytes were 0.04 - 4.53 ng/mL and 0.13 - 13.60 ng/mL. The result of an experiment, compounds 2, 6, 12, and 13 were not detected while compounds 1, 3 - 5, and 7 - 11 were detected with 1,570.42, 5,239.85, 299.35, 318.88, 562.27, 340.87, 12,253.69, 73.80, and 115.01 µg/g, respectively.
Allantoin ; Calibration ; Chromatography, Liquid* ; Glycyrrhizic Acid ; Limit of Detection ; Methods ; Quality Control ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry*

This study proposes a sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry method of efficiently assessing the quality of a traditional herbal medicine called Yeonggyechulgam-tang (YGCGT). The following compounds 1 – 11, namely, liquiritin apioside (1), liquiritin (2), liquiritigene (3), coumarin (4), cinnamic acid (5), cinnamaldehyde (6), glycyrrhizin (7), atractylenolide III (8), atractylenolide II (9), atractylenolide I (10), and pachymic acid (11) were separated on a UPLC BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.7 µm) at a column temperature of 45℃ eluted with a gradient condition of 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in distilled water and acetonitrile. The correlation coefficient of the calibration curve of the eleven constituents was ≥ 0.9936. The limits of detection and quantification of the compounds 1 – 11 were 0.06 – 4.73 ng/mL and 0.17–14.20 ng/mL, respectively. Using this analytical method, the compound 11 in lyophilized YGCGT decoction extract was not detected, while the compounds 1 – 10 were detected 0.13–166.43 mg/g.
Calibration ; Glycyrrhizic Acid ; Herbal Medicine* ; Limit of Detection ; Methods ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry* ; Water

In this study, the marker compounds of Curcumae Rhizoma (CR) were simultaneously quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with a photodiode array detector and the anti-inflammatory effects of CR extract and marker compounds in human benign prostatic hyperplasia epithelial-1 (BPH-1) cell lines were investigated. The marker components (4S,5S)-(+)-germacrone-4,5-epoxide, furanodienone, and germacrone, were separated on Gemini C₁₈ columns (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) at 40 ℃ by using a gradient of two mobile phases eluting at 1.0 mL/min. Prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) levels in Human BPH-1 cells were determined with an ELISA kit. The coefficients of determination in a calibration curve of each analyte were all 0.9997. The limits of detection and quantification of the three compounds were 0.10 – 0.32 µg/mL and 0.30 – 0.98 µg/mL, respectively. The content of three compounds, (4S,5S)-(+)-germacrone-4,5-epoxide, furanodienone, and germacrone, in the CR sample were found to be 5.79 – 5.92 mg/g, 4.72 – 4.86 mg/g, and 1.06 – 1.09 mg/g, respectively. Regarding pharmacological activity against benign prostatic hyperplasia, CR and its components significantly suppressed PGE₂ levels of BPH-1 cells. The established analysis method will help to improve quality assessment of CR samples and related products. In addition, CR and its components exhibit anti-inflammatory activity in BPH-1 cells, suggesting the inhibitory efficacy of these compounds against the pathogenesis of BPH.
Calibration ; Cell Line ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Curcuma ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Limit of Detection ; Methods ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Rhizome

Correction for incorrect control groups (A, B, and C) at a Fig. 3. and Fig. 4. respectively. NPS 2014 20(4): 251-257.

OBJECTIVETo assess the effects of traditional herbal formulae Sijunzi Decoction (, Sagunja-tang, SJZD), Siwu Decoction (, Samul-tang, SWD), Bawu Decoction (, Palmul-tang, BWD) and Shiquan Dabu Decoction (, Sipjeondaebo-tang, SDD) on the activities of human cytochrome P450 (CYP450), a drug-metabolizing enzyme.

METHODSHerbal formula water extracts were filtered and lyophilized after the powder extracts were dissolved in distilled water. The activities of major human CYP450 isozymes (CYP3A4, CYP2C19, CYP2D6 and CYP2E1) were measured using in vitro fluorescence-based enzyme assays. The inhibitory effects of the herbal formulas on the activities of CYP450 were characterized as half maximal inhibition concentration (IC) values.

RESULTSAll the tested herbal formulae inhibited CYP2C19 activity (IC: SJZD, 83.28 μg/mL; SWD, 235.54 μg/mL; BWD, 166.82 μg/mL; SDD, 178.19 μg/mL); SJZD (IC= 196.46 μg/mL), SWD (IC= 333.42 μg/mL) and SDD (IC= 163.42 μg/mL) inhibited CYP2E1-mediated metabolism; whereas BWD exhibited comparatively weak inhibition of CYP2E1 (IC= 501.78 μg/mL). None of the four herbal formulas significantly affected CYP3A4 or CYP2D6.

CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest that SJZD, SWD, BWD and SDD could potentially inhibit the metabolism of co-administered synthetic drugs whose primary route of elimination is via CYP2C19. In addition, clinically relevant pharmacokinetic interactions could occur when SJZD, SWD or SDD is co-administered with drugs metabolized by CYP2E1. Our findings provide information for the safety and effective clinical use of these four classic herbal formulas.

Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Isoenzymes ; metabolism ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Water ; chemistry