The chemical composition of Paeoniae Radix Alba(PRA) is complex, with primary secondary metabolites including monoterpenoids, tannins, triterpenoids, and flavonoids. In previous studies on the material basis of PRA, it was found that, in addition to the widely studied characteristic monoterpene glycosides, tannic acid components also play an important role in the efficacy of PRA. However, their pharmacological effects have not been thoroughly investigated. This paper reviews the tannic acid components in PRA, including pentagaloyl glucose(PGG), tetragaloyl glucose(TGG), trigaloyl glucose(TriGG), and gallic acid, along with their structures, properties, and characteristics to provide a detailed discussion of their pharmacological activities and related mechanisms, aiming to offer a theoretical basis for the material basis research and clinical application of PRA.
Paeonia/chemistry* ; Tannins/chemistry* ; Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Animals ; Plant Extracts

Shaoyao Gancao Decoction(SGD) is one of the prescriptions included in the Catalogue of Ancient Classical Prescriptions(First Batch) published by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2018. It is composed of Paeoniae Radix Alba and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma Praeparata Cum Melle. Experiments and clinical cases have proved that SGD has anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, antispasmodic, and liver-protecting effects. It is widely used in the clinical treatment of diseases, demonstrating definite effects on digestive system diseases. By reviewing the literature on SGD in recent years, this paper summarizes the applications of SGD in the treatment of digestive system diseases from three aspects of basic prescription and syndrome analysis, clinical application, and mechanism to expounds the research status in this field. Furthermore, this paper put forward the shortcomings and improvement methods of the available studies, aiming to provide reference for the application of SGD in treating digestive system diseases and the research and development of SGD preparations.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Humans ; Digestive System Diseases/drug therapy* ; Animals ; Paeonia/chemistry* ; Glycyrrhiza/chemistry*

This study explored toxicity attenuation processing technology of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae stir-fried with Paeoniae Radix Alba decoction for the first time, and further explored its detoxification mechanism. Nine processed products of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae stir-fried with Paeoniae Radix Alba decoction were prepared by orthogonal experiment with three factors and three levels. Based on the decrease in the content of the main hepatotoxic component diosbulbin B before and after processing of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae by high-performance liquid chromatography, the toxicity attenuation technology was preliminarily screened out. On this basis, the raw and representative processed products of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae were given to mice by gavage with 2 g·kg~(-1)(equival to clinical equivalent dose) for 21 d. The serum and liver tissues were collected after the last administration for 24 h. The serum biochemical indexes reflecting liver function and liver histopathology were combined to further screen out and verify the proces-sing technology. Then, the lipid peroxidation and antioxidant indexes of liver tissue were detected by kit method, and the expressions of NADPH quinone oxidoreductase 1(NQO1) and glutamate-cysteine ligase(GCLM) in mice liver were detected by Western blot to further explore detoxification mechanism. The results showed that the processed products of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae stir-fried with Paeoniae Radix Alba decoction reduced the content of diosbulbin B and improved the liver injury induced by Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bul-biferae to varying degrees, and the processing technology of A_2B_2C_3 reduced the excessive levels of alanine transaminase(ALT) and aspartate transaminase(AST) induced by raw Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae by 50.2% and 42.4%, respectively(P<0.01, P<0.01). The processed products of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae stir-fried with Paeoniae Radix Alba decoction reversed the decrease protein expression levels of NQO1 and GCLM in the liver of mice induced by raw Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae to varying degrees(P<0.05 or P<0.01), and it also reversed the increasing level of malondialdehyde(MDA) and the decreasing levels of glutathione(GSH), glutathione peroxidase(GPX), and glutathione S-transferase(GST) in the liver of mice(P<0.05 or P<0.01). In summary, this study shows that the optimal toxicity attenuation processing technology of Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae stir-fried with Paeoniae Radix Alba decoction is A_2B_2C_3, that is, 10% of Paeoniae Radix Alba decoction is used for moistening Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae and processed at 130 ℃ for 11 min. The detoxification mechanism involves enhancing the expression levels of NQO1 and GCLM antio-xidant proteins and related antioxidant enzymes in the liver.
Mice ; Animals ; Antioxidants/analysis* ; Plant Extracts/pharmacology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Rhizome/chemistry* ; Paeonia/chemistry* ; Glutathione/analysis*

Moutan Cortex(MC) residues produced after the extraction of MC can be re-extracted for active components and used to produce organic fertilizer and animal feed. However, they are currently disposed as domestic waste, which pollutes the environment. This study analyzed the chemical composition of the medicinal material, residues, and residue compost of MC by UPLC-UV-Q-TOF-MS. Furthermore, the nutrient composition of MC residues and the residue compost was analyzed. The results showed that:(1)MC residues had lower content of chemicals than the medicinal material, and content of paeonol, gallic acid, and galloylglucose in MC residues were about 1/3 of that in the medicinal material. The content of chemicals were further reduced after residue composting, and the quantitative compounds were all below the limits of detection.(2)Compared with MC residues, the residue compost showed the total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, and organic matter content increasing by 122.67%, 31.32%, 120.39%, and 32.06%, respectively. Therefore, we concluded that the MC residues can be used to re-extract active compounds such as paeonol, gallic acid, and galloylglucose. The MC residue compost is a high-quality organic fertilizer containing minimal content of chemicals and can be widely used in the cultivation of Chinese medicinal herbs.
Animals ; Composting ; Fertilizers ; Soil/chemistry* ; Hydrolyzable Tannins ; Nutrients ; Acetophenones ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Paeonia

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the available data on the anti-anger effects of herbal medicines (HMs) as well as their underlying mechanisms in rat models. METHODS: From 6 electronic databases [PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), and Research Information Sharing Service (RISS)], relevant animal experiments were searched by using "anger," "rats," and "animal" as search keywords. The last search was conducted on November 22, 2019, and all experiments involving rat models of anger and treatment using HMs published until the date of the search were considered. RESULTS: A total of 24 studies with 16 kinds of HMs were included. Most studies have used the "tail irritating method" and "social isolation and resident intruder" method to establish anger models. According to the included studies, the therapeutic mechanisms of HMs for anger regulation and important herbs by their frequency and/or preclinical evidence mainly incladed regulation of hemorheology (Bupleuri Radix, Paeoniae Radix Alba, and Glycyrrhizae Radix), regulation of sex hormones (Bupleuri Radix, Cyperi Rhizoma, and Paeoniae Radix Alba), regulation of neurotransmitters (Cyperi Rhizoma), regulation of anger-related genes (Bupleuri Radix, Glycyrrhizae Radix, and Paeoniae Radix Alba), and other effects. Overall, Liver (Gan) qi-smoothing herbs including Bupleuri Radix and Cyperi Rhizoma were the most frequently used. CONCLUSIONS This review found the frequent methods to establish an anger model, and major mechanisms of anti-anger effects of HMs. Interestingly, some Liver qi-smoothing herbs have been frequently used to investigate the anti-anger effects of HM. These findings provide insight into the role and relevance of HMs in the field of anger management.
Anger ; Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Herbal Medicine ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Paeonia/chemistry* ; Rats

Two new neolignans and one new lignan (1-3) were obtained from the roots of Paeonia lactiflora. Their structures were unambiguously elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic analysis, single-crystal X-ray crystallography, and the calculated and experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Compound 1 was a racemic mixture and successfully resolved into the anticipated enantiomers via chiral-phase HPLC. Compound 3 demonstrated moderate inhibitory activity against human carboxylesterase 2A1 (hCES2A1) with an IC₅₀ value of 7.28 ± 0.94 μmol·^-1.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Humans ; Lignans/chemistry* ; Paeonia ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Stereoisomerism

The quality of Paeoniae Radix Alba and Paeoniae Radix Rubra is evaluated by root thickness, and paeoniflorin serves as a common quality indicator of them. However, the correlation between the content of bioactive compounds and the root size is still unclear. Therefore, this study characterized the distribution patterns and content of seven bioactive compounds including paeoniflorin in different tissues of Paeonia lactiflora roots, analyzed the correlation between the root size and the content of bioactive compounds based on the xylem-to-bark ratio, and further determined the index components for quality assessment. Nine samples of fresh P. lactiflora roots were collected from the genuine cultivation area. The distribution of bioactive compounds in different tissues on the cross-section of the root was firstly analyzed by desorption electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry imaging(DESI-MSI). Subsequently, the content of bioactive compounds was determined in the xylems and barks of the roots by UPLC. The compounds with the largest difference between the xylem and the bark were selected by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA). The results indicated that paeoniflorin, benzoylpaeoniflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, gallic acid, and 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloylglucose were significantly accumulated in the xylems, while albiflorin and catechin were mainly distributed in the barks. Paeoniflorin and albiflorin, with the largest differences in the xylem and the bark, had the highest content in the two tissues. The root diameter was positively correlated with paeoniflorin content and negatively correlated with albiflorin content. As isomers with different efficacies, paeoniflorin or albiflorin can be chosen as the quality marker corresponding to specific clinical application to launch quality classification evaluation of multi-functional Chinese medicines.
Bridged-Ring Compounds ; Catechin/analysis* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Gallic Acid/analysis* ; Monoterpenes/analysis* ; Paeonia/chemistry* ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

Huangqin Decoction(HQD) is a classic prescription for treating dysentery in the Treatise on Cold Damage and now is mainly used for the treatment of ulcerative colitis(UC). Since there are no requirements on specific Paeonia species, both Paeoniae Radix Alba(white peony root, WPR) and Paeoniae Radix Rubra(red peony root, RPR) are clinically used in HQD now. Although the two types of peony roots are close in origin and similar in primary components, the medicinal properties and efficacies are different. Furthermore, the systematic comparative analysis on the efficacy differences in treating UC of HQD with the roots of multi-originated peony has been seldom reported. This study compared and evaluated the pharmacological effects of HQD prepared from the roots of multi-originated peony, including WPR, RPR-l(derived from P. lactiflora), and RPR-v(derived from P. veitchii) based on the mouse model of UC induced by dextran sodium sulfate(DSS) by animal behaviors, pathological section(colon), and cytokine expression(IL-1β and IL-6), aiming to provide evidence for the identification of the original resource of peony root in HQD. The results indicated that all HQD samples prepared from WPR, RPR-l, and RPR-v could improve the symptoms of UC. Compared with the HQD-WPR, HQD-RPR-l and HQD-RPR-v were significantly different in weight loss, colon length, and disease activity index(DAI) score, but there was no significant difference between HQD-RPR-l and HQD-RPR-v. Moreover, HQD-RPR-v exhibited the most significant improvement in the pathological morphology of colonic tissue and mucosal defects. According to the previous comparative analysis of chemical profiling and content distribution of HQD prepared from the roots of multi-originated peony, RPR-v in HQD was potent in protecting against UC, which was presumedly attributed to a large number of monoterpene glycosides and galloyl glucoses. This study provided a scientific basis for the determination of peony root in HQD and its clinical medication.
Animals ; Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy* ; Dextran Sulfate ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Mice ; Monoterpenes ; Paeonia/chemistry* ; Plant Roots/chemistry*

The aim of this paper was to investigate the key targets and mechanism of "Epimedii Folium-Paeoniae Radix Alba" in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation by means of network pharmacology. The currently recognized databases and analysis software at home and abroad were used to construct the network from drugs and diseases. The chemical components of Epimedii Folium and Paeo-niae Radix Alba were collected by using databases such as TCMSP, while their active components were determined and the action targets were predicted according to threshold screening and literature reports. The genes for lumbar disc herniation were collected by using GeneCards, OMIM, and DisGeNET databases. The drug targets were mapped to disease targets, and protein interaction network analysis for key targets, GO function enrichment analysis and KEGG signaling pathway enrichment analysis were performed. Finally, 23 active components of Epimedium Folium and 13 active components of Paeoniae Radix Alba were determined, and a total of 624 drug targets were obtained. After standardization, 214 drug targets were obtained. In addition, 306, 2 and 5 related targets of lumbar disc herniation were collected from GeneCards, OMIM, and DisGeNET database, respectively, and a total of 293 disease targets were obtained after deduplication. After the mapping of drug target and disease target, 44 common targets were obtained. PPI protein interaction network analysis showed that IL-6, TNF, AKT1, MAPK1, and VEGFA may be the core targets for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. GO enrichment analysis identified 56 items(P<0.05), among which biological processes mainly included immune response, apoptosis, etc.; cell components mainly included extracellular space, extracellular region, etc.; molecular functions mainly included cytokine activity, metallopeptidase activity and so on. Through KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, 91 signaling pathways related to inflammation, metabolism, and senescence were identified, mainly including IL-17 signaling pathway and TNF signaling pathway and so on. "Epimedii Folium-Paeoniae Radix Alba" showed the characteristics of multi-channel and multi-target for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. This study preliminarily explored the key targets for its role and the biological processes and signaling pathways involved. It was found that it may play a therapeutic role by affecting inflammation and immune regulation, which laid the foundation for further experimental verification.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Epimedium/chemistry* ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement/drug therapy* ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Paeonia/chemistry* ; Plant Leaves/chemistry* ; Plant Roots/chemistry* ; Signal Transduction

Stilbenes is a class of natural polyphenols with 1,2-diphenylethylene as the skeleton structure which have structural and active diversity. However, there are fewer studies on their metabolic process, which limits the in-depth research and development of such components. An UPLC-MS/MS method simultaneously determining contents of ten stilbenes was firstly established in this study and applied to study the ten stilbenes of peony seed coats in the serum of C57 mice.Piceatannol was the internal standard, and methanol was used for protein precipitation, UPLC-MS/MS with negative ion mode was used for analysis, and the method was validated.The serum samples were collected and detected after mice being oral administered with 800 mg·kg~(-1) peony seed coat extracts for 8 weeks. The results showed that suffruticosol A, suffruticosol B, suffruticosol C, trans-ε-viniferin, cis-gnetin H, trans-suffruticosol D and trans-gnetin H were detected in serum samples, and the highest is suffruticosol A. The method is simple and quick with high specificity and sensitivity, and it is suitable for quantitative determination of ten stilbenes in the serum of mice.
Animals ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Mice ; Paeonia ; Reproducibility of Results ; Seeds ; chemistry ; Stilbenes ; analysis ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry