Spectrum-effect relationship between HPLC fingerprint and antioxidant of "San-Bai Decoction" extracts.

"San-Bai Decoction" (SBD) has been a traditional Chinese medicine compound preparation for replenishing Qi and promoting blood circulation, whitening skin, and removing blemishes since ancient times. However, its chemical composition and antioxidant activity are not clear thus far, which limits the in-depth study on its pharmacodynamic material basis and efficacy. The objective of this study was to establish the fingerprint profile of SBD, assess its antioxidant activity by measuring 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging ability, and find the spectrum-effect relationship of SBD by Grey Relation Analysis (GRA) and Partial Least Squares Regression (PLS). In this study, the fingerprint of SBD was established by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and 20 common peaks were found, among which 6 peaks were designated. The similarities between the fingerprints of 12 batches of SBD and the reference fingerprint (R) were all greater than 0.900. Meanwhile, the antioxidant activities of all batches were concentration-dependent in their linear regression equation. The result of GRA showed that the correlation order of 20 common peaks for DPPH radical scavenging was X13 > X7 > X3 > X6 > X10 > X11 > X4 > X12 > X2 > X18 > X9 > X5 > X19 > X1 > X20 > X16 > X17 > X15 > X8 > X14. At the same time, PLS study demonstrated that the contribution of six identified characteristic peaks to DPPH radical scavenging ability was X1 = X7 > X6 > X19 > X20 > X16. In this study, the spectrum-effect relationship of SBD between its HPLC fingerprint and the antioxidant activity can be used to screen the pharmacodynamic substance basis of its antioxidant action and lay the foundation for establishing quality standards and product development.

PF-PLC micelles ameliorate cholestatic liver injury via regulating TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB and PXR/CAR/UGT1A1 signaling pathways in EE-induced rats.

Paeoniflorin (PF) has a certain therapeutic effect on cholestasis liver injury. To further improve the bioavailability of PF and play its pharmacological role in liver protection, PF-phospholipid complex micelles (PF-PLC micelles) were prepared based on our previous research on PF-PLC. The protective effects of PF and PF-PLC micelles on cholestasis liver injury induced by 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE) were compared, and the possible mechanisms were further explored. Herein, we showed that PF-PLC micelles effectively improved liver function, alleviated liver pathological damage, and localized infiltration of inflammatory cells. Mechanism studies indicated that PF-PLC micelles treatment could suppress the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway, and further reduce the levels of pro-inflammatory factors. Meanwhile, our experimental results demonstrated that the beneficial effect of PF-PLC micelles on EE-induced cholestasis may be achieved by the upregulation of nuclear receptors and metabolic enzymes (PXR/CAR/UGT1A1). All these results indicate that PF-PLC micelles have great potential in the treatment of cholestatic liver disease.