Synthesis and In Vivo Antiarrhythmic Activity Evaluation of Novel Scutellarein Analogues as Voltage-Gated Nav1.5 and Cav1.2 Channels Blockers.

Malignant cardiac arrhythmias with high morbidity and mortality have posed a significant threat to our human health. Scutellarein, a metabolite of Scutellarin which is isolated from Scutellaria altissima L., presents excellent therapeutic effects on cardiovascular diseases and could further be metabolized into methylated forms. A series of 22 new scutellarein derivatives with hydroxyl-substitution based on the scutellarin metabolite in vivo was designed, synthesized via the conjugation of the scutellarein scaffold with pharmacophores of FDA-approved antiarrhythmic medications and evaluated for their antiarrhythmic activity through the analyzation of the rat number of arrhythmia recovery, corresponding to the recovery time and maintenance time in the rat model of barium chloride-induced arrhythmia, as well as the cumulative dosage of aconitine required to induce VP, VT, VF and CA in the rat model of aconitine-induced arrhythmia. All designed compounds could shorten the time of the arrhythmia continuum induced by barium chloride, indicating that 4'-hydroxy substituents of scutellarein had rapid-onset antiarrhythmic effects. In addition, nearly all of the compounds could normalize the HR, RR, QRS, QT and QTc interval, as well as the P/T waves' amplitude. The most promising compound 10e showed the best antiarrhythmic activity with long-term efficacy and extremely low cytotoxicity, better than the positive control scutellarein. This result was also approved by the computational docking simulation. Most importantly, patch clamp measurements on Nav1.5 and Cav1.2 channels indicated that compound 10e was able to reduce the INa and ICa in a concentration-dependent manner and left-shifted the inactivation curve of Nav1.5. Taken together, all compounds were considered to be antiarrhythmic. Compound 10e even showed no proarrhythmic effect and could be classified as Ib Vaughan Williams antiarrhythmic agents. What is more, compound 10e did not block the hERG potassium channel which highly associated with cardiotoxicity.

Sinoacutine inhibits inflammatory responses to attenuates acute lung injury by regulating NF-κB and JNK signaling pathways.

BACKGROUND: Stephania yunnanensis H. S. Lo is widely used as an antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory herbal medicine in SouthWest China. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory activity and mechanism of sinoacutine (sino), one of the primary components extracted from this plant. METHODS: A RAW264.7 cell model was established using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced for estimation of cytokines in vitro, qPCR was used to estimate gene expression, western blot analysis was used to estimate protein level and investigate the regulation of NF- κB, JNK and MAPK signal pathway. In addition, an acute lung injury model was established to determine lung index and levels of influencing factors. RESULTS: Using the RAW264.7 model, we found that sino reduced levels of nitric oxide (NO), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1ß and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) but increased levels of IL-6. qPCR analysis revealed that sino (50, 25 µg/ml) inhibited gene expression of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). western blot analysis showed that sino significantly inhibited protein levels of both iNOS and COX-2. Further signalling pathway analysis validated that sino also inhibited phosphorylation of p65 in the NF-κB and c-Jun NH2 terminal kinase (JNK) signalling pathways but promoted the phosphorylation of extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 in the MAPK signalling pathway. In addition, in a mouse model induced by LPS, we determined that sino reduced the lung index and the levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO), NO, IL-6 and TNF-α in lung tissues and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in acute lung injury (ALI). CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results demonstrate that sino is a promising drug to alleviate LPS-induced inflammatory reactions.

[Preparation of Cangai oil transfersomes patches and its in vitro evaluation].

L_9(3~4) orthogonal experiment design was used to optimize the preparation of the patches,and investigate its affecting factors and skin irritation. Eugenol was taken as the index component to study the release behavior in vitro and percutaneous penetration of Cangai oil transfersomes patches by HPLC.The results showed that the optimal prescription for preparing Cangai oil transfersomes patches were Eudragit E100 0.6 g, succinic acid 0.08 g,triethyl citrate 0.25 g,glycerol 0.2 g.Patches prepared by the preferred preparation had a flat appearance without obvious bubbles.The initial adhesion was 18.33±2.52, the stickiness was(30.01±2.45) min,and the peel strength was(5.62±0.95) kN·m~(-1).The results of affecting factors experiment showed the order of factors affecting its adhesion was humidity>temperature>lighting,and the skin irritation test results showed no significant skin irritation after 24 h of single administration. The results of drug release behavior in vitro showed that the release and the percutaneous penetration of both Cangai oil patches and Cangai oil transfersomes patches conformed to the Higuchi equation.The release amount of eugenol were 80.66% and 82.25% at 72 h, with no significant difference. The cumulative permeation area of eugenol per unit area reached(0.195 6±0.065 9),(0.131 0±0.045 5) mg·cm~(-2) at 72 h, with significant differences(P<0.05).The experiment results proved that the preparation process of Cangai oil transfersomes patches was stable,and the prepared patches had a good adhesion. At the same time,the preparation of transfersomes patches could alleviate and control the release of the drug to a certain extent, and provide a certain experimental basis for clinical pediatric drug safety.

[Determination of 5 nucleosides components in culture of Paecilomyces hepialid by HPLC].

The concentration of 5 nucleosides, uracil, uridine, guanidine, adenine and adenosine in culture of Paecilomyces hepialid was determined by the developed method of HPLC. The HPLC method was performed on a Waters SunFire C18 (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 µm) column with methanol-water gradient elution as the mobile phase. The detection wavelength was 260 nm and the colunmn temperature was controlled at 30 °C. The linear range was 10.00-200.00 mg · L(-1) (r = 0.9994) for uracil, 10.10-202.00 mg · L(-1) (r = 0.9992) for uridine, 10.00-200.00 mg · L(-1) (r = 0.9991) for guanidine, 10.30-206.00 mg · L(-1) (r = 0.9992) for adenine and 10.45-209.00 mg · L(-1) (r = 0.9991) for adenosine, respectively. The RSD of precision was 0.032%, 0.035%, 0.039%, 0.049%, 0.00080%, respectively. The average recoveries of uracil, guanidine, adenine, and adenosine were 97.34%, 99.10%, 101.6%, 98.61% and 100.2% with RSD of 1.3%, 2.1%, 0.96%, 0.95%, and 1.3% respectively. The method showed high sensitivity, good selectivity, linearity and repeatability, which was suitable for the content analysis of 5 nucleosides components in P. hepialid and its extracts.

[Effects of volatile oil of Rhizoma zingiberis and other two kinds of volatile oil on percutaneous penetration of bullatine A via hairless mouse skin in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of volatile oils of Rhizoma Acori Tatarinowii (RAT), Semen Myristicae (SM) and Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae (PCR) on percutaneous penetration of bullatine A via hairless mouse skin in vitro. METHOD: By an improved Franz diffusion, the effects of three kinds of volatile oils on the percutaneous penetration of bullatine A were observed and compared with Azone, and the cumulative amount of bullatine A was determined by HPLC. RESULT: The penetration enhancement ratios of bullatine A with 7% volatile oil RAT and SM, 5% volatile oil of PCR and 3% Azone were 6.52, 6.74, 2.18, 6.03, respectively. CONCLUSION: The volatile oil of RAT, SM and PCR enhance permeation of bullatine A, effectively.