ABSTRACT
<b>Objective::To observe the effect of Youguiwan on the levels of cartilage transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in rats with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). <b>Method::Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into six groups: sham control group, model group, glucosamine sulfate group and Youguiwan (high, middle and low-dose) groups. The modified Hulth method was used to prepare KOA models for 6 weeks. The shame control group and the model group were treated with normal saline, Youguiwan high, middle, low-dose groups received Youguiwan 4.8, 2.4, 1.2 g·kg<sup>-1</sup> by gavage respectively, and the glucosamine sulfate group was treated with glucosamine sulfate 0.17 g·kg<sup>-1</sup>. The rats were administrated for 8 weeks according to the dose. After intervention, each group was put to death by femoral artery blood collection, and the keen cartilages of the rats were collected. The pathological changes were observed by htoxylin eosin (HE) staining method, and Mankin score was evaluated. The expressions of STAT3, superoxide dismutase3(SOD3) and Wnt inhibitory factor 1(WIF1) in articular cartilage were detected by immunohistochemistry. The expressions of IL-6 mRNA in articular cartilage were detected by quantitative real-time fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR). The expression of WIF1 in articular cartilage was detected by Western blot. <b>Result::Compared with the sham control group, the Makin score was obviously increased in the model group, the protein expression of STAT3 was increased significantly, the mRNA of IL-6 was raised significantly, but the protein expression of WIF1 was decreased significantly (<italic>P</italic><0.01), articular cartilage was seriously damaged, and chondrocytes were arranged in disorder. Compared with the model group, the Makin score was declined obviously in the high-dose Youguiwan group, the protein expression of STAT3 was significantly reduced, the mRNA expression of IL-6 was significantly reduced in Youguiwan treatment group, while the protein expression of WIF1 was significantly increased (<italic>P</italic><0.05, <italic>P</italic><0.01), the cartilage structure returned to be normal, the chondrocytes distribution was uneven, and articular cartilage surface was not smooth. <b>Conclusion::Youguiwan could significantly improve the articular cartilage degeneration of KOA rats, and inhibit the inflammation of chondrocytes, which may be related to the suppression of STAT3 and IL-6 expression.
ABSTRACT
Deep eutectic solvents (DESs), as a class of novel green solvents, show the promising applications in many fields due to their unique properties such as simple preparation, low cost, environmental friendliness, low volatility, high dissolution power, feasibility of structural design and biodegradability. Recently, DESs have been applied for the extraction, separation and chromatography of active components (flavonoids, saponins, polysaccharides, alkaloids, quinones, phenolic acids, volatile oil, etc) from Chinese materia medica. This article introduced the preparation and properties of DESs, reviewed the development of DESs applications in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, discussed the existing problems and outlined the general trends as well.
ABSTRACT
Objective To determine the optimum extraction and purification technology of Huangqi Baihe Granules (HBG) by using orthogonal design and combination empowerment based on G1-entropy method, so as to provide a reference for the industrial production. Methods With the ethanol extraction amount and paste-forming rate of calycosin7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, hesperidin, crude polysaccharide as evaluation index, and with the extraction times, extraction time and the water adding amount as investigate factors, then the combination empowerment method based on G1-entropy method and orthogonal design were used to optimize the extraction technology of HBG. The same combined methods were used to optimize the purification technology of HBG with retention rate and removal rate of impurity of ethanol extract of calycosin7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, hesperidin and crude polysaccharide, as evaluation index, and with the membrane pore diameter, operating pressure and filtration temperature of multi-channel tubular ceramic ultrafiltration membrane as investigate factors. Results The test results showed that the optimum extraction technology was as follows: Extracted 2 times with 20 times the amount of water and each for 75 min. The optimum ultrafiltration technology was as follows: Multi-channel tubular inorganic ceramic membrane at 50 nm, operating pressure at 0.10 MPa, filtration temperature at 45 ℃. Under such condition, there was no significant difference between verification groups of three batches. Conclusion The optimized extraction and purification process is stable and feasible by verification, which can provide experimental basis for industrial production of HBG.