ABSTRACT
Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is an important pathological process of cardiac remodeling in patients with heart failure; however its etiology has not been clear. It has been known that the angiotensin II type 1 receptor autoantibody (AT1-AA) is present in patients with heart failure, but it is unclear whether this antibody directly causes MF. In this study, we investigated the role of AT1-AA in MF and its effects on cardiac fibroblasts (CFs). The AT1-AA positive rat model was established by active immunization method, and the measurement of indexes were made in the 8th week after active immunity. The results of heart echocardiography showed that the cardiac systolic and diastolic functions of AT1-AA positive rats were impaired with reduced left ventricular wall thickness and enlarged heart chambers. HE staining results showed that the myocardial fibers were disorganized and ruptured, and Masson staining revealed that the area of collagen fibers around the myocardium and coronary arteries was significantly increased in AT1-AA positive group compared with that of the control group (P < 0.05). Moreover, primary CFs isolated from neonatal rats were cultured and treated with AT1-AA for 48 h. CCK-8 and immunofluorescence staining results showed that AT1-AA enhanced proliferation rate of CFs (P < 0.001), and Western blot results showed that AT1-AA significantly increased expressions of collagen I (Col I), Col III, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 in CFs (all P < 0.05). Taken together, these results suggest that AT1-AA may induce MF and cardiac dysfunction via activating CFs.
ABSTRACT
With the content of gallic acid, loganin, paeoniflorin and paeonol as the indexes, to screen out dissolution determination conditions, establish the dissolution determination method for multi-index components in Liuwei Dihuang concentrated pills, calculate and map the accumulative dissolution curve, and then compare the dissolution of products from different pharmaceutical factories through the similarity factor (f2). According to the results, the optimum dissolution determination conditions were the paddle method, with 250 mL 0.1 mol x L(-1) hydrochloric acid as the dissolution medium, and a rotation rate of 100 r x min(-1). The similarity factor values (f2) of the dissolution curves of the four main components of Liuwei Dihuang concentrated pills from different pharmaceutical factories were mostly less than 50. This demonstrated a significant difference in the dissolution of Liuwei Dihuang concentrated pills from different pharmaceutical factories, and provided scientific basis for improving the equality evaluation of Liuwei Dihuang concentrated pills.
Subject(s)
Humans , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Chemistry , Organic Chemicals , Quality Control , Solvents , ChemistryABSTRACT
Objective: To optimize the microwave extraction (ME) technology for extraction of total aconitum alkaloids and paeoniflorin in co-decoction of Aconiti Radix Cocta coupled with Paeoniae Radix Alba.. Methods: Orthogonal test with single factor, as well as ME method was used, 65% ethanol was optimized as extraction solvent, the effects of four factors, such as the microwave power, the radiation time, the solvent consumption, and ethanol concentration in microwave extraction process were investigated. The contents of total aconitum alkaloids were determined by UV-visible spectrophotometry and the paeoniflorin by HPLC by taking the contents and extract yield as evaluation indexes. Results: The optimum conditions of extraction were as follows: 65% ethanol as extracting solvent, the microwave power was 800 W, the radiation time was 0.5 h, the proportion of raw material to solvent was 1:10. In the condition, the highest extracting content and lowest extract yield of total aconitum alkaloids and paeoniflorin could be obtained. Conclusion: The optimized microwave extraction technology could be a potential way with the shorter time and higher extract yield and ME methods is better than the conventional extraction methods.