ABSTRACT
Psoraleae Fructus is the dried and mature fruit of the legume Psoralea corylifolia. It is warm in nature， pungent and bitter in flavor， and attributive to the kidney and spleen meridians. Its main effect include warming the kidney and assisting Yang， absorbing Qi and relieving asthma， warming the spleen and relieving diarrhea， etc.， and it also can for external use of eliminating wind and freckle. Clinically， Psoraleae Fructus is mainly used for the treatment of impotence due to kidney deficiency， soreness of waist and knees， vitiligo， etc. The existing studies have shown that Psoraleae Fructus has a variety of pharmacological effect， such as anti-tumor， anti-oxidant， anti-bacterial， anti-inflammatory， promoting bone growth and protecting cardiovascular. But at the same time， many studies at home and abroad have found that taking Psoraleae Fructus and its compounds for a long time or in large doses can cause liver toxicity， phototoxicity， nephrotoxicity， etc. The most common is liver toxicity， most of the clinical reports on the toxicity of psoralen are caused by drug-induced liver injury events， which limits the clinical use of Psoraleae Fructus and can't exert its proper therapeutic effect. Therefore， it is particularly important to fully understand the toxicological mechanism of liver injury caused by Psoraleae Fructus and its attenuation methods. In this paper， by consulting the domestic and foreign related literatures in recent years that reported the hepatotoxicity of Psoraleae Fructus， the four aspects of clinical report on liver injury， hepatotoxic components， toxicological mechanisms and attenuation methods of Psoraleae Fructus were reviewed， including bile acid stasis and oxidative stress. The hepatotoxicity of Psoraleae Fructus was discussed in terms of reaction， mitochondrial damage， liver fat deformation， etc.， and the attenuation methods of Psoraleae Fructus were summarized from the aspects of compatibility attenuation and processing attenuation， aiming to comprehensively and objectively clarify Psoraleae Fructus. The potential toxicological mechanism of lipid-induced hepatotoxicity and research progress in attenuation were expected to provide a theoretical basis for further study of Psoraleae Fructus hepatotoxicity and clinical rational use of drugs.
ABSTRACT
Endogenous toxic components have become an important topic in the field of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). Since the endogenous toxic components in TCMs are often used as clinical effective components, the safety and effectiveness of endogenous toxic substances has become an important part of the research of TCMs. In this paper, the classification and evaluation criteria of toxic Chinese medicinal materials are described, and the analytical methods of endogenous components in TCMs are summarized and expounded base on with the techniques of chromatography, spectroscopy, immunoassay, and so on. On this basis, the problems in terms of endogenous toxic components are analyzed and discussed. This paper could provide ideas and methods for the evaluation of the validity and safety of TCMs containing endogenous toxic components.
Subject(s)
Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Medicine, Chinese TraditionalABSTRACT
The active ingredients in some Tibetan medicinal herbs are toxic components as well,and we need to have a clear understanding of their mechanism and metabolic pathways in use. The endogenous toxic components of highly toxic Tibetan herbal medicines are mainly alkaloids, such as aconitum alkaloids, methyllycaconitine, tropane alkaloids, brucine, strychnine, papaverine and swainso-nine. The majority of endogenous toxic alkaloids in Tibetan medicine herbs exist in roots, fruits and seeds of plants, exerting neurotoxicity or cardiotoxicity as highly toxic inherent chemicals. Most alka-loids are metabolized in phaseⅠvia de-alkylation, hydroxylation, hydrolysis and other reactions, as well as in phaseⅡvia glucuronic acid and sulfonic acid conjugation. They form various metabolites with high polarities and reduced toxicities so as to be easily excreted. The closeness between the therapeutic dose and toxic dose of alkaloids components in Tibetan medicinal herbs leads to their attenuated prep-aration via frying, dairy, highland barley wine soaking, or in combination with Terminalia Chebula to decrease toxicity, as is cited classic books on in Tebitan medicine. Focused on twelve alkaloids of five classes including aconitine, tropane and brucine, we have reviewed the characteristics of their metabo-lism and transformation, as well as their toxicity attenuation and safety evaluation.
ABSTRACT
It is urgent to establish the limit standard of toxic components of Chinese herbal medicine, since the safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has attracted more and more attention.This paper analyzes the present situation and problems in the study of the limit standard of toxic components of Chinese herbal medicine. In addition, the current methods for setting the limit standards of toxic ingredients of TCM are reviewed in this paper, and we also propose a theoretical calculation method for setting the limit standards of toxic ingredients of TCM. Employing aristolochic acid as a case study, we formulate the limit standard of toxic components of Chinese herbal medicine. We believe this paper would provide some useful suggesting for formulating limits standard of toxic components of TCM.
ABSTRACT
Cortex Periplocae Radicis (CPR) is the dried root barks of Periploca spium Bge. It has been used in China for treating rheumatoid arthritis and strengthening the bone and the musculature for thousands of years. Recently, an increasing number of bioactivities of CPR have been recognized, including tumor suppression and anti-chronic heart failure function. However, long-term use or large doses of CPR may produce adverse reactions, which constrains its applications in clinical therapy. Therefore, it is critical to know the chemical components of CPR in order to understand the toxicity mechanism. Nearly a hundred chemical compositions have been found, however, various classes, obfuscated names of different compounds, and disaccord between chemical structure and name were major obstacles to studying pharmacodynamics and toxicity of CPR. In this paper, 94 chemical components of CPR are classified and reviewed, which is valuable for the comprehensive understanding of its biological functions and safe clinical use.
ABSTRACT
Cortex Periplocae Radicis(CPR)is the dried root barks of Periploca spium Bge. It has been used in China for treat?ing rheumatoid arthritis and strengthening the bone and the musculature for thousands of years. Recently,an increasing number of bio?activities of CPR have been recognized,including tumor suppression and anti-chronic heart failure function. However,long-term use or large doses of CPR may produce adverse reactions,which constrains its applications in clinical therapy. Therefore,it is critical to know the chemical components of CPR in order to understand the toxicity mechanism. Nearly a hundred chemical compositions have been found,however,various classes,obfuscated names of different compounds,and disaccord between chemical structure and name were major obstacles to studying pharmacodynamics and toxicity of CPR. In this paper,94 chemical components of CPR are classified and reviewed,which is valuable for the comprehensive understanding of its biological functions and safe clinical use.