ABSTRACT
In order to research the mechanism of guiding action of borneol in Suxiaojiuxin pills, the model of in vitro intestinal absorption, in vivo drug metabolism of mice and cell in vitro absorption model of Caco-2 were established firstly. All animal experiments were in accordance with the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Nankai University. The results showed that the cumulative absorption quantity and absorption permeability of ferulic acid and ligustilide in the intestinal juice of Suxiaojiuxin pills group were significantly increased comparing with fake Suxiaojiuxin pills group, which don't contain borneol. By using borneol, the content of ferulic acid and ligustilide in the blood and tissues, such as heart, were added. The transepithelial resistance value and the content of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in Caco-2 were rapidly decreased and increased, respectively. Due to further explore mechanism of promoting intestinal absorption of borneol for drugs, in this study, photosensitive probes of borneol were synthesized to capture its targets, and dual luciferase reporter system was used to evaluate its activity of calcium. It was found that it could make calcium overload by regulating transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily M, member 8 (TrpM8). Then, the results of mass spectrometry imaging showed that the accumulation of ferulic acid in the heart was significantly increased by borneol, and the relaxation rate of rat thoracic aorta was enhanced obviously. In summary, the borneol in Suxiaojiuxin pills can expand cell space and increase intestinal permeability by acting on TrpM8, thus promoting the intestinal absorption, tissue distribution and target organ enrichment of drugs.