The impact of a novel Chinese yam-derived polysaccharide on blood glucose control in HFD and STZ-induced diabetic C57BL/6 mice.

Chinese yam, as a kind of traditional "medicine and food homologous food" in Asia, could assistance to digestion, nourish the lungs and relieve cough. Some research also suggested that Chinese yam could prevention of hyperglycemia, but the specific mechanism of action was not clear. In this paper, an acidic polysaccharide (CYPB) was isolated from Chinese yam with the molecular weight of 1.55 × 102 kDa. The determination of the monosaccharide composition of CYPB with ion chromatography showed that CYPB was composed of rhamnose, glucose, arabinose, galactose, glucose, xylose and glucuronic acid with the ratio of 6 : 3.73 : 7.31 : 10.95 : 4.56 : 1. The structural analysis indicated that the CYPB contain 1 → 3, 1 → 4, 1 → 2, 1 → 6 and 1 → 3, 6 glycoside bonds. The experimental results of diabetic mice model induced by high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozocin (STZ) indicated that CYPB could improve clinical symptoms and alleviate the glucose tolerance damage symptoms effectively. The underlying mechanism of regulate blood glucose of CYPB may be related to improve the ability of synthesize glycogen, insulin resistance and reduce gluconeogenesis by regulating the expression of InsR, PI3K, Akt and FoxO3, GLUT4 proteins in PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in T2DM mice.

Shaoyao-Gancao Decoction Relieves Visceral Hyperalgesia in TNBS-Induced Postinflammatory Irritable Bowel Syndrome via Inactivating Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid Type 1 and Reducing Serotonin Synthesis.

Postinflammatory irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder, which is characterized by abdominal pain, low-grade inflammation, and visceral hypersensitivity. Shaoyao-Gancao decoction (SGD) has been used to improve the clinical symptoms of abdominal spasmodic pain accompanying acute gastroenteritis, but the underlying therapeutic mechanism has not been fully elucidated. In the present study, a rat model of PI-IBS was established via rectal administration of TNBS. Rats were scored daily for 28 days using disease activity index (DAI). Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) was used to measure the pain threshold. After SGD (6.25, 12.5, and 25 g/kg/d) treatment for 14 days, rat colonic tissue was collected for histopathological grading, enterochromaffin (EC) cell count, and 5-HT content measurement. RT-qPCR and western blot analyses were employed to detect the gene and protein level of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT), and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1). To further validate the effect of SGD on TRPV1, another experiment was performed in cells. The results revealed that visceral hyperalgesia, reflected by increased DAI, AWR, pathological injury score, 5-HT content, and EC cell count in PI-IBS rats, was significantly ameliorated by SGD. In cells, SGD markedly inhibited the expression and function of TRPV1. Moreover, the expression levels of TPH were also repressed by SGD. The findings of the present study indicated that the therapeutic effect of SGD on visceral hyperalgesia may be closely associated with the regulatory role of TRPV1 and 5-HT signaling pathways.

Comparative pharmacokinetics and metabolites study of seven major bioactive components of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction in normal and polycystic ovary syndrome rats by ultra high pressure liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.

A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for simultaneous quantification of paeoniflorin, albiflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, liquiritin, liquiritigenin, glycyrrhetinic acid, and glycyrrhizin in rat plasma after oral administration of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction, which is traditionally used in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome. The plasma samples were pretreated with methanol as precipitant. The method exhibited good linearity (correlation coefficient (R2 ) > 0.99) with lower quantification limits of 0.595-4.69 ng/mL for all analytes. Intra- and interbatch precision, accuracy, recovery, and stability of the method were all within accepted criteria. The results showed that the pharmacokinetic behaviors of the seven compounds were altered in the pathological status of polycystic ovary syndrome. Furthermore, a total of 36 metabolites were structurally identified based on their accurate masses and fragment ions. The major metabolic pathway involves phase I metabolic reactions (such as hydroxylation), phase II metabolic reactions (such as sulfation and glucuronidation conjugation) as well as the combined multiple-step metabolism. This study is the first report on the pharmacokinetic and metabolic information of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction in both normal and model rats, which would provide scientific evidences for the bioactive chemical basis of herbal medicines and also promote the clinical application of Shaoyao-Gancao decoction for treating polycystic ovary syndrome.

Shaoyao-Gancao Decoction alleviated hyperandrogenism in a letrozole-induced rat model of polycystic ovary syndrome by inhibition of NF-κB activation.

Shaoyao-Gancao Decoction (SGD) has been widely used for the treatment of gynopathy. The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect and potential mechanism of SGD on hyperandrogenism in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) rats. In the present work, SGD was orally administrated to the PCOS rats at the dose of 12.5, 25, and 50 g/kg/d for 14 consecutive days. UPLC-MS/MS was performed to identify the main chemical components of SGD. Body weight, ovarian weight, cystic dilating follicles, and serum levels of steroid hormones were tested to evaluate the therapeutic effect of SGD. In order to further clarify the underlying mechanism, we also measured mRNA and the protein levels of NF-κB, NF-κB p65, P-NF-κB p65, and IκB by RT-qPCR and Western blotting techniques. Our results showed that SGD treatment significantly alleviated hyperandrogenism in PCOS rats as evidenced by reduced serum levels of T and increased E2 and FSH levels. In addition, SGD effectively reduced the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and increased the expression of IκB. Results of the present study demonstrated that SGD could ameliorate hyperandrogenism in PCOS rats, and the potential mechanism may relate to the NF-κB pathway.