Simultaneous determination of 8 bioactive isoflavonoids in Astragali Radix by UHPLC equipped with core-shell column / 中国中药杂志

This research aims to develop an UHPLC method, based on core-shell column(i.e. superficially porous particles), for simultaneous determination of eight isoflavonoids including formononetin,(6αR,11αR)-3-hydroxy-9,10-dimethoxypterocarpan, calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside,(3R)-7,2-dihydroxy-3,4-dimethoxyisoflavone, calycosin, ononin,(6αR,11αR)-9,10-dimethoxypterocarpan-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and(3R)-7,2-dihydroxy-3,4-dimethoxyisoflavan-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside in Astragali Radix. The analysis was performed on an Agilent Poroshell EC-C_(18 )column(2.1 mm×100 mm, 2.7 μm) with 0.2% formic acid solution(A)-acetonitrile(B) as mobile phase for gradient elution. The flow rate was 0.5 mL·min~(-1), with column temperature of 40 ℃ and the wavelengths were set at 260 and 280 nm. According to the results, all calibration curves showed good linearity(R~2>0.999 8) within the tested concentration ranges. Both the intra-and inter-day precisions for 8 isoflavonoids were less than 0.80%, with the mean recovery at the range of 94.71%-104.6%. Thus, the newly developed UHPLC method using core-shell column owned the advantages in terms of rapid analysis, low column pressure and less solvent consumption, thus enabling the usage of conventional HPLC systems. Meanwhile, quantitative evaluation was carried out for 22 batches of commercial Astragali Radix. It has been found that great variations occurred for the content of the individual isoflavonoids among different batches; in contrast, the total content of total 8 isoflavonoids(>0.1%) was stable in most samples, indicating that it was reasonable to involve all isoflavonoids as the chemical markers for the quality control of Astragali Radix.

Effects of Yinian Jiangya Decoction containing serum on cytokines secretion of vascular endothelium of spontaneously hypertensive rats / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effects of Yinian Jiangya Decoction (YNJYD) on cytokine secretion in spontaneoulsy hypertensive rats (SHRs) vascular endothelium.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Aortic endothelial cells (ECs) were primarily cultured from SHRs; male SD rats were treated with different doses (high, medium, and low doses) of YNJYD, the blood was collected on the 21st day, and then, the serum was separated. ECs were cocultured with the serum for different time courses, and the culture supernatant concentrations of endothelin (ET)-1, nitric oxide (NO), tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) were determined by ABC-ELISA methods.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>ET-1, NO, t-PA, and PAI-1 levels in endothelial cell culture supernatant were increased in a time-dependent manner; YNJYD could significantly elevate NO and t-PA expressions in ECs, while ET-1 and PAI-1 expressions were dramatically decreased; these effects of YNJYD were in a concentration-dependent manner.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The therapeutic effect of YNJYD on hypertension is attributed to its effect on regulating vessel dilation and blood coagulation, in which ET-1/NO and PAI-1/t-PA are two pairs of pivotal mediators.</p>

Effects of Tanshinone IIa on cytokines and platelets in immune vasculitis and its mechanism / 中国实验血液学杂志

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Tanshinone IIa on IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha cytokines in immune vasculitis and platelets, as well as their relationship. The model of immune vasculitis of rabbits were established by intravenous injection of bovine serum albumin twice. Experiment was divided into 4 groups: control group, model group, tanshinone IIa-treated group and aspirin-treated group. The platelet count, platelet aggregation of peripheral blood were determined. The levels of serum IL-1beta, IL-6, TNF-alpha were detected by ELISA. The pathological changes of immune vasculitis were analyzed by hematoxylin & eosin staining, elastic fibers staining and electron microscopy. The results showed that the levels of IL-1beta and TNF-alpha in model group were significantly higher than those in normal group (p < 0.05), while the level of IL-6 was not significantly different between various groups. The serum level of IL-1beta was correlated with platelet number, while serum levels IL-1beta and TNF-alpha were both correlated with the platelet aggregation. The treatment with tanshinone IIa could significantly decrease the serum levels of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and platelet number, and the efficacy of tanshinone IIa was same as aspirin. The tanshinone IIa and aspirin both could alleviate the vessels damage in patients with immune vasculitis. It is concluded that the tanshinone IIa may diminish the inflammation damage of vessels in patients with immune vasculitis through the inhibition of cytokines and platelets.

Effects of matrine on invasion and metastasis of leukemia cell line Jurkat / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the inhibitory effects of matrine, in different concentrations, on invasion and metastasis of human acute lymphocytic leukemia cell line Jurkat.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In vitro cultured Jurkat cells were treated by matrine in concentration of 0 g/L, 0.1 g/L, 0.15 g/L and 0.2 g/L, respectively. Then cell adhesion assay, cell migration assay and matrigel invasion assay were used respectively to observe the effects of matrine on adhesion, migration and invasive capacity of Jurkat cells. Meantime, RT-PCR was performed to detect the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 mRNA expression levels. Comparison of measurement data among groups was analyzed by variance analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>As compared with the control group, the adhesion of Jurkat to fibronectin (FN) was significantly inhibited by 0.15 g/L and 0.2 g/L of matrine (P < 0.05); the cell migration and invasive capacity were significantly lowered by 0.1 g/L, 0.15 g/L and 0.2 g/L matrine (P < 0.01). High mRNA expression of MMP-9 presented but that of MMP-2 was expressed insignificantly in Jurkat cells, matrine at 0.1 g/L, 0.15 g/L and 0.2 g/L showed obvious effect in down-regulating MMP-9 mRNA expression (P < 0.01). Besides, MMP-9 mRNA expression was found to be positively correlated with the invasive capacity of Jurkat cells (r = 0.940, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Matrine is a good drug for antagonizing the invasion and metastasis of leukemia cells, it may roundly inhibit the adhesion, migration and invasive capacity of Jurkat cells, the mechanism might be related with the down-regulation of MMP-9 mRNA expression.</p>