Screen the Effective Components of Lycopodii herba on Rheumatoid Arthritis with the Aid of Spectrum-Effect Relationship and Uncover its Potential Mechanism.

Lycopodii herba (SJC), a traditional Chinese medicine, has the effect of dispelling wind and eliminating dampness (a therapeutic principle and method of traditional Chinese medicine for rheumatoid arthritis), relaxing tendon and activating collaterals. However, the major effective components and its therapeutic mechanism were unclear. In this study, different SJC samples with slightly different compositions were prepared by extracting with different concentrations of ethanol. Then, the therapeutic effects on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of different SJC samples were evaluated. Finally, the spectrum-effect relationship between UPLC-Q-TOF/MS fingerprints and the effect of RA was explored to screen the effective components. Western blotting was used to study the potential mechanism. The volume of hind paw and the level of RF, TNF-α, and IL-1ß were lower after administrating with different SJC samples, compared with the model group. Histopathological findings also confirmed that SJC could relieve the symptoms of RA. Combined with identification of the components in plasm from SJC, lycojaponicumin C, des-N-methyl-α-obscurine, 8ß-acetoxy-12ß-hydroxy-lycopodine or 8ß-acetoxy-11α-hydroxy-lycopodine or 8ß-hydroxy-11α-acetoxylycopodine were considered to be the major effective components. The mechanism may be related to AChE/NF-κB signaling pathway. This work provides a general method to screen the potential effective components of herb medicines and would be benefit to understand the mechanism of SJC for the treatment of RA.

Identification and Analysis of Chemical Constituents and Rat Serum Metabolites in Lycopodium clavatum Using UPLC-Q-TOF/MS Combined with Multiple Data-Processing Approaches.

Lycopodium clavatum is a dry whole grass of Lycopodium japonicum Thunb.; it has been extensively used to anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial actions and inhibits acetylcholinesterase activity. However, it lacks further compounds research of Lycopodium clavatum in vivo and in vitro. In this work, a rapid method was established using the ultra high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) combined with multiple data-processing approaches for compounds analysis of Lycopodium clavatum in vitro and in vivo. Finally, 30 peaks were characterized in 75% ethanol extract of Lycopodium clavatum and 17 peaks were characterized in rat plasma that including 12 prototype compounds and 5 metabolites. Methylation and demethylation are the main transformation reactions of Lycopodium clavatum in rat serum. This work could be helpful for understanding the complex compounds of Lycopodium clavatum and further analyzing the pharmacological studies of active compounds.

[Proliferation effect of neural stem cell of ginsenoside Rg1 in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To study the proliferation effect of neural stem cells (NSCs) of ginsenoside Rg1 in vitro. METHOD: NSCs from the embryonic rat (E14) were isolated, 10 mg x L(-1) BrdU were added in the medium. The NSCs were incubated together with 1, 10 micromol x L(-1) ginsenoside Rg1 for 48 hours, control group were setup. Then BrdU positive cell number were detected and counted by fluorescence microscop. The Hes1 and Mash1 mRNA expression were detected by real-time RT-PCR. RESULT: The number of BrdU positive cells in 10 micromol x L(-1) ginsenoside Rg1 group was increased significantly compared with the control group (40.5 +/- 10.9 vs 26.2 +/- 6.0, P < 0.01), and the Hes1 mRNA expression were increased significantly (1.00 +/- 0.11) vs (1.28 +/- 0.14), P < 0.05. CONCLUSION: ginsenoside Rg1 can promote the proliferation of neural stem cells in vitro, and this effect may be induced by the up-regulation Hes1 expression.