Chemical Profiling of Xueshuan Xinmaining Tablet by HPLC and UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF/MS.

Xueshuan Xinmaining Tablet (XXT) is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of stroke, chest pain, coronary heart disease, and angina pectoris caused by blood stasis. Having a multiple-component preparation, it is still far from meeting the requirements of modernization and standardization because its detailed chemical basis and action mechanism have not been clarified. In this work, the different batches of XXT samples were analyzed by HPLC and the typical sample was analyzed by UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF/MS to understand its chemical profiling. As a result, 77 chromatographic peaks were detected, among which 63 constituents were identified or tentatively characterized based on the comparison of retention time and UV spectra with authentic compounds as well as by summarized MS fragmentation rules and matching of empirical molecular formula with those of published components. This is the first systematic report on the chemical profiling of the commercial XXT products, which provides the sufficiently chemical evidence for the global quality evaluation of XXT products.

[Leak subtraction analysis of Axon patch clamp system].

AIM AND METHODS: Using blind whole-cell recording techniques on rat hippocampal slices, the function and mechanisms of several leak subtraction methods of Axon patch clamp system (Axopatch amplifier and pClamp software) were analyzed. That how to select and use scaled P/N leak subtraction, patch clamp amplifier leak subtraction and Clampfit leak subtraction were emphasized in our present study. RESULTS: The noise induced by scaled P/N leak subtraction of Clampex soft ware was smaller than that of P/N leak subtraction. Axon patch clamp amplifier leak subtraction could subtract the leak current produced by single depolarizing pulse but not the leak current produced by a series of different step depolarizing pulses. Due to its assumption that leak current would be produced if only potential difference arises across membrane, Clampfit leak subtraction was not suitable to subtracting the steady-state leak current while recording voltage-gated channel currents. CONCLUSION: P/N- and scaled P/N leak subtraction, but not Clampfit leak subtraction, cad be used to subtract steady-state leak current while recording voltage-gated channel currents.

[Difference in action sites between mecamylamine and hexamethonium on nicotinic receptors of sympathetic neurons].

To compare the difference in action sites between mecamylamine (MEC) and hexamethonium (HEX) on nicotinic receptors of sympathetic neurons, we investigated the effects of MEC and HEX on the nicotine-induced currents in cultured superior cervical ganglion neurons by whole-cell patch clamp technique. The IC(50) of MEC and HEX for antagonizing the effect of 0.08 mmol/L nicotine was 0.0012 and 0.0095 mmol/L, respectively. Both MEC and HEX accelerated the desensitization of nicotinic receptors. Furthermore, by comparing their effects at holding potentials 30, 70 and 110 mV, it was indicated that their suppressing effect on the nicotine-induced currents was voltage-dependent. However, different from that of HEX, the inhibitory effect of MEC increased with administering the mixture of MEC and nicotine at intervals of 3 min, indicating a use-dependent effect of MEC. It is concluded that the action site of MEC on nicotinic receptors of sympathetic neurons is different from that of HEX.