[Rapid screening and quality evaluation for the harmful substance 5-hydroxymethyl furfural in commercially available traditional Chinese medicine injection using LC-MS/MS method].

To screen the harmful substance 5-hydroxymethyl furfural content in commercially available traditional Chinese medicine injection which are commonly used, and to preliminarily evaluate the quality of these injections, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural was taken as an index. The contents of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural in 56 samples which consist of 23 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine injections and glucose injection were determined using LC-MS/MS, and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural was detected in 52 of these samples. The minimal content was 0.0038 microg x L(-1) and the maximum content was 1420 microg x mL(-1). The contents of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural were significantly different in traditional Chinese medicine injection which came from different kinds, manufacturers or batches. The results showed the quality difference of commercially available traditional Chinese medicine injection is significant taking 5-hydroxymethyl furfural content as assessment index. More attention should be paid to the safety of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural in traditional Chinese medicine injection, and unified limitation standard should be set to improve medication safety of traditional Chinese medicine injection.

Searching for the main anti-bacterial components in artificial Calculus bovis using UPLC and microcalorimetry coupled with multi-linear regression analysis.

The fingerprints of artificial Calculus bovis extracts from different solvents were established by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and the anti-bacterial activities of artificial C. bovis extracts on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) growth were studied by microcalorimetry. The UPLC fingerprints were evaluated using hierarchical clustering analysis. Some quantitative parameters obtained from the thermogenic curves of S. aureus growth affected by artificial C. bovis extracts were analyzed using principal component analysis. The spectrum-effect relationships between UPLC fingerprints and anti-bacterial activities were investigated using multi-linear regression analysis. The results showed that peak 1 (taurocholate sodium), peak 3 (unknown compound), peak 4 (cholic acid), and peak 6 (chenodeoxycholic acid) are more significant than the other peaks with the standard parameter estimate 0.453, -0.166, 0.749, 0.025, respectively. So, compounds cholic acid, taurocholate sodium, and chenodeoxycholic acid might be the major anti-bacterial components in artificial C. bovis. Altogether, this work provides a general model of the combination of UPLC chromatography and anti-bacterial effect to study the spectrum-effect relationships of artificial C. bovis extracts, which can be used to discover the main anti-bacterial components in artificial C. bovis or other Chinese herbal medicines with anti-bacterial effects.

Natural products berberine and curcumin exhibited better ameliorative effects on rats with non-alcohol fatty liver disease than lovastatin.

Studies have shown that satins and herbal products have potential to treat non-alcohol fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in clinic. However, no study has compared their effects, and their mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we choose lovastatin and two herbal products including berberine and curcumin to compare their effects in treating NAFLD. NAFLD model was established by high fat food, and rats were administrated with lovastatin, berberine, curcumin, berberine + curcumin at the dosage of 100, 100, 100, 50 + 50 mg/kg bw, respectively. The body weight, visceral fat gain, histological inspection and serum parameters were studied to exam the curative effects. In addition, mediators including SREBP-1c, caveolin-1, pERK, NF-κB, TNF-α, and pJNK were studied. Results showed that berberine + curcumin group exhibited lower body and fat weigh compared with lovastatin group. Biochemical assays showed that LDL-c, ALT, AST, ALP, MDA, LSP level were lower in berberine + curcumin group compared with lovastatin group. Lower expression of SREBP-1c, pERK, TNF-α, and pJNK were also observed in berberine + curcumin group. We conclude that combination of curcumin and berberine exhibited better ameliorative effects in treating NAFLD than lovastatin, and this enhanced effect is associated with oxidative stress, hepatic inflammation and lipid metabolism.

Colorimetric grading scale can promote the standardization of experiential and sensory evaluation in quality control of traditional Chinese medicines.

Experiential and sensory evaluation is an ancient method that remains important in the current quality control system of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs). The process is rapid and convenient when evaluating the quality of crude materials in TCM markets. However, sensory evaluation has been met with skepticism because it is mainly based on experience and lacks a scientific basis. In this study, rhubarb was selected to demonstrate how color-based sensory evaluation could differentiate the quality of herbal medicines objectively. The colors of the rhubarb samples, expressed as RGB values, were obtained from different parts and forms of the plant, including the plant's surface, fracture surface color, and a powdered form with or without treatment with a color-developing reagent. We first divided the rhubarb samples into three grades based on the total content of five hydroxyanthraquinone derivatives, the major pharmacological components in rhubarb. Then, a three-layer back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN), calibrated with selected training samples, was used to correlate the quality of the rhubarb with its color. The color of the rhubarb powder after coloration attained the highest accuracy (92.3%) in predicting the quality grade of the test samples with the established artificial neural networks. Finally, a standardized colorimetric grading scale was created based on the spatial distribution of the rhubarb samples in a two-dimensional chromaticity diagram according to the colors of the powdered rhubarb after color enhancement. By comparing the color between the scale and the tested samples, similar to performing a pH test with indicator paper, subjects without sensory evaluation experience could quickly determine the quality grade of rhubarb. This work illustrates the technical feasibility of the color-based grading of rhubarb quality and offers references for quantifying and standardizing the sensory evaluation of TCMs, foods and other products.

A novel "target constituent knock-out" strategy coupled with TLC, UPLC-ELSD and microcalorimetry for preliminary screening of antibacterial constituents in Calculus bovis.

A novel "target constituent knock-out" strategy was proposed and applied for preliminary screening of antibacterial constituents in Calculus bovis (C. bovis). This strategy was accomplished through the following steps: (1) the single constituents (A-F) in C. bovis samples were knocked out on the Silica Gel thin-layer plates by thin-layer chromatography (TLC); (2) these knocked-out constituents were identified by ultra performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detection (UPLC-ELSD); (3) the antibacterial activities of these knocked-out constituents and C. bovis samples on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were evaluated by microcalorimetry combined with principal component analysis (PCA); (4) the activities of these knocked-out constituents and the total extract of C. bovis, also the interaction properties between these single constituents and the total extract were elucidated. The results showed that the sum of inhibitory ratio (I) of constituents A-F (202.0%) was 5-fold of the I of C. bovis sample (38.01%), showing that these knocked-out constituents had strong antagonistic effects on each other in C. bovis sample and the antagonistic extent was 81.18%. And we found that the key antibacterial composition of C. bovis was not a single component, also not the high content component (cholic acid, CA), but constituent F, which was the combinatorial composition of deoxycholic acid (DCA) and hyodeoxycholic acid (HDCA). Constituent F revealed over 33-fold high activity of the sum of DCA and HDCA activity in solo-use, showing strong synergistic effect between DCA and HDCA. In addition, constituents A-E had significant antagonistic effects on constituent F. Our study indicates that this proposed "target constituent knock-out" strategy is a useful approach for screening active constituents and elucidating the multi-component interactions in C. bovis, further providing some reference for understanding the pharmacodynamic actions, controlling the quality of Chinese materia medicas (CMMs) and discovering new drugs.