Chemical components with antibacterial properties found in sanchen powder from traditional Tibetan medicine

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Sanchen powder is a traditional Tibetan medicine comprising Bambusae Concretio Silicea, Carthami Flos, and Bovis Calculus Artifactus. Bambusae Concretio Silicea is the dried mass of secreted fluid in the stalks of Gramineae plants such as Bambusa textilis McClure or Schizostachyum chinense Rendle. Carthami Flos is the dried flower of Carthamus tinctorius L. in the Compositae plant. Bovis Calculus Artifactus is made from ox bile powder, cholic acid, hyodeoxycholic acid, taurine, bilirubin, cholesterol, and trace elements. Research has evidenced the antibacterial efficacy of Sanchen powder, albeit its active constituents for this effect are yet to be established.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To investigate effective compounds, potential targets, and molecular mechanism of Sanchen powder for its antibacterial properties by using network pharmacology combined with in vitro validation, with the aims of observing the action of effective compounds in Sanchen powder and exploring new therapeutic strategies for antibacterial.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, UPLC-Q-TOF-MS was utilized to identify the chemical composition in Sanchen powder and its blood-borne chemical ingredients post-oral intake. A network pharmacology analysis was used to establish the chemical compound in the blood following oral administration-target-disease network. The study aimed to identify antibacterial active ingredients, which were then subjected to molecular docking and pharmacodynamic experiments to verify their efficacy.

RESULTS

The findings demonstrate that following oral administration, the blood contains seven key components of Sanchen powder, including bilirubin, glycochenodeoxycholic acid, glycocholic acid, taurocholic acid, phenylalanine, safflomin A, and tryptophan. Additionally, the network pharmacology and molecular docking study results indicate the potential antibacterial effects of bilirubin, glycocholic acid, and glycochenodeoxycholic acid. In vitro antibacterial experiments revealed that bilirubin, glycocholic acid, and glycochenodeoxycholic acid could restrict the growth of the Staphylococcus aureus cell membrane at a certain concentration. Moreover, they exhibited antibacterial effects on Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Escherichia coli.

CONCLUSIONS

Bilirubin, glycocholic acid, and glycochenodeoxycholic acid could be effective therapeutic ingredients for the antibacterial effects of Sanchen powder. These results offer a foundation for further clinical application and research on the antibacterial effect of Sanchen powder, a Traditional Tibetan Medicine.

Active substances and molecular mechanisms of the anti-myocardial ischemia effects of Carthami flos by network pharmacology and in vitro experiments

Myocardial ischemia is a predominant cardiovascular disorder that can result in a series of life-threatening cardiovascular diseases. Carthami flos (CF), the flower of Carthamus tinctorius L., is a commonly used herbal medicine in Chinese medicine for treating coronary atherosclerotic heart diseases based on its anti-myocardial ischemia (MI) effects. This paper aimed to investigate the active substances and mechanisms of the anti-MI effects of CF by network pharmacology and in vitro experiments. The results indicated that 9 constituents showed high degree of association with multiple targets of MI, including quercetin, kaempferol, β-sitosterol, luteolin, baicalein, safflomin A, safflomin C, safflower-yellow-B and hydroxysafflor yellow A. In addition, AKT1, EGFR, CASP3, MYC, JUN, ALB, CTNNB1, VEGFA, ESR1, and IL1B were screened as the leading targets with a degree number ≥50. Bioinformatic annotation of GO-MF and KEGG showed that the anti-MI effects of CF are related to apoptosis and response to antioxidative stress pathways. The in vitro results showed that CF reduced LDH and CK levels, alleviated cell cycle arrest, and decreased ROS levels in H₂O₂-treated H9c2 cells. In addition, CF also promoted the nuclear shift of Nrf2 and the mRNA expressions of Akt, Nrf2 and Bcl-2 but decreased the expression of caspase-3 in H₂O₂-treated H9c2 cells. Collectively, the anti-MI effects of CF involve inhibiting apoptosis and antioxidative stress in cardiomyoblasts by regulating Akt/Nrf2/Caspase-3/Bcl-2, and the possible active substances of CF are quercetin, kaempferol, β-sitosterol, luteolin, baicalein, safflomin C, safflower-yellow-B, and hydroxysafflor yellow A. The results of this study will be helpful for further drug development of CF and its active monomers.

[HPLC using capillary monolithic column molecularly imprinted with composite metal organic frame for enrichment and detection of Ponceau 4R in Carthami flos]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the performance of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with capillary monolithic column molecularly imprinted with metal organic frame (UiO-66-NH₂@MIPs capillary monolithic column) for enrichment, purification and detection of Ponceau 4R in Carthami flos.

METHODS

UiO-66-NH₂@MIPs monolithic columns were prepared via in situ polymerization, and the adsorption properties and morphology of the columns were characterized by HPLC, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared (IR) spectral analysis. HPLC with the prepared columns was performed for detecting the content of Ponceau 4R in Carthami flos samples.

RESULTS

The UiO-66-NH₂@MIPs system showed a good linearity for detecting Ponceau 4R over the concentration range of 0.1-10.0 μg/mL with a correlation coefficient > 0.9999 and a detection limit (S/N=3) of 2.7×10-4 μg/mL. The mean recovery of Ponceau 4R in Carthami flos samples ranged from 82.60% to 105.56%, and the intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviation (RSD) values ranged from 2.4% to 3.4%. The recycling experiment showed that the system could be reused for sensitive detection of Ponceau 4R in Carthami flos. The capacity of UiO-66-NH₂@MIPs column was 0.178 μg/mg, which was superior to that of other monolithic columns (0.089, 0.080, and 0.111 μg/ mg), demonstrating that the addition of UiO-66-NH₂ increased the adsorption capacity of the system. Under the optimized conditions, the UiO-66-NH₂@MIPs-HPLC system had an enrichment factor of over 73 folds with obviously reduced interference by the impurity peaks.

CONCLUSIONS

The UiO-66-NH₂@MIPs column-HPLC system has much better performance for enrichment, purification and detection of Ponceau 4R in Carthami flos than direct HPLC.

Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of Danshen in isoproterenol-induced acute myocardial ischemic injury combined with Honghua

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Herb pair, the most fundamental and simplest form of herb compatibility, serves as the basic building block of traditional Chinese medicine formulae. The Danshen-Honghua herb pair (DH), composed of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Danshen in Chinese) and Carthami Flos (Honghua in Chinese), has remarkable clinical efficacy to cure cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. This study was designed to investigate the pharmacodynamics of DH in comparison with single herbs and pharmacokinetics of DH relative to Danshen in acute myocardial ischemic injury.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sixty male Wistar rats were divided into control, model and drug treated groups. The acute myocardial ischemia rat model was induced by administering 85 mg/kg/d isoproterenol (ISO) subcutaneously for two consecutive days. For pharmacodynamic study, histopathological and biochemical analysis were performed to assess the anti-myocardial ischemic effects. While for pharmacokinetic study, a UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for determination of nine main active ingredients, namely danshensu, protocatechuic acid, protocatechualdehyde, caffeic acid, lithospermic acid, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A and salvianolic acid C in rat plasma.

RESULTS

The histopathological and biochemical analysis revealed that DH exerted enhanced anti-myocardial ischemic effects against the ISO-induced myocardial ischemia compared with single herbs. The pharmacokinetic study indicated that DH could significantly increase the t_1/2z of danshensu, T_max, AUC_0-∞ and MRT_0-t of protocatechuic acid in comparison with Danshen alone in normal rats, but more importantly elevate systemic exposure level and prolong t_1/2z of protocatechualdehyde, caffeic acid, T_max of danshensu in acute myocardial ischemia rats.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings demonstrated the greater effects of DH after the compatibility in ISO-induced acute myocardial ischemia rats at pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic levels and provided valuable information for clinical application of herb pairs.

Carthami flos regulates gastrointestinal motility functions

Background

Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are common in the general population. This investigation studied the effects of Carthami flos (CF), a natural product, on GI motility.

Methods

We checked the intestinal transit rates (ITRs) or gastric emptying in normal and in GI-motility-dysfunction (GMD) mice in vivo. The GMD mice were made by acetic acid or streptozotocin.

Results

Both ITRs and gastric emptying were increased by CF (0.0025-0.25 g/kg) dose dependently. Also, in the GMD mice models, acetic-acid-induced peritoneal irritation, and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice, the ITRs were decreased compared to normal mice, and these decreases were inhibited by CF.

Conclusion

These results suggest that CF is one of the good candidates for the development of a prokinetic agent that may regulate GI-motility functions.