Simultaneous determination of ferulic acid and gastrodin of Tianshu Capsule in rat plasma by ultra-fast liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry and its application to a comparative pharmacokinetic study in normal and migraine rats

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Huanglian-Houpo Decoction Based on Berberine Hydrochloride and Magnolol Against H1N1 Influenza Virus

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Huanglian-Houpo decoction (HH), which is recorded in the famous traditional Chinese medicine monograph "Puji Fang," contains two individual herbs, Huanglian (Rhizoma coptidis) and Houpo (Magnoliae officinalis cortex). It was regularly used to treat seasonal epidemic colds and influenzas in ancient China. Our laboratory discovered that HH has a significant anti-H1N1 influenza virus effect. However, no pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data concerning the anti-H1N1 influenza virus activity of HH are available to date. In the current study, the concentration-time profiles of two major components of HH, berberine and magnolol, in rat plasma were investigated.

METHODS

An integrate pharmacokinetic approach was developed for evaluating the holistic pharmacokinetic characteristics of berberine and magnolol from HH. Additionally, the inhibition rate and levels of IFN-β in MDCK cells infected by influenza virus were analyzed. Data were calculated using 3p97 with pharmacokinetic analysis.

RESULTS

The estimated pharmacokinetic parameters were maximum plasma concentration (C_max) 0.9086 μg/ml, area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) 347.74 μg·min/ml, and time to reach C_max (T_max) 64.69 min for berberine and C_max = 0.9843 μg/ml, AUC= 450.64 μg·min/ml, T_max = 56.86 min for magnolol, respectively. Furthermore, integrated pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis showed that the highest plasma concentration, inhibition rate and interferon-β (IFN-β) secretion of HH first increased and then weakened over time, reaching their peaks at 60 min. The plasma concentration of HH is directly related to the anti-influenza virus effect.

CONCLUSION

The results indicated that berberine and magnolol are the main active ingredients of HH related to its anti-influenza virus effect, which is related to the improvement of IFN-β secretion.

An UPLC-MS/MS Method for Simultaneous Quantification of the Components of Shenyanyihao Oral Solution in Rat Plasma

Objectives

To study the quantification of the components in rat plasma after oral administration of Shenyanyihao oral solution.

Methods

Shenyanyihao oral solution has been traditionally used for the treatments of chronic nephritis in clinics. Stachydrine, Danshensu, chlorogenic acid, protocatechuic acid, plantamajoside, aesculetin, isoquercitrin, ferulic acid, baicalin, and baicalein are regarded as the main compounds in Shenyanyihao oral solution. A sensitive, efficient, and precise UPLC-MS/MS method was established and validated for the quantification of the components in rat plasma after oral administration of Shenyanyihao oral solution.

Results

The main pharmacokinetic parameters of the components were acquired based on the analysis of the plasma sample by a noncompartmental method using the WinNonlin7.0 pharmacokinetic program. Danshensu, protocatechuic acid, isoquercitrin, and ferulic acid from Shenyanyihao oral solution were quickly absorbed, and their peak concentration occurred at less than 0.5 h. The pharmacokinetic parameter of the average t_1/2 from Danshensu was 3.91 h in rats, and it was the most rapid distribution and elimination among the components. In addition, the C_max of stachydrine and baicalin were revealed as the higher plasma concentrations in rats.

Conclusions

This pharmacokinetic study seems to be useful for a further clinical study of Shenyanyihao oral solution in the treatments of chronic nephritis.

Treatment of migraines with Tianshu capsule: a multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background

Tianshu capsule (TSC), a formula of traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used in clinical practice for prophylactic treatment of headaches in China. However, former clinical trials of TSC were small, and lack of a standard set of diagnostic criteria to enroll patients. The study was conducted to re-evaluate the efficacy and safety of TSC post-marketing in an extending number of migraineurs who have diagnosed migraine with the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (beta version, ICHD-3β).

Methods

The study was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial that conducted at 20 clinical centers in China. At enrollment, patients between 18 and 65 years of age diagnosed with migraine were assigned to receive either TSC (4.08 g, three times daily) or a matched placebo according to a randomization protocol. The primary endpoint was a relative reduction of 50% or more in the frequency of headache attacks. The secondary outcomes included a reduction in the incidence of headache, the visual analogue scale of headache attacks, days of acute analgesic usage, and percentage of patients with a decrease of 50% or more in headache severity. Accompanying symptoms were also assessed.

Results

One thousand migraine patients were initially enrolled in the study, and 919 of them completed the trial. Following the 12-week treatment, significant improvement was observed in the TSC group concerning both primary and secondary outcomes. After therapy discontinuation, the gap between the TSC group and the placebo group in efficacy outcomes continued to increase. There were no severe adverse effects.

Conclusions

TSC is an effective, well-tolerated medicine for prophylactic treatment of migraine, and still have prophylactic effect after medicine discontinuation.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02035111; Data of registration: 2014-01-10.

Effects of Tianshu Capsule on Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats as Revealed by 1H-NMR-Based Metabolic Profiling

Hypertension is one of the most common cardiovascular diseases, resulting in serious complications such as cardiovascular damage and chronic kidney disease. Tianshu capsule (TSC), composed of Chuanxiong (Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort) and Tianma (Gastrodiaelata Blume), has been widely used to treat the blood stasis type of headache and migraine in clinic. Results of previous research showed its antihypertensive effects, but the underlying mechanisms were still unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antihypertensive effect of TSC on spontaneously hypertensive rats by ¹H NMR-based metabonomics and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELIAS), explore potential biomarkers and targets, and probe the potential mechanism of TSC on antihypertensive treatment. The results showed that TSC could decrease the product of oxidative stress (MDA) and enhance the activities of SOD and GSH-Px, down-regulate the expression of enzymes (LDHA, PKM2 and HK2) related to glycolysis, and perturb the levels of a series of amino acids (isoleucine, alanine, asparagine, citrate, etc.) and pathways. Multivariate statistical analyses showed remarkable changes in some endogenous metabolites after administrating TSC related to oxidative stress, amino acid metabolism and energy metabolism disturbances. Some enzymes (alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase-2, tyrosine hydroxylase, dopa decarboxylase, etc.) related to metabolic biomarkers were predicted as the potential targets of TSC treatment on SHRs. The discoveries are helpful to understand the antihypertensive mechanism of TSC and provide theoretical evidence for its future research, development and clinical use.

Analysis of Chuanxiong Rhizoma substrate on production of ligustrazine in endophytic Bacillus subtilis by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Ligustrazine was the active ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicine Chuanxiong Rhizoma. However, the content of ligustrazine is very low. We proposed a hypothesis that ligustrazine was produced by the mutual effects between endophytic Bacillus subtilis and the Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. This study aimed to explore whether the endophytic B. subtilis LB5 could make use of Chuanxiong Rhizoma fermentation matrix to produce ligustrazine and clarify the mechanisms of action preliminarily. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis showed the content of ligustrazine in Chuanxiong Rhizoma was below the detection limit (0.1 ng/mL), while B. subtilis LB5 produced ligustrazine at the yield of 1.0268 mg/mL in the Chuanxiong Rhizoma-ammonium sulfate fermentation medium. In the fermented matrix, the reducing sugar had a significant reduction from 12.034 to 2.424 mg/mL, and rough protein content increased from 2.239 to 4.361 mg/mL. Acetoin, the biosynthetic precursor of ligustrazine, was generated in the Chuanxiong Rhizoma-Ammonium sulfate (151.2 mg/mL) fermentation medium. This result showed that the endophytic bacteria B. subtilis LB5 metabolized Chuanxiong Rhizoma via secreted protein to consume the sugar in Chuanxiong Rhizoma to produce a considerable amount of ligustrazine. Collectively, our preliminary research suggested that ligustrazine was the interaction product of endophyte, but not the secondary metabolite of Chuanxiong Rhizoma itself.

Influence Factors of the Pharmacokinetics of Herbal Resourced Compounds in Clinical Practice

Herbal medicines have been used to prevent and cure diseases in eastern countries for thousands of years. In recent decades, these phytotherapies are becoming more and more popular in the West. As being nature-derived is the essential attribute of herbal medicines, people believe that taking them for diseases treatment is safe enough and has no side-effects. However, the efficacy of herbal resourced compounds (HRC) depends on the multiple constituents absorbed in the body and their pharmacokinetics. Thus, many factors will influence the clinical practice of HRC, i.e., their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). Among these factors, herb-drug interaction has been widely discussed, as these compounds may share the same drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters. Meanwhile there are many other potential factors that can also change the ADME of HRC, including herb pretreatment, herb-herb interactions, pathological status, gender, age of patient, and chemical and physical modification of certain ingredients. With the aim of ensuring the efficacy of HRC and minimizing their clinical risks, this review provides and discusses the influence factors and artificial improvement of the pharmacokinetics of HRC.