The role of Ce(III) in BZ oscillating reactions

Anti-inflammation activity of Zhizi Jinhua Pills and overall quality consistency evaluation based on integrated HPLC, DSC and electrochemistry fingerprints

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Zhizi Jinhua Pills (ZZJHP), a compound preparation composed of 8 traditional Chinese medicines (TCM), is widely used clinically to clearing heat, purging fire, cooling blood and detoxifying. However, the studies on its pharmacological activity and the determination of active compounds are relatively few. There is a lack of quality control methods that can reflect the effectiveness of the drug.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The objective was to construct fingerprint profiles, conduct a spectrum-effect relationship study and establish an overall quality control method for ZZJHP through anti-inflammatory and redox activity studies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Firstly, anti-inflammatory activity was tested using the xylene-induced ear edema model in mice. Then, Five-wavelength fusion HPLC fingerprint, electrochemical fingerprint, and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) profiling were established to evaluate ZZJHP more comprehensively, where Euclidean quantified fingerprint method (EQFM) was proposed for the similarity assessment of these three fingerprints. Moreover, the spectrum-activity relationship of HPLC-FP and DSC-FP with electrochemical activity helped explore the active components or ranges in the fingerprint. Finally, integrated analysis of HPLC, DSC and electrochemistry were used for the quality screen of samples from different manufacturers.

RESULTS

ZZJHP was found to significantly decrease the levels of both TNF-α and IL-6 in the mice. Qualitatively, the integrated similarity S_m of 21 samples were all greater than 0.9, indicating the great consistency in chemical composition. Quantitatively, 9 batches of samples were classified as Grade1∼4; 6 batches of samples were classified as Grade5∼7 due to higher P_INT; 6 batches of samples were classified as Grade4∼5 due to lower P_INT. EQFM can qualitatively and quantitatively characterize the fingerprint profile information from an overall perspective.

CONCLUSIONS

This strategy will contribute to the quantitative characterization of TCM and promote the application of fingerprint technology in the phytopharmacy field.

Mapping Sequential Oscillations in the Bromate-Oxalic Acid-Acetone-Ce(IV) Reaction

Oscillating reactions are reactions in which it is possible to observe oscillations in the concentrations of some reaction intermediates. The reaction studied here is composed of acetone, sulfuric acid, bromate, oxalic acid, and Ce(IV). Chemical oscillators may have different behaviors in batch, for example, the presence of an induction period and change of oscillations' pattern. A much rarer event is the presence of a break, or pause, between two groups of oscillations, which is shown by this system. To better determine the conditions under which this behavior occurs, we built several phase diagrams for the initial concentrations of reactants. These phase diagrams show that there is a well-defined range of concentrations that produce a pause in the oscillations. The initial bromate concentration is special because increasing this concentration eliminates the pause in the oscillations, but a further increase can make a pause appear again. These results can be interpreted considering that the reaction mechanism is controlled by at least two intermediates. In addition, this work presents a representative set of data that must be acknowledged by any detailed proposal of mechanism for this oscillating reaction.

A modular approach to self-oscillating polymer systems driven by the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction

This review explores the principle, modular construction, integral control and engineering aspects of self-oscillating polymer systems driven by the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction.

The effect of temperature on the dynamics of a homogeneous oscillatory system operated in batch and under flow

Dependence of the oscillation frequency on the temperature under flow and batch regimes.