The determination of glycyrrhizic acid in Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. ex DC. (Zhi Gan Cao) root and the dried aqueous extract by LC–DAD

Microfluidic fabricated bisdemethoxycurcumin thermosensitive liposome with enhanced antitumor effect

Bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) is the main active ingredient that is isolated from Zingiberaceae plants, wherein it has excellent anti-tumor effects. However, insolubility in water limits its clinical application. Herein, we reported a microfluidic chip device that can load BDMC into the lipid bilayer to form BDMC thermosensitive liposome (BDMC TSL). The natural active ingredient glycyrrhizin was selected as the surfactant to improve solubility of BDMC. Particles of BDMC TSL had small size, homogenous size distribution, and enhanced cultimulative release in vitro. The anti-tumor effect of BDMC TSL on human hepatocellular carcinomas was investigated via 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide method, live/dead staining, and flowcytometry. These results showed that the formulated liposome had a strong cancer cell inhibitory, and presented a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on migration. Further mechanistic studies showed that BDMC TSL combined with mild local hyperthermia could significantly upregulate B cell lymphoma 2 associated X protein levels and decrease B cell lymphoma 2 protein levels, thereby inducing cell apoptosis. The BDMC TSL that was fabricated via microfluidic device were decomposed under mild local hyperthermia, which could beneficially enhance the anti-tumor effect of raw insoluble materials and promote translation of liposome.

Immunotherapeutic effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra and Glycyrrhizic Acid on Leishmania major-infection BALB/C mice

Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a public health problem in endemic areas. The objective of the current study was to investigate the immunotherapeutic activities of the hydroalcoholic extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra (HEG) and glycyrrhizic acid (GA) in the treatment of Leishmania major (L. major)-infected BALB/c mice. In this study, the effect of HEG and GA was checked in vitro on growth of L. major promastigote and amastigote using MTT assay and microscopic counting, respectively. For in vivo experiment, the lesion induced by L. major on BALB/c mice were treated intraperitoneally with HEG, GA, meglumine antimoniate or phosphate buffer saline (negative control) for one month. Then, the lesion development and the parasite burden of the lymph node was assessed, the cytokine response (IFN-γ and IL-4) to Leishmania antigens was evaluated using ELISA method. The results showed that HEG and GA significantly inhibited the growth of L. major promastigotes and amastigotes, the lesion development, parasite burden in the lymph nodes, level of IFN-γ and the ratio of IFN-γ/IL-4 in HEG, GA and meglumine antimoniate-treated mice were significantly higher compared with the negative control group, there was no difference between the HEG, GA and meglumine antimoniate group. It is concluded that hydroalcoholic extract of G. glabra and glycyrrhizic acid showed therapeutic and immunomodulatory effects on L. major-infected BALB/c mice.

Chinese Herbal Medicine Usage Reduces Overall Mortality in HIV-Infected Patients With Osteoporosis or Fractures

The survival of patients with HIV has greatly improved, due to Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART). However, long-term HIV survivors often develop serious bone abnormalities, possibly due to the interplay of osteoblasts, osteoclasts, HIV ad ART. We evaluated in a nation-wide study in Taiwan the effect of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) on overall mortality in HIV patients with osteoporosis or fractures. Enrollment period was between 1998 and 2011. Patients with osteoporosis or fractures before the HIV infection, and those with less than 14 days CHM use, were excluded. This left 498 patients, 160 CHM users, 338 without CHM. Univariate Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to compare the overall mortality in these 2 groups. Due to the nature of Chinese medicine, CHMs inevitably varied. We therefore also used rule mining and network analysis to determine which major CHM clusters were prescribed to the patients. CHM users had a much Lower mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.24–0.77, p < 0.005) and higher survival (p = 0.004, log-rank test). Although the CHMs greatly varied, network analysis identified one main cluster of strongly related CHM combinations (Chuan-Xiong-Cha-Tiao-San (CXCTS), Gan-Cao (GC; Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.), Liu-He-Tang (LHT), Huang-Qin-Tang (HQT), Jia-Wei-Ping-Wei-San (JWPWS), and Dang-Gui-Long-Hui-Wan (DGLHuiW)). CHM as an additional treatment strongly improves overall survival in HIV-infected patients with osteoporosis and fractures.

Quantification and Evaluation of Glycyrrhizic Acid-loaded Surface Decorated Nanoparticles by UHPLC-MS/MS and used in the Treatment of Cerebral Ischemia

Background:

Glycyrrhizic Acid (GRA), a potent antioxidant triterpene saponin glycoside and neuroprotective properties exhibits an important role in the treatment of neurological disorders i.e. cerebral ischemia. GRA is water soluble, therefore it’s have low bioavailability in the brain.

Objective:

To enhance brain bioavailability for intranasally administered Glycyrrhizic Acidencapsulated- chitosan-coated-PCL-Nanoparticles (CS-GRA-PCL-NPs).

Methods:

Chitosan-coated-PCL-Nanoparticles (CS-PCL-NPs) were developed through double emulsification- solvent evaporation technique and further characterized for particle size, zeta potential, size distribution, encapsulation efficiency as well as in vitro drug release. UPLC triple quadrupole Qtrap MS/MS method was developed to evaluate brain-drug uptake for optimized CS-GRA-PCL-NPs and to determine its pharmacokinetic in rat’s brain as well as plasma.

Results:

Mean particles size (231.47±7.82), polydispersity index (PDI) i.e. (0.216±0.030) and entrapment efficiency (65.69±5.68) was determined for developed NPs. UPLC triple quadrupole Qtrap MS/MS method study showed a significantly high mucoadhesive potential of CS-GRA-PCL-NPs and least for conventional and homogenized nanoformulation; elution time for GRA and internal standard (IS) Hydrocortisone as 0.37 and 1.94 min at m/z 821.49/113.41 and 363.45/121.40 were observed, respectively. Furthermore, intra and inter-assay (%CV) of 0.49-5.48, %accuracy (90.00-99.09%) as well as a linear dynamic range (10.00 ng/mL -2000.0 ng/mL), was observed. Pharmacokinetic studies in Wistar rat brain exhibited a high AUC0-24 alongwith an amplified Cmax (p** < 0.01) as compared to i.v. treated group.

Conclusion:

Intranasal administration of developed CS-coated-GRA-loaded-PCL-NPs enhanced the drug bioavailability in rat brain along with successfully UPLC-MS/MS method and thus preparation of GRA-NPs may help treat cerebral ischemia effectively. The toxicity studies performed at the end revealed safe nature of optimized nanoformulation.

Discovery of anti-microbial and anti-tubercular molecules from Fusarium solani: an endophyte of Glycyrrhiza glabra

AIMS

Glycyrrhiza glabra is a high-value medicinal plant thriving in biodiversity rich Kashmir Himalaya. The present study was designed to explore the fungal endophytes from G. glabra as a source of bioactive molecules.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The extracts prepared from the isolated endophytes were evaluated for anti-microbial activities using broth micro-dilution assay. The endophytic strain coded as A2 exhibiting promising anti-bacterial as well as anti-tuberculosis activity was identified as Fusarium solani by ITS-5.8S ribosomal gene sequencing technique. This strain was subjected to large-scale fermentation followed by isolation of its bioactive compounds using column chromatography. From the results of spectral data analysis and comparison with literature, the molecules were identified as 3,6,9-trihydroxy-7-methoxy-4,4-dimethyl-3,4-dihydro-1H-benzo[g]isochromene-5,10-dione (1), fusarubin (2), 3-O-methylfusarubin (3) and javanicin (4). Compound 1 is reported for the first time from this strain. All the four compounds inhibited the growth of various tested bacterial strains with MIC values in the range of <1 to 256 μg ml^-1 . Fusarubin showed good activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv with MIC value of 8 μg ml^-1 , whereas compounds 1, 3 and 4 exhibited moderate activity with MIC values of 256, 64, 32 μg ml^-1 , respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reports significant anti-tuberculosis potential of bioactive molecules from endophytic F. solani evaluated against the virulent strain of M. tuberculosis. This study sets background towards their synthetic intervention for activity enhancement experiments in anti-microbial drug discovery programme.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Due to the chemoprofile variation of same endophyte with respect to source plant and ecoregions, further studies are required to explore endophytes of medicinal plants of all unusual biodiversity rich ecoregions for important and or novel bioactive molecules.

Development and Validation of a High Pressure Liquid Chromatography-UV Method for the Determination of Treosulfan and Its Epoxy Metabolites in Human Plasma and Its Application in Pharmacokinetic Studies

Treosulfan (l-threitol-1,4-di-methanesulfonate) is a prodrug of a bifunctional alkylating agent that is being used increasingly in pediatric bone marrow transplantation regimens. The activation pathway is a complex reaction, which consists of two consecutive reactions leading to epoxybutane derivatives which are responsible for DNA alkylation. A simple, sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of the sum of treosulfan and its epoxy metabolites by UV detection after derivatization with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate in human plasma was developed and validated. Plasma samples containing treosulfan and epoxy metabolites were converted into thiocarbamate derivative with 10% sodium diethyldithiocarbamate. Dinitrobiphenyl was used as an internal standard. The analysis was carried out using a reversed phase C18 column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol-water (65:35, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The eluent was monitored at 254 nm. The standard calibration curve was established between 2.5 and 50 µg/mL, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9987. Intra- and interday precision and accuracy of the method was <8% and met the analytical criteria. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined in six children who received intravenous treosulfan (dose range 12-24 g/m(2)) in combination with fludarabine prior to blood or marrow transplantation.

Alginate immobilization of Escherichia coli MTCC 1652 whole cells for bioconversion of glycyrrhizinic acid and into 18-beta glycyrrhetinic acid

Microbial biotransformation of Glycyrrhizinic acid (GL) into 18-beta Glycyrrhetinic Acid (GA) was achieved using Escherichia coli MTCC 1652 whole cell. The E. coli whole cell was immobilized by entrapment method within calcium alginate beads using cell suspension of equal volume with sodium alginate 8%. The pH of solution, reaction volume and % of GL were optimized during the immobilization procedure and optimum pH 6.5, reaction volume of 4 mL and at 3% GL concentration for 12 h of incubation time showed highest concentration of GA (72.649 microg mL(-1)) with 76% bioconversion of GL to GA. Under optimized condition the immobilized cell produces 58.663 microg per mL of GA in licorice root extract containing 95.118 microg of GL per mL of the extract with 61% conversion at 12 h.

Simultaneous determination of five marker compounds in Xuanfu Daizhe Tang by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection for quality control

BACKGROUND

Xuanfu Daizhe Tang (XDT) is a classical traditional Chinese medicinal prescription that has been widely used for treating digestive system illnesses for hundreds of years.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, a simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) method was established for the simultaneous determination of five marker compounds in XDT including chlorogenic acid, glycyrrhizic acid, ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1 and ginsenoside Re, for quality control of this well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

RESULTS

These compounds were separated in less than 130 min using a YMC C18 column with a gradient elution system of acetonitrile and 0.1% phosphoric acid water solution at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. All calibration curves of standard components showed good linearity with R(2) >0.9991. Limit of detection and limit of quantification varied from 0.11 to 4.3 μg/ml and 0.20 to 11.6 μg/ml, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the intra-day and inter-day experiments were less than 4.72 and 5.48%, respectively. The accuracy of recovery test ranged from 95.0 to 105.0% with RSD values 1.28- 4.32%.

CONCLUSION

The validated method is simple, reliable, and successfully applied to determine the contents of the selected compounds in XDT for quality control.

Glycyrrhizic acid nanoparticles inhibit LPS-induced inflammatory mediators in 264.7 mouse macrophages compared with unprocessed glycyrrhizic acid

Glycyrrhizic acid (GA), the main component of radix glycyrrhizae, has a variety of pharmacological activities. In the present study, suspensions of GA nanoparticles with the average particle size about 200nm were prepared by a supercritical antisolvent (SAS) process. Comparative studies were undertaken using lipopolysaccardide(LPS)-stimulated mouse macrophages RAW 264.7 as in vitro inflammatory model. Several important inflammation mediators such as NO, PGE₂, TNF-α and IL-6 were examined. These markers were highly stimulated by LPS and were inhibited both by nano-GA and unprocessed GA in a dose-dependent manner, especially PGE₂ and TNF-α. However nano-GA and unprocessed GA inhibited NO only at a high concentration. In general, we found that GA nanoparticle suspensions exhibited much better anti-inflammatory activities compared to unprocessed GA.

Quantitative analysis of Glycyrrhizic acid from a polyherbal preparation using liquid chromatographic technique

Glycyrrhizic acid has been used in Indian traditional medicine for ages. It is obtained from the root extract of Glycyrrhizaglabra. There is seasonal variation of Glycyrrhizic acid content in the roots of the plant. So a proper method for quantification of the same is necessary from the polyherbal preparation available in the market. A simple, rapid, sensitive and specific reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method have been developed for the quantitative estimation of glycyrrhizic acid from polyherbal preparation containing aqueous root extract of Glycyrrhizaglabra using a photodiode array detector. The identity confirmation was carried out using mass spectrometry. Baseline resolution of the glycyrrhizic acid peak was achieved on a reverse phase C18 column (125 mm × 4.0 mm, 5 μ) using an isocratic mobile phase consisting of 5.3 mM phosphate buffer and acetonitrile in the ratio 65:35 v/v. Chromatograms were monitored at 252 nm.5.3 mM phosphate buffer was replaced with 0.5mM ammonium acetate buffer in the mobile phase when MS detector was used. The method was found to be linear in the concentration range of 12.4 to124 μg/ml with a correlation co-efficient of 0.999. The limit of detection and the limit of quantitation were 3.08 μg/ml and 10.27 μg/ml respectively. The average recovery from three spike levels was 99.93 ± 0.26%. Identity confirmation of the chromatographic peak was achieved by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and similar molecular ion peak was obtained for both sample and standard. The developed method is suitable for the routine analysis, stability testing and assay of glycyrrhizic acid from polyherbal preparations containing aqueous extracts of Glycyrrhizaglabra.

Active ingredients in Chinese medicines promoting blood circulation as Na+/K+ -ATPase inhibitors

The positive inotropic effect of cardiac glycosides lies in their reversible inhibition on the membrane-bound Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase in human myocardium. Steroid-like compounds containing a core structure similar to cardiac glycosides are found in many Chinese medicines conventionally used for promoting blood circulation. Some of them are demonstrated to be Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase inhibitors and thus putatively responsible for their therapeutic effects via the same molecular mechanism as cardiac glycosides. On the other hand, magnesium lithospermate B of danshen is also proposed to exert its cardiac therapeutic effect by effectively inhibiting Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase. Theoretical modeling suggests that the number of hydrogen bonds and the strength of hydrophobic interaction between the effective ingredients of various medicines and residues around the binding pocket of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase are crucial for the inhibitory potency of these active ingredients. Ginsenosides, the active ingredients in ginseng and sanqi, substantially inhibit Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase when sugar moieties are attached only to the C-3 position of their steroid-like structure, equivalent to the sugar position in cardiac glycosides. Their inhibitory potency is abolished, however, when sugar moieties are linked to C-6 or C-20 position of the steroid nucleus; presumably, these sugar attachments lead to steric hindrance for the entrance of ginsenosides into the binding pocket of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase. Neuroprotective effects of cardiac glycosides, several steroid-like compounds, and magnesium lithospermate B against ischemic stroke have been accordingly observed in a cortical brain slice-based assay model, and cumulative data support that effective inhibitors of Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase in the brain could be potential drugs for the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Optimization of Microwave-Assisted Extraction for the Determination of Glycyrrhizin in Menthazin Herbal Drug by Experimental Design Methodology

In the present study, a microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method has been investigated for the extraction of glycyrrhizin from Menthazin herbal drug. The extracted samples have been analyzed by a developed reversed-phase liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The separation was performed by a Eurospher-100 C₈ reversed-phase column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm) and the mobile phase consisted of methanol:acetonitrile:water:glacial acetic acid (30:30:40:1 v/v/v/v) with a flow rate of 0.8 mL min⁻¹. The extraction procedure has been screened by a two level full factorial design for determination of statistically significant parameters. Thereafter, the identified parameters, extraction temperature, time and solvent volume were optimized by a Box–Behnken design. The proposed mathematical model was based on analysis of variance results and correctly explained the behavior of the response in the experimental domain. R² value adjusted for numbers of degrees of freedom was 0.9915 and P-value for lack of fit, 0.8499 at the 95% confidence level, P > 0.05. The optimal condition identified were extraction temperature, 70 °C, time, 13.8 min and solvent volume 2.0 mL. To evaluate the applicability of the proposed MAE method, results were compared with those obtained with the liquid extraction method. Extraction efficiency and precision were higher when MAE has been used. The proposed method allows extracting the glycyrrhizin in a small quantity of solvent and faster than the liquid extraction method.

Chemical analysis of the Chinese herbal medicine Gan-Cao (licorice)

Gan-Cao, or licorice, is a popular Chinese herbal medicine derived from the dried roots and rhizomes of Glycyrrhiza uralensis, G. glabra, and G. inflata. The main bioactive constituents of licorice are triterpene saponins and various types of flavonoids. The contents of these compounds may vary in different licorice batches and thus affect the therapeutic effects. In order to ensure its efficacy and safety, sensitive and accurate methods for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of saponins and flavonoids are of significance for the comprehensive quality control of licorice. This review describes the progress in chemical analysis of licorice and its preparations since 2000. Newly established methods are summarized, including spectroscopy, thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), capillary electrophoresis, high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC), electrochemistry, and immunoassay. The sensitivity, selectivity and powerful separation capability of HPLC and CE allows the simultaneous detection of multiple compounds in licorice. LC/MS provides characteristic fragmentations for the rapid structural identification of licorice saponins and flavonoids. The combination of HPLC and LC/MS is currently the most powerful technique for the quality control of licorice.