The active constituents from Gualou-xiebai-baijiu-tang part I: active saponins

Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus: A Comprehensive Review of Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology

The dried bulbs of Allii Macrostemonis Bulbus (AMB) are called “薤白” in China and are mainly distributed in Asia. The plant species included in the 2020 Edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (ChP) are Allium macrostemon Bunge (called xiaogensuan in Chinese, A. macrostemon) and Allium chinense G. Don (called xie in Chinese, A. chinense), respectively. In the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theoretical system, AMB is warm in nature, acrid-bitter taste, and attributive to the heart, lung, stomach, large intestine meridian. AMB has the function of activating Yang and removing stasis, regulating Qi and eliminating stagnation. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that AMB has anti-platelet aggregation, hypolipidemic, anti-atherosclerotic, cardiomyocyte, vascular endothelial cell protection, anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-asthmatic, and anti-oxidant effects. In some Asian countries, AMB is often used to treat coronary heart disease (CHD), angina pectoris (AP), asthma, and diarrhea. This review collates the botanical background, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, quality control, and toxicological studies of AMB, and provides an outlook on the current research deficiencies and future research priorities of AMB, intending to provide ideas for future research directions and commercial development.

Chemical profile and potential mechanisms of Huo-Tan-Chu-Shi decoction in the treatment of coronary heart disease by UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS in combination with network pharmacology analysis and experimental verification

Huo-Tan-Chu-Shi Decoction (HTCSD), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription within Guangdong Provincial TCM Hospital (the largest TCM hospital in China), is used for effective clinical treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD) caused by phlegm-dampness syndrome with high incidence in the hot and humid climate of Lingnan region. However, its chemical components responsible for the therapeutic effects remain unclear, which restricts its application and further development. Hence, a detailed workflow, combing with UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS, network pharmacology analysis and experimental verification, was proposed and applied to characterize the chemical profile and potential mechanism of HTCSD against CHD. As a result, a total of 130 components from all six composed herbal medicines were characterized in a rapid and sensitive manner through UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS, of which 33 compounds were unambiguously confirmed with reference standards. Consequently, based on the integrated pharmacology network of "herbs-chemicals-targets-pathways-therapeutic effects", four chemicals (magnoflorine, menisperine, 13-hydroxyberberine, luteolin) with four CHD related targets (SRC, MAPK1, EGFR and AKT1) were considered as the key components and targets of HTCSD in the treatment of CHD. Furthermore, the effect of HTCSD was confirmed in animal experiments by enhancing the phosphorylation of MAPK, and the published literature and molecular binding results suggested that magnoflorine and luteolin tended to be the critical compounds involved in the process. Taken together, the characterization of chemical profile combined with network pharmacology analysis and experimental verification not only provided an efficient insight into the overall chemical profile of HTCSD but also revealed the potential pharmacological components and mechanisms of HTCSD against CHD, which laid a necessary chemical and biological basis for the discovery of in vivo bioactive components and the further revelation of functionary mechanism.

Metabolites profile of Gualou Xiebai Baijiu decoction (a classical traditional Chinese medicine prescription) in rats by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry

Gualou Xiebai Baijiu decoction (GLXB), a well-known classic traditional Chinese medicine prescription, has been widely used to treat coronary heart diseases for thousands of years in Eastern Asian countries due to its remarkable clinical effect. However, due to lack of in vivo metabolism research, the chemical components responsible for the therapeutic effects still remain unclear. In this work, a reliable "representative structure based homologous xenobiotics identification" (RSBHXI) strategy based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) were applied to investigate the chemical components in GLXB extracts. As a result, 133 chemical components were characterized based on summarized fragmentation patterns, of which 41 components were confirmed unambiguously with authentic standards. Furthermore, a total of 138 GLXB-related xenobiotics were identified or tentatively characterized after oral administration of GLXB extracts. Moreover, to better understand the metabolic pathways of characteristic components in GLXB, metabolites profiles of five steroidal saponins and two flavonoids were performed, respectively. Since the metabolic pathways of five representative saponins had been finished in our previous study, we focused on the in vivo metabolism of two flavonoids. A total of 36 and 20 metabolites were detected in rat biological samples after oral administration of luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and rutin, respectively. The results indicated that dehydration, hydrolysis, hydroxylation, methylation, glucuronidation and sulfation were the main metabolic reactions, following the metabolic soft spots of GLXB-related flavonoids. Taken altogether, this study would be helpful for the further pharmacokinetics, pharmacological evaluation and quality control of GLXB.

Chemical constituents of Arisaema franchetianum tubers

A novel pyrrolidine alkaloid, (2R*,3S*,5S*)-N,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-5-(10-phenyldecyl)pyrrolidine (1), and 17 known compounds were isolated from Arisaema franchetianum Engl. (Araceae) tubers. The 17 compounds were bergenin (2), emodin (3), caffeic acid (4), nobiletin (5), 3-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-hederagenin 28-O-β-d-xylopyranosyl(1 → 6)-β-d-galactopyranosyl ester (6), coniferin (7), qingyangshengenin (8), methylconiferin (9), syringaresinol 4'-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (10), gagaminine (11), perlolyrine (12), (S)-1-(1'-hydroxyethyl)-β-carboline (13), 1-(β-carboline-1-yl)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-1-pentanone (14), 1-methoxycarbonyl-β-carboline (15), indolo[2,3-α]carbazole (16), 4-hydroxycinnamic acid methyl ester (17), and methyl 4-[2-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethyl] ferulate (18). The inhibitory activities of compound 1 and its N-methyl derivative (1a) against porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus (PRRSV), human leukemic K562 cells, and human breast cancer MCF-7 cells were evaluated. Compounds 1 [50% inhibited concentration (IC(50)) = 12.5 ± 0.6 μM] and 1a (IC(50) = 15.7 ± 0.9 μM) were cytotoxic against K562 cells. Compound 1a also had a weak effect on PRRSV with an IC(50) value of 31.9 ± 6.0 μM [selectivity index (SI) = 18.7].