Effect of mineral excipients on processing traditional Chinese medicines: an insight into the components, pharmacodynamics and mechanism

Study on the classification and identification of various carbonate and sulfate mineral medicines based on Raman spectroscopy combined with PCA-SVM algorithm

The efficacy of mineral medicines varies greatly between different origins. Therefore, investigating a method to quickly identify similar mineral medicines is meaningful. In this paper, a visual classification and identification model of Raman spectroscopy combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) algorithms was developed to rapidly classify and identify carbonate and sulfate mineral medicines. The results reveal that although the Raman spectra are too similar to distinguish by naked eye, the PCA-SVM algorithm can perform accurate classification and identification, and its accuracy, precision, recall and F1-score parameters all reach 100%. The proposed method is rapid, accurate, nondestructive, convenient, portable, and low cost, and has important application value for the classification, identification and quality supervision of various carbonate and sulfate mineral medicines.

Eryngium caeruleum: an update on ethnobotany, phytochemistry and biomedical applications

Background

A biennial or perennial plant of the Apiaceae family, Eryngium caeruleum M. Bieb. is traditionally used in medicine as an antitoxic, diuretic, digestive, anti-inflammatory and analgesic drug. This plant is widely distributed in temperate regions around the world. Young leaves of the plant are used in cooking as aromatic cooked vegetables in various local products in Iran.

Purpose

The current review aimed to highlight complete and updated information about the Eryngium caeruleum species, regarding botanical, ethnopharmacological, phytochemical data, pharmacological mechanisms as well as some nutritional properties. All this scientific evidence supports the use of this species in complementary medicine, thus opening new therapeutic perspectives for the treatment of some diseases.

Methods

The information provided in this updated review is collected from several scientific databases such as PubMed/Medline, ScienceDirect, Mendeley, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Ethnopharmacology books and various professional websites were also researched.

Results

The phytochemical composition of the aerial parts and roots of E. caeruleum is represented by the components of essential oil (EO), phenolic compounds, saponins, protein, amino acids, fiber, carbohydrates, and mineral elements. The antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antihypoxic, and anti-inflammatory properties of E. caeruleum have been confirmed by pharmacological experiments with extracts using in vitro and in vivo methods. The syrup E. caeruleum relieved dysmenorrhea as effectively as Ibuprofen in the blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study.

Conclusion

Current evidence from experimental pharmacological studies has shown that the different bioactive compounds present in the species E. caeruleum have multiple beneficial effects on human health, being potentially active in the treatment of many diseases. Thus, the traditional uses of this species are supported based on evidence. In future, translational and human clinical studies are necessary to establish effective therapeutic doses in humans.

Quality evaluation of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma through fingerprint qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker

A comprehensive strategy for quality evaluation of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma by combining quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker and HPLC fingerprint qualitative analysis was developed and validated in this paper. By analyzing chromatograms of 18 batches of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma, the reference fingerprint of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma was generated and 10 common peaks were identified, of which Atractylenolide I, atractylenolide II, atractylenolide III and atractylone were identified with chemical references. With atractylenolide III as an internal reference substance, the contents of the other three components in 18 batches of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma samples were simultaneously determined by quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker which were not significantly different from the results determined by external standard method (t test, P>0.839). The accuracy, precision, reproducibility and stability of this method were validated which exhibited satisfactory results, indicating that quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker could be used for quantitative analysis of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma instead of external standard method. The content of each component in 18 batches of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma was significantly different from each other. There is no Assay specified in the quality standard of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (volume I) (2020 edition). This method combining quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker and HPLC fingerprint can evaluate quality of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma samples more comprehensively which is beneficial to the application of Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma.