Simultaneous Determination of Baicalin, Baicalein, Wogonin, Oxysophocarpine, Oxymatrine and Matrine in the Chinese Herbal Preparation of Sanwu-Huangqin-Tang by Ion-Paired HPLC

Ketocalix[3]carbazole: facile synthesis, rigid conformation and baicalin-selective sensing

Ketocalix[3]carbazole, a facilely synthesized rigid “basket” capable of sensing baicalin.

New Potential Pharmacological Functions of Chinese Herbal Medicines via Regulation of Autophagy

Autophagy is a universal catabolic cellular process for quality control of cytoplasm and maintenance of cellular homeostasis upon nutrient deprivation and environmental stimulus. It involves the lysosomal degradation of cellular components such as misfolded proteins or damaged organelles. Defects in autophagy are implicated in the pathogenesis of diseases including cancers, myopathy, neurodegenerations, infections and cardiovascular diseases. In the recent decade, traditional drugs with new clinical applications are not only commonly found in Western medicines, but also highlighted in Chinese herbal medicines (CHM). For instance, pharmacological studies have revealed that active components or fractions from Chaihu (Radix bupleuri), Hu Zhang (Rhizoma polygoni cuspidati), Donglingcao (Rabdosia rubesens), Hou po (Cortex magnoliae officinalis) and Chuan xiong (Rhizoma chuanxiong) modulate cancers, neurodegeneration and cardiovascular disease via autophagy. These findings shed light on the potential new applications and formulation of CHM decoctions via regulation of autophagy. This article reviews the roles of autophagy in the pharmacological actions of CHM and discusses their new potential clinical applications in various human diseases.

Enhanced fluorescence quenching in an acridine orange - alizarin red system through matrine and its analytical application

This study shows that alizarin red (AR) only slightly quenched fluorescence for acridine orange (AO) in an AR/AO mixed solution at pH=5-6. The reduced fluorescent signal was closely and linearly associated with the level of MT added to the system, which is the basis for a new quantitative MT assay method using the fluorescence quenching reaction in the AO-AR system. The results show that under optimal conditions, this method had a 14.9-43.5 mg L(-1) linear detection range with a 1.38 mg L(-1) detection limit and 1.24% precision. In addition, this method was used to determine the MT levels in the commercially available MT-containing pesticides and suppositories, which showed a 96.6-103% recovery. Therefore, this method has multiple advantages, including simple and fast operation, high accuracy and low cost. Moreover, herein, we investigated the underlying mechanism in-depth using an ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopic technique.

A simple isocratic HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of bioactive components of Scutellariae radix extract

Scutellariae Radix, the dried root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, has been widely used in Asian countries for the treatment of dermatitis, diarrhoea, inflammatory disease and hepatic disease. A simple, sensitive and precise reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method with isocratic elution was developed to simultaneously determine four bioactive compounds in Scutellariae Radix: baicalein, baicalin, wogonin and wogonoside. Chromatographic analysis was performed on a YMC Pack Pro C(8) column (150 × 4.6 mm(2), 3 µm), with a mobile phase of 0.1% formic acid : acetonitrile (70 : 30, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1), and UV detection at 280 nm. Linear behaviour was observed over the investigated concentration range (0.25-10 µg mL(-1)) for all analytes, with a correlation coefficient of >0.997. The intra- and inter-day precisions were <8.07%, and accuracies were 92.3-102.9%. This method was successfully applied for the analysis of marker compounds for the quality control of Scutellariae Radix extract.