Metabolic Behaviors of Aconitum Alkaloids in Different Concentrations of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata and Effects of Aconitine in Healthy Human and Long QT Syndrome Cardiomyocytes

The acute toxic effect of Chinese medicine Fuzi is exacerbated in kidney yang deficiency mice due to metabolic difference

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The proper application of toxic medicines is one of the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicines, and the use of traditional Chinese medicines follows the principle of dialectical treatment. It is necessary to combine different "syndrome" or "disease" states with the toxicity of traditional Chinese medicines to form a reliable toxicity evaluation system. Fuzi, the lateral root of Aconitum carmichaelii Debx, is recognized as a panacea for kidney yang deficiency syndrome, however, its toxic effects significantly limit its clinical application.

AIM OF THE STUDY

Herein, our research aimed to explore the toxic effects of Fuzi on syndrome models, and tried to reveal the underlying mechanisms.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Firstly, the mouse model of kidney yang deficiency syndrome was established through intramuscular injection of 25 mg/kg hydrocortisone per day for 10 consecutive days. Then, the acute toxicity of Fuzi in normal mice and kidney yang deficiency model mice was explored. Finally, the plasma metabolite concentrations and liver CYP3A4 enzyme activity were analyzed to reveal the possible mechanisms of the different pharmacological and toxicological effects of Fuzi in individuals with different physical constitutions.

RESULTS

It was found that the treatment with Fuzi (138 g/kg) had serious toxic effects on kidney yang deficiency mice, leading to the death of 80% of the mice, whereas it showed no lethal toxicity in normal mice. This indicates that Fuzi induced greater toxicity in kidney yang deficiency mice than in normal ones. The liver CYP3A4 enzyme activity in kidney yang deficiency mice was decreased by 20% compared to the controls, resulting in slower metabolism of the toxic diester diterpenoid alkaloids in Fuzi.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, our study showed that changes of the metabolic enzyme activity in individuals with different syndromes led to different toxic effects of Chinese medicines, emphasizing the crucial importance of considering individual physical syndromes in the clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine, and the significance of conducting safety evaluations and dose predictions on animal models with specific syndromes for traditional Chinese medicines.

Development of an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of crassicauline A, fuziline, karacoline, and songorine in rat plasma and application in their pharmacokinetics

In this paper, an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for quantifying the levels of crassicauline A, fuziline, karacoline, and songorine in rat plasma. After processing the rat plasma, the proteins in the plasma were separated by extracting the analytes with acetonitrile-methanol (9:1, v/v). The chromatographic column used was the UPLC HSS T3 column, and the mobile phase (methanol-water with 0.1% formic acid) under a gradient elution profile was used to separate the four compounds, with elution times for each analyte being less than 5 min. Electrospray ionization in positive-ion mode and operating in multiple reaction monitoring mode was used for quantitative analysis. Crassicauline A, fuziline, karacoline, and songorine were administered to 48 rats (n = 6 per group) orally (5 mg/kg) and intravenously (0.5 mg/kg). The standard curves demonstrated excellent linearity in the range of 1-2500 ng/mL, wherein all r values were greater than 0.99. The UPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of crassicauline A, fuziline, karacoline, and songorine in rat plasma was successfully applied in determining their pharmacokinetics parameters, from which their oral bioavailabilities were calculated to be 18.7%, 4.3%, 6.0%, and 8.4%, respectively.

The known, unknown, and the intriguing about members of a critically endangered traditional medicinal plant genus Aconitum

Humanity will always be indebted to plants. In the ongoing scientific era, the 'Herbal Revolution' has helped discover several valuable medicinal plants and associated novel secondary metabolites from the diverse unexplored ecosystems, treating several diseases via phytotherapy. The Aconitum genus comprises several economically-important poisonous mountainous medicinal plant species whose unique biodiversity is on the verge of extinction due to illegal human intervention triggered habitat loss, over-harvesting, and unrestricted trading. Owing to its vast diversity of diterpene alkaloids, most species are extensively used to treat several ailments in rural parts of the world. Irrespective of this, many unexplored and intriguing prospects exist to understand and utilize this critical plant for human benefit. This systematic review tries to fill this gap by compiling information from the sporadically available literature known for ~300 Aconitum spp. regarding its nomenclature and classification, endangerment, plant morphology, ploidy, secondary metabolites, drug pharmacokinetics, conservation, and omics-based computational studies. We also depicted the disparity in the studied model organisms for this diverse genus. The absence of genomic/metagenomic data is becoming a limiting factor in understanding its plant physiology, metabolic pathways, and plant-microbes interactions, and therefore must be promoted. Additionally, government support and public participation are crucial in establishing conservation protocols to save this plant from endangerment.

Aconitine - A promising candidate for treating cold and mechanical allodynia in cancer induced bone pain

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Patients suffering from cancer induced bone pain (CIBP) have a poor quality of life that is exacerbated by the lack of effective therapeutic drugs. Monkshood is a flowering plant that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine where it has been used to relieve cold pain. Aconitine is the active component of monkshood, but the molecular mechanism for how this compound reduces pain is unclear.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In this study, we employed molecular and behavioral experiments to explore the analgesic effect of aconitine. We observed aconitine alleviated cold hyperalgesia and AITC (allyl-isothiocyanate, TRPA1 agonist) induced pain. Interestingly, we found aconitine directly inhibits TRPA1 activity in calcium imaging studies. More importantly, we found aconitine alleviated cold and mechanical allodynia in CIBP mice. Both the activity and expression of TRPA1 in L4 and L5 DRG (Dorsal Root Ganglion) neurons were reduced with the treatment of aconitine in the CIBP model. Moreover, we observed aconiti radix (AR) and aconiti kusnezoffii radix (AKR), both components of monkshood that contain aconitine, alleviated cold hyperalgesia and AITC induced pain. Furthermore, both AR and AKR alleviated CIBP induced cold allodynia and mechanical allodynia.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, aconitine alleviates both cold and mechanical allodynia in cancer induced bone pain via the regulation of TRPA1. This research on the analgesic effect of aconitine in cancer induced bone pain highlights a component of a traditional Chinese medicine may have clinical applications for pain.