[Effects of yiqi huayu recipe and its decomposed formulas on apoptosis-related factors of anulus fibrosus cells in rats]

Simultaneous determination of nineteen major components in Qi She Pill by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Qi She Pill (QSP) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription that has been used in treating cervical spondylosis radiculopathy for many years. In this study, a simple and sensitive method using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) on a reverse-phase C18 column was developed for the simultaneous determination of the 19 major components in QSP. We found that the optimum mobile phase for gradient elution was 0.1% formic acid and methanol. The correlation coefficients of all calibration curves were greater than 0.99. Recoveries measured at three concentration levels varied from 95.43% to 102.35%. Relative standard deviations of intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 4.45%. After successfully validating our method, we then applied it to the quantification of 19 components in QSP products to show that this method provides a new standard in quality assessment of TCM prescriptions containing multiple bioactive components.

[Study of Yiqi Huayu Bushen recipe and its decomposed formulas in regulating gene expressions in degenerated cervical intervertebral discs of rats]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the gene expression changes in the degenerated cervical intervertebral discs of rats, and to study the function of Yiqi Huayu Bushen Recipe, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, and its discomposed formulas in regulating gene expressions in the degenerated cervical intervertebral discs.

METHODS

The rat model with degenerated cervical intervertebral discs caused by imbalance between the dynamic and static forces was established. The mRNA was extracted from the cervical intervertebral discs of rats in the normal control and experiment groups, and the cDNA probes were obtained by inverse transcript. The cDNA probes were hybridized with the gene chips. The gene expression pattern was gained with a laser scanner. Image analysis, standardized ratio value and cluster analysis were used to investigate the differential of gene expressions between the control and experiment groups.

RESULTS

Cluster analysis showed that the gene chips of No.1 (Yiqi Huayu group), No.2 (Yiqi Bushen group) and No.3 (Huayu Bushen group) were in one class, while the gene chips of No.4 (untreated group) and No.5 (Yiqi Huayu Bushen group) were in the other. The gene expression of No.4 was different from the others mostly, and the gene expressions of No.2 and No.3 were similar. There were 96 genes expressed differently in three cases and among them 77 genes were already known and the expression of 48 genes were up-regulated (ratio>1.0), and 29 down-regulated (ratio<0.5). There were 25 genes expressed differently between the untreated group and the herb-treated groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The gene expressions of the degenerated rat intervertebral discs are changed. Yiqi Huayu Bushen Recipe and its discomposed formulas have the effect of regulating the expressions of related genes, such as PI(3)K, PTK, ERK3, and PH1B1.