Zhao Zhong-Zhen, Liang Zhi-Tao, Jiang Zhi-Hong, Leung Kelvin Sze-Yin, Chan Chi-Leung, Chan Hon-Yee, Sin Jaime, Man Tim-On, Law Kwok-Wai
School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, PR China.
Phytomedicine. 2008 Sep;15(9):741-8. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2008.06.006.
Herba Asari (Xixin, Manchurian Wildginger, Asarum spp.) is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb commonly used as a crude drug and an ingredient in patent medicines. The herb contains aristolochic acid I (AA-I), which has recently caused several incidents of poisoning in Hong Kong. Therefore, the safe use of Asarum is questionable. The present study was undertaken to assess the levels of AA-I using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) indifferent medicinal parts of Herba Asari and some proprietary Chinese medicines (PCM) containing it as an ingredient. The AA-I content in the aerial and root portions were compared, in the form of water and methanolic extracts. The results showed that all the aerial portions of Herba Asari generally contain higher levels of AA-I than the roots (in water extract: 0.0870.06 microg/g of root and 0.3270.021 microg/g of aerial), and the methanolic extracts typically contained more AA-I than the water extracts. Moreover, all the three PCM studies showed negligible amounts of AA-I(containing 0.0370.006 microg/g). Therefore, the root portion of Herba Asari was recommended for prescription as a decoction instead of grinding it into powder for oral administration.
细辛是一种传统的中药材，常用于生药和中成药的成分。该草药含有马兜铃酸I（AA-I），最近在香港引发了几起中毒事件。因此，细辛的安全使用存在疑问。本研究旨在使用液相色谱-质谱联用（LC/MS）法评估细辛不同药用部位以及一些含有细辛成分的中成药中AA-I的含量。比较了地上部分和根部以水提取物和甲醇提取物形式存在的AA-I含量。结果表明，细辛的所有地上部分通常比根部含有更高水平的AA-I（水提取物中：根部为0.087±0.06微克/克，地上部分为0.327±0.021微克/克），并且甲醇提取物中的AA-I含量通常比水提取物更多。此外，所有三项中成药研究均显示AA-I含量可忽略不计（含0.037±0.006微克/克）。因此，建议将细辛的根部作为汤剂处方，而不是研磨成粉末口服。
