Key Laboratory of Modern Preparation of TCM (JiangXi University Of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Ministry of Education, No. 18, YunWan Road, WanLi District, Nanchang, JiangXi 330004, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2010 May 4;129(1):115-20. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2010.03.005. Epub 2010 Mar 20.
Yuanhu Zhitong prescription that consists of Corydalis yanhusuo and Radix Angelicae dahuricae has been used for the treatment of gastralgia, costalgia, headache and dysmenorrhea in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Our previous studies demonstrated that Corydalis alkaloid (CA, derived from the root of Corydalis yanhusu) had potent analgesic properties, and the total coumarins of Angelica dahurica (Cou) and volatile oil (VO) that derived from the root of Radix Angelicae dahuricae all could increase the analgesic effect of CA. The major objective of this paper was to investigate the mechanism that leading the analgesia of CA increased by Cou and (or) VO.
The relationship between analgesic effect of CA and the plasma concentration of Dl-tetrahydropalmatine (dl-THP, active component of CA) was assayed in mice writhing test. The CA (34, 68 and 134 mg/kg) reduced the nociception by acetic acid intraperitoneal injection in a dose-dependent manner, and there was a significant linear relationship between the analgesic effect of CA and the plasma concentration of dl-THP. Then the plasma concentration of dl-THP at different time intervals in rats after oral administration of CA, CA-Cou, CA-VO and CA-Cou-VO were examined by using HPLC.
The results indicated that Cou and (or) VO raised the plasma concentration of dl-THP prominently. In conclusion, the reason that Radix Angelica dahurica extracts reinforced the analgesic effects of Corydalis alkaloid was related to the improvement of the plasma concentration of dl-THP.
元胡止痛方由延胡索和白芷组成，在中医临床上用于治疗胃痛、胸痛、头痛和痛经。我们之前的研究表明，延胡索生物碱（CA，来源于延胡索的根）具有很强的镇痛作用，而白芷中的总香豆素（Cou，来源于白芷的根）和挥发油（VO）都可以增加 CA 的镇痛作用。本文的主要目的是研究导致 CA 的镇痛作用增加的机制，以及 Cou 和（或）VO 的作用。
在小鼠扭体试验中，测定 CA 的镇痛作用与血浆中 Dl-四氢巴马汀（dl-THP，CA 的活性成分）浓度的关系。CA（34、68 和 134 mg/kg）剂量依赖性地减少醋酸腹腔注射引起的疼痛，CA 的镇痛作用与 dl-THP 的血浆浓度之间存在显著的线性关系。然后，采用 HPLC 法测定大鼠口服 CA、CA-Cou、CA-VO 和 CA-Cou-VO 后不同时间间隔的 dl-THP 血浆浓度。
结果表明，Cou 和（或）VO 明显提高了 dl-THP 的血浆浓度。综上所述，白芷提取物增强延胡索生物碱镇痛作用的原因与 dl-THP 血浆浓度的提高有关。
