Jiangsu Key Laboratory for TCM Formulae Research, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210046, China.
Phytomedicine. 2012 Feb 15;19(3-4):239-44. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2011.09.071. Epub 2011 Oct 5.
Chinese jujube (also known as Chinese date) is the fruit of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. (Rhamnaceae). As a famous folk medicine, it is used as antidote in traditional Chinese formula, Shi Zao Decoction, to relieve the drastic inflammatory irritant nature of Euphorbia species. The irritant activities may cause serious adverse effects in clinical practices. This study aimed to investigate the active components of Z. jujuba through the inhibitory effects on the inflammatory cells activated by Euphorbia kansui and prostratin, a phorbol ester isolated from Euphorbia fischeriana. Peritoneal macrophage of rat and splenic lymphocyte (splenocyte) of mouse were selected to evaluate these actions in vitro. Nitric oxide (NO) release of macrophage and the proliferation of splenocyte were examined through Griess method and MTT assay. TNF-α, as an important pro-inflammatory cytokines, was detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Six fractions extracted from Z. jujuba were evaluated and fraction F (triterpene acids fraction) was demonstrated to be the most active part, and then, 21 compounds isolated from Z. jujuba were tested at the concentrations range from 1 μg/ml to 100 μg/ml. The results show that 7 compounds of them are likely to be active compounds concerning to their pronounced inhibitory action on the activated inflammatory cells. These effects might be helpful to attenuate the irritant action of Euphorbiaceae plants and protect the gastrointestinal tissue from potent inflammatory injury, which should be beneficial to some diseases, like inflammatory bowel disease.
红枣（又称大枣）是鼠李科枣属植物枣（Ziziphus jujuba Mill.）的果实。作为一种著名的民间药物，它被用作传统中药方剂十枣汤的解毒剂，以缓解大戟属植物的剧烈炎症刺激性。这种刺激性活动在临床实践中可能会引起严重的不良反应。本研究旨在通过抑制大戟属植物引起的炎症细胞的活性来研究枣中的活性成分，大戟属植物和促分裂原佛波醇酯，一种从Euphorbia fischeriana 中分离出的佛波醇酯。选择大鼠腹腔巨噬细胞和小鼠脾淋巴细胞（脾细胞）在体外评估这些作用。通过格里斯法和 MTT 法检测巨噬细胞的一氧化氮（NO）释放和脾细胞的增殖。肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）作为一种重要的促炎细胞因子，用酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）法检测。评估了从枣中提取的 6 个馏分，结果表明馏分 F（三萜酸馏分）是最活跃的部分，然后测试了从枣中分离的 21 种化合物，浓度范围为 1μg/ml 至 100μg/ml。结果表明，其中 7 种化合物可能是活性化合物，因为它们对激活的炎症细胞具有显著的抑制作用。这些作用可能有助于减轻大戟科植物的刺激性作用，保护胃肠道组织免受强烈的炎症损伤，这对一些疾病如炎症性肠病可能有益。
