Department of Neuropharmacology and Drug Discovery, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, PR China.
Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Foshan, 528000, PR China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2020 Mar 1;249:112408. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2019.112408. Epub 2019 Nov 18.
The Herb Ephedra (Ma Huang in Chinese)-Ramulus Cinnamomi (Gui Zhi in Chinese) herb pair is a classic traditional Chinese herb pair used to treat asthma, nose and lung congestion, and fever with anhidrosis. In previous study, we found that chronic administration of ma huang induced obvious neurodegeneration in rat brains, with the prefrontal cortex showing the greatest effect. Gui zhi decreased hyperactivity produced by repeated ma huang administration, and attenuated oxidative stress in rat prefrontal cortex induced by ma huang.
The study was aimed to investigate the protective effect of gui zhi on ma huang-induced abnormal levels of four amino acid neurotransmitters in rat prefrontal cortex.
All ma huang and ma huang-gui zhi herb pair extracts were prepared using methods of traditional Chinese medicine and were normalized based on the ephedrine content. Two-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats (6 rats/group) were administered ma huang or ma huang-gui zhi herb pair extracts for 1, 3, 5 or 7 days (ephedrine = 48 mg/kg). The contents of ephedrine, glutamate (Glu), aspartic acid (Asp), glycine (Gly), and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the prefrontal cortex were determined using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) at 0.5, 1.0, 5.0 h after administration.
Ma huang significantly enhanced the levels of GABA, Gly, Glu and Asp in the prefrontal cortex, while gui zhi partially abolished the effects.
Ma huang-induced neurotoxicity may be associated with its effects on amino acid neurotransmitters. Gui zhi is a promising neuroprotective agent against for ma huang-induced neurotoxicity. The information presented in this study will help supplement the available data for future ma huang-gui zhi herb pair compatibility studies.
麻黄（中文名为麻黄）-桂枝（中文名为桂枝）草药对是一种经典的传统中药组合，用于治疗哮喘、鼻塞和无汗发热。在之前的研究中，我们发现慢性给予麻黄会导致大鼠大脑明显的神经退行性变，其中前额叶皮层的影响最大。桂枝可降低反复给予麻黄引起的多动，并减轻麻黄引起的大鼠前额叶皮层氧化应激。
本研究旨在探讨桂枝对麻黄引起的大鼠前额叶皮层四种氨基酸神经递质异常水平的保护作用。
所有的麻黄和麻黄-桂枝草药对提取物均采用中药方法制备，并根据麻黄碱含量进行归一化。2 月龄雄性 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠（每组 6 只）给予麻黄或麻黄-桂枝草药对提取物 1、3、5 或 7 天（麻黄碱=48mg/kg）。给药后 0.5、1.0、5.0h 时，采用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法（UPLC-MS/MS）测定前额叶皮层中麻黄碱、谷氨酸（Glu）、天冬氨酸（Asp）、甘氨酸（Gly）和γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）的含量。
麻黄显著增加了前额叶皮层中 GABA、Gly、Glu 和 Asp 的含量，而桂枝部分消除了这些作用。
麻黄的神经毒性可能与其对氨基酸神经递质的影响有关。桂枝是一种有前途的抗麻黄神经毒性的神经保护剂。本研究提供的信息将有助于补充未来麻黄-桂枝草药对配伍研究的现有数据。
