Division of Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, and Narcotics, National Institute of Health Sciences.
Division of Drug, National Institute of Health Sciences.
Biol Pharm Bull. 2022 Jul 1;45(7):919-925. doi: 10.1248/bpb.b22-00183. Epub 2022 May 14.
The microscopic test method (microscopic examination) used to identify crude drugs is a common method in the identification of the original plant source by determining the characteristics from a small sample quantity. However, in recent years, the number of examiners who are familiar with the microscopic examination technique has decreased. In recent years, high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (HRXCT) has been used to visualize the internal structure of plants. HRXCT scans an object using X-rays and enables visualization of the internal structure of the crude drug using a computer. Therefore, in this report, HRXCT was used to easily observe the internal morphology of crude drugs using the Ephedra Herb as an example. The same internal morphological characteristics were observed using both, microscopic examination and HRXCT methods. Image analysis using HRXCT did not require specific techniques, such as sectioning, and the same tissue could be observed from any orientation using a single scan. It afforded remarkable technical simplification and reduction in time to inspect the organization's characteristics. Therefore, image analysis using HRXCT is a useful method for crude drug identifications.
用于鉴定生药的显微镜测试方法（显微镜检查）是通过确定小样本数量的特征来鉴定原始植物来源的常用方法。然而，近年来，熟悉显微镜检查技术的检验员人数有所减少。近年来，高分辨率 X 射线计算机断层扫描（HRXCT）已被用于可视化植物的内部结构。HRXCT 使用 X 射线扫描物体，并使用计算机使生药的内部结构可视化。因此，在本报告中，以麻黄草为例，使用 HRXCT 轻松观察生药的内部形态。使用显微镜检查和 HRXCT 方法均观察到相同的内部形态特征。使用 HRXCT 进行图像分析不需要特定的技术，例如切片，并且可以使用单次扫描从任何方向观察相同的组织。它极大地简化了技术，并减少了检查组织特征所需的时间。因此，使用 HRXCT 进行图像分析是一种有用的生药鉴定方法。
