Fuchino Hiroyuki
Research Center for Medicinal Plant Resources, Tsukuba Division, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 1-2 Hachimandai, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, 305-0843, Japan.
Department of Pharmacy, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Medical and Life Sciences, 265-1 Higashijima, Akiha-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata, 956-8603, Japan.
J Nat Med. 2025 Jan;79(1):15-27. doi: 10.1007/s11418-024-01845-8. Epub 2024 Oct 3.
As crude drugs are natural products, their quality may vary. However, the degradation of the active ingredients in the compositional changes that occur during processing and preparation also affects the medicinal properties of the Kampo formula, which uses herbal medicines; therefore, a detailed investigation of the effects of compositional changes during preparation is required. Plant constituents vary in content depending on the year of cultivation and the plant part; however, detailed studies have rarely been reported for some crude drugs. Liquid chromatography-nuclear magnetic resonance/mass spectrometry revealed the degradation process of saponins, which are unstable components of the crude drug "Achyranthes root." The presence of diterpenes unstable with respect to drying temperature in the leaves of the crude drug "Leonurus herb" was revealed and their structures were elucidated. At the examination stage of the degradation process of perillaldehyde, the characteristic aromatic component of Perilla herb, it was elucidated that some specimens contained a small amount of perillaldehyde and that they contained more α-asarone. A trend toward lower ephedrine content was observed toward the tip of the above-ground branching of the Ephedra herb. Multivariate analysis was also introduced into the quality assessment of crude drugs and was established as a tool to identify bioactive compounds using the component diversity of crude drugs and to elucidate component differences due to the cultivation environment.
由于生药是天然产物，其质量可能会有所不同。然而，在加工和制备过程中发生的成分变化中活性成分的降解也会影响使用草药的汉方制剂的药用特性；因此，需要对制备过程中成分变化的影响进行详细研究。植物成分的含量会因种植年份和植物部位而有所不同；然而，对于一些生药，很少有详细的研究报道。液相色谱 - 核磁共振/质谱揭示了生药“牛膝根”中不稳定成分皂苷的降解过程。揭示了生药“益母草”叶片中对干燥温度不稳定的二萜类化合物的存在，并阐明了它们的结构。在紫苏叶特征性芳香成分紫苏醛的降解过程研究阶段，阐明了一些标本含有少量紫苏醛，且含有较多的α - 细辛脑。观察到麻黄地上分枝顶端麻黄碱含量有降低趋势。多变量分析也被引入到生药的质量评估中，并被确立为一种利用生药的成分多样性来鉴定生物活性化合物以及阐明由于种植环境导致的成分差异的工具。
