atractylenolide-ii and atractylon

To investigate the rule about changes on main active compositions of Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma before and after being processed, and to explore its processing principle.. The HPLC method was employed to determine the content of atractrylone, atractrylode I, II, III and total volatile oil of Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma with different processes. The processing principle before and after processing of Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma was investigated.. Compared with Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, the contents of atractrylone in different processed products of Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma were decreased by some extent. The lowest content was 0.33% in Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma of stir-fried with dirt, reduced by 25.4%; the content of atractylenolide I, III were significantly increased, the highest content were 0.069% and 0.078% in Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma of stir-fried with bran, respectively; the content of atractylenolide II was increased slightly, the highest content was 0.066% in Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma of stir-fried with dirt; the content of total volatile oil was significantly reduced, the lowest content was 0.64% in Atractrylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma of stir-fried with dirt.. The content of atractylon is significantly reduced after processing, which changed into atractrylode I, II, III by some extent, and improve the effective cure of Atractrylodis Macrocephala Rhizoma.

Topics: Atractylodes; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Lactones; Oils, Volatile; Rhizome; Sesquiterpenes; Technology, Pharmaceutical

The rhizome of Atractylodes ovata (Bai Zhu in Chinese) is a widely used traditional Chinese herb in Taiwan as a tonic agent. In this paper, four sesquiterpenoids, namely atractylon, and atractylenolides I, II, and III, were isolated from the n-hexane extract of A. ovata and were evaluated for cytotoxic effects in vitro. Atractylon significantly inhibited the growth of human leukemia cell line HL-60 and mouse leukemia cell line P-388, and showed low cytotoxicity against primary cultures of normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells at 15 microg/ml for 12 h. Atractylon had a dose-dependent antiproliferative effect on the two tumor cell lines. In accordance with DNA fragment increases and PARP protein decreases, atractylon at 15 microg/ml for 6 h induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells. Moreover, atractylon inhibited the viability of P-388 cells and induced apoptosis after 15 microg/ml treatment for 12 h in an in vitro assay. However, atractylenolide I at 30 microg/ml for 12 h also induced apoptosis in HL-60 and P-388 cells, but atractylenolides II and III showed no significant inhibition effects on tumor cell growth. As the above results suggested, atractylon and atractylenolide I were the major cytotoxic principle constituents of A. ovata on leukemia cell lines.

Topics: Animals; Asteraceae; Blotting, Western; Cell Survival; DNA Fragmentation; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; HL-60 Cells; Humans; Lactones; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Plant Extracts; Plant Structures; Proteins; Sesquiterpenes; Tumor Cells, Cultured