Description: |
The combination of Cochinchinenin A, cochinchinenin B, and loureirin B is the material basis for the analgesic effect of Dragon’s Blood.
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In vitro: |
Science in China Series C June 2006, Volume 49, Issue 3, pp 274-285 | Modulation of dragon’s blood on tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium currents in dorsal root ganglion neurons and identification of its material basis for efficacy [Reference: WebLink] | To clarify the modulation of dragon’s blood on the tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) sodium currents in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and explore its corresponding material basis for the efficacy, using whole-cell patch clamp technique, the effects of dragon’s blood and the combined effects of three components (cochinchinenin A, cochinchinenin B, and loureirin B) extracted from dragon’s blood on the TTX-R sodium currents in acute-isolated DRG neurons of rats were observed.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
According to the operational definition of material basis for the efficacy of TCM established, the material basis of the modulation on the TTX-R sodium currents in DRG neurons of dragon’s blood was judged from the experimental results. The drug interaction equation of Greco et al. was used to assess the interaction of the three components extracted from dragon’s blood. This investigation demonstrated that dragon’s blood suppressed the peak TTX-R sodium currents in a dose-dependent way and affected the activations of TTX-R sodium currents. The effects of the combination of cochinchinenin A, cochinchinenin B, and loureirin B were in good agreement with those of dragon’s blood. Although the three components used alone could modulate TTX-R sodium currents, the concentrations of the three components used alone were respectively higher than those used in combination when the inhibition rates on the TTX-R sodium currents of them used alone and in combination were the same. The combined effects of the three components were synergistic. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that the interference with pain messages caused by the modulation of dragon’s blood on TTX-R sodium currents in DRG neurons may explain some of the analgesic effect of dragon’s blood and the corresponding material basis for the efficacy is the combination of cochinchinenin A, cochinchinenin B, and loureirin B. |
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In vivo: |
Science in China Series C: Life Sciences November 2008, Volume 51, Issue 11, pp 1025-1038 | Material basis for inhibition of Dragon’s Blood on evoked discharges of wide dynamic range neurons in spinal dorsal horn of rats[Reference: WebLink] | In vivo experiments were designed to verify the analgesic effect of Dragon’s Blood and the material basis for this effect.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Extracellular microelectrode recordings were used to observe the effects of Dragon’s Blood and various combinations of the three components (cochinchinenin A, cochinchinenin B, and loureirin B) extracted from Dragon’s Blood on the discharge activities of wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons in spinal dorsal horn (SDH) of intact male Wistar rats evoked by electric stimulation at sciatic nerve. When the Hill’s coefficients describing the dose-response relations of drugs were different, based on the concept of dose equivalence, the equations of additivity surfaces which can be applied to assess the interaction between three drugs were derived. Adopting the equations and Tallarida’s isobole equations used to assess the interaction between two drugs with dissimilar dose-response relations, the effects produced by various combinations of the three components in modulating the evoked discharge activities of WDR neurons were evaluated. Results showed that Dragon’s Blood and its three components could inhibit the evoked discharge frequencies of WDR neurons in a concentration-dependent way. The Hill’s coefficients describing dose-response relations of three components were different. Only the combined effect of cochinchinenin A, cochinchinenin B and loureirin B was similar to that of Dragons Blood. Furthermore, the combined effect was synergistic.
CONCLUSIONS:
This investigation demonstrated that through the synergistic interaction of the three components Dragon’s Blood could interfere with the transmission and processing of pain signals in spinal dorsal horn. All these further proved that the combination of cochinchinenin A, cochinchinenin B, and loureirin B was the material basis for the analgesic effect of Dragon’s Blood. |
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