Ligustilide suppresses the biological properties of Danggui Buxue Tang: a Chinese herbal decoction composed of radix astragali and radix angelica sinensis.
Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT), a herbal decoction composed of Radix Astragali (RA) and Radix Angelica sinensis (RAS), has been used for treating menopausal irregularity in women for more than 800 years in China. According to the old tradition, RAS had to be processed with yellow wine before DBT preparation, which markedly reduced the amount of ligustilide in RAS and DBT, as well as enhanced the bioactivities of DBT. Here, we hypothesized that ligustilide would be an ingredient that possessed suppressive effects on DBT's functions. In the presence of ligustilide, the amount of astragaloside IV, calycosin, formononetin, and total polysaccharides extracted from RA were decreased. An increase of ligustilide caused a decrease of DBT's osteogenic activity in stimulating proliferation and differentiation of cultured bone cells. In addition, in the presence of a high level of ligustilide, DBT caused a side effect inducing the proliferation of breast MCF-7 cells. The current results strongly suggest that ligustilide is a negative regulator that hinders DBT to achieve its biological efficacy, which supports the traditional practice of preparing DBT using the ethanol-treated RAS.
Department of Biology and Center for Chinese Medicine, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong.
Yu Zhong
YZ
Zheng
Roy Chi
RC
Choi
Jun
J
Li
Heidi Qun
HQ
Xie
Anna Wing
AW
Cheung
Ran
R
Duan
Ava Jiang
AJ
Guo
Judy Ting
JT
Zhu
Vicky Ping
VP
Chen
Cathy Wen
CW
Bi
Yue
Y
Zhu
David Dai
DD
Lau
Tina Ting
TT
Dong
Brad Wing
BW
Lau
Karl Wah
KW
Tsim
D015107:4-Butyrolactone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D029971:Angelica sinensis; D027885:Astragalus propinquus; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D004336:Drug Antagonism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012503:Saponins / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000302:isolation & purification
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D007529:Isoflavones; D011134:Polysaccharides; D012503:Saponins; D014315:Triterpenes; C477279:danggui buxue decoction; C121707:7,3'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavone; C007768:formononetin; C052064:astragaloside A; C027820:ligustilide; C027492:Huang Qi; C044613:angelicae sinensis extract; D015107:4-Butyrolactone