Metabolomic profiling of the flower bud and rachis of Tussilago farfara with antitussive and expectorant effects on mice.
BACKGROUND
Flower bud of Tussilago farfara L. is widely used for the treatment of cough, bronchitis and asthmatic disorders in the Traditional Chinese Medicine. However, due to the increasing demands, adulteration with rachis is frequently encountered in the marketplace. No report demonstrated the chemical and pharmacological differences between flower bud and rachis before.


METHODS
The water extracts were orally administrated to mice. Ammonia induced mice coughing model was used to evaluate the antitussive activity. The expectorant activity was evaluated by volume of phenol red in mice's tracheas. Metabolites were identified directly from the crude extracts through 1D- and 2D-NMR spectra. A metabolic profiling carried out by (1)H NMR spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis was applied to crude extracts from flower bud and rachis.


RESULTS
Flower bud significantly lengthened the latent period of cough, decreased cough frequency caused by ammonia and enhanced tracheal phenol red output in expectorant evaluation. Principal component analysis (PCA) yielded good separation between flower bud and rachis, and corresponding loading plot showed that the phenolic compounds, organic acid, sugar, amino acid, terpene and sterol contributed to the discrimination.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings provide pharmacological and chemical evidence that only flower bud can be used as the antitussive and expectorant herbal drug. The high concentration of chlorogenic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, rutin in flower buds may be related with the antitussive and expectorant effects of Flos Farfara. To guarantee the clinical effect, rachis should be picked out before use.
Modern Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine of Shanxi University, No. 92, Wucheng Road, Taiyuan 030006, Shanxi, People's Republic of China.
Zhen-Yu
ZY
Li
Hai-Juan
HJ
Zhi
Shui-Yu
SY
Xue
Hai-Feng
HF
Sun
Fu-Sheng
FS
Zhang
Jin-Ping
JP
Jia
Jie
J
Xing
Li-Zeng
LZ
Zhang
Xue-Mei
XM
Qin
D000641:Ammonia; D000818:Animals; D000996:Antitussive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002726:Chlorogenic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003371:Cough / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004340:Drug Contamination; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005100:Expectorants / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010637:Phenolsulfonphthalein / Q000378:metabolism; D008517:Phytotherapy; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012431:Rutin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014132:Trachea / Q000378:metabolism; D031207:Tussilago / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
D000996:Antitussive Agents; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D005100:Expectorants; D002726:Chlorogenic Acid; D012431:Rutin; D000641:Ammonia; D010637:Phenolsulfonphthalein; C100434:3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid