title: The Correlation between Chemical Composition, as Determined by UPLC-TOF-MS, and Acute Toxicity of Veratrum nigrum L. and Radix paeoniae alba.
abstract: The eighteen incompatible medicaments is an important theory in traditional Chinese medicine. The theory suggests that drugs in the eighteen incompatible medicaments can be toxic when used together. Veratrum nigrum L. and Radix paeoniae alba belong to the eighteen incompatible medicaments and have been prohibited for thousands of years. This study offers preliminary insight into the mechanism and chemical constituents responsible for the incompatibility and toxicity of these two agents. Specifically, we performed toxicology studies to identify and quantify the constituent substances of the two agents. Experiments revealed that acute toxicity increases when the dose of V. nigrum L. is higher than, or equal to, RPA. UPLC-TOF-MS analysis showed that, although the volumes of V. nigrum L. were the same, the content of some veratrum alkaloids changed significantly and had a trend toward a highly positive correlation (|r| ≥ 0.8) with toxicity. This suggests that the increased toxicity of the V. nigrum L. and RPA combination was due mainly to increased content of the special veratrum alkaloids. The cytotoxicity of veratridine in SH-SY5Y cells was decreased with increasing paeoniflorin concentrations. This study provides insight into the mechanism behind the incompatibility theory of TCM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Taiping Road 27, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Xianxie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Taiping Road 27, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Yuguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Taiping Road 27, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Qiande
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Taiping Road 27, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Zengchun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Taiping Road 27, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Chengrong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Taiping Road 27, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Taiping Road 27, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao