title: Rhubarb Anthraquinones Protect Rats against Mercuric Chloride (HgCl₂)-Induced Acute Renal Failure.
abstract: Mercury (Hg) causes severe nephrotoxicity in subjects with excess exposure. This work attempted to identify whether a natural medicine--rhubarb--has protective effects against mercuric chloride (HgCl₂)-induced acute renal failure (ARF), and which of its components contributed most to the treatment. Total rhubarb extract (TR) were separated to the total anthraquinones (TA), the total tannins (TT) and remaining component extract (RC). Each extract was orally pre-administered to rats for five successive days followed by HgCl₂ injection to induce kidney injury. Subsequently, renal histopathology and biochemical examinations were performed in vitro to evaluate the protective effects. Pharmacological studies showed that TR and TA, but not TT or RC manifested significant protection activity against HgCl₂-induced ARF. There were also significant declines of serum creatine, urea nitrogen values and increases of total protein albumin levels in TR and TA treated groups compared to HgCl₂ alone (p < 0.05). At last, the major components in TA extract were further identified as anthraquinones by liquid chromatography coupled mass spectroscopy. This study thus provides observational evidences that rhubarb could ameliorate HgCl₂-induced ARF and its anthraquinones in particular are the effective components responsible for this activity in rhubarb extract.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100094, China. gaodan_gd@163.com.|China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. gaodan_gd@163.com.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. zeng_lingna85@126.com.
authors.forename: Ling-Na
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Integrative Medicine Center, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. zhang_ping77@126.com.
authors.forename: Pin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Friendship Hospital Attached of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. mazhij_123@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhi-Jie
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Experimental Animal Center, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. ruisheng_sci@126.com.
authors.forename: Rui-Sheng
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. zhaoyl_123@126.com.
authors.forename: Yan-Ling
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. zymprchina@126.com.
authors.forename: Ya-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. guoyuming_123@126.com.
authors.forename: Yu-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. niumingbright@126.com.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. bai_zf001@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhao-Fang
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Integrative Medicine Center, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. pharmacy302xxh@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiao-He
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100094, China. wwgao411@sina.com.
authors.forename: Wei-Wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: China Military Institute of Chinese Medicine, 302 Military Hospital, Beijing 100039, China. pharm_sci@126.com.
authors.forename: Jia-Bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D058186:Acute Kidney Injury / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D000880:Anthraquinones / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008627:Mercuric Chloride / Q000633:toxicity; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D020011:Protective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D012250:Rheum / Q000737:chemistry; D013634:Tannins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000880:Anthraquinones; D010936:Plant Extracts; D020011:Protective Agents; D013634:Tannins; D008627:Mercuric Chloride
keywords: acute renal failure; anthraquinones; mercury; protection; rhubarb