Abelmoschus manihot, also called as “Huangkui” in Chinese, is an annual flowering herb plant in the family of Malvaceae. As a traditional Chinese medicine, the ethanol extract of the flower in Abelmoschus manihot is made as Huangkui capsule and has been used for medication of the patients with kidney diseases. Its efficacy in clinical symptoms is mainly improving renal function and reducing proteinuria among the patients with chronic kidney disease, diabetic kidney disease or IgA nephropathy. The possible mechanism of Huangkui capsule treatment in kidney diseases may include reducing inflammation and anti‐oxidative stress, improving immune response, protecting renal tubular epithelial cells, ameliorating podocyte apoptosis, glomerulosclerosis and mesangial proliferation, as well as inhibiting renal fibrosis. In this review, we first described chemical constituents and pharmacokinetic characteristics in ethanol extract of the flower of Abelmoschus manihot. We then summarized the clinical and epidemiological relevancies of kidney diseases particularly in the mainland of China and discussed the possible molecular mechanisms of Huangkui capsule in the treatment of kidney diseases. Finally, we prospected further research on cellular and molecular mechanisms and application of this Chinese natural medicine in kidney diseases.
Huangkui capsule (HKC), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been used for medication of kidney diseases, including diabetic nephropathy (DN). The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of HKC in the modulation of gut microbiota and the amelioration of metabolite levels by using non‐obese diabetes (NOD) mice with DN. The microbiota from three parts of intestines (duodenum, ileum and colon) in NOD mice with and without HKC treatment were analysed using 16S rDNA sequencing techniques. Untargeted metabolomics in plasma of NOD mice were analysed with liquid mass spectrometry. Results showed that HKC administration ameliorated DN in NOD mice and the flora in duodenum were more sensitive to HKC intervention, while the flora in colon had more effects on metabolism. The bacterial genera such as
Faecalitalea
and
Muribaculum
significantly increased and negatively correlated with most of the altered metabolites after HKC treatment, while
Phyllobacterium
,
Weissella
and
Akkermansia
showed an opposite trend. The plasma metabolites, mainly including amino acids and fatty acids such as methionine sulfoxide, BCAAs and cis‐7‐Hexadecenoic acid, exhibited a distinct return to normal after HKC treatment. The current study thereby provides experimental evidence suggesting that HKC may modulate gut microbiota and subsequently ameliorate the metabolite levels in DN.
According to Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 edition), Abelmoschi Corolla (AC) is the dried corolla of Flos Abelmoschus manihot (FAM). Market research has found that AC is often mixed with the non-medicinal parts in FAM, including calyx, stamen, and pistil. However, previous studies have not clarified the relationship between the medicinal and non-medicinal parts of FAM. In this study, in order to investigate whether there is any distinction between the medicinal and non-medicinal parts of FAM, the characterization of the constituents in calyx, corolla, stamen, and pistil was analyzed by UFLC-Triple TOF-MS/MS. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to classify and screen differential constituents between medicinal and non-medicinal parts of FAM, and the relative contents of differential constituents were compared based on the peak intensities. Results showed that 51 constituents in medicinal and non-medicinal parts of FAM were identified, and the fragmentation pathways to different types of constituents were preliminarily deduced by the fragmentation behavior of the identified constituents. Furthermore, multivariate statistical analysis revealed that the medicinal and non-medicinal parts of FAM differed significantly; 20 differential constituents were screened out to reveal the characteristics of metabolic differences. Among them, the relative contents of 19 differential constituents in the medicinal part were significantly higher than those in non-medicinal parts. This study could be helpful in the quality evaluation of AC as well as provide basic information for the improvement of the market standard of AC.
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