Genetic and chemical characterization of white and red peony root derived from Paeonia lactiflora

Abstract

Two kinds of peony roots—white peony root (WPR) and red peony root (RPR)—are used for different remedies in traditional Chinese medicine; however, most of them are derived from the same botanical origin, Paeonia lactiflora. The difference between WPR and RPR has been debated for a long time. This study attempted to clarify the genetic and chemical characteristics of WPR and RPR in order to provide a scientific dataset for their identification and effective use. The nucleotide sequence of nrDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the contents of 8 main bioactive constituents were analyzed from specimens of P. lactiflora, P. veitchii and two related species as well as crude drug samples of WPR, RPR and peony root produced in Japan. Of the samples derived from P. lactiflora, the WPR produced in the southern parts of China and the RPR produced in the northern parts of China were clearly divided into two subgroups within the P. lactiflora group based on similarity of the ITS sequences. The nucleotides at positions 69, 458 and 523 upstream of the ITS sequence served as molecular markers to discriminate between WPR and RPR. Quantitative analysis indicated that the RPR samples obviously contained a higher content of paeoniflorin and paeonol, but a lower content of albiflorin than the WPR produced in the southern parts of China and peony root produced in Japan. The WPR available from Chinese markets was usually processed by sulfur fumigation, which resulted in an extremely low content of paeoniflorin. This study indicated that WPR and RPR were not only geographically isolated, but also genetically and chemically separated. The ITS sequence provided a genetic index for their identification.

Meta-Analysis of Oxaliplatin-Based Chemotherapy Combined With Traditional Medicines for Colorectal Cancer

“…37,38 In human colon cancer LoVo cells, paeonol blocked cell cycle at the G1 to S transition and induced apoptosis. 39 In HT-29 cells, paeonol inhibited proliferation 40 and showed a synergetic antiproliferative effect when combined with 5-FU.…”

Quality Characterization of Japanese Medicinal Paeoniae Radix by Metallomic Analysis

“…4,8,23,24) In this study, we found that several cultivar samples (samples 3, 6, 9, 13, 15) had the similar metallomic profiles to those of crude drugs that were relatively homogenous. We demonstrated the possibility of usefulness of those cultivars for medicinal use and our metallomic analysis as a simple method for verifying the quality of Paeoniae Radix.…”

“…The herbal samples used in this study were all authenticated, genetically analyzed and certified to have the same characteristic nucleotide sequences in the nuclear ribosomal DNA intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS) regions as those of P. lactiflora. 9,10) All of those samples were also confirmed to meet the criteria of paeoniflorin (not less than 2.0%) prescribed in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia 11) (data not shown). ICP-MS Analysis All samples (10-50 g) were dried and ground to powder.…”

“…2). The clusters were as follows: cluster 1 (samples 3, 6, 9, 13, 15, D7, D50, D51, D52); cluster 2 (samples 8,10,11,12,24) of all the elements detected by ICP-MS, but the analysis was unsuccessful. Then, we used GA to select the variables appropriate for classification.…”

“…Generally, the flowers of medicinal cultivars are generally not so gorgeous that they can be marketable products. 8) If ornamental cultivars that produce beautiful and commercially valuable flowers are medicinally available, farmers would be able to earn money both from flowers and roots.…”