Quality and safety issues related to traditional animal medicine: role of taurine

Abstract

BackgroundCalculus Bovis (:C.Bovis) is one of the most precious and commonly-used medicinal materials in Japan and China. As the natural occurrence is very rare, a source of supply for C. Bovis is far behind the actual need and great efforts have been taken for some substitutes of natural C. Bovis. Unfortunately, very little information is available on the quality and/or clinical efficacy of medication based on C. Bovis. To ensure sustainable use of traditional therapeutic agents derived from C. Bovis, we felt that several issues needed to be addressed: 1) the source of the C. Bovis materials and quality control; 2) the role of taurine in the efficacy of C. Bovis.MethodsNine samples of natural C. Bovis and its substitutes were collected. ICP-MS was used for elemental analysis and the characterization was performed by principal component analysis (PCA) and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) as multivariate approaches. The efficacy of C. Bovis was evaluated for morphology, viability and beating pattern on cultured cardiac myocytes and/or fibroblasts.ResultsPCA and multi-elemental focus was effective in discriminating C. Bovis samples derived from different habitats. A satisfactory classification using SIMCA was obtained among Australia C. Bovis, other habitats and the substitutes. Australian samples had better batch uniformity than other habitats and were composed of fewer elements. We have used Australian C. Bovis for assessment on its bioactive compounds. Rat cardiac cells incubated with C. Bovis extract (0.01-0.1mg/ml) maintained normal morphology, viability and beating pattern. Cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts treated for 48 h with CA (0.5mM) or DCA (0.1mM) caused cell injury, as reflected by changes in appearance and a reduction of viability detected by the MTS assay. In cardiomyocytes, 0.5 h exposure of CA (0.5mM) markedly decreased the velocity ratio of beating, whereas the simultaneous addition of 1 mM taurine largely prevented the decrease.ConclusionsThe multi-elemental focus provided some references for the quality control and the efficacy of C. Bovis. Taurine partly attenuated the harmful actions of bile acids. It is plausible that the relationship between taurine and the bile acids contributes to therapeutic effect of C. Bovis.

Шар Халууны Гүрэм-7 Уламжлалт Жор Болон Түүнээс Бэлдсэн Нэмэлт-4 Бэлдмэлийн Гентамицинаар Өдөөсөн Нефрохордолтонд Үзүүлэх Нөлөө

“…"Удирдах эм"-ийн бүрэлдхүүний нэг үхрийн гиванд агуулагдах амин хүчил таурин ба цөсний хүчлийн харилцан үйлчлэл нь цөсний хүчлийнхээ хортой нөлөөг сулруулдаг байна (Takahashi K 2010). Гүргэмд их хэмжээгээр агуулагдах А-крозин нь хавдрын үхжилийн хүчин зүйлийг (TNFa) дарангуйлах замаар эсийг хамгаалж (Soeda S, 2001), чөлөөт радикалын хуримтлалыг сааруулах ба глутатион-С-трансформазе (GSH) антиосидант энзимийг идэвхжүүлдэг байна (Assimopoulou A.N 2005; Daly E.S.…”

Novel bioavailability-based risk assessment of Cd in earthworms and leeches utilizing in vitro digestion/Caco-2 and MDCK cells

“…Both earthworms and leeches are commonly used traditional animal medicine (TAMs), as thoroughly described in ancient literature 1700 year ago (Takahashi et al 2010). Given the unique priority of curative discoveries, there has been a long tradition of using earthworms and leeches for clinical purposes since ancient Egypt and medieval Europe (Whitaker et al 2004).…”

Novel risk assessment of Cd in earthworms and leeches based on bioavailability through in vitro digestion/Caco-2 and MDCK cells

“…Given the unique priority of curative discoveries, TAMs have been extensively used for treating a variety of diseases in Chinese clinics for a long history. Both earthworms and leeches are commonly used TAMs, as thoroughly described in ancient literature 1700 year ago (Takahashi et al, 2010). In addition, there has been a long tradition of using earthworms and leeches for clinical purposes since ancient Egypt and medieval Europe (Whitaker et al, 2004).…”