Rhizoma Coptidis: A Potential Cardiovascular Protective Agent

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in both the developed and developing world. Rhizoma coptidis (RC), known as Huang Lian in China, is the dried rhizome of medicinal plants from the family Ranunculaceae, such as Coptis chinensis Franch, C. deltoidea C.Y. Cheng et Hsiao, and C. teeta Wall which has been used by Chinese medicinal physicians for more than 2000 years. In China, RC is a common component in traditional medicines used to treat CVD associated problems including obesity, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and disorders of lipid metabolism. In recent years, numerous scientific studies have sought to investigate the biological properties of RC to provide scientific evidence for its traditional medical uses. RC has been found to exert significant beneficial effects on major risk factors for CVDs including anti-atherosclerotic effect, lipid-lowering effect, anti-obesity effect and anti-hepatic steatosis effect. It also has myocardioprotective effect as it provides protection from myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. These properties have been attributed to the presence of bioactive compounds contained in RC such as berberine, coptisine, palmatine, epiberberine, jatrorrhizine, and magnoflorine; all of which have been demonstrated to have cardioprotective effects on the various parameters contributing to the occurrence of CVD through a variety of pathways. The evidence available in the published literature indicates that RC is a herb with tremendous potential to reduce the risks of CVDs, and this review aims to summarize the cardioprotective properties of RC with reference to the published literature which overall indicates that RC is a herb with remarkable potential to reduce the risks and damage caused by CVDs.

A simple, fast, and sensitive colorimetric assay for visual detection of berberine in human plasma by NaHSO4-optimized gold nanoparticles

“…6A). This clearly indicates that the AuNP suspension is still highly stable aer the addition of 0.1 mM NaHSO 4 . We further compared the sensitivities of the AuNPs to berberine before and aer the addition of NaHSO 4 by measuring the A 670 /A 520 at different analyte concentrations.…”

“…We studied the effect of different concentrations of NaHSO 4 on the AuNPs, and Fig. 6A shows the absorbance spectra of the AuNP suspension with the addition of different concentrations of NaHSO 4 . Inset image (a) in Fig.…”

“…It is well-known that SO 4 2À anions at a concentration higher than 0.1 M can destroy the stability of citrate-capped metal NPs and result in the aggregation of metal NPs, 24 which may be achieved by occupying the surface binding sites of the metal NPs through exchange with the weakly bound citrate ligands. 25 To further promote the aggregation of the AuNPs, we used NaHSO 4 instead of Na 2 SO 4 , because the acidity of the HSO 4 À salt further promotes the exchange between the SO 4 2À anions and citrate ligands due to the weak basicity of citrate. However, the HSO 4 À anions at a concentration as low as 1.0 mM do not result in the aggregation of the AuNPs at all, but may promote ligand exchange between the strongly-bound berberine molecules and the citrate ligands at the surface of the AuNPs.…”

“…Typically, 0.25 mL of HAuCl 4 $4H 2 O (0.1 M) was added to 100 mL of ultra-pure water and heated to boiling under reux with magnetic stirring. 1.5 mL of trisodium citrate (1%) was rapidly added into the boiling solution of HAuCl 4 , and the mixed solution was further reuxed for another 30 min to form a wine-red suspension. The suspension was gradually cooled to room temperature under stirring, and then ltered through a 0.22 mm Millipore membrane.…”

“…3 It also has various benecial effects on the cardiovascular system, 4 and signicant antioxidant activities. 5,6 In addition, the potential application of berberine as a complementary therapeutic agent for HIV infection has also been reported.…”