Moutan Cortex Protects Hepatocytes against Oxidative Injury through AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway

Abstract

Moutan Cortex, the root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa ANDREWS in Ranunculaceae, has widely demonstrated analgesic, anti-spasmodic, and anti-inflammatory effects in various cancer and immune cell lines. Oxidative stress is associated with development of several diseases, including liver disease. We prepared the water extract of Moutan Cortex (MCE) to investigate the cytoprotective activities and its mechanism. MCE protected hepatocytes from arachidonic acid (AA) iron induced oxidative stress, as indicated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell viability analysis. MCE also suppressed mitochondrial dysfunction in AA iron-treated human hepatocyte-derived hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, HepG2 cells. In addition, MCE treatment induces AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and liver kinase B1 phosphorylation, which play a role in inhibition of oxidative stress induced cell death. Moreover, one of the MCE compounds, chlorogenic acid, exerted protective effects against oxidative stress and apoptosis. Taken together, MCE protected hepatocytes against AA iron-induced oxidative stress through AMPK activation, and may be a candidate for the treatment of liver disease.

Protective effects of ten oligostilbenes from Paeonia suffruticosa seeds on interleukin-1β-induced rabbit osteoarthritis chondrocytes

“…Paeonia suffruticosa is an important Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of pain and inflammatory disease, including osteoarthritis [6]. Previously, scholars usually focused on its root extracts, such as paeonol or its analogues, as effective pharmaceutical ingredients, but other parts of the herb have not been fully studied [7,8]. Recently, it was found that the seeds of P. suffruticosa are rich in oligostilbenes, including resveratrol and its dimers and trimers [9].…”

Evaluation of the influence of mirabilite on the absorption and pharmacokinetics of the ingredients in Dahuang‐mudan decoction by a validated UPLC/QTOF–MS/MS method

“…There were statistically significant differences ( p < 0.05) in the pharmacokinetic parameters of the five bioactive constituents, T max , C max , AUC 0– t , MRT 0 − t , CLz and t 1/2 between the MDMD and NMDMD groups. Previous studies have reported that aloe‐emodin, paeoniflorin and amygdalin are bioactive constituents of rhubarb, moutan bark and Prunus persica (Cao et al, ; Xiang et al, ; Jang et al, ; Tao et al, ; Shun‐xing et al, ), respectively. These findings may suggest that mirabilite could assist paeoniflorin and amygdalin absorption into blood when used together with rhubarb, moutan bark and Prunus persica .…”

“…These therapeutic effects are attributed to the main bioactive constituents of DMD. Modern pharmacological studies have revealed that emodin, aloe‐emodin, rhein, paeoniflorin and amygdalin in DMD have extensive anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant activities (Cao et al, ; Xiang et al, ; Jang et al, ; Tao, Wen, Song, & Wang, ; Shun‐xing, Nan‐sheng, & Feng‐ying, ; Lin & Lin, ). According to plasma pharmacochemistry, only the constituents absorbed into blood may have the chance to perform pharmacological bioactivities (Han et al, ; Tang, Wang, Liu, Cheng, & Xiao, ).…”

Structural composition of components of geoherb Moutan Cortex contributes to anti-diabetic nephropathy activity

“…MC, recorded in the "Shen Nong's Herbal Classic", was used for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, hepatoprotective effect, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, hypotensive and the central nervous system [6][7][8]. Additionally, our previous research has confirmed the attenuation of MC on oxidative stress for renal injury in AGEs-induced mesangial cells dysfunction and streptozotocin-induced DN rats [9][10][11].…”

“…All animals were housed in Experimental Animal Center in Jiangsu Province (Nanjing, China) on a 12 h/12 h light/dark cycle with ad libitum access to food and water. DN rats were developed according to previous method [8]. Ten rats were injected with 0.1 M citrate buffer (pH = 4.5) as blank control.…”