[Cited FineTest Elisa Kit] Current Research on Pneumonia Treatment Drug

FineTest Elisa kit contributes to the research on pneumonia treatment drug. The immunoassay is designed to measure iNOS and TNF-α concentration in serum.

Publication Details
Article Title: Identification of potential anti-pneumonia pharmacological components of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma after the treatment with Gan An He Ji oral liquid
Journal Title: Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpha.2022.07.004
IF: 14.026

Abstract:   Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, a traditional Chinese medicine also known as Gan Cao (GC), is frequently included in clinical prescriptions for the treatment of pneumonia. However, the pharmacological components of GC for pneumonia treatment are rarely explored. Gan An He Ji oral liquid (GAHJ) has a simple composition and contains GC liquid extracts and paregoric, and it has been used clinically for many years. Therefore, GAHJ was selected as a compound preparation for the study of GC in the treatment of pneumonia. We conducted an in vivo study of patients with pneumonia undergoing GAHJ treatments for three days. Using the intelligent mass spectrometry data-processing technologies to analyze the metabolism of GC in vivo, we obtained 168 related components of GC in humans, including 24 prototype components and 144 metabolites, with 135 compounds screened in plasma and 82 in urine. After the analysis of the metabolic transformation relationship and relative exposure, six components (liquiritin, liquiritigenin, glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, daidzin, and formononetin) were selected as potential effective components. The experimental results based on two animal pneumonia models and the inflammatory cell model showed that the mixture of these six components was effective in the treatment of pneumonia and lung injury and can effectively downregulate the level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Interestingly, the glycyrrhetinic acid exhibited the strongest inhibition on iNOS and the highest exposure in vivo. The following molecular dynamic simulations indicated a strong bond between glycyrrhetinic acid and iNOS. Thus, the current study provides a pharmaceutical basis for GC and reveals the possible corresponding mechanisms in pneumonia treatment.

Keywords:  Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, pneumonia, active components, inducible nitric oxide synthase, glycyrrhetinic acid

Immunoassay

Validated Image

Figure Source: Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2022.07.004.

Fig. 6. Potentially active components, which were screened from the perspective of in vivo exposure in patients with pneumonia, can significantly downregulate inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and reduce the level of lung inflammation. (A) Schematic of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced animal model of pneumonia; (B) mRNA expressions of iNOS and TNF-α in the lung tissues from the control (CON), LPS, LPS-Mix, and LPS-GAHJ groups identified by qRT-PCR (n = 6); (C) expression levels of iNOS and TNF-α in plasma from the CON, LPS, LPS-Mix, and LPS-GAHJ groups by determined by ELISA (n = 6); (D) immunohistochemical assay results of iNOS and TNF-α in lung tissues from the CON, LPS, LPS-Mix, and LPS-GAHJ groups (scale: 50 μm). (B–D) Data are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) (n = 6, ANOVA). ∗P < 0.05, ∗∗P < 0.01, and ∗∗∗P < 0.001.