Anti-rheumatoid Arthritis Activities And Chemical Constituents Of Caragana Acanthophylla Kom

Caragana acanthophylla Kom belongs to the shrub of genus Caragana Fabra,Leguminosae, grow in saline-alkali land, hill thickets, sand, barren grassland slope, etc.This plant mainly distributed in the North Xinjiang including Changji City, Urumqi,Shihezi City, Zhaosu county and other places. Its root has the effiency of activating blood circulation, detumescence, diuretic, used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis(RA),bruises and cholecystitis in folk. Up to now, there is rare report on chemical and pharmacological study on C. acanthophylla Kom in and abroad. This topics studies its chemical composition and anti-RA activities systematically, at the same time conducting the safety evaluations. The results were as follows:(1) The anti-RA activity of the 80% ethanol extraction of C. acanthophylla Kom roots was investigated by collagen type II-induced RA rat model. The results showed that the extraction from C. acanthophylla Kom roots can significantly reduce arthritis index and volume change, inhibit swelling degree of ankle joint of rat models. The pharmacological tests showed that C. acanthophylla Kom exhibited anti-RA activity.(2) The chemical constituents of water extract, petroleum ether extract, and ethanol extract were studied by systemicly preliminary experiments. It showed that the root of Caragana acanthophylla Kom might contain sugar, polysaccharide, aminoacids, tannin,phenols, organic acids, flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids and triterpene, coumarin, lactones and volatile oil. From the dichloromethane fraction of the 80% ethanol extraction of C.acanthophylla Kom roots, compounds were isolated by column chromatogram, Sephadex LH-20 and preparative performance liquid. Their structures were identificated on the basis of physicochemical properties and spectral data. At last, we got 9 compounds, they were: beta-sitosterol(1),(-)-syringaresinol(2), lariciresinol(3),(-)-lirioresinolA(4),betulinic acid(5), ferulic acid ester(6), pterostilbene(7), docosanol(8), maackiain(9).All compounds were isolated from C. acanthophylla Kom for the first time. Compounds6 and 7 were firstly reported in this genus.(3) The content of total flavonoids in different medicinal parts(roots and acrial part)of C. acanthophylla Kom and different polar parts of C. acanthophylla Kom roots were determined by colorimetric analysis. The results showed that the content of total flavonoids in acrial part was 37.49 mg/g, higher than that in roots(106.96 mg/g). Further research found that the flavonoids of roots mainly concentrate in the dichloromethane fraction(4.12 mg/g).(4) The content of Cu, Cd, Pb, As, Hg in Caragana acanthophylla Kom were investigated by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The survey showed that the concentrations of Cu, Cd, Pb, As, Hg in C. acanthophylla Kom were 28.5116, 0.0310,1.3107, 0.1646 and 0.1879 mg/kg, respectively. Cu, Pb, As in Caragana acanthophylla Kom mainly existed in residual states; Cd was priority to reduction state; acid solution state was the main form of As. If the daily intake of Caragana acanthophylla Kom was15 g to 50 g, the estimated intakes of Cu, Cd, Pb, As, Hg from C. acanthophylla Kom were427.67-1425.58, 0.47-1.55, 19.66-65.53, 2.47-8.23 and 2.82-9.39?g, respectively, below the FAO/WHO recommended acceptable daily intake per person. The experiment results showed that daily intake of C. acanthophylla Kom was well within the safe limits.