Suxiao Jiuxin Pill, a compound Chinese traditional medicine with main components of tetramethylpyrazine and borneol, is widely used for antiangina treatment in China but its pharmacological effect on human blood vessels is unknown. We investigated the effect and possible mechanism of SJP in the human internal mammary artery (IMA, n = 78) taken from patients undergoing coronary surgery. SJP caus...

The relative proportions of chemical classes (hydrocarbons, oxides, alcohols, ketones, esters) in the essential oil of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L., Lamicaeae) and in the volatile fraction of the infusion extracts were examined and showed remarkable differences.The volatile compounds of the infusion were isolated by two different methods, hydrodistillation and solid phase extraction (SPE...

Plant essential oils are widely used as fragrances and flavours in the cosmetic, perfume, drug and food industries. Oxygenated monoterpenes are widespread components of the essential oils, usually occurring in high amount. In this paper, the antibacterial activities of twenty-one oxygenated monoterpenes (borneol, borneol acetate, camphor, carvone, 1,8-cineole, citronellal, beta-citronellol, dih...

Artemisia argyi leaf is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In this work, for the first time, the separation and identification of volatile constituents in Artemisia argyi flowers is performed. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is developed for the fast analysis of volatile constituents in the flowers. Several headspace SPME param...

The sedative activity of eight aromatic natural medicines that are traditionally used in Japanese scent sachets was examined using an open field test with mice. Galangal (Kaempferia galanga), patchouli (Pogostemon cablin), sandalwood (Santalum album), spikenard (Nardostachys chinensis), cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia), clove (Syzygium aromaticum), star anise (Illicium verum), and borneol (Dryobala...

Thymus hyemalis L. and Spanish T. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris shrubs are characterized by a great chemical intraspecific variability among plants. This fact makes it difficult to detect real changes occurring in their essential oil composition during the vegetative cycle. Because of this, clones of T. hyemalis and T. vulgaris were used to monitor seasonal variations in their aromatic composition o...

Woohwangcheongsimwon is a traditional medicine for treating hypertension, arteriosclerosis, coma, and stroke in China and Korea. To assess potential interactions of herb and drug metabolism, commercially available Woohwangcheongsimwon suspensions were examined for their potential to inhibit the activity of nine human cytochrome P450 enzymes. The Woohwangcheongsimwon suspensions showed strong in...

Two alternative metabolic pathways, acyl glucuronidation and acyl-CoA formation, are implicated in the generation of reactive acylating metabolites of carboxylic acids. Here, we describe studies that determine the relative importance of these two pathways in the metabolic activation of a model substrate, 2-phenylpropionic acid (2-PPA), in vivo in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated w...

The essential oils associated with the flowers of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray were extracted and characterized via hydrodistillation and Gas Chromatography. Hydrodistillation was done in an all-glass Clevenger-type apparatus. The extracts from the hydrodistillation were subjected to gas chromatography where the components of the essential oils were separated based on their molecular ...