Comparative Study on the Chemical Components and Gastrointestinal Function on Rats of the Raw Product and Licorice-Simmered Product of Polygala tenuifolia

Yueli Cui; Xin Zhao; Yuqiu Tang; Yanxue Zhang; Le Sun; Xuelan Zhang

doi:10.1155/2021/8855536

Comparative Study on the Chemical Components and Gastrointestinal Function on Rats of the Raw Product and Licorice-Simmered Product of Polygala tenuifolia

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Jan 7:2021:8855536. doi: 10.1155/2021/8855536. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yueli Cui¹, Xin Zhao¹, Yuqiu Tang², Yanxue Zhang¹, Le Sun¹, Xuelan Zhang^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250355, China.
² Jinan Central Hospital of Shandong Province, Jinan 250013, Shandong, China.
³ Shandong Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for Quality Control and Construction of the Whole Industrial Chain of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 4655 Daxue Road, Jinan 250355, Shandong, China.

Abstract

The root of Polygala tenuifolia Willd. (Polygalaceae) (PT) has been listed as a nootropic, anti-inflammatory, and antipsychotic medicine that can cure insomnia. Raw PT (RPT) is toxic and must be processed before clinical use. Licorice-simmered PT (LPT) is one of the most common processed products. We conducted this study in order to investigate the differences in chemical components and gastrointestinal function between RPT and LPT. We used principal component analysis (PCA) and quantitative analysis to study the differences in the chemical components. Animal experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of PT on the gastrointestinal function of rats before and after simmering. Pathological sections of gastrointestinal tissues, serum hormone levels, and inflammatory cytokines were observed. The PCA results demonstrated that obvious separation was achieved between the RPT and LPT samples. Tenuifoliside B (TFSB), 3,6'-disinapoyl sucrose (DSS), tenuifoliose A (TFOA), tenuifoliose H (TFOH), onjisaponin B (OJB), onjisaponin Z (OJZ), and total saponins levels were decreased after licorice processing, while glomeratose A (GA) and 3,4,5-trimethoxycinnamic acid (TMCA) levels were markedly increased. Compared to the control group, the RPT groups exhibited dramatically lower levels of gastrin (GAS), motilin (MTL), and substance P (SP) and markedly higher levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and somatostatin (SS), but the LPT groups exhibited no significant differences in the above indexes. The levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in gastrointestinal tissue were markedly increased in the low RPT (L-RPT), high RPT (H-RPT), and H-LPT groups, showing a certain inflammatory effect, but the inflammatory effect in the L-LPT group was relatively weak. Licorice simmering can effectively reduce the inhibitory effect of RPT on gastrointestinal function in rats and reduce damage to gastrointestinal tissue. This study provides a scientific basis for research on the processing mechanism and clinical application of PT.