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Effect of Schisandrae Fructus on glycyrrhizin content in Kampo extracts containing Glycyrrhizae Radix used clinically in Japan

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Abstract

Glycyrrhizae Radix is an important crude drug in Japan and is the most frequently prescribed drug in Kampo medicines for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. Glycyrrhizin (GL), the major active ingredient of Glycyrrhizae Radix, has various pharmacological actions but causes adverse effects such as pseudoaldosteronism. In a previous study, the GL content of shoseiryuto was found to be unexpectedly low, and Schisandrae Fructus in shoseiryuto reduced the pH value of the decoction and drastically decreased the extraction efficiency of GL from Glycyrrhizae Radix. In the present study, we investigated the extraction efficiency of GL from Glycyrrhizae Radix in decoctions comprising Glycyrrhizae Radix and five different fruit-derived crude drugs. Among the five fruit-derived crude drugs tested, Schisandrae Fructus markedly decreased both the pH value of the decoction and the extraction efficiency of GL. A comparison of the pH value of the decoction and the GL content of 12 Kampo prescriptions (containing at least Glycyrrhizae Radix and Schisandrae Fructus) showed that the GL content per daily dose was proportional to the compounding amount of Glycyrrhizae Radix, and that the extraction efficiency of GL from Glycyrrhizae Radix was strongly correlated with the pH value of the decoction. In addition, the pH value of the decoction was similar to the pH value documented in interview forms provided by pharmaceutical companies. These results suggested that the GL content in Glycyrrhizae Radix-containing Kampo products can be estimated from both the compounding amounts of Glycyrrhizae Radix and the pH value documented in their interview forms. Knowledge of GL content will help avoid adverse reactions due to Glycyrrhizae Radix.

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Acknowledgement

This study was supported by a Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant for ‘Research on Regulatory Science of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices’ from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Meijo University, 150 Yagotoyama,Tempaku-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 468-8503, Japan

    Mitsuhiko Nose, Momoka Tada, Asuka Kato & Shinsuke Hisaka

  2. Division of Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry and Narcotics, National Institute of Health Sciences, 3-25-26 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, 210-9501, Japan

    Sayaka Masada & Takashi Hakamatsuka

  3. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tenno-dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan

    Masato Homma

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  1. Mitsuhiko Nose
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  2. Momoka Tada
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  3. Asuka Kato
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  4. Shinsuke Hisaka
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  6. Masato Homma
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  7. Takashi Hakamatsuka
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Correspondence to Mitsuhiko Nose.

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Nose, M., Tada, M., Kato, A. et al. Effect of Schisandrae Fructus on glycyrrhizin content in Kampo extracts containing Glycyrrhizae Radix used clinically in Japan. J Nat Med 73, 834–840 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-019-01325-4

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