Active ingredients in Chinese medicines promoting blood circulation as Na+/K+ -ATPase inhibitors.

The positive inotropic effect of cardiac glycosides lies in their reversible inhibition on the membrane-bound Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase in human myocardium. Steroid-like compounds containing a core structure similar to cardiac glycosides are found in many Chinese medicines conventionally used for promoting blood circulation. Some of them are demonstrated to be Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase inhibitors and thus putatively responsible for their therapeutic effects via the same molecular mechanism as cardiac glycosides.

Steroid-like compounds in Chinese medicines promote blood circulation via inhibition of Na+/K+ -ATPase.

Aim: To examine if steroid-like compounds found in many Chinese medicinal products conventionally used for the promotion of blood circulation may act as active components via the same molecular mechanism triggered by cardiac glycosides, such as ouabain.

Methods: The inhibitory potency of ouabain and the identified steroid-like compounds on Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase activity was examined and compared. Molecular modeling was exhibited for the docking of these compounds to Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase.

Effect of sugar positions in ginsenosides and their inhibitory potency on Na+/K+-ATPase activity.

Aim: To determine whether ginsenosides with various sugar attachments may act as active components responsible for the cardiac therapeutic effects of ginseng and sanqi (the roots of Panax ginseng and Panax notoginseng) via the same molecular mechanism triggered by cardiac glycosides, such as ouabain and digoxin.

Methods: The structural similarity between ginsenosides and ouabain was analyzed. The inhibitory potency of ginsenosides and ouabain on Na+/K+-ATPase activity was examined and compared.

Massive accumulation of gallic acid and unique occurrence of myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol in preparing old oolong tea.

Old oolong tea, tasting superior and empirically considered beneficial for human health, is prepared by long-term storage accompanied with periodic drying for refinement. Analyzing infusions of three old and one newly prepared oolong teas showed that significant lower (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) but higher gallic acid contents were detected in the old teas compared to the new one. The possibility of releasing gallic acid from EGCG in old tea preparation was supported by an in vitro observation of gallic acid degraded from EGCG under heating conditions mimicking the drying process.