Wogonin

A novel microsomes-hydrogel added cell culture system (MHCCS) was employed in the antitumor activity screening of natural compounds, aiming to achieve drug screening with better in vivo correlation, higher initiative to explore the potential active metabolites, and investigation of the antitumor mechanism from the perspective of metabolism. MTT assay and cell apoptosis detection showed that test drug oroxylin A (OA) had enhanced cytotoxicity and wogonin (W) with reduced cytotoxicity on MCF-7 cell line upon MHCCS incubation. In vivo antitumor evaluations also demonstrated that OA induced higher tumor inhibition than W at the same dosage. To explore the reasons, nine major metabolites of OA were separated and collected through UPLC-Q-TOF and semi-preparative HPLC. Metabolites M318 exhibited higher cytotoxicity than OA and other metabolites by MTT assay. (1)H NMR spectrums, HPLC and TOF MS/MS results revealed that OA was catalyzed into its active metabolite M318 via a ring-opening reaction.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a serious inflammatory disorder which remains the primary cause of incidence and mortality in patients with acute pulmonary inflammation. However, there is still no effective medical strategy available clinically for the improvement of ALI. Wogonin, isolated from roots of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, is a common medicinal herb which presents biological and pharmacological effects, including antioxidation, anti-inflammation, and anticancer. Preadministration of wogonin inhibited not only lung edema but also protein leakage into the alveolar space in murine model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI. Moreover, wogonin not only reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 but also inhibited the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) induced by LPS. We further found wogonin inhibited the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and JNK at a concentration lower than ERK.

Scutellaria baicalensis is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant possessing a wide variety of biological activities. In this work, lipase immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles (LMNPs) was used as solid phase extract absorbent for screening of lipase inhibitors from this plant. Three flavonoids were found to bind to LMNPs and were identified as baicalin, wogonin, and oroxylin A by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Their IC50 values were determined to be 229.22 ± 12.67, 153.71 ± 9.21, and 56.07 ± 4.90 μM, respectively. Fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular docking were used to probe the interactions between these flavonoids and lipase. All the flavonoids quenched the fluorescence of lipase statically by forming new complexes, implying their affinities with the enzyme. The thermodynamic analysis suggested that van der Waals force and hydrogen bond were the main forces between wogonin and lipase, while hydrophobic force was the main force for the other two flavonoids.

A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography method with diode array detector was established for simultaneous determination of 11 components (geniposidic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, geniposide, luteoloside, isochlorogenic acid C, baicalin, luteolin, wogonoside, baicalein and wogonin) in various commercial Yinzhihuang preparations and their herbs by optimizing the extraction, separation and analytical conditions. Eleven components were identified on the basis of their retention times and mass spectra. Chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 analytical column with a gradient elution of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid water solution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The linearity, precision and accuracy of the data obtained were acceptable. The method was used to analyze four Yinzhihuang preparations (powder, capsule, oral liquid and injection) and related herbs (Radix Scutellariae, Flos Lonicerae, Herba Artemisiae Scopariae and Fructus gardeniae).