A preliminary study on the properties of red traditional Chinese medicine

Jing-Ma Zhou,Yuan Li

College of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Hebei University,Hebei,China.

Abstract

Key words:Traditional Chinese medicine,Red color medicine,Medicinal properties

Background

According to traditional Chinese medicine,the five colors belong to the five internal organs,among which the red color belongs to the heart.Li Dongyuan's Faxiang pharmacological method state also holds that red drugs belong to the heart meridian more often and are better at treating heart-related diseases.However,according to the modern theory of medicinal property of traditional Chinese medicine,medicinal property is a generalization of the characteristics of the effect of drugs on the human body,and the color of traditional Chinese medicine is determined by the physicochemical properties of drugs,which has no internal connection with the medicinal property of traditional Chinese medicine.From clinical,red medicine belongs to the heart meridian,the current textbooks of Chinese materia medica,Traditional Chinese Medicine (textbooks for the 13th Five-Year Plan of Higher Education in Chinese Medicine Industry) contained 443 kinds of traditional Chinese medicines,there are about 30 kinds of red Chinese medicines,accounting for 6.7%,including our familiar digestive medicine such as Shanzha (Alba),Qi-regulating drugs such as Chenpi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae),invigorate the circulation of medicine such as Danshen (Radix Salviae),Shaoyao (Radix Paeoniae Rubra) and Honghua (Flos Carthami),hematinic such as Jixueteng (Caulis Spatholbi),mend angry medicine such as Hongzao (Fructus Jujubae),Yin tonic such as Gouqi (Fructus Lycii),tranquilizing drug such as Suanzaoren (Semen Ziziphi Spinosae),astringent medicine such as Wuweizi (Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis),are the red Chinese medicine of traditional Chinese medicine clinical widely recognized,can treat heart related diseases.

1.Seeing red traditional Chinese medicine belong to heart meridian from clinical practice experience.

Through a lot of clinical experience of traditional Chinese medicine,red Chinese medicine more belongs to the heart,oral more have the effect of activating blood,nourishing blood,calming nerves,external use is more for the effect of removing stasis and relieving pain.

From the perspective of traditional TCM,the color of red Chinese medicine is "red".In TCM theory,"red" should be warm,bright and spontaneous,corresponding to "fire",and fire also has the above characteristics.Heart belongs to fire among the five internal organs,while the heart governs blood vessels and conceals spirit.Therefore,it is natural that the red Chinese medicine mainly focuses on the meridian of the heart and has the effect of removing blood stasis and relieving pain externally.

By looking at China pharmacopoeia (2015 Edited),we can found that medicinal materials and pieces in Part I recorded 618 kinds of traditional Chinese medicines.Among them,red (red,brown,brown) Chinese medicines have a total of 177.And there are 82 red medicines with the functions of promoting blood circulation,stopping bleeding,nourishing blood and soothing mind,accounting for 46.33%,as shown in Fig.1.

Figure 1 Efficiency Ratio of Red Traditional Chinese Medicine

At the same time,the red-colored Chinese patent medicines in the first part of formula preparations and mono-flavor preparations also have the effect of promoting blood circulation,such as Nvjin pills,Tiandan Tongluo tablets,Huayu Quban capsules and so on.According to the above results of single drug and compound inspection,it is preliminarily believed that there is a certain correlation between red Chinese medicine and its efficacy.

2.Physical and chemical studies show that red active substances have the effect of activating blood circulation

Through a series of chemical analysis,it can be concluded that most red traditional Chinese medicines contain flavonoids,in addition,the color of these components is mostly red,and the pharmacological effects of these components are mostly anti-platelet coagulation and sedation.Anti-platelet coagulation corresponds to the blood-activating effect of TCM,sedation corresponds to the analgesic effect of TCM,and these two effects are closely related to the heart heart meridian.Therefore,we can infer that there is an inevitable relationship between the chemical constituents of red traditional Chinese medicine and its meridian tropism.

2.1 Effectiveness of red traditional Chinese medicine.

According to the above inference,the efficacy of red traditional Chinese medicine should be closely related to the heart meridian,and the reasonableness of this inference can be confirmed by consulting the current textbooks of traditional Chinese medicine.For example,Danshen (Sed rutrum sapien) belongs to the heart and liver meridian,and it has the functions of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis,relieving pain,clearing heart and removing trouble,cooling blood and removing carbuncle.Suanzaoren (Semen) belongs to the heart liver and gallbladder meridian,and it has the functions of nourishing the heart and benefiting the liver,tranquilizing the mind and sweat;Honghua (CNECOS) which belongs to the Heart and Liver Meridian mainly has the functions of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis.The efficacy of the Chinese medicine listed above is related to blood,and the heart governs blood vessels,so it is related to heart.It is mostly used in cardiovascular diseases,external treatment of injury,swelling and pain relief.

2.2 Relationship between main chemical components and color.

Through consulting a large number of literatures,it can be found that the main chemical components of red traditional Chinese medicine mostly contain flavonoids,and the color of the chemical components that exert their effect is mostly red,which can provide another material basis theoretical support for the theory of "five colors belong to the five viscera".

A large number of research results [1] show that the chemical constituents of salvia miltiorrhiza are mainly flavonoids,terpenes and phenolic compounds,and these constituents have pharmacological effects of expanding coronary arteries,inhibiting platelet aggregation and reducing blood viscosity,which are reflected on the TCM efficacy of activating blood circulation,removing blood stasis and relieving pain,corresponding to their external efficacy.The main active ingredients of Salvia miltiorrhiza can be divided into two categories:one is fat-soluble diterpenoids,including tanshinone I (red crystal [2]),tanshinone IIA (cherry red needle crystal [3]),cryptotanshinone,etc.The other is water-soluble phenolic acids,including salvianolic acid,shikonic acid,rosmarinic acid and so on.Salvianolic acids have the pharmacological effects of anti-platelet aggregation,anti-thrombosis and anti-oxidation,and are the important chemical constituents of Salvia miltiorrhiza in clinical application.

In addition,the chemical constituents of Qiancao (Rubia) are mainly anthraquinones,naphthoquinones,cyclohexanones and polysaccharides.Among them,the anthraquinones include alizarin (orange crystal or pale brown powder [4]),alizarin acid,and the naphthoquinones include berberine,alizarin and so on.Research shows that [5] the water-soluble fraction of radix rubiae extract can significantly increase ATP content of myocardium and brain tissue,and has depolymerization effect on ADPinduced platelet aggregation in rats,that is,it has anti-myocardial infarction effect.

The chemical constituents of Honghua (CNECOS) are complex,mainly including flavonoids,alkaloids,terpenoids,fatty acids and other chemical constituents,among which flavonoids are the main water-soluble constituents [6].Safflower mainly contains red and yellow pigments,from which many effective pharmacological components can be separated,such as safflower glycoside (red-brown acicular crystal [7]),safflower yellow pigment (yellow or brown-yellow powder [8]),amino acids,rhamnose and so on.Safflower yellow pigment (SY) is a mixture of various watersoluble chalcone components.SY can be further separated into safflower yellow A,safflower yellow B and safflower yellow C.Among them,hydroxyl safflower yellow A (HSYA) is the main substance of safflower,which is yellow or yellow-brown powder,but its color of aqueous solution can change with PH.Change.

The chemical constituents of Chishao (Radix Paeoniae Rubra) are mainly monoterpenoids,including paeoniflorin (yellow brown powder [9]),paeonol,Gallic acyl paeoniflorin,etc.Recent studies on Chishao（Radix Paeoniae Rubra）have proved that it has an obvious effect on improving cardiovascular system.Propy l gallate in Chishao (Radix Paeoniae Rubra) can specifically bind to endothelin-1,inhibit its activity and act on the cardiovascular system [10].Huang et al.[11] through experimental studies,it was found that total paeony glycosides can improve the ischemic and hypoxic status of myocardial cells and maintain the normal energy metabolism and contractile function of cells.

Through the above enumeration,we can find that the main pharmacological components of red traditional Chinese medicine are red,such as tanshinone I (red crystal),alizarin (orange red crystal or pale brown powder),paeoniflorin (yellow brown powder),while safflower yellow pigment in safflower is yellow or yellow brown,not the obvious red,but it's a little red.Therefore,it can be inferred that the pharmacological effect of red traditional Chinese medicine in cardiovascular aspect has certain material basis and theoretical connection with ''the Red belongs to the Heart Meridian".At the same time,through consulting a large number of literatures,it was found that 54 of 82 red traditional Chinese medicines with the functions of promoting blood circulation,stopping bleeding,nourishing blood and soothing mind contained flavonoids,accounting for 65.9%,and the majority of flavonoids were their active ingredients.Through further summary,it is found that most of these flavonoids are flavonols,i.e.the C-3 position of their basic mother nucleus contains hydroxyl substitution or other oxygen-containing groups,in which hydroxyl and methoxy substitution are more common.See Tab.1 for details (red Chinese medicines containing flavonoid monomers,which have been documented in the literature).The effects of these substances.It is mainly related to the pharmacological effects of improving microcirculation,inhibiting platelet aggregation and vasodilation in the cardiovascular system.

Table 1 Distribution of representative flavonoids in red traditional Chinese medicine

2.3 Relationship between pharmacological action and color.

Material basis determines pharmacological action,and pharmacological action can also reflect the category of substances to a certain extent.A large number of scientific studies have shown that the pharmacological action of red traditional Chinese medicine is mostly related to the cardiovascular system,which can provide certain modern scientific basis for red traditional Chinese medicine belongs of the heart meridian.Jiangxiang (Dalbergia) has a certain therapeutic effect on cardiovascular diseases.It can improve myocardial remodeling,myocardial function,anti-thrombosis and anti-platelet agglutination.Wang et al.[29] found that Jiangxiang (Dalbergia) can reduce myocardial stiffness and improve myocardial remodeling by reducing the content of angiotensinogen RNA in infarct myocardium and the ratio of type I and type III collagen in non-infarcted myocardium.In addition,Yang et al.[30] found that the volatile oil of Lignum dalbergiae odoriferae could significantly improve myocardial ischemia induced by Pituitrin in rats.Yang [31] et al.proved that the volatile oil of Jiangxiang (Dalbergia) could inhibit the formation of experimental thrombosis in rats by intragastric administration,and promote the activity of plasma fibrinolytic enzymes in rabbits in vitro,indicating that the volatile oil of Jiangxiang (Dalbergia) has antithrombotic and anti-platelet coagulation effects.

The pharmacological effects of Sargentgloryvine stem on cardiovascular diseases are also prominent.The secondary metabolites of flavonoids contained in Sargentgloryvine stem had scavenged effect on free radicals in vivo.It is an effective component in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases,can inhibit cell apoptosis,and has physiological activities such as anti-tumor,anti-virus and antimutation [32].At the same time,the watersoluble extract of Daxueteng (Sargentodoxa) also has vasodilation effect.The results showed that[33] the protective effect of Polysaccharides from Daxueteng (Sargentodoxa) stem on ischemic myocardium was the strongest.

Honghua (Cnecos) extracts has many pharmacological effects,such as antithrombosis,anti-myocardial ischemia,vasodilation and hypolipidemia.Safflower yellow pigment can effectively inhibit the binding of platelet activating factor and receptor,thus it can resist coagulation and thrombosis.Yang [34] investigated the effect of safflower yellow pigment freeze-dried powder injection on cardiac function and serum matrix metalloproteinase in patients with acute coronary syndrome,the final results show that safflower yellow has a better therapeutic effect on unstable angina pectoris with blood stasis syndrome.Liao et al.[35] observed the effect of safflower injection on Hemorheology in patients with ischemic cardiovascular disease,it was found that safflower injection can significantly improve the hemorheological indexes in patients with ischemic cardiovascular disease.Wang et al.[36] through observing the curative effect of safflower yellow for injection on acute cerebral infarction,it was found that safflower yellow for injection had definite curative effects on acute cerebral infarction.In addition,the study found that safflower contains 80% linoleic acid,and safflower oil can adjust the blood cholesterol content,which is of great significance for the treatment of atherosclerosis.

Hongqu (Fermentum Rubrum),as a good material for Chinese medicine and food,has the functions of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis,invigorating the spleen and eliminating food.Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Hongqu (Fermentum Rubrum) has significant effects in lowering blood pressure,lowering blood lipids,bacteriostasis,anti-fatigue and so on.Meanwhile,studies have shown that [38] Hongqu (Fermentum Rubrum) can effectively prevent coronary heart disease and reduce the death rate of coronary heart disease.

The pharmacological effects of the drugs listed above are closely related to the cardiovascular system,and most of the main pharmacological components are red,such as trans-orange tertiary alcohol (colorless to straw yellow syrupy oily liquid),geranyl acetone (colorless or pale yellow oily liquid),safflower yellow pigment (yellow or yellow brown powder),etc.Corresponding to the theory of forensic pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine,red traditional Chinese medicine mostly belongs to the heart meridian,and has the effect of promoting blood circulation and stopping bleeding,which reflects the relationship between physical and chemical functions and color to a certain extent.

Discussion.

Through the summary and analysis of the chemical composition,pharmacological action,efficacy and meridian tropism of red traditional Chinese medicine,it is not difficult to find that most of the red traditional Chinese medicine belongs to the heart meridian,and its efficacy is mostly promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis,external treatment of trauma,dissipating blood stasis and relieving pain.All of them are closely related to their effective chemical constituents and pharmacological effects.Different drugs contain different chemical constituents,but their pharmacological effects are the same.External treatment can dissipate blood stasis and relieve pain,and their pharmacological properties are similar.The relationship between color,chemical composition,pharmacological action,efficacy and meridian attribution of red traditional Chinese medicine can be shown in Fig.2.

Meridian attribution and color of medicinal materials can be correlated with the theory of "five colors belong to five internal organs" of traditional Chinese medicine.At the same time,color of medicinal materials can also be correlated with chemical composition.Different chemical components can produce different pharmacological effects,and pharmacological effects can also be correlated with Chinese medicine.Medical efficacy corresponds to each other,and then turns back to the meridian,and progressively reveals the inference that red traditional Chinese medicine enters the heart meridian.

Figure 2 Color-chemical component-pharmacological action-efficacy-meridian tropism relationship

In addition,it can be found from the above studies that the red color of some chemical components is not obvious,such as geranyl acetone (colorless or light yellow oily liquid),safflower yellow pigment (yellow or brown yellow powder),but it does not affect the final result of red traditional Chinese medicine into the heart meridian,which can reflect the majority of red drugs from the side.Heart classics,but not red traditional Chinese medicine is not necessarily inappropriate,can not be generalized,such as Taoren (Semen Persicae),Chuanxiong (Rhizoma),Yujinxiang(Radix curcumae) are not red,but also into the heart classics.

In this paper,the research on the relationship between red traditional Chinese medicine and its efficacy is not deep enough.It is only a preliminary discussion from some red representative drugs.It is not comprehensive enough to analyze their components and pharmacological effects to explore the relationship between red traditional Chinese medicine and its efficacy.In the future,it is necessary to study whether red traditional Chinese medicine all has the function of activating blood circulation and red color,and what the composition of the red Chinese medicine and other deeper questions.

At present,the research on the relationship between drug color and drug properties is far from enough,and the research on pharmacological effects is not deep enough.Therefore,further in-depth study of the relationship between drug color and the material basis of Chinese medicine efficacy,close combination of Chinese medicine theory and clinical practice,clear active ingredients,clarify the mechanism of action,and systematically carry out the research on the essential attributes of Chinese medicine will not only promote the innovative development of the classical theory of Chinese medicine,but also expand and standardize it.The clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine will also play a positive role.