Screening of Bioactive Ingredients in Ligusticum Chuanxiong Hort for Protection against Myocardial Ischemia.

BACKGROUND/AIMS To study the spectrum-effect relationship and effective components of Ligusticum Chuanxiong Hort. (LCH) on the protection of canine myocardial ischemia. METHODS Fingerprint spectrum of LCH extracts was developed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and a canine model of acute myocardial ischemia was established by ligating the coronary artery. Bivariate correlation analysis and multivariate regression analysis were used to correlate the pharmacodynamics of LCH extract and its common peaks in HPLC. RESULTS The bioactive components of LCH were ligustrazine, ferulic acid, cnidilide and ligustilide. Ligustrazine and ferulic acid could significantly reduce serum lactic acid in canine model of acute myocardial ischemia, while ligustilide could significantly reduce the elevation of serum free fatty acid. CONCLUSIONS The spectrum-effect relationship study shows that the effective components of LCH are ligustrazine, ferulic acid, cnidilide and ligustilide, which have protective effect on myocardial ischemia.