Inhibitory Effect of Rhei Rhizoma Constituents on the Cortisol Production in ACTH-Stimulated Bovine Adrenal Fasciculata Cells

¹ Department of Bio-analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, Niigata, Japan

² Department of Endocrine & Neural Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

³ Department of Medicinal Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

⁴ Department of Clinical Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, Iwate Medical University, Japan

⁵ Department of Functional and Analytical Food Sciences, Faculty of Applied Life Sciences, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, Niigata, Japan

⁶ School of Pharmacy, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

*Corresponding author: Saori Nakagawa, Department of Bio-analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, 265-1 Higashijima, Akiha-ku, Niigata 956-8603, Japan. Tel: +81-250-25-5296, E-mail: [email protected]

Naoko Kuwabara and Yukiko Matsuo contributed equally to this work.

Citation: Nakagawa S, et al. (2022). Inhibitory Effect of Rhei Rhizoma Constituents on the Cortisol Production in ACTH-Stimulated Bovine Adrenal Fasciculata Cells. Traditional Medicine. 3(2):10.

Received Date: Aug 31, 2022

Published Date: Sep 15, 2022

Copyrights: Nakagawa S, et al. © (2022).

ABSTRACT

Depression can be activated by dysfunction of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and is sometimes accompanied by increased cortisol production. In this study, the effects of Kampo extract products on cortisol production in bovine adrenal fasciculata cells via adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation were investigated with the aim of identifying substances that can improve the function of the HPA axis. Daiokanzoto extract product, which is prepared from Rhei Rhizoma and Glycyrrhizae Radix as the constituent crude drugs, was found to potently inhibit cortisol production in bovine adrenal fasciculata cells. Because only Rhei Rhizoma decoction showed potent inhibitory effect, the cortisol production inhibitory substances in Rhei Rhizoma was analyzed. As a result, six anthraquinones: chrysophanol, emodin, aloe-emodin, rhein, chrysophanol-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and physicion-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside were isolated and identified from Rhei Rhizoma decoction. Among these compounds, emodin showed the strongest inhibition of the ACTH-induced cortisol production in cells (IC₅₀ = 13.1 ± 1.9 µM). These results suggest that emodin may help of stress-induced illnesses such as depression.

Keywords: cortisol; adrenal fasciculata cell; ACTH; Rhei Rhizoma; emodin