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Received Dec 11, 2017; Accepted Mar 11, 2018
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1. Introduction
Traditional Korean medicines, because of their high effectiveness and low toxicity, have been used for thousands of years for the prevention and treatment of various kinds of human diseases. Various ingredients in these herbs cause the efficacy of traditional Korean medicines, which consist of many herbal combinations. Therefore, the consistency of the composition and proportion of the composition are the key to quality control in safety, efficacy, and risk management. In general, analyzing a single marker compound is simple and convenient, but it does not provide sufficient quantitative information on other components in Korean medicines. Thus, over the past decade, the chromatographic fingerprinting method has been considered one of the most important and acceptable approaches for the identification and quality evaluation of Korean medicines [1, 2]. So-Cheong-Ryong-Tang, standardized as a Korean medicine of the National Health Insurance, is a traditional prescription for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, bronchitis, and bronchial asthma [3]. Recently, SCRT was reported to show therapeutic effects in in vivo experiments on the respiratory system for allergic rhinitis and asthma [3–9]. So-Cheong-Ryong-Tang (SCRT, Xiao-Qing-Long-Tang in Chinese, Sho-seiryu-to in Japanese) is composed of eight herbal preparations (Ephedrae herba, Paeoniae radix, Glycyrrhizae radix, Zingiberis rhizoma, Cinnamomi ramulus, Schisandrae fructus, Pinelliae rhizoma, and Asiasari radix) [4–6, 8].
To optimize the quality control of SCRT, thirteen bioactive compounds from eight herbal preparations were chosen. Among the 13 standard compounds, ephedrine and catechin were found in Ephedrae herba, which is known for its efficacy as a sympathomimetic and its antiobesity effects [10]. Albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoic acid, PGG, and methyl gallate are the major constituents of Paeoniae radix, which has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antispasmodic, liver protection, and immune regulatory functions [11, 12]. Liquiritin, Liquiritin apioside, and Glycyrrhizin from Glycyrrhizae Radix were used, which is an effective detoxifying agent, presenting neuroprotective effect, antiviral activity, and anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antibiosis effects [13]. 6-Shogaol from Zingiberis Rhizoma was found to have various pharmacological activities, including antioxidative, antitumorigenic, and immunomodulatory effects, and is...