Kayoko Shimada; Yuko Azuma; Masaya Kawase; Toshiharu Takahashi; Stephen W. Schaffer; Kyoko Takahashi
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 776 141 - 149 2013年
[査読有り] Calculus Bovis ( C . Bovis ) is a commonly used animal-derived therapeutic preparation. To meet the increasing clinical demand for the preparation, two artificial substitutes for Bos Taurus have been introduced in China: artificial C . Bovis and in vitro cultured C . Bovis . However, information on their efficacy and safety is inadequate. Therefore, we investigated the biological differences between the commonly used natural preparation and its two substitutes, with the aim of not only identifying the differences but also providing a procedure to distinguish between the different preparations. In the study, we prepared 9 natural C . Bovis, 2 artificial C . Bovis, and 2 in vitro cultured C . Bovis preparations for evaluation. Differences were noted between the three preparations relative to their effect on viability of cardiacfibroblasts from 1-dayold Wistar rats. Although natural C . Bovis had no effect on cell viability, 1-h treatment of the cells with 0.25 mg/ml of the substitutes significantly reduced cell viability, as detected by the MTS assay. Based on liquid chromatography and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, the preparations also differed in composition. Indeed, the substitutes contained more taurine, cholic acid, iron, magnesium, and calcium than the natural preparations. They also differed spectroscopically. The present results reveal significant biological differences between natural C . Bovis and two of its substitutes. Since the substitutes appear to contain more taurine, cholic acid, and elements, these constituents may serve as markers to distinguish between natural C . Bovis and its substitutes. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013.