The Decocting Time and the Contents of the Aconitine-type Diester Alkaloids in the Decoctions of the Formula Containing Unprocessed Aconite Root in “Songban Shanghanlun”

—Influence of Dried Ginger and Glycyrrhiza in the Formula—

Abstract

We investigated the decocting time to prepare the formulas containing unprocessed aconite root, such as shigyakuto, tsumyaku shigyakuto, and kankyobushito, which had been registered in “Shanghanlun” edited in Song Dynasty, using the weights and measures in Houhan Dynasty when the original “Shanghanlun” was regarded to have been established. Also the contents of aconitine-type diester alkaloids (ADA) eluted from unprocessed aconite root in the decoction were analyzed in time-dependent manners. As regards the modified formula for the “physically strong patients” in the texts of tsumyakushigyakuto in “Shanghanlun”, adding dried ginger was found to lead the decocting time to be shorter and the sum of ADA content in the decoction of the modified formula to increase about 20%. It was also found that the compositions of diterpene alkaloids derived from aconite root in kankyobushito decoction were highly different from those in shigyakuto decoction, containing less ADA and more aconine and hypaconine, due to the high pH of the decoction, which was the consequence of lacking glycyrrhiza in kankyobushito formula. It is suggested that the doctors in the era of “Shanghanlun” establishment may have carefully adjusted the contents of ADA in the decoctions using unprocessed aconite root by choosing co-decocted crude drugs.