Optimization of combinations of ginsenoside-Rg₁, ginsenoside-Rb₁, evodiamine and rutaecarpine for effective therapy of mouse migraine

Wuzhuyu decoction (WZYD) is a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula. It has been extensively used for treating migraine for thousands of years in TCM. Four potential active ingredients from WZYD, ginsenoside-Rg₁ (Rg₁), ginsenoside-Rb₁ (Rb₁), evodiamine (Ev) and rutaecarpine (Ru), were found to have positive correlations with pharmacodynamic indicators involving mouse migraine in our previous study. To find a better therapeutic effect on migraine, this research was carried out to optimize the combinations of Rg₁, Rb₁, Ev and Ru using the uniform design method. The results showed that Rb₁ and Ev played key roles in improving the therapeutic effect on mouse migraine by strongly ameliorating pharmacodynamic indicators associated with migraine. They significantly increased the contents of 5-hydroxytryptamine, noradrenaline and dopamine in brain tissues, and reduced the content of nitric oxide in brain tissues and the activities of nitric oxide synthase in both brain tissues and blood serum. The optimal concentrations of Rb₁ and Ev were 1057.4 mg/L and 312.5 mg/L, respectively. Rg₁ and Ru contributed less to the overall desirability, suggesting that they had reverse effects on some pharmacodynamic indicators of this type of migraine. The verification test demonstrated by the immunohistochemical method that the optimal combination inhibited the expression of c-fos and c-jun in periaqueductal gray of mice, and strongly ameliorated pharmacodynamic indicators. These results suggested that the therapeutic effect of the optimal combination of the four ingredients was strong, and the optimal results were proven to be reliable and accurate.