Licorice can regulate calcium proteins and protect the heart in TCM

A team of researchers from Zhejiang Chinese Medical University in China studied whether the active components - aconitine, liquiritin, and glycyrrhetinic acid - found in Radix aconiti carmichaeli and licorice could lead to the regulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis and calcium cycling, which could affirm their therapeutic properties.

The myocardial cells were randomly divided into 12 groups - control, aconitine, nine different dose groups of orthogonal combined with aconitine, liquiritin, and glucyrrhetinic acid, and verapamil. In addition, the research team analyzed the survival rate and structure of the cells in the heart muscle. Moreover, the expression of calcium regulation protein in the myocardial cell was assessed by Western-blotting, which is an analytic technique that is utilized in immunogenetics, molecular biology, and other molecular biology principles to identify specific proteins in a sample of tissue homogenate.

Radix aconiti carmichaeli is a popular Chinese medicinal herb used to treat chronic heart failure. In addition, it is clinically applied in yang depletion and deficiency syndromes and is used to save someone to avoid the likely collapse of yang. It contains cardiotonic, antinociceptive (blocking the detection of painful stimulus by sensory neurons), and anti-inflammatory properties. The primary component of Radix aconiti carmichaeli is aconitine, which is responsible for the pharmacological activity. Aconitine is used in China as an analgesic and blood coagulant. However, aconitine contains high cardiotoxicity which could lead to severe arrhythmia, so its doses need to be regulated.

On the other hand, licorice, the root of glycyrrhiza glabra, primarily contains liquiritin and glycyrrhetinic acid. Combining aconitine with liquiritin and glycyrrhetinic acid increases efficiency and reduces toxicity, according to traditional Chinese medicine.

The research team found that aconitine damaged the myocardial cell, reduced the survival rate and expression of NA+Ca2+ exchangers and dihydropteridine reducta-α1, and enhanced the expression of ryanodine receptor type2. The effectiveness of the combination of aconitine, liquiritin, and glycyrrhetinic acid depends on the dosage. In conclusion, the results indicate that aconitine with liquiritin and glycyrrhetinic acid may regulate the expression of calcium-regulated proteins to defend myocardial cells from damage.

"The orthogonal combination of aconitine with liquiritin and glycyrrhetinic acid may regulate the expression of calcium regulatory proteins to inhibit the cytotoxicity of myocardial induced by aconitine, enhance the calcium regulatory adaption of myocardial cells, maintain the function of heart diastole and systole, and whence achieve the effect of toxicity reducing and efficacy enhancing," the researchers wrote.