Bioassay of enrich-blood bioactivity in the group of Dang gui roots

The enrich-blood bioactivity (EBB) is generally recorded as the main medical function in Chinese Dang gui (CDG, the roots of Angelica sinesis (Oliv.) Diels) and related herbs, i.e. Japanese Dang gui (JDG, A. acutiloba Katagawa or A. acutiloba Katagawa var. sukiyamae Hikino), Korean Dang gui (KDG, A. gigas Nakai), Lovage root (LR, Levisticum officinale Koch.) and Angelica Archangelica root (AAR, A. archangelica L.), but their EBBs are not known. A new indicator, “Enrich-blood Bioactive Index (EBBI)”, is nominated and established to quantitatively assess EBB among the five species herbs. A total of 26 herbal samples were collected from China, Japan, Korea, Germany and Austria, and the EBBs were quantified by bioassay method. Red blood cell was chosen as maker to assess EBB. Cyclosporine A was reference to quantify EBB. EBBI was calculated by combining the extraction rate and EBB intensity for each sample. The EBBI in CDG, KDG, LR and JDG were estimated to be 30.348 U (n = 9), 16.585 U (n = 4), 16.140 U (n = 4) and 9.884 U (n = 5), respectively; whilst four AAR samples were found inactive. EBBI in big, middle and small sizes of CDG samples were 24.993 U, 24.481 U and 23.625 U, respectively. It is concluded that EBBI is available to quantitatively assess the EBB and quality among the group of Dang gui herbs. It is also suggested that these herbs cannot be mixed or replaced in clinical use because of their various EBB.