In vivo pro-angiogenic effects of dracorhodin perchlorate in zebrafish embryos: A novel bioactivity evaluation platform for commercial dragon blood samples
Preethi Krishnaraj a, Yu Chang b, Tsung-Jung Ho c,d,e, Nai-Chen Lu e,f, Ming-Der Lin a,g,h,**, Hao-Ping Chen b,*
a Department of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, 97004, Taiwan
b Department of Biochemistry, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, 97004, Taiwan
c College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, 40421, Taiwan
d Division of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Beigang Hospital, Yulin, 65152, Taiwan
e Division of Chinese Medicine, An Nan Hospital, China Medical University, Tainan, 70965, Taiwan
f Department of Nursing, An Nan Hospital, China Medical University, Tainan, 70965, Taiwan
g Department of Life Science, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, 97004, Taiwan
h Department of Medical Research, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Hualien, 97004, Taiwan
Dragon blood has been used in wound treatment for many years and can be obtained from several distinct plant species. Dracorhodin, the active substituent of dragon blood, is a characteristic compound of the palm tree, Daemonorops draco. At present, the only method to evaluate the quality of commercial dragon blood samples is a HPLC method which determines the amount of dracorhodin in a dragon blood sample. In this study, we used zebrafish embryos as a platform to demonstrate the in vivo pro-angiogenic activity of dracorhodin perchlorate, the chemically synthesized analog of dracorhodin. By using this platform, three different commercial dragon blood samples were also examined. Our results clearly show that even though the commercial dragon blood samples had similar amounts of dracorhodin, they showed highly variable biological activity, such as proangiogenic effects and toxicity. In short, an in vivo activity assay platform for rapidly examining the biological activity of commercial dragon blood samples was successfully established here, which complements the current HPLC-based assay method.
Keywords: Dracorhodin chlorate, Dragon blood, Angiogenesis