Ammonium glycyrrhizinate

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed using a LaChrom Elite HPLC system (Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) equipped with photodiode array detector. The chromatographic separation of Bai-Shao, Gan-Cao, and SG-Tang (500 mg/ml) was achieved using a Hypersil ODS (C18) column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm). The mobile phase consisted of 0.1% phosphoric acid in water (A) and acetonitrile (B). The linear gradient elution was used as follows: 10~50% B (0~40 min), 50~90% B (40~45 min), 90% B (45~55 min), 90~10% B (55~60 min), and 10% B (60~70 min). The flow rate was 0.8 ml/min. The column and autosampler were maintained at 30°C and 20°C, respectively. Reference compounds were paeoniflorin and ammonium glycyrrhizinate (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) and absorbance was monitored at 230 nm and 250 nm, respectively. The scan range for photo diode array was 190~600 nm. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), LPS, and Congo red were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Interferon- (IFN-) γ was obtained from Santa Cruz.

Phospholipon 90G^® (PL 90G), was provided by Lucas Meyer C. (Lucas Meyer Cosmetic, Hamburg, Germany). Ethanol, sodium cholate (SC), ammonium glycyrrhizinate (AG) were purchased from Sigma–Aldrich (Milan, Italy), while bergamot essential oil (BEO) was provided by H. Reynaud et Fils Matières Premieres Aromatiques (Saint-Didier, France). Cellulose membranes Spectra/Por MWCO 10000 Da were obtained from Spectrum Laboratories Inc. (Eindhoven, The Netherlands). All other chemicals used in the study were of analytical grade and no further purification was necessary.