Huang Qin Ge Gen Tang Herb Extraction

Herb granules [(HQ, Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi Radix), Gegen (GG, Pueraria lobata Ohwi Radix), Shengma (SM, Cimicifuga foetida L. Rhizoma), Baishao (BS, Paeonia lactiflora Pall Radix) and Gancao (GC, Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch Radix)] were purchased from Sun Ten Pharmaceutical Co. (Taipei, Taiwan). The herb weight ratio for Huang Qin Ge Gen Tang formulation (HQGGT) was HQ:10 g; GG:15 g; SM:6 g; BS:10 g; GC:3 g as previously described [12 (link)]. Granules were weighed and resuspended in deionized water and incubated at 80 °C for 30 min. The supernatant was separated from any insoluble material by centrifugation (3000 × g, 20 min) and sterilized by passage through a 0.22 μm filter. For in vitro cell culture studies, 100 mg/mL HQ extract was prepared. For in vivo animal experiments, 300 mg/mL HQ (actual soluble weight is 200 mg/mL) and 20 mg/mL BI solution (DMSO-PBS solution) were used. Baicalin (BI), baicalein (BE), wogonin (WO), and wogonoside (WS) (Sigma; St. Louis, MO) were dissolved in DMSO (50 mM stock solution).