The Effect and Mechanism of New Processing Method of Codonopsis pilosula on Endocrine Physique Index in Rats.

Objective: To explore the effect and mechanism of a new processing method of Codonopsis pilosula (CP) on the endocrine physique index in rats. Methods: The rats were randomly assigned into the control group, model group, CP group (3.75 g/kg crude drug), rice-fried CP group (3.75 g/kg crude drug), and honey-roasted CP group (3.75 g/kg), with 10 rats in each group. All rats were gavaged according to the body weight of 1 mL/100 g every morning for 3 weeks. The water extracts of different processed products of CP were given to the drug group, the blank group, and the model group which were given the same volume of normal saline during the experiment. The model group and each administration group were fed every other day and drank freely for 21 days, during which the weight was weighed every 2 days. The changes of the organ index; the contents of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol (Cor); and the activity of sodium and potassium adenosine triphosphate (Na Results: Effect on the organ index: the organ index of the control group, CP group, rice-fried group, and honey moxibustion group was higher compared to that of the model group, and the organ index of the honey moxibustion group was the highest ( Conclusion: This study proves that the new processing method of CP can improve the endocrine physique index of rats, enhance their organ quality, and regulate the disorder of water metabolism in kidney yin deficiency syndrome and has a certain therapeutic effect on kidney yin deficiency syndrome. Different new processing methods of CP have different effects on promoting endocrine physique indexes of rats. It is concluded that honey-roasted CP has the best effect on promoting spleen deficiency, which may be through glucose metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and nucleotide metabolism, increasing ATP energy metabolism, so as to strengthen the symptoms of spleen deficiency in rats. The experimental data of this study indicate that the effect of honey-roasted CP is better compared to that of other processed products, which provides an experimental basis for the rational clinical application of the new processed products.