龟甲胶研究发展探析

Probe into Research and Development of Turtle Shell Glue

随着现代研究技术和方法的发展,龟甲胶在炮制和提取工艺方面有了新的进展,主要成分、药理作用以及临床应用方面也有了新的发现,但目前仍存在较多问题,建议如下:①拓宽药源途径。胶类中药需求量较大,药源紧张、价格昂贵,中华草龟是唯一的药用物种来源,闭壳龟、巴西龟、鳄龟、海龟等其他品种均不能作为龟甲的药用资源,一定程度上限制了龟甲胶的药源途径。因此,可在做好质量控制、药效研究的基础上,利用其他龟科动物为原料,拓宽龟甲胶的药源途径;②提高鉴别技术。龟甲胶真伪难辨,黄明胶、猪皮胶以及杂皮胶等均可冒充龟甲胶,应提高市场胶类药材鉴别技术。首先把控好动物源,应用光谱法快速检测,高效液相色谱法做定量分析;其次测定龟甲胶与其他类似饮片中的标志蛋白和多肽,以作为龟甲胶的特征性因子,应用荧光定量PCR、DNA条形码等新兴技术建立胶原蛋白特征肽段检测方法,为龟甲胶的专属性鉴定提供新的方法;③加强研究力度。龟甲胶的化学成分多为蛋白质、氨基酸和微量元素,但药效物质基础并不明确,应继续应用现代科学技术对其进行实验研究,阐明其药效基础,为药物研发及临床应用提供科学依据;引入质量标志物概念,基于新的质量评价标准建立具有动物药材特色的质量评价体系。

With the development of modern research technology and methods, new progress has been made in the processing and extraction process of turtle shell glue.New discoveries have also been made in its main components, pharmacological effects, and clinical applications.However, there are still many problems.Suggestions are as follows:① To expand drug source pathways.There is a high demand for Chinese medicinal glue type, which leads to a shortage of drug sources and high prices.The Chinese grass turtle is the only source of medicinal species, while other species such as closed shell turtles, Brazilian turtles, crocodile turtles, and sea turtles cannot be used as medicinal resources for turtle shells, which to some extent limits the drug source of turtle shell glue.Therefore, on the basis of quality control and drug efficacy research, other turtles can be used as raw materials to provide a new way for the source of turtle shell glue.② To improve identification techniques.It is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of turtle shell glue, and yellow gelatin, pig skin glue, and miscellaneous skin glue can all impersonate turtle shell glue.Therefore, it is necessary to improve the identification technology of market glue medicinal materials.Firstly, control the animal source well, apply spectroscopy for rapid detection, high-performance liquid chromatography for separation and analysis, and conduct quantitative analysis of adulterated turtle shell glue products;Secondly, the marker proteins and peptides in turtle shell glue and other similar decoction pieces are determined as characteristic factors of turtle shell glue.Emerging technologies such as fluorescence quantitative PCR and DNA barcode should be used to establish collagen characteristic peptide detection methods, providing new methods for the specificity identification of turtle shell glue.③ To strengthen research efforts.The chemical components of turtle shell glue are mostly protein, amino acids, and trace elements, but the substance basis of its efficacy is not clear.Modern scientific and technological research should continue to be applied to elucidate its pharmacological basis, providing scientific basis for drug research and clinical application;It is necessary to introduce the concept of quality markers and establish a quality evaluation system with characteristics of animal medicinal materials based on new quality evaluation standards.