Anti-fungal pharmaceutical compositions comprising an active ingredient prepared from Zingiber officinal

Abstract

A method of preparing an extract which is potent in anti-fungal activity from Zingiber officinale, includes the following steps: preparing a crude liquid from rhizomes of ginger by extraction with an organic solvent or supercritical CO 2 , or by distillation with steam; introducing the crude liquid to a reverse phase chromatography column, and eluting the column with water, a first eluent and a second eluent having a polarity weaker than that of the first eluent but stronger than that of chloroform, so that a first eluate resulting from elution of the first eluent and a second eluate resulting from elution of the second eluent are obtained; removing the first eluent and the second eluent from the first eluate and the second eluate by evaporation, respectively, so that a first concentrated eluate and a second concentrated eluate are obtained as the potent extract.

1 . An anti-fungal pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a product prepared from rhizomes of  Zingiber officinale,  as an active ingredient, in admixture with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent for the active ingredient, wherein said product is prepared by the following steps: 
 a) preparing a crude liquid from rhizomes of  Zingiber officinale;      b) introducing the crude liquid to a reverse phase chromatography column, and eluting the column with water, a first eluent and a second eluent in sequence, said second eluent having a polarity weaker than that of the first eluent but stronger than that of chloroform, so that a first eluate resulting from elution of the first eluent and a second eluate resulting from elution of the second eluent are obtained;    c) removing the first eluent from the first eluate by evaporation, so that a first concentrated eluate is obtained and is able to be used as the product; and    d) removing the second eluent from the second eluate by evaporation, so that a second concentrated eluate is obtained and is able to used as the product;    wherein step a) comprises steps i) to iv), or comprises step I), step I′), or step I″), wherein said steps i) to iv) are:    i) shedding fresh rhizomes of  Zingiber officinale  and filtering the resulting mixture to obtain a filtrate and a residue;    ii) extracting the filtrate with a first organic solvent, recovering the resulting extraction solution of the first organic solvent, and evaporating the first organic solvent from the extraction solution to obtain a first concentrated extraction solution;    iii) extracting the residue with a second organic solvent, recovering the resulting extraction solution of the second organic solvent, and evaporating the second organic solvent from the extraction solution to obtain a second concentrated extraction solution; and    iv) combining the first concentrated extraction solution and the second concentrated extraction solution to obtain the crude liquid;    said step I) is: 
 I) extracting powder of dried rhizomes of  Zingiber officinale  with the second organic solvent, recovering the resulting extraction solution of the second organic solvent, and evaporating the second organic solvent from the extraction solution to obtain the crude liquid; 
 said step I′) is:  
 
 I′) steam distilling powder of dried rhizomes of  Zingiber officinale,  and concentrating the resulting distillate by evaporation to obtain the crude liquid; and 
 said step I″) is: 
 I″) extracting powder of dried rhizomes of  Zingiber officinale  with supercritical CO 2 , recovering the resulting extraction solution of the supercritical CO 2 , and evaporating CO 2  from the extraction solution to obtain the crude liquid.  
 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the product as the active ingredient comprises 0-10 mg 6-shogaol per gram of the product, 1-150 mg 6-gingerol per gram of the product, and 0-40 mg 6-dehydrogingerdione per gram of the product.  
     
     
         3 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 1 , wherein said first eluent is methanol, and said second eluent is acetone.  
     
     
         4 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 3 , wherein step a) comprises steps i) to iv).  
     
     
         5 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 4 , wherein said first organic solvent is ethyl ether.  
     
     
         6 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 4 , wherein said second organic solvent is acetone, methanol, ethanol or a combination of them.  
     
     
         7 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 6 , wherein said second organic solvent is acetone.  
     
     
         8 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 3 , wherein step a) comprises step I).  
     
     
         9 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 8 , wherein said second organic solvent is acetone, methanol, ethanol or a combination of them.  
     
     
         10 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 9 , wherein said second organic solvent is acetone.  
     
     
         11 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 3 , wherein step a) comprises step I′).  
     
     
         12 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 3 , wherein step a) comprises step I″).  
     
     
         13 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 1 , wherein said reverse phase chromatography column is packed with a porous resin.  
     
     
         14 . An anti-fungal pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of the crude liquid prepared according to step a) in  claim 1 , as an active ingredient, in admixture with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent for the active ingredient.  
     
     
         15 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 14 , wherein step a) comprises steps i) to iv).  
     
     
         16 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 15 , wherein said first organic solvent is ethyl ether.  
     
     
         17 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 16 , wherein said second organic solvent is acetone, methanol, ethanol or a combination of them.  
     
     
         18 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 17 , wherein said second organic solvent is acetone.  
     
     
         19 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 14 , wherein step a) comprises step I).  
     
     
         20 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 19 , wherein said second organic solvent is acetone, methanol, ethanol or a combination of them.  
     
     
         21 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 20 , wherein said second organic solvent is acetone.  
     
     
         22 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 14 , wherein step a) comprises step) I′).  
     
     
         23 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 14 , wherein step a) comprises step I″).  
     
     
         24 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 1 , which is used in the treatment of a disease associated with  Trichophyton mentagrophytes  or  Pityrosporum ovale.    
     
     
         25 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 24 , in which said disease is selected from the group consisting of tinea pedis, tinea capitis, tinea cruris, tinea glabrosa, onychomycosis, pityriasis capitis, pityriasis vesicolor, pityrosporum folliculitis, seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff.  
     
     
         26 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 24 , which is in the form of a shampoo, a bath gel, soap, a body lotion, a body cream or a detergent.  
     
     
         27 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 26 , which is in the form of a shampoo for use in the treatment of dandruff.  
     
     
         28 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 14 , which is used in the treatment of a disease associated with  Trichophyton mentagrophytes  or  Pityrosporum ovale.    
     
     
         29 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 28 , in which said disease is selected from the group consisting of tinea pedis, tinea capitis, tinea cruris, tinea glabrosa, onychomycosis, pityriasis capitis, pityriasis vesicolor, pityrosporum folliculitis, seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff.  
     
     
         30 . The pharmaceutical composition according to  claim 28 , which is in the form of a shampoo, a bath gel, soap, a body lotion, a body cream or a detergent.  
     
     
         31 . The pharmaceutical composition according to claim  30 , which is in the form of a shampoo for use in the treatment of dandruff.