Comment on ' The endoplasmic reticulum stress response is involved in apoptosis induced by aloe-emodin in HK-2 cells by Zhu et al. (2012)

摘要

Rheum palmatum L. and Rheum tanguticum Maxim, ex Balf. I read with interest the article of Zhu et al. (2012). This article is quite interesting and the authors should be complimented for the great amount of work they have done. The purpose of this letter is to call attention to the need for some clarification on the name of the plant described in this article. Zhu et al. (2012) state: "Total rhubarb anthraquinones (TRAs), active therapeutic components that have been isolated from rhubarb roots (Rheum palmatum L or Rheum tanguticum Maxim.), have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries". I have been studying the pharmacotoxicological properties of the medicinal plants of Asia and the Pacific for the last 15 years and the rhizomes of Rheum palmatum L. and Rheum tanguticum Maxim are used routinely in China to treat constipation (Wiart, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c, 2010, 2012). However, one ought to know that the commons names for Rheum palmatum L and Rheum tanguticum Maxim, ex Balf. are zhang ye da huang and ji zhua da huang, respectively and not rhubarb which is the official name for Rheum webbianum Royle (Wu et al., 2003). Besides, aloe-emodin should have been referred to as l,8-dihydroxy-3-hydroxymethylanthraquinone or 1,8-dihy-droxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)anthracene-9,10-dione but not "1,8-dihydroxy-3-hydroxymethyl-9,10-anthracenedione".