Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Srolo Bzhtang (SBT), a traditional Tibetan medicine formula, was composed of three herbs, Solms-Laubachia eurycarpa , Bergenia purpurascens , Glycyrrhiza uralensis , and one lac, and was first documented in the ancient Tibetan medical work Four Medical Tantras (rGyud-bzhi) in the eighth century AD. It has been widely used to treat lung "phlegm-heat" syndromes such as chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential influences of aqueous extract of SBT on airway inflammation and mucus secretion and to reveal the underlying mechanism in a rat model of cigarette smoke (CS)-induced chronic bronchitis (CB). Materials and methods Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided to six groups: control (room air exposure), model (CS exposure), DEX (CS exposure and 0.2 mg/kg/day dexamethasone), and three SBT (CS exposure and 1.67, 2.50, and 3.34 g/kg/day SBT) groups. DEX and the three doses of SBT were administered by oral gavage every day for eight weeks. Pathological changes and mucus expression in the lung tissue were determined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff (AB-PAS) and immunohistochemical staining. The levels of cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were assessed by ELISA. Western blot analysis and qRT-PCR were performed to explore the effects of SBT on the expression of IL-13, STAT6 and MUC5AC. Results Pretreatment with SBT attenuated the TNF-α, IL-8, IL-13 expression levels in BALF and the inflammatory cell infiltration in bronchial walls and peribronchial lung tissue. SBT exhibited a dose-dependent downregulation of MUC5AC expression as assessed by AB-PAS and immunohistochemical staining. The protein and mRNA levels of IL-13, STAT6/p-STAT6 and MUC5AC were also downregulated by SBT preconditioning. Conclusion These results for the first time demonstrated that SBT exhibited protective effects on CS-induced airway inflammation and MUC5AC hypersecretion, which might be related to the downregulation of the IL-13/STAT6 signaling pathway. Graphical abstract fx1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
A new stable isotope labeling (SIL) reagent pair, 10-methyl-acridone-2-sulfonohydrazide (MASH) and its deuterated counterpart d3-MASH was synthesized and successfully applied to the analysis of perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) in serum samples. The limits of detection (LODs) were in the range of 0.07-0.42μg/L, and the limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of 0.25-1.38μg/L. Besides ionization enhancing effect, MASH also showed excellent fluorescence property. Therefore, the mass spectrometer operation cost was greatly lowered by carrying out parameter optimization experiments on HPLC which is easier to operate and maintain. The SIL strategy was confirmed to be effective in reducing matrix effect. The developed multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) condition of PFCAs was also suitable for other carboxylic acid due to the introduction of MASH which is more prone to fragmentation than the analytes. With the MRM conditions obtained from PFCAs, fatty acids were also found in serum samples. This feature made the proposed method show powerful potential in the identification of acidic compounds in complex samples in the absence of corresponding standard.
Context: Standardized myrtol, an essential oil containing primarily cineole, limonene and α-pinene, has been used for treating nasosinusitis, bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Objective: To investigate the effects of standardized myrtol in a model of acute lung injury (ALI) induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS).Materials and methods: Male BALB/c mice were treated with standardized myrtol for 1.5 h prior to exposure of atomized LPS. Six hours after LPS challenge, lung injury was determined by the neutrophil recruitment, cytokine levels and total protein concentration in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in the lung tissue. Additionally, pathological changes and NF-κB activation in the lung were examined by haematoxylin and eosin staining and western blot, respectively.Results: In LPS-challenged mice, standardized myrtol at a dose of 1200 mg/kg significantly inhibited the neutrophile counts (from 820.97 ± 142.44 to 280.42 ± 65.45, 103/mL), protein concentration (from 0.331 ± 0.02 to 0.183 ± 0.01, mg/mL) and inflammatory cytokines level (TNF-α: from 6072.70 ± 748.40 to 2317.70 ± 500.14, ng/mL; IL-6: from 1184.85 ± 143.58 to 509.57 ± 133.03, ng/mL) in BALF. Standardized myrtol also attenuated LPS-induced MPO activity (from 0.82 ± 0.04 to 0.48 ± 0.06, U/g) and pathological changes (lung injury score: from 11.67 ± 0.33 to 7.83 ± 0.79) in the lung. Further study demonstrated that standardized myrtol prevented LPS-induced NF-κB activation in lung tissues.Discussion and conclusion: Together, these data suggest that standardized myrtol has the potential to protect against LPS-induced airway inflammation in a model of ALI.
Alpine shrubland ecosystems in the Three Rivers Source Region (TRSR) store substantial soil organic carbon (SOC), but the storage, patterns and control of SOC in those ecosystems have rarely been investigated. In this study, using data from 66 soil profiles surveyed from 22 sites between 2011 and 2013, we estimated the storage and patterns of SOC, and their relationships with climatic factors, elevation, ground cover and slope. Our results showed that SOC storage in the top 100 cm across the TRSR shrubland was 0.68 ± 0.38 Pg C, with an average SOC density (soil carbon storage per area) of 26.21 ± 14.58 kg m−2. Spatially, SOC density increased with longitude and latitude. Vertically, SOC in the topsoil at 30 cm and 50 cm accounted for 56% and 75%, respectively, of the total at 100 cm. SOC density showed a decreasing trend with increasing elevation, but it was greater in regions of higher ground cover. The density had no relationship with either mean annual precipitation or slope. Increasing mean annual temperature had positive effects on SOC density, which is inconsistent with the global trend. With increasing soil depth, however, the effects of temperature on SOC density were not significant. Therefore, in a global warming scenario, increasing temperature gives shrubland considerable C sink potential on the topsoil, and the regions of C sequestration differ as a result of uneven increases in temperature. Hence, further monitoring of dynamic changes is necessary to provide a more accurate assessment of potential C sequestration in TRSR shrubland.<br>• Storage and patterns of SOC were investigated in the TRSR shrubland. • SOC has no relationship with both precipitation and slope. • SOC was decreasing with elevation, but larger with both ground cover and temperature.
In the present study, structural characterization and antioxidant activity of a fraction (AAP-2A) of polysaccharides from angelica and astragalus (AAP) were investigated. Characteriztion assay showed that AAP-2A had molecular weight (Mw), root-mean square (RMS) radius and polydispersity index (Mw/Mn) of 2.252 × 10(3)kDa, 28.4 nm and 1.038, respectively. There were infrared characteristic absorption peaks of polysaccharides in FT-IR spectroscopy. AAP-2A was composed of rhamnose (Rha), galactose (Gal), arabinose (Ara) and glucose (Glc) with a molar ratio of 1:2.13:3.22:6.18 in GC analysis. Methylation analysis combined with NMR spectroscopic analysis demonstrated that a preliminary structure of AAP-2A was proposed as follows: 1,3-linked Rhap, 1,3-linked Galp, 1,3-linked Araf, 1,5-linked Araf, 1,3,5-linked Araf, 1,4-linked Glcp and 1,4,6-linked Glcp interspersed with terminal Glcp. AAP-2A exhibited a surface with a sheet-like appearance in scanning electron microscope and stronger antioxidant capacity compared with AAP.
The root and rhizoma of Rhodiola fastigita S. H. Fu. is a traditional Tibetan medicine used for promoting blood circulation and relieving cough. In recent years, it was generally used as a tonic. So, its chemical constituents were studied. A new flavonoid and six known compounds were obtained. The known compounds were: 4'-methoxyl herbacetin (I), rhodiolin (II), dihydrokaempferol (III), daucosterol (IV), tyrosyl (V) and salidroside (VI). The structure of the new flavonoid was elucidated as herbacetin-8-O-alpha-D-lyxopyranoside (VII), by means of UV, IR, MS, 1H and 13C-NMR spectral data and chemical methods.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety associated with anti-hypoxia effect and establish the quality standard for Brassicea Radix extract, the investigations of acute toxicity and subacute toxicity were carried out to preliminarily appraise the toxicity, and the models of normal pressure hypoxia, acute cerebral ischemia and sodium nitrite poisoning in mice were used to evaluate the effect of enhancing anoxia endurance. Then according to the methods described in the Appendix of Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 edition), the sulfuric acid-phenol method was applied to determine the content of polysaccharide, and the water, ash and insoluble matter in water inspections were carried out and the control medicinal herb was identified with the samples by qualitative TLC. The results indicated that ① the toxic effects (LD₅₀) of mice was 56.73 g•kg⁻¹ by oral administration of Brassicea Radix extract, while Dm and Dn were respective 86.80 g•kg•d⁻¹ and 35.55 g•kg•d⁻¹;②the determined effective dosage of Brassicea Radix extract which could enhance anoxia endurance was 0.388 g•kg⁻¹•d⁻¹; ③ the methods of TLC and the content of polysaccharide were established. The method of quality control has been recorded in Sichuan Province Standard for Tibetan Medicine, which is reliable, accurate and simple, with good reproducibility. Meanwhile, given the prominent effect on anti-hypoxia and good safety, it provided important basis for clinic safe and effective usage and the development of health products.
Recent studies on chemical constituents of Dali and their pharmacological activities were reviewed. Dali, a Tibetan medicine, consists of two Tibetan plants: Rhododendron anthopogoniodes Maxim. and R. primulaeflorum Bur. et Franch. Dali mainly contains essential oils, flavonoids and triterpenoids. The pharmacological activities of Dali are widely proved in eliminating phlegm, relieve cough and anti-asthmatic activities. As a clinical drug, it is also used for treatment of chronic bronchitis and coronary artery disease.
Graphical abstract Highlights • The anti-hyperuricemia effects and active components of the traditional Tibetan medicine formula TFTS were investigated. • Total 106 compontents were identified or characterized in TFTS by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS. • It was summarized the diagnostic ion and neutral loss patterns of MS/MS cracking of tannic compounds. Abstract TongFengTangSan (TFTS), a traditional Tibetan medicine comprising of Tinospora sinensis (TS), Terminalia chebula Retz (TC) and Trogopterori faeces (TF), is used to treat joint diseases like gout, gout arthritis, swelling, pain etc. Despite the significant therapeutic effects of TFTS, its pharmacological components have not been analyzed so far. Therefore, the chemical composition of the effective part of TFTS was analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS). The results show that the ethanol extract (EE) of TFTS was more effective in reducing the serum uric acid (SUA) and XOD (Serum and Liver) levels in a hyperuricemic rats model compared to the TFTS raw powder (RP). UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS identified a total of 106 compounds in the positive and negative ion mode, of which 87 were from TC, 13 from TS and 6 from TF. In addition, 106 compounds contained 57 tannins, 6 triterpenoids, 10 alkaloids, 7 flavonoids, 22 organic acids and 4 phenylpropanoids. The preliminary results indicate that the EE of TFTS includes the active anti hyperuricemic substances. The present study first investigated the efficacy and the active components of TFTS in hyperuricemic treatment, and further summarized the diagnostic ion and neutral loss patterns of MS/MS cracking of tannic compounds. These findings lay the foundation for the further study and clinical application of TFTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Objective: To study the chemical constituents of the volatile oils from the flowers of Rhododendron anthopogon D. Don.; Methods: The volatile oils from the flowers of Rhododendron anthopogon D. Don were extracted by water steam distillation and its chemical constituents were separated and identified by GC-MS. The content of each constituent was determined by area normalizetion method.; Results: Fifty peaks were separated and forty seven components were identified, which constituted about 97.44% of the total essential oils.; Conclusions: The main compounds are N-acetyl-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydro-isoquinoline (29.23%), 2-Ethoxypropane (12.47%), 3-Methyl-6-tert-butylphenol (10.83%), 3-Methyl-5-phenyl-isothiazole (6.38%), Diphenylamine (4.20%), N-ethyl-1, 2,3,4-tetrahydro-naphthalenamine (3.62%), Pentacosane (3.12%) and Tricosane (3.06%).;
Four common traditional tibetan medicine prescription preparations "Anzhijinghuasan, Dangzuo, Renqingchangjue and Rannasangpei" in tibetan areas were selected as study objects in the present study. The purpose was to try to establish a kind of wet digestion and flow injection-hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry (FI-HAAS) associated analysis method for the content determinations of lead and arsenic in traditional tibetan medicine under optimized digestion and measurement conditions and determine their contents accurately. Under these optimum operating conditions, experimental results were as follows. The detection limits for lead and arsenic were 0.067 and 0.012 µg · mL(-1) respectively. The quantification limits for lead and arsenic were 0.22 and 0.041 µg · mL(-1) respectively. The linear ranges for lead and arsenic were 25-1,600 ng · mL(-1) (r = 0.9995) and 12.5-800 ng · mL(-1) (r = 0.9994) respectively. The degrees of precision(RSD) for lead and arsenic were 2.0% and 3.2% respectively. The recovery rates for lead and arsenic were 98.00%-99.98% and 96.67%-99.87% respectively. The content determination results of lead and arsenic in four traditional tibetan medicine prescription preparations were as fol- lows. The contents of lead and arsenic in Anzhijinghuasan are 0.63-0.67 µg · g(-1) and 0.32-0.33 µg · g(-1) in Anzhijinghua- san, 42.92-43.36 µg · g(-1) and 24.67-25.87 µg · g(-1) in Dangzuo, 1,611. 39-1,631.36 µg · g(-1) and 926.76-956.52 µg- g(-1) in Renqing Changjue, and 1,102.28-1,119.127 µg-g(-1) and 509.96-516.87 µg · g(-1) in Rannasangpei, respectively. This study established a method for content determination of lead and arsenic in traditional tibetan medicine, and determined the content levels of lead and arsenic in four tibetan medicine-prescription preparations accurately. In addition, these results also provide the basis for the safe and effective use of those medicines in clinic.
With the application of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, the quality of the artificial medicinal plants has been found to be in a marked decline. The present paper focuses on the separation of endophytes from wild <i>Angelica sinensis</i> and the effects of endophytes on the growth of <i>A. sinensis</i> and synthesis of secondary metabolites. In this study, the endophytes, namely actinomycetes, fungi, and bacteria, were isolated. Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid were analyzed by HPLC. Our results confirmed that the contents of Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid showed an obvious increase on adding the endophytic fungi, but the additions of the endophytic actinomycetes and bacteria had shown inhibiting effects. Compared with the control group, the contents of Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid in the fungi group increased by 4.12- and 6.53-fold, respectively. This work demonstrates the fact that endophytic fungi can enhance the growth of plants and the production of natural products in <i>A. sinensis.</i>
High price and difficult to get of reference substance have become obstacles to HPLC assay of ethnic medicine. A new method based on quantitative reference herb (QRH) was proposed. Specific chromatograms in fruits of Capsicum frutescens were employed to determine peak positions, and HPLC quantitative reference herb was prepared from fruits of C. frutescens. The content of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in the quantitative control herb was determined by HPLC. Eleven batches of fruits of C. frutescens were analyzed with quantitative reference herb and reference substance respectively. The results showed no difference. The present method is feasible for quality control of ethnic medicines and quantitative reference herb is suitable to replace reference substances in assay.; Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.
DNA barcoding technique in combination with UFLC analysis technology was used to evaluate the quality of Tibetan medicine Pterocephalus hookeri from species identification and chemical qualitative and other aspects. Hybrid identification was established by DNA barcoding; UFLC-PDA was adopted to analyse fingerprint of different parts of Pterocephali Herba, and SPSS and Grey relation software were used for data analysis. The result showed that DNA barcoding is an accurate and reliable method in origin identification of Pterocephalus hookeri. The compounds in overground is more than underground by analysis of the different part fingerprint by UFLC. The genetic gene may be involved in the secondary metabolites of iridoid glycosides. Pertinence between gene and chemical component, as a new model established, could be suited for quality evaluation and resources protection.
<p>Contains a Tibetan-English vocabulary for the inscriptions. Generally preferred over Richardson's <em>A Corpus of Old Tibetan Inscriptions</em>. (Michael Walter and Manfred Taube 2006-05-15, revised by Bill McGrath 2008-01-03)</p>
INTRODUCTION: Qigong exercise offers a potentially safe, low-cost and effective mind-body rehabilitative intervention for mitigating the problem of gait interruption among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who have frequent freezing of gait (FOG) episodes. However, its clinical effects have not been established. This paper describes the trial protocol of evaluating the clinical efficacy of a newly developed Integrated Qigong in improving gait among patients with PD who have FOG.METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A single-blind randomised controlled trial is designed to compare Integrated Qigong and balance training with an attention control. Participants will be patients with mild to moderate PD who experience FOG and are recruited from local communities in Shanghai, China. Participants will be randomly allocated to one of the three groups: Integrated Qigong group, a balance exercise intervention group, or control group. The total number of participants will be 126, and masked assessments will be made at baseline, 12 weeks (end of intervention) and 12-week follow-up. Both Integrated Qigong group and balance training group will receive a group-based exercise intervention that meets three times per week, 60 min in duration, for 12 weeks. The control group will receive a 60 min weekly group session and monthly health education. The primary outcomes are gait parameters (stride length, gait velocity, stride time variability) and occurrence of FOG. The secondary outcomes are postural instability, walking disability, falling, fear of falling and quality of life.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanghai University of Sport and registered at China Clinical Trial Registry. Participants will sign informed consent prior to the participation of the trial. The findings of the study will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals and disseminated to PD support groups, medical community and media.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR1800016570.
Zuotai (gTso thal) is a typical representative of Tibetan medicines containing heavy metals, but there is still lack of modem safety evaluation data so far. In this study, acute toxicity test, sub-acute toxicity test, one-time administration mercury distribution experiment, long-term mercury accumulative toxicity experiment and preliminary study on clinical safety of Compound Dangzuo were conducted in the hope of obtain the medicinal safety data of Zuotai. In the acute toxicity test, half of KM mice given the lethal dose of Zuotai were not died or poisoned, and LD50 was not found. The maximum tolerated dose of Zuotai was 80 g x kg(-1). In the subacute toxicity test, Zuotai could reduce ALT, AST, Crea levels in serums under low dose (13.34 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) and medium dose (53.36 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)), with significant difference under low dose, and increase the levels of ALT, AST, MDA, Crea in serums under high dose (2 000 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)); besides, the levels of BUN and GSH in serums reduced with the increase in dose of Zuotai, indicating a significant dose-effect relationship. In the one-time administration distribution experiment, the content of mercury in rat kidney, liver and lung increased after the one-time administration with Zuotai, with a significant dose-dependent relationship in kidney. In the long-term mercury accumulative toxicity experiment, KM mice were administered with equivalent doses of Zuotai for 4.5 months and then stopped drug administration for 1.5 months. Since the 2.5th month, they showed significant mercury accumulation in kidney, which gradually reduced after drug withdrawal, without significant change in mercury content in liver, spleen and brain and ALT, AST, TBIL, BUN and Crea in serum. At the 4.5th month after drug administration, KM mice showed slight structural changes in kidney, liver and spleen tissues, and gradually recovered to normal after drug withdrawal. Besides, no significant difference in weight gain was found between the Zuotai group and the control group. According to the findings of the clinical safety study of Dangzuo, after subjects administered Dangzuo under clinical dose for one month, their serum biochemical indicators, blood routine indicators and urine routine indicators showed no significant adverse change. This study proved that traditional Tibetan medicine Zuotai was slightly toxic, with a better safety in clinical combined administration and no adverse effects on bodies under the clinical dose and clinical medication cycle. However, long-term high-dose administration of Zuotai may have a certain effect on kidney.;
The 1H-NMR fingerprints of three different species tibetan medicine sea buckthorn were established by 1H-HMR metabolomics to find out different motablism which could provide a new method for the quality evaluation of sea buckthorn. The obtained free induction decay (FID) signal will be imported into MestReNova software and into divide segments. The data will be normalized and processed by principal component analysis and.partial least squares discriminant analysis to perform pattern recognition. The results showed that 25 metabolites belonging to different chemical types were detected from sea buckthorn,including flavonoids, triterpenoids, amino acids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, etc. PCA and PLS-DA analysis showed three different varietiest of sea buckthorn that can be clearly separated by the content of L-quebrachitol, malic acid and some unidentified sugars, which can be used as the differences metabolites of three species of sea buckthorn. 1H-NMR-based metabonomies method had a holistic characteristic with sample preparation and handling. The results of this study can offer an important reference for the species identification and quality control of sea buckthorn.
The objective of the present study is to research the herb of Swertia mussotii Franch and its different extracts by tristep infrared spectroscopy. The main constitute of Swertia mussotii Franch-gentiamarin, which is also the higher content constitute, was selected as the control components to analyze the infrared spectroscopy and second derivative infrared spectroscopy of different extracts of Swertia mussotii Franch, at the same time, the different concentration of ethanol extracts were also analyzed by two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS). The results indicated that the intensity of 1 611 and 1 075 cm(-1) of gentiamarin, which are its two main absorptions in the infrared spectra, has the positive correlation with the content change in different extracts. The infrared spectroscopy of extracts are similar if the polarity of extract solvents is close; with the decreases in solution polarity, the intensity of 2 853, 1 733, 1 464, 1 277 and 1 161 cm(-1) in infrared spectroscopy of different extracts is increased, the content of esters and the extraction percentage terpenoid compounds are also increased; the different concentration of ethanol extracts has obviously difference when they are analyzed by two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS). The positive correlation between the intensity of absorptions and the content of the gentiamarin indicates that the infrared spectroscopy can reflect the content change in constitute; the similar and the change trend of the different concentrations of ethanol extract infrared spectroscopy approve the scientificalness of decoction of traditional medicine; infrared spectroscopy that used in the research can be used as an accurate, rapid and effective method in the pharmacological activity tests of transitional herbal Swertia mussotii F. and it's different extracts, even in the research on the tibetan medicine.
Glucose carbon microspheres have been widely used for wastewater treatment as adsorbent owing to their strong adsorption capacity, but for large-scale applications, the glucose carbon microspheres are inconvenient to be recycled from aqueous suspension due to their good suspendability. Moreover, the primitive nature of small particle size, large specific surface area and high surface energy of glucose carbon microspheres make them prone to aggregate and thus, disperse no-effectively for the other extended application. To solve this dilemma, polyester (PET) fibers decorated with glucose carbon microspheres (GC@PFs) were herein fabricated by one-step hydrothermal carbonization with acrylic acid as a coupling agent. The products were characterized by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Boehm titration, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermo-gravimetric Analysis (TG), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and zeta potential respectively. The experimental results showed that a large amount of glucose carbon microspheres were evenly dispersed on the surface of carboxyl activated polyester fibers with uniform particle diameter, and the composite fibers showed desirable adsorption ability of cationic dyes for its more negative zeta potential. The dye adsorption isotherm follows Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model better. Remarkably, the adsorbent has an excellent recyclability for maintaining a high removal rate (>85%) to dye even after 10 cycles.<br>• Glucose carbon microspheres were evenly distributed on the PET fibers surface that solved the problem of easy aggregation. • The polyester fibers were firstly decorated with glucose carbon microspheres through one-step hydrothermal carbonization. • Acrylic acid maintained the integrity of PET fabric and introduced a quite number of carboxyl groups on the PET surface. • The surface decorated composite material possessed good adsorption property and easy recovery performance. • The glucose carbon microspheres decorated polyester fibers showed a highly selective adsorption for the cationic dyes.
Swertia mussotii (Gentianaceae) is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant grown in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Three fractions from S. mussotii extract, named SWF50, SWF 70 and SWF100, were screened for in vitro anti-proliferative activity on two gastric cancer cell lines, MGC-803 and BGC-823 cells using MTT assay. Our results demonstrated that SMF70 showed an anti-proliferative effect in MGC-803 cells and SMF100 showed an anti-proliferative effect in BGC-823 cells in vitro. Moreover, both two fractions induced apoptosis via depolymerization of cytoskeletal filaments, increased cytoplasmic levels of ROS and Ca2+ and disrupted mitochondrial transmembrane potential. In addition, flow cytometry analysis indicated that both two fractions could induce cell apoptosis and arrest the cell cycle at S phase. Our results indicate that SMF70 induces apoptosis of MGC-803 cells and SMF100 induces apoptosis of BGC-823 cells via a mitochondrial-dependent pathway. Meanwhile, we also investigated antitumor effect of SMF70 in vivo, and exhibited effective tumor growth inhibition. Our findings demonstrate that S. mussotii extracts could be a potential new alternative therapeutic agent gastric cancer.
BACKGROUND: Potentilla fruticosa, also called "Jinlaomei" and "Gesanghua", is widely used as folk herbs in traditional Tibetan medicine in China to treat inflammations, wounds, certain forms of cancer, diarrhoea, diabetes and other ailments. Previous research found P. fruticosa leaf extract (C-3) combined with Ginkgo biloba extracts (EGb) showed obvious synergistic effects in a variety of oxidation systems. The aim of the present study was to further confirm the synergy of P. fruticosa combined with EGb viewed from physiological bioavailability and explore the related bioactive mechanism behind the synergism.METHODS: The microbial test system (MTS) was adopted to evaluate the related bioactive mechanism. The synergistic effects were evaluated by isobolographic analysis. The H2O2 production rate and antioxidant enzyme (Catalase (CAT), Peroxidase (POD), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX)) activities were determined by the colorimetric method. Enzyme gene (CAT, SOD) expression was measured by real time-PCR.
RESULTS: The MTS antioxidant activity results showed the combination of C-3 + EGb exhibited synergistic effects especially at the ratio 5:1. Components of isorhamnetin and caffeic acid in C-3 and EGb displayed strong antioxidant activities on MTS and their combination also showed significant synergy in promoting H2O2 production. The combinations of C-3 + EGb and isorhamnetin + caffeic acid promoted CAT and SOD enzyme activities and the ratio 1:1 exhibited the strongest synergy while no obvious promotion on POD and GSH-PX enzyme activities was found. Both combinations above promoted gene expression of CAT and SOD enzymes and the ratio 1:1 exhibited the strongest synergy.
CONCLUSIONS: Antioxidant activity results in MTS further confirmed the significant synergy of C-3 combined with EGb and isorhamnetin combined with caffeic acid. The synergy of C-3 combined with EGb may be attributed to the combination of isorhamnetin + caffeic acid, which promoted CAT and SOD enzyme gene expression and further promoted the enzyme activities in E. coli. This study could further provide rational basis for optimizing the physiological bioavailability of P. fruticosa by using natural and safe antioxidants in low doses to produce new medicines and functional products.
BACKGROUND: Potentilla fruticosa, also called "Jinlaomei" and "Gesanghua", is widely used as folk herbs in traditional Tibetan medicine in China to treat inflammations, wounds, certain forms of cancer, diarrhoea, diabetes and other ailments. Previous research found P. fruticosa leaf extract (C-3) combined with Ginkgo biloba extracts (EGb) showed obvious synergistic effects in a variety of oxidation systems. The aim of the present study was to further confirm the synergy of P. fruticosa combined with EGb viewed from physiological bioavailability and explore the related bioactive mechanism behind the synergism. METHODS: The microbial test system (MTS) was adopted to evaluate the related bioactive mechanism. The synergistic effects were evaluated by isobolographic analysis. The H2O2 production rate and antioxidant enzyme (Catalase (CAT), Peroxidase (POD), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX)) activities were determined by the colorimetric method. Enzyme gene (CAT, SOD) expression was measured by real time-PCR. RESULTS: The MTS antioxidant activity results showed the combination of C-3 + EGb exhibited synergistic effects especially at the ratio 5:1. Components of isorhamnetin and caffeic acid in C-3 and EGb displayed strong antioxidant activities on MTS and their combination also showed significant synergy in promoting H2O2 production. The combinations of C-3 + EGb and isorhamnetin + caffeic acid promoted CAT and SOD enzyme activities and the ratio 1:1 exhibited the strongest synergy while no obvious promotion on POD and GSH-PX enzyme activities was found. Both combinations above promoted gene expression of CAT and SOD enzymes and the ratio 1:1 exhibited the strongest synergy. CONCLUSIONS: Antioxidant activity results in MTS further confirmed the significant synergy of C-3 combined with EGb and isorhamnetin combined with caffeic acid. The synergy of C-3 combined with EGb may be attributed to the combination of isorhamnetin + caffeic acid, which promoted CAT and SOD enzyme gene expression and further promoted the enzyme activities in E. coli. This study could further provide rational basis for optimizing the physiological bioavailability of P. fruticosa by using natural and safe antioxidants in low doses to produce new medicines and functional products.
Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) practice is currently intentionally applied in clinical populations, especially those with cardiovascular diseases because of its potential benefits on the autonomic nervous system. The long-term effect of TCC practice on heart rate variability (HRV) remains largely unknown. In this study, we recruited 23 TCC practitioners whose experience averaged approximately 21 years and 19 controls matched by age, sex and education to examine the effect of TCC practice on the autonomic nervous system during a resting state and during an abdominal breathing state. HRV was measured by traditional electrocardiogram (ECG) recording. The results showed that the low frequency, total power frequency, and normalized low frequency components and the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio were significantly higher, whereas the normalized high frequency was significantly lower in the TCC practitioners relative to controls during the abdominal breathing state. However, we did not detect any significant difference in the HRV measures during the resting state between the two groups. Additionally, TCC experience did not correlate with HRV components either in the abdominal state or the resting state in the TCC group. Considering all of these findings, we suggest that TCC improves vagal activity and the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity during the relaxation state. This study also provides direct physiological evidence for the role of TCC practice in relaxation.
An orthogonally (80.3%) preparative two-dimensional hydrophilic interaction chromatography/reversed-phase liquid chromatography method has been established for the isolation and purification of flavonoids from Saxifraga tangutica. Initially, flavonoids were enriched by means of a middle-pressure chromatographic tower (containing middle chromatogram isolated gel). In the first dimension, a XION preparative column was used to separate the flavonoid fractions under the guidance of characteristic ultraviolet absorption spectra of flavonoids and nine flavonoid fractions were obtained. Then, the coeluted flavonoid fractions were selected for further purification via reversed-phase liquid chromatography with the parent ion peak of quercetin (303), kaempferol (287), or isorhamnetin (317). Several flavonoids could be separated from each hydrophilic interaction chromatography fraction; furthermore, flavonoids with poor resolution in one-dimensional liquid chromatography were isolated in two-dimensional liquid chromatography due to the orthogonality. In addition, this technique was valuable for trace flavonoids, which were concentrated in the first stage and separated in the second stage. In total, 18 flavonoids with either quercetin, kaempferol, or isorhamnetin parent nuclei were targetedly obtained, and 15 flavonoids were obtained for the first time from S. tangutica. These results established that the off-line two-dimensional hydrophilic interaction chromatography/reversed-phase liquid chromatography technique was efficient for the isolation of flavonoids from Saxifraga tangutica.
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