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Our previous study isolated an anti-fatigue polysaccharide (HRWP) from the Hippophae rhamnoides berry. In this study, using ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography in turn, a water-soluble homogenous polysaccharide HRWP-A was isolated from HRWP. Structural analysis determined that HRWP-A was a polysaccharide with repeating units of (1→4)-β-d-galactopyranosyluronic residues, of which 85.16% were esterified with methyl groups. An antitumor activity assay showed that HRWP-A could significantly inhibit the Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) growth in tumor-bearing mice. Further experiments suggested that the antitumor effect of HRWP-A might be mediated through immunostimulating activity, as it enhances the lymphocyte proliferation, augments the macrophage activities, as well as promoting NK cell activity and CTL cytotoxicity in tumor-bearing mice. To our knowledge, this is the first report on a natural antitumor high-methoxyl homogalacturonan pectin from the H. rhamnoides berry-a compound that acts as a potential immunostimulant and anticancer adjuvant.

The Nitraria tangutorum Bobr. fruit is an indigenous berry of the shrub belonging to the Zygophyllaceae family which grows at an altitude of over 3000 m in the Tibetan Plateau, and has been used as a native medicinal food for treating weakness of the spleen, stomach syndrome, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, dizziness, etc. for thousands of years. Nowadays, N. tangutorum industrial juice by-products generated from health food production can be a potential low cost source of some unique bioactive ingredients. In a prior study, we established a simultaneous microwave/ultrasonic assisted enzymatic extraction method for extracting antioxidant ingredients from the industrial by-products of N. tangutorum juice. In this study, these ingredients were selectively fractionated by cation-exchange resin chromatography to obtain an anthocyanin fraction namely NJBAE. NJBAE was found to be composed of 16 anthocyanins derived from six anthocyanidins by HPLC-ESI-MS, and has an appreciable cardioprotective effect on doxorubicin-induced injured H9c2 cardiomyocytes. The cardioprotective mechanism research showed that NJBAE could directly scavenge ROS, restrict further generation of ROS, promote the activity of key antioxidase, enhance glutathione redox cycling, then affect the apoptotic signaling changes in a positive way, and finally mediate caspase-dependent cell death pathways. Therefore, NJBAE has great potential to be used for preventing and treating cardiovascular disease in the food, pharmaceutical and other emerging industries.

In order to reveal the chemical substance basis of pharmacodynamic effects of Zuotai, energy dispersive spectrometry of X-ray (EDX), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption fine structure (SR-XAFS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were used to analyze the elements, the chemical valence and local structure of mercury, and the chemical phase composition and micro-morphology of Zuotai. EDX and XRF analysis shows that the main elements in Zuotai are Hg and S, with some other minor elements, such as 0, Fe, Al, Cu, K, Ag, Ca, Mg etc. SR-XAFS analysis shows that: the oxidation state of mercury in Zuotai is divalence, its neighbor atoms are S, and its coordination number is four. XRD assay found that β-HgS (cubic, F-43m 216) and S8 (orthorhombic, Fddd 70) are the main phase compositions in Zuotai. Besides, it also has a small amount of C (hexagonal, P63/mmc 194), Fel.05 S0.95 (hexagonal, P63/mmc 194), Cu6S6 (hexagonal, P63/mmc 194), Cu1.8 S (cubic, F-43m 216) and so on. And it was found that the crystallinity of Zuotai is about 59%, and the amorphous morphology substance in it is about 41%. SEM and AFM detection suggests that Zuotai is a kind of ancient micro-nano drug, and its particle size is mainly in the range of 100-600 nm, even less than 100 nm, which commonly further aggregate into several to 30 µm loose amorphous particles. In summary, the present study elucidated physicochemical characterization(elements composition, coordination information of mercury, phase composition and micro-morphology) of Zuotai, and it will play a positive role in promoting the interpretation of this mysterious drug.;

Zuotai (gTso thal) is one of the famous drugs containing mercury in Tibetan medicine. However, little is known about the chemical substance basis of its pharmacodynamics and the intrinsic link of different samples sources so far. Given this, energy dispersive spectrometry of X-ray (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to assay the elements, micromorphology, and phase composition of nine Zuotai samples from different regions, respectively; the XRD fingerprint features of Zuotai were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis. EDX result shows that Zuotai contains Hg, S, O, Fe, Al, Cu, and other elements. SEM and AFM observations suggest that Zuotai is a kind of ancient nanodrug. Its particles are mainly in the range of 100–800 nm, which commonly further aggregate into 1–30 μm loosely amorphous particles. XRD test shows that β-HgS, S8, and α-HgS are its main phase compositions. XRD fingerprint analysis indicates that the similarity degrees of nine samples are very high, and the results of multivariate statistical analysis are broadly consistent with sample sources. The present research has revealed the physicochemical characteristics of Zuotai, and it would play a positive role in interpreting this mysterious Tibetan drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To determine the composition, structure, trace elements and thermal stability of Tibetan medicine Nanhanshuishi.METHOD: The trace elements, the structure, and the thermal stability of Nanhanshuishi were assayed and calculated by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), X-ray power diffraction (XRD), TG-DTA. RESULT: The results indicated that the phase is mainly made up of CaCO3 (Rhombohedral, R-3c) in Nanhanshuishi. The analysis of elements show that Nanhanshuishi is rich in Ca and O, and contains other more than 20 minor elements, such as Si, Mg, Fe, Al, Na, K, Zn, Mn, Pb, As, Hg etc. The result of TG-DTA show that the weight of Nanhanshuishi starts to decline from near 700 degrees C and get steady above 850 degrees C. CONCLUSION: The study provided scientific data for the establishment of quality standards of Tibetan medicine Nanhanshuishi.

Background: Zuotai, a famous Tibetan medicinal mixture containing metacinnabar, is traditionally used for the purpose of tranquilizing minds and soothing nerves. However, it still lacks substantial experimental data for it to be approved for use. Aim: This study was designed to assess the effects of Zuotai on depressive-like symptoms in a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) mouse model, and to explore its potential mechanism, particularly the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis pathway. Materials and methods: First, Kunming mice were exposed to the CUMS procedure and simultaneously administered Zuotai or imipramine (positive control) by gavage continuously for 6 weeks. Then, depressive-like behaviors of mice in each group were tested with the sucrose preference test, forced swimming test, tail suspension test, and open field test. Meanwhile, the three key neuroendocrine hormones (corticotropin releasing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone) in HPA axis pathway, and the level of the emotion-related monoamine neurotransmitters (5-hydroxytryptamine and norepinephrine) were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Furthermore, total mercury in the hypothalamus and hippocampus were determined using an automatic, direct mercury analyzer. Results: Zuotai or imipramine significantly increased the body weight and the sucrose preference ratio in sucrose preference test, and dramatically improved motor activity in forced swimming test, tail suspension test, and open field test in CUMS mice. Zuotai or imipramine remarkably decreased levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and corticosterone in the HPA axis, and increased levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine and norepinephrine in the serum in CUMS mice. However, a small amount of mercury was deposited in the hypothalamus and hippocampus in Zuotai-treated mice, which may pose a potential risk to the central nervous system. Conclusion: Zuotai has a strong ability to ameliorate depressive-like behaviors in CUMS-treated mice through inhibition of the HPA axis and upregulation of monoamine neurotransmitters. These findings provide new insight into the pharmacological effect of Zuotai on depression.

The mercury in Tibetan medicine has become important focus in the research on medicine safety evaluation. The total mercury and the ionic mercury in artificial gastric juice of Tibetan medicine Dangzuo were detected by Gold Amalgam Enrichment-Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (GAE-AFS). In the present study, Tibetan medicine Dangzuo was prepared by H2SO4-KNO3 digestion system and artificial gastric juice. The established method and condition of instrument were investigated. Under the optimum experimental conditions and instrumental operation parameters, the recovery (n=6) of HgS is 99.56$ (RSD = 1.94%), the limit of detection for mercury is 0.2 ng x L(-1), the linear range is 0-500 ng x L(-1), and r = 0.9999. Then, the total mercury and the ionic mercury in artificial gastric juice in Dangzuo samples from different Tibetan regions were assayed. The result showed that the ranges of total mercury and ionic mercury in artificial gastric juice were 3.9980-16.7358 x mg x g(-1) and 45.5377-1033.9850 ng x g(-1), respectively. The analytical method mentioned above is rapid and accurate for determining the amount of mercury in Tibetan medicine Dangzuo.

Objective: To develop an HPLC method for determination of gallic acid, hydroxysafflor yellow A, cinnamic aldehyde and piperine in Tibetan medicine Dangzuo, and to compare the content of four active components in Dangzuo of different Tibetan regions.; Method: The separation was carried out on a Waters XTerra RP-C18 column ( 4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm). The mobile phases were methanol and water, all contained 0.1% glacial acetic acid, for gradient elution. The gradient program was as follows: 0-22.5 min, methanol was changed from 5% to 50%; 22.5-40 min, changed to 80% 80:20. The flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1). The detection wavelength was 270 nm. The reference wavelength was 500 nm.; Result: The linear ranges of gallic acid, hydroxysafflor yellow A, cinnamic aldehyde and piperine were 0.040-0.640 microg (r = 0.999 8), 0.090-1.440 microg (r = 0.999 9), 0.031-0.500 microg (r = 0.999 9 ) and 0.092-41.477 microg (r = 0.998 9), respectively. The average recoveries (n = 6) were 97.42% (RSD 1.9%), 97.55% (RSD 2.9%), 98.69% (RSD 0.96%) and 96.72% (RSD 4.0%), respectively. The content ranges of gallic acid, hydroxysafflor yellow A, cinnamic aldehyde and piperine in Dangzuo samples of different Tibetan regions were 0.11341.69 mg x g(-1), 0.889-1.51 mg x g(-1), 0.000-40.606 mg x g(-1) and 1.96-2.73 mg x g(-1), respectively.; Conclusion: The method is a simple and effective for quality control of Tibetan medicine Dangzuo.;

To discuss the relationship between metallic element and disease through determine the elementals in Tibetan Herbal Medicines and Tibetan Medicine Preparations that have obvious effect on hepatobiliary diseases by Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Source, then to reveal the substance foundation of pharmacological action. The results show that all the Tibetan Herbal Medicines used in the experiment have the 9 kinds of metallic elements of potassium(K), calcium(Ca), titanium(Ti), vanadium(V), chromium(Cr), manganese(Mn), ferrum(Fe), zinc(Zn) and lead(Pb), the content of the elements are in the ppb or ppm level though the element constitute and the content have obvious difference. Tibetan Medicine Preparations have another 6 kinds of metallic elements of nickel(Ni), copper(Cu), rubidium(Rb), mercury(Hg), cobalt(Co), gallium(Ga) and 1 kind of nonmetallic elements of arsenic(As) when compare with Herbal Medicines, and the element constitute and the content also have obvious difference. Take advantage of SR-XRF, the test gets the basic data of elements of Tibetan Herbal Medicines and Preparations, supply the scientific support to discuss the interaction of pharmacological mechanism and the metallic elements, and find the suitability of the technique for the metallic elements detection in Tibetan Medicines.

• Gelatin was extracted from the Yak (<b>bos grunniens</b>) skin. • The different molecular weight distribution (MWD) Yak skin gelatin was extracted with pepsin by controlling the enzymolysis time. • The broad MWD Yak skin gelatin has higher imino acids contents and lower foamability and emulsibility compared with the narrow MWD gelatin. • The Yak skin gelatin has good thermotolerance.<br>Different molecular weight distribution (MWD) gelatin was extracted from Yak skin after enzymatic pretreatments and their physicochemical and functional properties (SDS-PAGE, UV-vis absorption spectra, DSC, FT-IR, Amino acid analysis, AFM, emulsibility and foamability) were analyzed. The gelatin was extracted by pepsin and got different MWD of Yak skin gelatin by controlling the enzymolysis time. The SDS-PAGE showed the MWD of the Yak skin gelatin. The UV-vis absorption turned out that the broad MWD of Yak skin gelatin had a higher maximum absorption peaks. The FT-IR and AFM indicated that the gelatin structures and microstructures changed with the change of the MWD. The broad MWD of the Yak skin gelatin had a higher denaturation temperature (TD), and it was higher than most of the other mammals and marine biological gelatin. The broad MWD gelatin also had higher imino acids (proline and hydroxyproline) contents and lower foamability and emulsibility compared to the narrow MWD gelatin. These findings, obtained for the first time for Yak skin gelatin, showed that it has great potential for application as an alternative to commercial gelatin due to its good thermotolerance, particularly in the applications of the biological materials, stabilizer of thermo-tolerant and so on.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the method of quality control for traditional Tibetan Medicine Zsuotai.METHODS: Collecting the samples of Tsuotai from Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, and Gansu province, to detect Hg2+ by Zsuotai reacted with HCl-HNO3 (3:1), and to determine the quantity of HgS in Zsuotai by sulfocyanate volumetric method. RESULTS: The method for the determination of HgS in Zsuotai was in good reproducibility (RSD = 0.68%). The calibration curve was linear (r = 0.9999) within -0.0002 - 0.2123 g of mercuric sulfide. The recovery was 100.94% (RSD = 0.66%). CONCLUSIONS: This method is convenient and accurate, so it can be used to establish quality control of the medicinal material.

• A simultaneous microwave/ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic extraction method was established for the first time. • Simultaneous microwave/ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic process can improve antioxidant capacity of juice by-product extract. • Simultaneous microwave/ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic process can increase the extraction efficiency of antioxidant ingredients. • <b>Nitraria tangutorun</b> Bobr. juice by-products extract exhibited excellent cell protection effect from oxidative injury.<br>By-products originating from food processing are a considerable disposal problem for the food industry. Because of the absence of specifically effective processing technology, huge quantities of by-products are often abandoned as rubbish and prone to microbial spoilage. Given this, a simultaneous microwave/ultrasonic assisted enzymatic extraction (SMU-AEE) method was established for the first time, and performed for antioxidant ingredients extraction from <b>Nitraria tangutorum</b> juice by-products (NJB) in the present study. Its experimental conditions were optimized by single factor test and response surface methodology (RSM), and gave the corresponding response values for antioxidant capacity of NJB extract (NJBE) of 219.73 ± 7.03 mg TE/g, which was 27.62%-190.23% higher than those obtained by traditional extraction methods. Chemical composition assay suggested that the increasing of antioxidant capacity of NJBE by SMU-AEE was because of the improvement of extraction efficiency of antioxidant ingredients from NJB, including phenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins. Furthermore, oxidative injury protection ability assay showed that NJBE was good at protecting cells from UVB-oxidative phototoxicity and doxorubicin-oxidative cardiotoxicity, and its protecting ability surpasses or approaches to that of grape seed extract (GSE, the positive control drug), indicating its good potential to be a natural antioxidant in food and pharmaceutical industries.

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.

OBJECTIVE: To study the heat processing technics of Nanhanshuishi.METHOD: To find the best processing technic, the single factor experiments and orthogonal experiments were designed basing on the processing technics summarized by consulting documents, scriptures and investigating some Tibetan hospitals, meanwhile, the content of Ca, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu in the processed Nanhanshuishi in single factor experiments and orthogonal experiments were detected. RESULT: The best processing technic of Nanhanshuishi was as follows: Nanhanshuishi was crashed to 10-20 mm in diameter, the ratio of the weight of Aconiti Kusnezoffii Radix and potassium nitrate was 1: 2, and the boiling time was 3 h. CONCLUSION: The work in this article provided a basic processing technic data for clarifying the mechanism of processing and establishing the perfect processing technics of Nanhanshuishi.

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 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.