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The young leaves and shoots of Sibiraea laevigata, known as "Liucha", are used as tea by Tibetans to improve digestion after meals. Long-term consumption of "Liucha" will cause weight loss. In present work, we reported on the isolation and NMR and chemical analysis-based elucidation of seven new sorbitol O-caffeic acid ester derivatives named sorbitol esters A-G (1-7) and eighteen known phenolic compounds from S. laevigata. All of the isolates were evaluated for their antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Among them sorbitol ester A (1), sorbitol ester D (4), sorbitol ester F (6), sorbitol ester G (7), isoferulic acid (15), methyl caffeate (18), trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid (19), and kaempferol 3-O-β-d-(6″-E-p-coumaroyl)-glucopyranoside (25) showed more potent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity than the clinical drug acarbose.
Nitraria tangutorum Bor., having edible berries, is valued for reputed health benefits in Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The phytochemical research on the fruit juice of N. tangutorum led to the isolation of twenty-six compounds including five new compounds, tangutorids A-D (1, 2, 3a, and 3b), and (3E,5E)-7-O-β-glucosyl-4-(2-methoxy-2-oxoethyl)hepta-3,5-dienoic acid (15). The structures of these compounds were elucidated through comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. Tangutorids A-F were the first examples of glucose-derived β-carbolines from natural products. The biogenetic pathways of 1-8 were proposed to involve Pictet-Spengler reactions and described starting from the co-isolated tryptophan (10) and corresponding aldehydes. All isolates were evaluated for their antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Compounds 21, 22, and 24 showed antioxidant activity with SC50 values ranging from 12.2±1.9 to 30.4±2.7μg/mL, and compound 1 showed strong α-glucosidase inhibitory effect with IC50 value of 63.3±4.6μg/mL.
Ethnopharmacological relevanceFrankincense oil and water extracts (FOE, FWE) have long been used for external treatment of inflammation and pain. The present study was conducted to identify the active ingredients responsible for the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects and to determine the underlying mechanisms.
Materials and methods
The compositions of FOE and FWE were identified and compared by GC–MS. The anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the two extracts and their possible active ingredients (α-pinene, linalool, and 1-octanol) were evaluated and compared in a xylene-induced ear edema model and a formalin-inflamed hind paw model. Inflammatory infiltrates and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in hind paw skin were investigated by histological staining.
Results
The contents of α-pinene, linalool, and 1-octanol in FOE were much higher than those in FWE. Mice treated with FOE exhibited greater and faster lessening of swelling and pain than mice treated with FWE. The combination of the three components had more potent pharmacological effects on hind paw inflammation and COX-2 overexpression than the three components used alone.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that topical application of FOE or its active ingredients (including α-pinene, linalool, and 1-octanol) exhibit significantly anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects through inhibiting nociceptive stimulus-induced inflammatory infiltrates and COX-2 overexpression.
The method of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with direct UV detection was developed for the determination of oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, quercetin and apigenin. and then for the first time successfully applied to the analysis of four analytes in <i>Swertia mussotii</i> Franch and its preparations. Various factors affecting the CZE procedure were investigated and optimized, and the optimal conditions were: 50 × 10<sup>−3</sup> mol/L borate-phosphate buffer (pH 9.5) with 5.0 × 10<sup>−3</sup> mol/L <i>β</i>-cyclodextrin, 15 kV separation voltage, 20 °C column temperature, 250 nm detection wavelength and 5 s electrokinetic injection time (voltage 20 psi). Under the conditions, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, quercetin and apigenin could be determined within the test ranges with a good correlation coefficient (<i>r</i>² > 0.9991). The limits of detection for conditions, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, quercetin and apigenin were 0.3415, 0.2003, 0.0062 and 0.2538 µg/mL, respectively, and the intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations were no more than 4.72%. This procedure provided a convenient, sensitive and accurate method for simultaneous determination of oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, quercetin and apigenin in <i>S. mussotii</i> Franch. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.