Bioactive natural compounds, isolated from fungal endophytes, play a promising role in the search for novel drugs. They are an inspiring source for researchers due to their enormous structural diversity and complexity. During the present study fungal endophytes were isolated from a well-known medicinal shrub, Berberis aristata DC. and were explored for their antagonistic and antioxidant potential. B. aristata, an important medicinal shrub with remarkable pharmacological properties, is native to Northern Himalayan region. A total of 131 endophytic fungal isolates belonging to eighteen species and nine genera were obtained from three hundred and thirty surface sterilized segments of different tissues of B. aristata. The isolated fungi were classified on the basis of morphological and molecular analysis. Diversity and species richness was found to be higher in leaf tissues as compared to root and stem. Antibacterial activity demonstrated that the crude ethyl acetate extract of 80% isolates exhibited significant results against one or more bacterial pathogens. Ethyl acetate extract of Alternaria macrospora was found to have potential antibacterial activity. Significant antioxidant activity was also found in crude ethyl acetate extracts of Alternaria alternata and Aspergillus flavus. Similarly, antagonistic activity of the fungal endophytes revealed that all antagonists possessed inhibition potential against more than one fungal pathogen. This study is an important step towards tapping endophytic fungal diversity for bioactive metabolites which could be a step forward towards development of novel therapeutic agents.
Alternaria ; Aspergillus flavus ; Berberis* ; Endophytes* ; Fungi

OBJECTIVETo review the species and distribution of the medicinal plants peculiar to Guizhou and provide evidence for application, protection and collection.

METHODOpen-air investigation, data collection and specimen identification.

RESULTMore than eighty kinds of the medical plants peculiar to Guizhou have been identified.

CONCLUSIONGuizhou has a diversity of medicinal plants. The area of distribution of most species is restricted and the population is small. Some of the species have higher medicinal and scientific research values.

Berberis ; classification ; China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Epimedium ; classification ; Gynostemma ; classification ; Pharmacognosy ; Plants, Medicinal ; classification

In order to clarify the characteristic components of Berberidis Cortex,the preparative liquid chromatography and spectral analysis methods were used to separate and identify the unknown components in the water extract of Berberidis Cortex. Two compounds were isolated and identified as bufotenidine and ferulic acid 4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside. They were both isolated for the first time from Berberidis Cortex and Berberis. In addition,an HPLC method was successfully established for simultaneously determination of six compounds in Berberidis Cortex,and chemometric methods were used to study the chemical differences among three main species of Berberidis Cortex. The results suggested that jatrorrhizine and bufotenidine are the main difference compounds among the three species.Compared with B. kansuensis and B. diaphana,B. vernae contains significantly more jatrorrhizine(P<0. 01),and the content of bufotenidine in B. vernae was significantly higher than that in B. kansuensis(P<0. 05). Considering these results,further research is necessary to reveal the pharmacological activities of bufotenidine and the pharmacodynamic differences between the three species. The results could provide a reference for quality control,the basic research on effective substances,and development of Berberidis Cortex.
Berberine ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; Berberis ; chemistry ; classification ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Phytochemicals ; analysis ; Plant Extracts ; analysis

Berberis amurensis (Berberidaceae) is a traditional Chinese medicine, which is often used to treat hypertension, inflammation, dysentery and enteritis. It contains alkaloids, mainly including berberine, berbamine, magnoflorine, jatrorrhizine and palmatine. Berberis amurensis extracts (BAEs) is often orally taken. Oral herbs might be metabolized by intestinal bacteria in the small intestine. However, the interaction between the herb and the gut microbiota is still unknown. In the current study, UPLC/Q-TOF-MS/MS combined with Metabolitepilot and Peakview software was used to identify the metabolites of BAEs in anti-biotic cocktail induced pseudo germ-free rats and normal rats. As a result, a total of 46 metabolites in normal rats were detected and its main metabolic pathways include demethylation, dehydrogenation, methylation, hydroxylation, sulfation and glucuronidation. Only 29 metabolites existed in pseudo germ-free rats. Dehydrogenated metabolites (M29, M30, M34 and M36), methylated metabolites (M33, M41 and M46) and other metabolites were not detected in pseudo germ-free rats. The result implied that the intestinal bacteria have an influence on the metabolism of BAEs. Furthermore, this investigation might contribute to the understanding of the metabolism of BAEs, and further promote its clinical application.
Alkaloids ; Animals ; Berberis ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Rats ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

There are many herbs used in the treatment of dermatophytosis as home medicine and Castanea crenata Flos (C.C.F.) is one of that used in Kyung gi-do district. With that regard we tried to examine in vitro antifungal activity of the C.C.F. with its water extract and alcohol extract as the test materials. Until now many authors have studied the antifungal activity with several plant extracts, as like the alcohol extracts of Zanthoxylum piperatum Fructus and Berberis Korea palibin or Fennel oil, and reported that these plant extrscts or essential oiI have good antifungal activities in vitro and in vivo. On that they said that the principal fractions those have strong fungistatic activity were all alikely the fatty acids chemically similar with the well known undecylenic acid. At this in vitro experiment the extracts of C.C.F. were diluted. serially in the Sabourauds dextrose agar and certain portions of fungi (the strains of Trichophyton (Tr.) mentagrophytes and Tr. rubrum) were transplanted into each medium containing different concentrations of test materials then observed its growth for 2 weeks at room temperature. After that we measured the sizes of colony grown in various conditions and compired with that of the normal medium to determine the fungistatic effectiveness. As the result, in the view of the colony sizes, Tr. mentagrophytes and Tr. rubrum equally revealed marked inhibition of its growth only in the media with water extract over the concentration of 10mg/ml in the mediurn, and the critical fungistatic dilution was 20 mg/ml. We could not identified the principal fraction in the water extract of C.C.F.which exhibited antifungal activity. In the comparison of the critical fungistatic dilution with the alcohol extract of Zanthoxylum piperaturn Fructus and Fennel oil, water extract of C.C.F. required tenfold higher concentration for the same effect. However in regarding the utilizing habits of C.C.F. in horne medicine, as topical wet dressing with water boiled solution, we might expect its effect practically. iVow there are problems to be investigated about the chemical natures and physical properties of the C.C.F. and for the antifungal fractions of it, in addition further in vivo study we thought would be interesting.
Agar ; Animals ; Bandages ; Berberis ; Fatty Acids ; Foeniculum ; Fungi ; Glucose ; Horns ; Korea ; Plant Extracts ; Plants ; Tinea ; Trichophyton ; Water ; Zanthoxylum

To elucidate the absorption and metabolism of alkaloids in Berberis kansuensis in vivo, a high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry(HPLC-QqQ-MS) method was developed to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the absorption components in rat serum in multiple-reaction monitoring mode. The mobile phase consisted of 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile with a gradient elution mode. In addition, to investigate the effects of gut microbiota on five absorbed components of B. kansuensis in rat serum, diabetic rat and pseudo germ-free diabetic rat models were established, and partial least squares discriminant analysis and One-way ANOVA were used to study the content differences of five components among different groups. In this study, a HPLC-QqQ-MS method for quantitative analysis of five components in rat serum after oral administration of B. kansuensis was established for the first time. It was found that there were differences in the five constituents in rat serum between different groups. By comparing the normal group with the diabetic model group, we found that the absorption and metabolism capacities of berberine and magnoflorine were different under the health and pathological conditions. It was also found that the serum levels of berberine, magnoflorine and jatrorrhizine in pseudo germ-free diabetic rats were significantly lower than those in diabetic rats, indicating that gut microbiota plays an important role in the metabolism of alkaloids of B. kansuensis in vivo. These results provide a good reference for clarifying the active ingredients of B. kansuensis in the treatment of diabetes.
Alkaloids/pharmacokinetics* ; Animals ; Berberis/chemistry* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental/blood* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Mass Spectrometry ; Phytochemicals/pharmacokinetics* ; Rats

OBJECTIVETo achieve a primary pharmacological screening contained in the aqueous extract of Berberis vulgaris (B. vulgaris) and to examine the hypoglycaemic effect and biochemical parameters of aqueous and saponins extract on groups of rats rendered diabetic by injection of streptozotocin.

METHODSThe phytochemical tests to detect the presence of different compounds were based on the visual observation of color change or formation of precipitate after the addition of specific reagents. Diabetes was induced in rats by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 65 mg/kg bw. The fasting blood glucose levels were estimated by glucose oxidase-peroxidase reactive strips (Dextrostix, Bayer Diagnostics). Blood samples were taken by cutting the tip of the tail. Serum cholesterol and serum triglycerides were estimated by enzymatic DHBS colorimetric method.

RESULTSAdministration of 62.5 and 25.0 mg/kg of saponins and aqueous extract respectively in normal rats group shows a significant hypoglycemic activity (32.33% and 40.17% respectively) during the first week. However, diabetic group treated with saponin extract produced a maximum fall of 73.1% and 76.03% at day 1 and day 21 compared to the diabetics control. Also, blood glucose levels of the diabetic rats treated with aqueous extract showed decrease of 78.79% on the first day and the effect remains roughly constant during 3 week. Both extracts also declined significantly biochemical parameters (20.77%-49.00%). The control in the loss of body weight was observed in treated diabetic rats as compared to diabetic controls.

CONCLUSIONSThese results demonstrated significant antidiabetic effects and showed that serum cholesterol and serum triglycerides levels were decreased, significantly, consequently this plant might be of value in diabetes treatment.

Animals ; Berberis ; chemistry ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Hypoglycemic Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Plant Extracts ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Rats, Wistar

This study aimed to explore the potential mechanism of Berberis atrocarpa Schneid. anthocyanin against Alzheimer's disease(AD) based on network pharmacology, molecular docking technology, and in vitro experiments. Databases were used to screen out the potential targets of the active components of B. atrocarpa and the targets related to AD. STRING database and Cytoscape 3.9.0 were adopted to construct a protein-protein interaction(PPI) network and carry out topological analysis of the common targets. Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed on the target using the DAVID 6.8 database. Molecular docking was conducted to the active components and targets related to the nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB)/Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4) pathway. Finally, lipopolysaccharide(LPS) was used to induce BV2 cells to establish the model of AD neuroinflammation for in vitro experimental validation. In this study, 426 potential targets of active components of B. atrocarpa and 329 drug-disease common targets were obtained, and 14 key targets were screened out by PPI network. A total of 623 items and 112 items were obtained by GO functional enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, respectively. Molecular docking results showed that NF-κB, NF-κB inhibitor(IκB), TLR4, and myeloid differentiation primary response 88(MyD88) had good binding abilities to the active components, and malvidin-3-O-glucoside had the strongest binding ability. Compared with the model group, the concentration of nitric oxide(NO) decreased at different doses of malvidin-3-O-glucoside without affecting the cell survival rate. Meanwhile, malvidin-3-O-glucoside down-regulated the protein expressions of NF-κB, IκB, TLR4, and MyD88. This study uses network pharmacology and experimental verification to preliminarily reveal that B. atrocarpa anthocyanin can inhibit LPS-induced neuroinflammation by regulating the NF-κB/TLR4 signaling pathway, thereby achieving the effect against AD, which provides a theoretical basis for the study of its pharmacodynamic material basis and mechanism.
NF-kappa B ; Alzheimer Disease ; Network Pharmacology ; Anthocyanins ; Berberis ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Myeloid Differentiation Factor 88 ; Neuroinflammatory Diseases ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; I-kappa B Proteins

Establishment of bioassay methods is the technical issues to be faced with in the bioassay of Chinese materia medica. Taking the bioassay of Coptis chinensis Franch. as an example, the establishment process and application of the bioassay methods (including bio-potency and bio-activity fingerprint) were explained from the aspects of methodology, principle of selection, experimental design, method confirmation and data analysis. The common technologies were extracted and formed with the above aspects, so as to provide technical support for constructing pattern and method of the quality control for Chinese materia medica based on the dao-di herbs and bioassay.
Berberine ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Berberis ; chemistry ; Biological Assay ; methods ; Cluster Analysis ; Coptis ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; standards ; Escherichia coli ; drug effects ; Materia Medica ; standards ; Phellodendron ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quality Control

The fruit of Lycium ruthenicum is a common folk medicine in China. Now it is popular for its antioxidative effect and other medical functions. The adulterants of the herb confuse consumers. In order to identify a new adulterant of L. ruthenicum, a research was performed based on NCBI Nucleotide Database ITS Sequence, combined analysis of the origin and morphology of the adulterant to traceable varieties. Total genomic DNA was isolated from the materials, and nuclear DNA ITS sequences were amplified and sequenced; DNA fragments were collated and matched by using ContingExpress. Similarity identification of BLAST analysis was performed. Besides, the distribution of plant origin and morphology were considered to further identification and verification. Families and genera were identified by molecular identification method. The adulterant was identified as plant belonging to Berberis. Origin analysis narrowed the range of sample identification. Seven different kinds of plants in Berberis were potential sources of the sample. Adulterants variety was traced by morphological analysis. The united molecular identification-origin-morphology research proves to be a preceding way to medical herbs traceability with time-saving and economic advantages and the results showed the new adulterant of L. ruthenicum was B. kaschgarica. The main differences between B. kaschgarica and L. ruthenicum are as follows: in terms of the traits, the surface of B. kaschgarica is smooth and crispy, and that of L. ruthenicum is shrinkage, solid and hard. In microscopic characteristics, epicarp cells of B. aschgarica thickening like a string of beads, stone cells as the rectangle, and the stone cell walls of L. ruthenicum is wavy, obvious grain layer. In molecular sequences, the length of ITS sequence of B. kaschgarica is 606 bp, L. ruthenicum is 654 bp, the similarity of the two sequences is 53.32%.
Berberis ; classification ; cytology ; genetics ; China ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Plant ; chemistry ; genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer ; chemistry ; genetics ; Drug Contamination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; standards ; Lycium ; classification ; cytology ; genetics ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Phylogeny ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Species Specificity