OBJECTIVETo investigate the chemical constituents from the rhizomes of Smilax glabra.

METHODThe compounds were isolated by column chromatography with silica gel, Diaion HP-20 and ODS as packing materials, and HPLC. Their structures were determined on the basis of their spectral evidence.

RESULT5 dihydro-flavonol glycosides were identified as: astilbin (1), neoastilbin (2), isoastilbin (3), neoisoastilbin (4), (2R, 3R)-taxifolin-3'-O-beta-D-pyranglucoside (5).

CONCLUSIONCompounds 2, 4, 5 were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Flavonols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Glucosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Quercetin ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Smilax ; chemistry ; Stereoisomerism

We began gastric mass survey at our hospital in May, 1980. During 3 years and 8 months since then, (May, 1980-December, 1983) we performed screening examinations to 16, 341 people by indirect radiography, and checked 2, 824 cases (17.3%) for thorough examination. Among these cases, 2, 083 (73.8%) received endoscopic examination actually, and 55 cases of gastric cancer were discovered. The discovery rate of gastric cancer was 0.336 per cent.
35 cases of these 55 gastric cancer were operated in the surgical department of our hospital. 34 cases were resected (rate of resection was 97.1%) and 33 cases were resected curatively (rate of curative resection was 94.3%). These results were better than that of gastric cancer cases from out-patient clinic of the same period. The results of cases from out-patient clinic of our hospital were: total number of cases 321, resected cases 254 (79.1%), curative resection 189 cases (58.9%), respectively.

OBJECTIVEIsolation and structural elucidation of the constituents of China mangrove Sonneratia apetala.

METHODchromatography methods were used for isolation of compounds, spectroscopic methods were used for structural identifyication.

RESULTseven known compounds named (+/-) symgaresinol, betulinic acid, lupeol, lupeone, stigmast-5-ene-3beta, 7alpha-diol, beta-alpha myrin hexadecaneate, physcoion were isolated.

CONCLUSIONthese known compouns were unreported previously from this plant.

Magnoliopsida ; chemistry ; Pentacyclic Triterpenes ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Triterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

High performance liquid chromatography coupled with on-line electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS/MS) was used to identify C21 steroidal glycosides in the roots of Cynanchum atratum. The structures of C21 steroidal glycosides were deduced from mass fragments features in positive and negative mode. The constituents of C. atratum were separated and detected. 7 compounds were identified by comparing their ESI-MS/MS data with the reference compounds and 2 compounds were inferred solely by the ESI-MS/MS data. The method is sensitive, and provides good separation and rapid qualitative characterization of C21 steroidal glycosides in the roots of C. atratum.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Cynanchum ; chemistry ; Glycosides ; analysis ; chemistry ; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization ; Steroids ; chemistry ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Objective: Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide in brown seaweeds. Previous studies show that fucoidan from Gagome kombu (GKF) exhibit immune-enhancing capabilities on healthy adults. In this study, we focused on the women with the history of gynecological cancer and evaluated the safety and immune-efficacy of GKF.Methods: Ten Japanese women subjects were chosen to ingest the test samples (1 drink / day containing 200 mg GKF) for 4 weeks. Before and after ingestion, blood chemistry analysis, hematological analysis, urinalysis and immune analysis were conducted. Result: Results showed no adverse clinical changes in blood and urinary analysis. In addition, no serious symptoms were observed. Moreover, decrease of serum levels of Eotaxin, IL-7, IL-17 and VEGF were observed.Conclusion: These results indicate that in the case of women with the history of gynecological cancer, GKF is a safe functional food ingredient.

Crude drugs that feature the name “gui” have appeared in classical medicinal textbooks with different names,and the correspondence between their names and origins remains the subject of research and discussion. In the present study, we investigated these correspondences using the descriptions in the annotations of the Bencaojingjizhu and through our previous study that revealed the standards of weights and measures in this book. Based on this investigation, we strongly speculate that “gui” in the Bencaojingjizhu was the branch skin of Cinnamomum cassia (C. cassia) (corresponding to cinnamon sticks in the market), which fits with the descriptions about the length and weight of “gui” -related crude drugs in this book. We measured the contents of cinnamic aldehyde and coumarin in the branch skin of C. cassia, and compared these to contents in other crude drugs related to “gui” that can be obtained on the market. The contents of these two compounds in the branch skin of C. cassia were similar to those in the bark of C. cassia from Vietnam that meets the standards for cinnamon bark in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia and is regarded as high-grade in the market. These results support our speculation, and it might be possible that the branch skin of C. cassia can be used as medicine instead of cinnamon bark.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) has led to an intense interest in developing its inhibitors as anti-diabetes, anti-obesity and anti-cancer agents. The fruits of Rubus chingii (Chinese raspberry) were used as a kind of dietary traditional Chinese medicine. The methanolic extract of R. chingii fruits exhibited significant PTP1B inhibitory activity. Further bioactivity-guided fractionation resulted in the isolation of three PTP1B inhibitory ursane-type triterpenes: ursolic acid (1), 2-oxopomolic acid (2), and 2α, 19α-dihydroxy-3-oxo-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (3). Kinetics analyses revealed that 1 was a non-competitive PTP1B inhibitor, and 2 and 3 were mixed type PTP1B inhibitors. Compounds 1-3 and structurally related triterpenes (4-8) were further analyzed the structure-activity relationship, and were evaluated the inhibitory selectivity against four homologous protein tyrosine phosphatases (TCPTP, VHR, SHP-1 and SHP-2). Molecular docking simulations were also carried out, and the result indicated that 1, 3-acetoxy-urs-12-ene-28-oic acid (5), and pomolic acid-3β-acetate (6) bound at the allosteric site including α3, α6, and α7 helix of PTP1B.
Enzyme Inhibitors ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Humans ; Kinetics ; Methanol ; chemistry ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; Protein Binding ; Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Rubus ; chemistry ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Triterpenes ; chemistry ; metabolism