OBJECTIVETo identify the variety of the sea cucumber sold in market.

METHODFigure and bone pieces observed for the microstructures.

RESULT8 varieties were identified as Lessonothurea Deichmann, Thymiosycia Pearson, Microthele Brandt and Metriatyla Rowe of Holothuria, Bohadschia, Stichopus and Thelenota.

CONCLUSIONThe bone pieces in ora, anus, back, abdomen and tentacle of sea cucumber are different. They are the important bases to identify sea cucumber.

Animals ; Materia Medica ; classification ; standards ; Quality Control ; Sea Cucumbers ; anatomy & histology ; classification

OBJECTIVETo study the antitumor activities of the triterpene glycoside colochiroside A (CA) from the sea cucumber Colochirus anceps.

METHODThe tests of antitumor activities in vitro and in vivo were applied to demonstrate the effect of CA.

RESULTThe preliminary cytotoxic assay of CA exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against 6 types cultured tumor cell lines of p388, HL60, A-549, SpC-A4, MKN-28, and SGC-7901, the mean of IC50 were (3.61 +/- 0.55) mg x L(-1). The preliminary antitumor assay of CA indicated that this saponin exhibited high inhibiting activity against the H22 live cancer and the S180 sarcoma cells in mouse. The inhibition ratio to H22 liver cancer were 34.8%, 43.9% and 52.2%, while the ratio to S180 sarcoma were 36.4%, 70.0%, the immunoregulatory founction study indicated CA has not significant effect on the developments of thymus and spleen.

CONCLUSIONThe saponin CA exhibited remarkable antineoplastic activities in vitro and in vivo, and could not reduce the immunoregulatory founction of mice.

Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Glycosides ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Neoplasms, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Sea Cucumbers ; chemistry ; Triterpenes ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of sea cucumber cerebroside(SCC) and its long-chain base(LCB) on lipid and glucose metabolism in obese mice.

METHODSThe mouse obese model was established by feeding high fat diet. The mice were randomly assigned to 4 groups: control group, model group, SCC group and LCB group. After 4 weeks, the glucose tolerance test was undertaken. After 5 weeks, the body fat content, organic indexes, serum lipid level, glycemic index and liver lipid level were determined.

RESULTSCompared with the model group, the glucose tolerance in the SCC group and LCB group was ameliorated significantly (P<0.01, P<0.05); glycemic index (P<0.01, P<0.01), the weight of adipose tissue (P<0.05, P<0.01) and the hepatic TG were reduced significantly (P<0.05, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSea cucumber cerebroside and its long-chain base can improve the glucose and lipid metabolism in obese mice.

Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Cerebrosides ; pharmacology ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mice, Obese ; Obesity ; blood ; drug therapy ; Sea Cucumbers ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effect and anticoagulation effect of polysaccharides from the sea cucumber (PSU) on acute incomplete cerebral ischemia (AICI).

METHODSAdult SD rats were randomly divided into 5 group (n = 12): sham operation group, model group, low-dose (30 mg/(kg x d)), middle-dose (60 mg/(kg x d)) and high-dose (120 mg/(kg x d)) groups. The cerebral ischemia rat model was established by permanently ligating the common carotid arteries on both sides of rats. We observed the change of behavior disturbance, brain water content, the levels of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) as well as the effects on prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen(FIB).

RESULTSDue to the use of polysaccharides, the behavioral disturbance was improved, brain water content and the levels of serum CRP were significantly decreased. Also PSU significantly prolonged APTT, TT and reduced the content of FIB (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONPSU has protective effect on acute incomplete cerebral ischemia injured rats and significant anticoagulation effect.

Animals ; Anticoagulants ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Brain ; metabolism ; Brain Ischemia ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Male ; Polysaccharides ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sea Cucumbers ; Thrombin Time

OBJECTIVETo study the efficacy and safety of Reinhartdt and sea cucumber capsule (RSC) combined with donepezil in treating Alzheimer's disease (AD), and its effect on thyroid function axis.

METHODSSixty-eight patients were randomly assigned to the RSC group, the Donepezil group and the combined treatment group, who were treated for 3 and 6 months with RSC, Donepezil and RSC combined with Donepezil, respectively. The curative effect was evaluated by scoring according to Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), ADAS-Cog and ADL chart, and the level of thyroid hormones, including TSH, FT3, FT4, TT3 and TT4, were measured with radioimmunoassay before treatment, 3 and 6 months after treatment respectively.

RESULTSAs compared with the baseline, MMSE score increased, ADAS-Cog score and ADL score decreased significantly in all the three groups after 3 months and 6 months of treatment (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), but the improvement in the combined treatment group was more significant than that in the other two groups (P < 0.01). After 6 months of treatment, the levels of FT3 and FT4 in the combined treatment group were significantly changed (P < 0.01), but no significant change in all the thyroid hormones was found in the other two groups. No obvious adverse reaction occurred in all the three groups.

CONCLUSIONRSC combined with Donepezil in treating AD is effective and safe with no evident adverse reaction, better than single drug treatment, which may be through influencing the metabolism of thyroid hormones to improve the cognition function of AD patients.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; Animals ; Capsules ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Humans ; Indans ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Nootropic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Piperidines ; therapeutic use ; Radioimmunoassay ; Sea Cucumbers ; chemistry ; Thyroid Hormones ; blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of sea cucumber cerebroside (SCC) on the lipid metabolism in rats with orotic acid-induced fatty liver.

METHODSThe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model was established by adding orotic acid to the diets in rats. The rats were randomly assigned to four groups:control group, NAFLD group, NAFLD + low SCC group and NAFLD + high SCC group. After 10 days of feeding, the serum and hepatic lipid concentrations and the aminopherase activities were measured; the composition of hepatic fatty acids was also analyzed.

RESULTThe serum TC and TG levels reduced significantly in the NAFLD group as compared with the controls (P<0.05), while the sea cucumber cereborside feeding raised the serum lipid concentrations (P<0.05). The hepatic TC and TG levels dramatically increased in the NAFLD group in comparison with the controls (P<0.05, P<0.01), while the hepatic lipid accumulations decreased in both SCC groups (P<0.05, P<0.01). The ALT and AST activities in the NAFLD group increased markedly when compared with the controls (P<0.05, P <0.01), while the sea cucumber cerebroside feeding attenuated the hepatic injury levels (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) activity increased significantly in the NAFLD group (P<0.05), but decreased in SCC groups (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSea cucumber cerebroside can attenuate the rat fatty liver induced by orotic acid.

Animals ; Cerebrosides ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Fatty Acids ; metabolism ; Fatty Liver ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Lipid Metabolism ; drug effects ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sea Cucumbers ; chemistry

Nobiliside A (Nob A) liposomes were prepared. Its assay method of content and encapsulation efficiency (EE) were established, and hemolytic activity with Nob A solution in vivo and in vitro were compared. Preparative method, phospholipid content, ratio of phospholipid to cholesterol and ratio of drug to lipids were optimized by single factor exploration. According to the optimized results, 3 batches of Nob A liposomes were prepared, then high performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC-ELSD) method was used to determine the content of Nob A and minicolumn centrifugation method to determine EE, transmission electron microscope was used to detect the morphology and laser scatter analysis to evaluate particle sizes of the liposomes. The hemolytic activity was studied both in vivo and in vitro. The results indicated that HPLC-ELSD method and minicolumn centrifugation method used in this study are simple, applicable and accurate for the determination of the content and EE of Nob A liposome respectively . Nob A liposomes have a high EE with spherical shape and uniform size by using the film ultrasonication technique. When the ratio of phospholipid to cholesterol was 2:1 and the ratio of Nob A to lipids was 1:40, the mean EE of Nob A liposomes was 95.7% and the mean diameter was 87.6 nm. Liposomes inhibited the hemolytic activity of Nob A in vivo and in vitro sharply. As for its low hemolytic activity in vivo and in vitro, Nob A liposomes are optimistic to be used by intravenous injection.
Animals ; Cholesterol ; chemistry ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drug Compounding ; methods ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Female ; Hemolysis ; drug effects ; Liposomes ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Male ; Materia Medica ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; isolation & purification ; Particle Size ; Phospholipids ; chemistry ; Rabbits ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Saponins ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; isolation & purification ; Sea Cucumbers ; chemistry

Aims: The microbial pigment can be the best promising alternative to replace synthetic colorant. However, due to the high cost of synthetic medium for microbial pigment production, there is a need to develop a new low-cost medium of bacterial pigment production. This study aims to investigate the potential of banana and papaya peels as alternative lowcost substrates for a carotenoid-producing bacterium, B12 strain (bacteria strain isolated from Holothuria (Lessonothuria) pardalis). Methodology and results: B12 strain identified as an aerobic bacterium with non-motile, diplobacilli shaped and Grampositive bacteria. The fermentation was optimized with different parameters included the effect of temperature, time, concentrations, pHs, carbon and nitrogen sources to find the optimum relative pigment concentration produced by B12. The results showed that the B12 strain produced the highest relative pigment concentration measured at 450 nm when the strain was cultivated at 37 °C and pH 7 in the culture medium incorporated with the combination of dried papaya peels and banana peels (100% v/v with ratio 1:1) at 72 h of incubation. Lactose, peptone and yeast were observed as the best carbon and nitrogen sources to increase the pigment concentration of B12 strain. Stability of the pigment was studied at different physiochemical stress, and it showed the pigment obtained from dried papaya and banana substrates can tolerate and stable under stress condition. Conclusion, significance and impact of study This can be concluded that the combination of dried papaya and banana peels worked well as substrate and can be utilized as a fermentation medium to replace the synthetic medium which is more expensive and uneconomical for industry application. Besides, it also helps in managing waste and solving the pollution problem due to the increasing of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections ; Holothuria ; Carica ; Musa

This study is aimed to evaluate skin whitening effects of Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus for cosmeceutical ingredients. The extract of Stichopus japonicus showed 61.78% inhibition of tyrosinase activity, and the mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis extract and Stichopus japonicus extract showed 59.14% inhibition of tyrosinase activity. On the clone M-3 cell meloanocyte, the mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis extract and Stichopus japonicus extract showed remarkable inhibition of melanogenesis. Also, those extracts were not irritable in ocular irritation test. It is concluded from these results that Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus have skin whitening effect. It could be used as natural depigmental material in cosmeceutical ingredients.
Clone Cells ; Monophenol Monooxygenase ; Sanguisorba ; Skin ; Stichopus

This study is aimed to evaluate skin whitening effects of Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus for cosmeceutical ingredients. The extract of Stichopus japonicus showed 61.78% inhibition of tyrosinase activity, and the mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis extract and Stichopus japonicus extract showed 59.14% inhibition of tyrosinase activity. On the clone M-3 cell meloanocyte, the mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis extract and Stichopus japonicus extract showed remarkable inhibition of melanogenesis. Also, those extracts were not irritable in ocular irritation test. It is concluded from these results that Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus have skin whitening effect. It could be used as natural depigmental material in cosmeceutical ingredients.
Clone Cells ; Monophenol Monooxygenase ; Sanguisorba ; Skin ; Stichopus