OBJECTIVETo study the chemical composition, anticancer, anti-neuroinflflammatory, and antioxidant activities of the essential oil of Patrinia scabiosaefolia (EO-PS).

METHODSPatrinia scabiosaefolia was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Eight human carcinoma cell lines, including SGC-7901, AGS, HepG2, HT-29, HCT-8, 5-FU/HCT-8, HeLa, and MDA-MB-231, were assessed by methylthiazolyldiphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Anti-neuroinflflammatory activity was assessed by production of interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 induced by lipopolysaccharide in BV-2 cells (microglia from mice). The antioxidant activity was evaluated with a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay.

RESULTSForty-four components, representing 83.919% of the total oil, were identifified in the EO-PS. The major constituents were caryophyllene oxide (12.802%), caryophyllene (6.909%), α-caryophyllene (2.927%), β-damascenone (3.435%), calarene (5.621%), and phenol (3.044%). The MTT assay showed that the EO-PS exhibited significant dose-dependent growth inhibition in the 50-200 μg/mL dilution range. The EO-PS exhibited a dose-dependent scavenging activity against the DPPH radical, with an half of maximal inhibitory concentration 1.455 mg/mL.

CONCLUSIONSThe EO-PS possesses a wide range of antitumor, anti-neuroinflflammatory and antioxidant activities, suggesting that it may be a good candidate for further investigations of new bioactive substances.

Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Cell Death ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inflammation Mediators ; metabolism ; Mice ; Oils, Volatile ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Patrinia ; chemistry

To investigate roles of nitric oxide (NO) signal in accumulations of phenolic acids in abscisic.acid (ABA)-induced Salvia miltiorrhiza hairy roots, S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots were treated with different concentrations of sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-an exogenous NO donor, for 6 days, and contents of phenolic acids in the hairy roots are determined. Then with treatment of ABA and NO scavenger (2-(4-carboxy-2-phenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1- oxyl-3-oxide, c-PTIO) or NO synthase inhibitor (NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, L-NAME), contents of phenolic acids and expression levels of three key genes involved in phenolic acids biosynthesis were detected. Phenolic acids production in S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots was most significantly improved by 100 µmoL/L SNP. Contents of RA and salvianolic acid B increased by 3 and 4 folds. ABA significantly improved transcript levels of PAL (phenylalanine ammonia lyase), TAT (tyrosine aminotransferase) and RAS (rosmarinic acid synthase), and increased phenolic acids accumulations. However, with treatments of ABA+c-PTIO or ABA+L-NAME, accumulations of phenolic acids and expression levels of the three key genes were significantly inhibited. Both NO and ABA can increase accumulations of phenolic acids in S. miltiorrhiza hairy roots. NO signal probably mediates the ABA-induced phenolic acids production.
Abscisic Acid ; pharmacology ; Benzofurans ; metabolism ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacology ; Hydroxybenzoates ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyase ; metabolism ; Plant Roots ; metabolism ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; metabolism ; Tyrosine Transaminase ; metabolism

The average life expectancy in Macau is ranking the second in the world, the consumption of fresh medicinal plants is a profound culture in Macau. The paper focus on the distribution of the antioxidant herbs, a comprehensive investigation and analysis the amount of the plant resources was carried out. The antioxidant activity of alcohol extracts was determined by using the DPPH method, and six kinds fresh herbs with high antioxidant free radical activity were screened out. Reference to adult daily dose of vitamin C, it is calculated that the daily dose amount of fresh herbs is less than 200 g. For the expected shortage of resources and the ecological status of Macau, we give some suggestions of herbal introduction in population ecology reconstruction.
Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Ecosystem ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacology ; Macau ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo study and compare the conventional extraction procedure with microwave assisted extraction (MAE) for some Ayurvedic Rasayana drugs and to evaluate their antioxidant potential and carry out the characterization of extracts by thin layer chromatography.

METHODSThree Ayurvedic rasayana plants Allium sativum Linn., Bombax ceiba Linn. and Inula racemosa Hook. were evaluated for an improved MAE methodology by determining the effects of grinding degree, extraction solvent, effect of dielectric constant and duration of time on the extractive value. Antioxidant potential of all three drugs was evaluated with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and reducing power was determined by using Gallic acid as standard. Further thin layer chromatographic (TLC) analysis was performed on pre-activated Silica Gel G plates and Rf value were compared with those reported for the important biomarkers.

RESULTSThe total extractive value for Allium sativum Linn. was 36.95% (w/w) and 49.95% (w/w) for ethanol extraction respectively. In case of Bombax ceiba Linn. the yield of aqueous extract by MAE was 50% (w/w) compared to 42% (w/w) in ethanol (50% v/v). Percent yield of Inula racemosa Hook. in aqueous extract was found to be 27.55% (w/w) which was better than ethanol extract (50%) where the yield was 25.95% (w/w). Upon antioxidant activity evaluation. sativum extract showed an absorbance of 0.980±0.92 at concentration of 500 μg with maximum reducing capacity. This was followed by. ceiba Linn. 0.825±0.98 and. racemosa Hook. with 0.799±2.01 at a concentration of 500 μg. TLC based standardization of. sativum Linn. extract shows single spot with Rf value of 0.38, B. ceiba Linn. extract shows Rf values were 0.23, 0.58, 0.77, 0.92 and I. racemosa Hook. extract spot had a Rf value of 0.72.

CONCLUSIONSA significant improvement in extractive values was observed as a factor of time and other advantages by using MAE technology. All three drugs have high antioxidant potential and a TLC profiling similar to reported ones. The presence of fructan type polysaccharide can be further utilized for bioactivity directed fractionation and evaluation of immunomodulatory activity.

Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Biphenyl Compounds ; chemistry ; Chromatography, Thin Layer ; methods ; Ethanol ; chemistry ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacology ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Medicine, Ayurvedic ; Microwaves ; Oxidation-Reduction ; drug effects ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; isolation & purification ; Picrates ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Solvents ; Time Factors

This study was carried out to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and free radical scavenging activities of flavans from flex centrochinensis S. Y. Hu in vitro and their structure-activity relationship. LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage was used as inflammatory model. MTT assay for cell availability, Griess reaction for nitric oxide (NO) production, the content of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6 and PGE, were detected with ELISA kits; DPPH, superoxide anion and hydroxyl free radicals scavenging activities were also investigated. According to the result, all flavans tested exhibited anti-inflammatory effect in different levels. Among them, compounds 1, 3, 4 and 6 showed potent anti-inflammatory effect through the inhibition of NO, TNF-alpha, IL-lp and IL-6, of which 1 was the most effective inhibitor, however, 2 and 5 were relatively weak or inactive. The order of free radical scavenging activities was similar to that of anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, these results suggest that 3, 4 and 6, especially of 1, were,in part responsible for the anti-inflammatory and free radical scavenging activity of Ilex centrochinensis. Hydroxyl group at 4'-position of B-ring plays an important role in the anti-inflammatory and free radical scavenging capacities.
Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Cell Line ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; immunology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Flavanones ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Free Radical Scavengers ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Ilex ; chemistry ; Interleukin-6 ; immunology ; Macrophages ; drug effects ; immunology ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide ; immunology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; immunology

A double targets of high throughput screening model for xanthine oxidase inhibitors and superoxide anion scavengers was established. In the reaction system of xanthine oxidase, WST-1 works as the probe for the ultra oxygen anion generation, and product uric acid works as xanthine oxidase activity indicator. By using SpectraMax M5 continuous spectrum enzyme sign reflectoscope reflector, the changes of these indicators' concentration were observed and the influence factors of this reaction system to establish the high throughput screening model were studied. And the model is confirmed by positive drugs. In the reaction system, the final volume of reaction system is 50 μL and the concentrations of xanthine oxidase is 4 mU x mL(-1), xanthine 250 μmol x L(-1) and WST-1 100 μmol x L(-1), separately. The Z'-factor of model for xanthine oxidase inhibitors is 0.537 4, S/N is 47.519 9; the Z'-factor of model for superoxide anion scavengers is 0.507 4, S/N is 5.388 9. This model for xanthine oxidase inhibitors and superoxide anion scavengers has more common characteristics of the good stability, the fewer reagent types and quantity, the good repeatability, and so on. And it can be widely applied in high-throughput screening research.
Enzyme Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacology ; High-Throughput Screening Assays ; Superoxides ; Uric Acid ; Xanthine ; Xanthine Oxidase ; antagonists & inhibitors

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of the pulmonary injury in rats caused by chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) and to investigate the intervention effect of Edaravone. METHOD: Ninety-six male Wistar rats were divided into four groups randomly: the control group (NC), chronic intermittent hypoxia group (CIH), chronic intermittent hypoxia normal saline matched group (NS), chronic intermittent hypoxia edaravone treatment group (NE). The four groups were also divided into 1, 2, 3, 4 W time subgroups, and each time subgroup had 6 rats. After the experiment, sections of pulmonary were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and the level of SOD, MDA, PO2 and Ang II mRNA in rat homogenate pulmonary were measured. RESULT: Pulmonary histology revealed that the CIH group showed high levels of interstitial edema, alveolar atelectasis, inflammatory cell infiltration of alveolar epithelial cell, pulmonary injury were serious in 1, 2, 3, 4 W. But the pulmonary histology of the UC group and the NS group was normal. Compared with the NS group, pulmonary injury of NE group 1, 2, 3, 4 W, significantly decreased. Compared with the NC group, the levels of PO2 in the CIH group were decreased; while the compared with the NS group, the levels of PO2 in the NE group were increased. Compared with the UC group and NS group, the levels of Ang II mRNA in each time point in CIH group were increased gradually (P < 0.05), the content of MDA were increased in 1, 2, 3, 4 W (P < 0.05), they had reached the peak all at 4 W; while the SOD in each time point in CIH group were decreased gradually (P < 0.05) compared with that in UC group and NS group; The Ang II mRNA levels of CIH in pulmonary showed positive correlation with MDA [r = 0.782,P < 0.01]; while the Ang II mRNA levels of CIH in pulmonary showed negative correlation with SOD [r = - 0.904, P < 0.01]. CONCLUSION CIH can cause pulmonary injury through oxidative stress and activating Ang II, and Edaravone could prevent pulmonary injury induced by CIH through scavenging oxygen free radicals.
Angiotensin II ; metabolism ; Animals ; Antipyrine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Edaravone ; Free Radical Scavengers ; metabolism ; Hypoxia ; physiopathology ; Lung ; pathology ; Lung Injury ; physiopathology ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Oxidative Stress ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

The Uncariae Ramulus Cum Uncis is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine. In recent years, many studies have revealed its prominent neuroprotection function. The active ingredients in Uncariae Ramulus Cum Uncis could protect the nervous system in a multi-path and multi-target manner. Uncariae Ramulus Cum Uncis shows the neuroprotective effect by resisting oxidation, scavenging free radicals, modulating neurotransmitters and their related receptors, regulating the inflammatory factors and their related pathways, attenuating neuron apoptosis, reducing intracellular Ca2+ overloads and mitigating neurodegeneration. In this paper, the authors summarized the advance in studies on neuroprotective mechanisms of Uncariae Ramulus Cum Uncis.
Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inflammation Mediators ; metabolism ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Neurotransmitter Agents ; metabolism ; Uncaria ; chemistry

This study is designed to evaluate antioxidant and antigenotoxic activities of corn tassel extracts (CTTs). The major bioactive components of CTTs include flavonoid, saponin and polysaccharide. The antioxidant properties of the three bioactive components of CTTs were investigated by Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Property (FRAP) and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. The activities of the extracts were determined by assessing the inhibition of mutagenicity of the direct-acting mutagen fenaminosulf, sodium azide, and indirect-acting mutagen 2-aminofluorene using the Ames test (strains TA98 and TA100). The results showed that the extraction rates of flavonoid, saponin, and polysaccharide from the dried corn tassels were 1.67%, 2.41% and 4.76% respectively. DPPH and FRAP assay strongly demonstrated that CTTs had antioxidant properties. CTTs at doses of 625, 1250 and 2500 μg per plate reduced 2-aminofluorene mutagenicity by 12.52%, 28.76% and 36.49% in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 strain assay respectively and by 10.98%, 25.27% and 37.83%, at the same doses in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 assay system, respectively. 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that the different concentrations of CTTs inhibited the proliferation of MGC80-3 cells in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.01). It is concluded that these integrated approaches to antioxidant and antigenotoxicity assessment may be useful to study corn tassel as a natural herbal material.
Antimutagenic Agents ; pharmacology ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Biphenyl Compounds ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Fluorenes ; pharmacology ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inflorescence ; chemistry ; Mutagens ; pharmacology ; Picrates ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Polysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Salmonella typhimurium ; drug effects ; genetics ; Saponins ; pharmacology ; Zea mays ; chemistry

PURPOSE: Limited studies have shown antifibrotic effects of pentoxifylline, captopril, simvastatin, and tamoxifen. No comparisons are available of the effects of these drugs on prevention of renal and bladder changes in partial urethral obstruction (PUO). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The rats were divided into six groups (n=7). The sham-operated rats (group I) only underwent laparotomy and did not receive any treatments. The PUO groups (group II-VI) received normal saline (PUO+NS), pentoxifylline (100 mg/kg/d; PUO+PEN), captopril (35 mg/kg/d; PUO+CAP), simvastatin (15 mg/kg/d; PUO+SIM), or tamoxifen (10 mg/kg/d; PUO+TAM) by gavage for 28 days. Then, the volume and/or length of the kidney components (tubules, vessels, and fibrous tissue) and the bladder components (epithelial and muscular layers, fibrous tissue, fibroblast and fibrocyte number) were quantitatively evaluated on the microscopic sections by use of stereological techniques. RESULTS: The volume of renal and bladder fibrosis was significantly ameliorated in the PUO+PEN group, followed by the PUO+CAP, PUO+SIM, and PUO+TAM groups. Also, the volume and length of the renal tubules and vessels and bladder layers were more significantly protected in the PUO+PEN group, followed by the PUO+CAP, PUO+SIM, and PUO+TAM groups. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of PUO with PEN was more effective in the prevention of renal and bladder fibrosis and in the preservation of renal and bladder structures.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology ; Animals ; Captopril/*pharmacology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Estrogen Antagonists/pharmacology ; Free Radical Scavengers/pharmacology ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors/pharmacology ; Kidney/*drug effects/pathology ; Male ; Pentoxifylline/*pharmacology ; Rats ; Simvastatin/*pharmacology ; Tamoxifen/*pharmacology ; Urethral Obstruction/*drug therapy ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction/*drug therapy