The leaves of Vernonia amygdalina Delile of the family Asteraceae(also known as "bitter leaf"), rich in biological activities, are used as both medicine and food for a long time in West tropical Africa. They have been introduced into Southeast Asia and Fujian and Guangdong provinces of China in recent years. However, little is known about the properties of the plant in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), which limits its combination with other Chinese medicinal herbs. In this study, 473 articles on V. amygdalina leaves were selected from PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang Data and VIP to summarize their components, pharmacological effects and clinical research. V. amygdalina leaves presented anti-microbial, hypoglycemic, anti-hypertensive, lipid-lowering, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and other pharmacological effects. On the basis of the theory of TCM properties, the leaves were inferred to be cold in property and bitter and sweet in flavor, acting on spleen, liver, stomach and large intestine and with the functions of clearing heat, drying dampness, purging fire, removing toxin, killing insects and preventing attack of malaria. They can be used to treat dampness-heat diarrhea, interior heat and diabetes, malaria, insect accumulation and eczema(5-10 g dry leaves by decoction per day and an appropriate amount of crushed fresh leaves applying to the affected area for external use). Due to the lack of TCM properties, V. amygdalina leaves are rarely used medicinally in China. The determination of medicinal properties of the leaves is conducive to the introduction of new exotic medicinal herbs and the development of new TCM resources, which facilitated further clinical application and research and development of Chinese medicinal herbs.
Antioxidants ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Plant Extracts/pharmacology* ; Plant Leaves ; Plants, Medicinal ; Vernonia

This study aimed to evaluate the biological effect and mechanism of Vernonia anthelmintica Injection(VAI) on melanin accumulation. The in vivo depigmentation model was induced by propylthiouracil(PTU) in zebrafish, and the effect of VAI on melanin accumulation was evaluated based on the in vitro B16F10 cell model. The chemical composition of VAI was identified according to the high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). Network pharmaco-logy was applied to predict potential targets and pathways of VAI. A "VAI component-target-pathway" network was established, and the pharmacodynamic molecules were screened out based on the topological characteristics of the network. The binding of active molecules to key targets was verified by molecular docking. The results showed that VAI promoted tyrosinase activity and melanin production in B16F10 cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner and could restore the melanin in the body of the zebrafish model. Fifty-six compounds were identified from VAI, including flavonoids(15/56), terpenoids(10/56), phenolic acids(9/56), fatty acids(9/56), steroids(6/56), and others(7/56). Network pharmacological analysis screened four potential quality markers, including apigenin, chrysoeriol, syringaresinol, and butein, involving 61 targets and 65 pathways, and molecular docking verified their binding to TYR, NFE2L2, CASP3, MAPK1, MAPK8, and MAPK14. It was found that the mRNA expression of MITF, TYR, TYRP1, and DCT in B16F10 cells was promoted. By UPLC-Q-TOF-MS and network pharmacology, this study determined the material basis of VAI against vitiligo, screened apigenin, chrysoeriol, syringaresinol, and butein as the quality markers of VAI, and verified the efficacy and internal mechanism of melanogenesis, providing a basis for quality control and further clinical research.
Animals ; Vernonia/chemistry* ; Melanins/metabolism* ; Zebrafish/metabolism* ; Network Pharmacology ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Apigenin/pharmacology* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid

Steroid saponins are secondary metabolites with multiple medicinal values that are found in large quantities in natural medicines, especially Vernonia amygdalina, a famous nature medicine for the treatment of tonsillitis, diabetes, pneumonia. The current study was designed to combine molecular networking (MN) with diagnostic ions for rapid identification of Δ^7,9(11) stigmastane-type saponins which were the α-glucosidase inhibitory active substances in V. amygdalina. First, the α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of five Δ^7,9(11) stigmastane-type steroid saponins that were previously isolated were screened, which indicated that the Δ^7,9(11) stigmastane-type steroid saponin was one of the active constituents responsible for ameliorating diabetes. Furthermore, a strategy was proposed to identify stigmastane-type steroid saponins and verify the plausibility of derived fragmentation pathways by applying MN, MolNetEnhancer and unsupervised substructure annotation (MS2LDA). Based on this strategy, other seven Δ^7,9(11) stigmastane-type steroid saponins were identified from this plant. Our research provide scientific evidence for the antidiabetic potential of the steroid saponin-rich extract of V. amygdalina leaf.
alpha-Glucosidases/metabolism* ; Vernonia/chemistry* ; Plant Extracts/chemistry* ; Plant Leaves/chemistry* ; Saponins/chemistry* ; Steroids/chemistry* ; Diabetes Mellitus

This work aims to establish an HPLC specific chromatogram and determine six components of Vernonia anthelmintica with chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid B, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid C, scutellarein and luteolin as index components. HPLC analysis was performed on a Waters Xbridge C_(18) column(4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm) with gradient elution of acetonitrile-0.05% trifluoroacetic acid solution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL·min~(-1). The detection wave length was 360 nm and the column temperature was 30 ℃. Chemometrics software Chempattern was employed to analyze the data. HPLC specific chromatogram of V. anthelmintica was established and six characteristic peaks were marked. Six characteristic peaks were simultaneously determined by HPLC within 50 min. The contents of the six components in 13 batch samples of V. anthelmintica were 0.14%-0.68%, 0.44%-0.74%, 0.63%-1.01%, 0.14%-0.71%, 0.15%-0.26% and 0.010%-0.030%, respectively. The HPLC specific chromatogram of V. anthelmintica, together with determination of six components showed strong specificity, and it can be used for the quality control of the crude drug.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Phytochemicals/analysis* ; Quality Control ; Vernonia/chemistry*

Cordyceps militaris exopolysaccharides (EPS) have many pharmacological activities such as boosting immunity and antifatigue. To obtain EPS efficiently, we added moderate Vernonia amygdalina leaf powder as inducer to the fermentation medium to promote the production of Cordyceps militaris EPS and studied the infrared absorption spectrum and antioxidant activities of the EPS after optimization. The optimum liquid fermentation conditions were as follows: addition of Vernonia amygdalina leaf powder of 8 g/L, fermentation duration of 9 d, initial pH of 6.5, inoculation quantity of 5.0 mL. Under such a condition, the yield of Cordyceps militaris EPS reached (5.24±0.28) mg/mL, increased by 205.20% compared to the control group without adding Vernonia amygdalina leaf powder. Results of infrared analysis and antioxidant activity showed that the Vernonia amygdalina leaves had little effect on the structure and activities of Cordyceps militaris EPS. The results of this research suggest that Vernonia amygdalina leaf can enhance the production of Cordyceps militaris EPS effectively, and provides a novel method for efficient production of EPS in Cordyceps militaris.
Antioxidants ; Cordyceps ; Plant Leaves ; Polysaccharides ; Vernonia

OBJECTIVEThis study investigated the acute and subacute toxicity of whole-plant aqueous extract of Vernonia mespilifolia Less. (AEVM) in rats for evaluating its safety profile.

METHODSAEVM for the acute (2000 and 5000 mg/kg) and subacute (200, 400 and 600 mg/kg) toxicity studies was administered orally to rats according the guidelines 425 and 407 of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, respectively. Food and water intake as well as body and organ weight of animals were recorded. Signs of toxicity were assessed, and hematological, biochemical and histopathological analyses were performed.

RESULTSIn the acute toxicity study, a single dose of the aqueous extract at 2000 or 5000 mg/kg caused no mortality in the animals, suggesting that the median lethal dose is greater than 5000 mg/kg. In the subacute toxicity study, administration of the extract for 28 d, at all doses, caused no significant changes in the body weights or organ weights of rats in the treated groups when compared with the control group. In addition, hematological and biochemical parameters also revealed no toxic effects of the extract on rats. Histological sections of the heart, liver and kidney from test animals showed no signs of degeneration.

CONCLUSIONThese results showed that AEVM at dosage levels up to 600 mg/kg is nontoxic and could also offer protection on some body tissues. AEVM could, therefore, be considered safe.

Animals ; Female ; Heart ; drug effects ; Kidney ; drug effects ; Lethal Dose 50 ; Liver ; drug effects ; Male ; Plant Extracts ; toxicity ; Plant Leaves ; Rats, Wistar ; Toxicity Tests, Acute ; Toxicity Tests, Subacute ; Vernonia ; toxicity

Mature seeds of Vernonia anthelmintica were separated and purified by using such methods as macroporous absorption resin, Sephadex LH-20 and HPLC preparative chromatography. Six compounds were obtained and their structures were identified by such spectrum techniques as 1H, 13C-NMR and MS. Compound 1-6 were identified as caffeic acid (1), 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid (2), 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid (3), 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (4), 3, 4-di-O-caffeoylisoquinic acid (5), 3, 4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (6). Among them, compounds 1-6 were separated from this plant for the first time, while compounds 3-5 were separated from this genus firstly.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Quinic Acid ; analogs & derivatives ; analysis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Seeds ; chemistry ; Vernonia ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo establish the fingerprint of Vernonia anthelmintica extracts of different ethanol concentrations to study the effect of common peak components on the proliferation of A375 human melanoma cells and the correlation between fingerprint and pharmacodynamics of V. anthelmintica extracts, in order to provide both theoretical basis and data support for establishing a traditional Chinese medicine quality control mode with the combination of fingerprint and pharmacology.

METHODHPLC was applied to establish fingerprint of V. anthelmintica extracts of different ethanol concentrations and the similarity evaluation was made. MTT was used to study the proliferation of A375 human melanoma cells. Grey relation analysis was adopted to analyze the correlation between fingerprint and pharmacology of V. anthelmintica.

RESULTThe HPLC fingerprint of different V. anthelmintica ethanol extracts showed 13 common peaks with the proliferation effect on A375 human melanoma cells. The 4th peak had the largest contribution and highest correlation to cell proliferation.

CONCLUSIONDifferent V. anthelmintica ethanol extracts have different fingerprints, which show a certain correlation between their common peaks and effect on cell proliferation.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Humans ; Melanoma ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Vernonia ; chemistry

The chemical constituents from the stem barks of Vernonia cumingiana were investigated. Various chromatographic techniques such as silica gel chromatography, Sephadex LH-20, ODS column chromatography and HPLC were used to isolate and purify the constituents. The structures were elucidated by spectral methods. Twelve compounds were isolated from the 95% ethanol extract and their structures were elucidated as methyl 3,5-dicaffeoylquinate (1), methyl 3,4-dicaffeoylquinate (2), ethyl 3,4-dicaffeoylquinate (3), methyl 3,4,5-tricaffeoylquinate (4), stigmasterol (5), alpha-spinasterol (6), beta-sitosterol (7), 24-methylene-lanosta-9 (11)-en-3beta-acetate (8), ethyl gallate (9), di-n-butyl-phthalate (10), stearic acid (11) and palmitic acid (12). Compounds 1-12 were isolated from this plant for the first time.
Plant Bark ; chemistry ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Vernonia ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo study the constituents of the whole herbs of Vernonia cinerea by bio-activity guided isolation with PC-12 model.

METHODThe constituents were separated by column chromatography and the structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods.

RESULTTen compounds were identified to be (-)-clovane-2,9-diol (1), caryolane-1,9beta-diol (2), apigenin (3), chrysoeriol (4), luteolin (5), thermopsoside (6), luteolin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside (7), quercetin(8), apigenin-4'-O-beta-D-glucoside (9), hyperin (10), beta-amyrin aceate (11), lupeol acetate (12).

CONCLUSIONCompounds 1, 2, 6 and 10 were isolated from this genus for the first time.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; PC12 Cells ; Rats ; Vernonia ; chemistry