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Fallopia multiflora (Thunb.) Haraldson (abbreviated as F. multiflora), belonging to Polygonaceae family, has long been used in traditional medicine. Polyphenols, main compounds in F. multiflora roots, have high antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, etc. Processing F. multiflora roots is necessary to reduce their negative effect on liver. Study on processing red F. multiflora roots and optimizing the extraction of polyphenols from processed red F. multiflora root product is to decrease the liver toxicity and to find the optimal conditions for extract of polyphenols from processed product. This study deals with the influence of some factors including to the ratio of solvent and medicinal herbs (mL/g), extraction temperature (°C), extraction time (min) on polyphenol content and its activity in red F. multiflora roots. Raw material has been processed by the stewing method with black bean water, then by ultrasonic extraction immersed on an ES-600N device (the ultrasonic capacity of 600W, the particle size of powder of 0.5-1.0 mm). Polyphenol content and its activities were evaluated by Folin-Ciocalteu technique and DPPH method. The response surface method combined with the Box-Behnken design was used to optimize polyphenol extraction. The optimization results obtained on the raw sample were the solvent/medicinal herb ratio of 5.7/1, the extraction temperature of 42.4°C, the extraction time of 47.6 min while the optimal extraction conditions for processed sample were the solvent/medicinal herb ratio 11.2/1, extraction temperature of 53°C, extraction time of 52 min. At the optimal extraction conditions of F. multiflora roots, the polyphenol content and its activity of raw sample were 60.41±0.14 mgGAE/g and 65.98±0.22%, respectively. They were lower than those of the processed sample, 59.91±0.17 mgGAE/g and 80.18±0.21%, respectively. These results indicated that the processing is necessary for polyphenol extraction from F. multiflora roots to obtain the products having high antioxidation activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An opisthorchiid liver fluke was recently reported from ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) in Binh Dinh Province of Central Vietnam, and referred to as "Opisthorchis viverrini-like". This species uses common cyprinoid fishes as second intermediate hosts as does Opisthorchis viverrini, with which it is sympatric in this province. In this study, we refer to the liver fluke from ducks as "Opisthorchis sp. BD2013", and provide new sequence data from the mitochondrial (mt) genome and the nuclear ribosomal transcription unit. A phylogenetic analysis was conducted to clarify the basal taxonomic position of this species from ducks within the genus Opisthorchis (Digenea: Opisthorchiidae). Methods: Adults and eggs of liver flukes were collected from ducks, metacercariae from fishes (Puntius brevis, Rasbora aurotaenia, Esomus metallicus) and cercariae from snails (Bithynia funiculata) in different localities in Binh Dinh Province. From four developmental life stage samples (adults, eggs, metacercariae and cercariae), the complete cytochrome b (cob), nicotinamide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) genes, and near-complete 18S and partial 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences were obtained by PCR-coupled sequencing. The alignments of nucleotide sequences of concatenated cob + nad1 + cox1, and of concatenated 18S + 28S were separately subjected to phylogenetic analyses. Homologous sequences from other trematode species were included in each alignment. Results: Phylogenetic trees were inferred from concatenated (cob + nad1 + cox1) nucleotide sequences and combined 18S + 28S nucleotide sequences of five Opisthorchis sp. BD2013 samples and additional reference taxa. Both trees demonstrated the anticipated clustering of taxa within the superfamily Opisthorchioidea, the paraphyly of the genus Opisthorchis and the sister-species relationship of Opisthorchis sp. BD2013 with O. viverrini. Conclusions: While it is likely that Opisthorchis sp. BD2013 is distinct from O. viverrini, it is clearly a sister taxon of O. viverrini within the limited number of Opisthorchis species for which appropriate sequence data are available. The new sequences provided here will assist the diagnosis and the taxonomic clarification of the opisthorchiid species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytochemical investigation of a methanol extract of Stixis scandens stems and leaves led to the isolation of 3 nitrogen-containing compounds (1 - 3) and 6 phenolics (4 - 9), which included 2 new glycosides, one a phenolic amide glucoside, scandemide (1), and the other an indole alkaloid glycoside, stixilenin (2). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic (1D- and 2D-NMR) and spectrometric (HR-ESI-MS) analyses, and acid hydrolysis. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW264.7 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]