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In this study, soluble dietary fiber (SDF) content of wheat bran was significantly increased from 9.82 ± 0.16 (w/w, %) to 16.72 ± 0.28 (w/w, %) by a novel blasting extrusion processing with enhanced water retention capacity and the swelling capacity. In addition, a water-soluble polysaccharide (WBP) was isolated and extracted from extruded SDF. WBP was successfully purified from SDF by column chromatography systems with the average molecular weight (Mw) of 4.7 × 10 4 Da, containing arabinose, xylose, glucose, and galactose. With the molar ratio of 0.76:0.99:1.00:0.12. Our results suggest that WBP owned 1 → 2, 1 → 3, 1 → 2, 6 and 1 → 4, 1 → 4, 6 glycosidic bonds in the absence of 1 →, 1 → 6 glycosidic bonds. In vitro antioxidant assays (DPPH, ABTS+ radical scavenging capacities, and ferric ion reducing capacity) demonstrated that WBP possesses good antioxidant capacity, and it could be potentially used as a natural antioxidant for use in functional food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report entails in vivo and in vitro studies concerned with free radical species involved in brain ischemia. The participation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) in the early manifestation of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion was investigated in gerbils exposed to transient global ischemia using 4-OH-2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TPL), a well-known antioxidant. TPL treatment reversed cerebral postischemic hypoperfusion and tissue edema in these animals. The findings are consistent with ROS/RNS participation in tissue injury and the reduction of cerebromicrovascular blood flow (CBF) during postischemic recirculation. The activation/deactivation of signal transduction pathway by oxidation/antioxidation [i.e., using hydrogen peroxide (HO)/TPL] was evaluated in cultured human brain endothelial cells (HBEC) to assess the involvement of endothelial-dependent mechanisms. The data showed that HO activates various 'stress' kinases and vasodilalator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP); activation of this pathway was reduced by inhibitors of Rho- or IP-3 kinases, as well as TPL. HO also induced cytoskeleton (actin) rearrangements in HBEC; this effect was prevented by inhibitors of Rho/IP3 kinase or TPL. The observed activation/deactivation of HO-induced 'stress' kinase is in agreement with the reported capacity of ROS/RNS to stimulate the oxidative signal transduction pathway. The noted TPL reduction of HO-induced phosphorylation of kinase strongly suggests that the beneficial effect of TPL implicates the stress signal transduction pathway. This may represent a mechanism for the cerebral postischemic manifestations observed by in vivo experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cynanchum paniculatum has been applied for various diseases treatments, however, the polysaccharide components especially extracted using ethanol were rarely researched. In this study, ethanol solution with volume fraction of 75% was used for C. paniculatum polysaccharide preparation, and the extraction process optimization, structural characteristics, and bioactivities analysis were investigated. Results showed that extraction yield reached to 4.79 ± 0.24% under extraction temperature of 60 °C, extraction time of 4.5 h, liquid/solid ratio of 30 mL/g. Chemical constitutions and monosaccharide compositions, molecular weight determination results showed that the polysaccharide was mainly composed of glucose and xylose with a molar ratio of 1.00:0.63 (carbohydrate content of 94.91%, molecular weight of 5.1 kDa). Periodate oxidation, smith degradation, methylation, fourier transform infrared spectra and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis demonstrated that the glycosidic bonds configurations were mainly comprised of (1→2)-α- D -Glc p (39.86%), (1→2,4)-α- D -Glc p (10.32%) and (1→4)-β- D -Xyl p (29.58%). The bioactivities determination experiments results suggested that the polysaccharide exhibited strong antioxidant activities and antitumor effects both in vitro and in vivo. These data indicated that the ethanol-extracted polysaccharide from C. paniculatum holds great application prospect as a novel bioactive adjuvant in the future due to the feasibility of industrial production. • The polysaccharide was extracted from Cynanchum paniculatum using 75% ethanol. • The maximum extraction yield was 4.79 ± 0.24% optimized by Box-Behnken design. • The polysaccharide was composed of glucose and xylose (molar ratio of 1.00:0.63). • The polysaccharide was comprised of (1→2)-Glc p (39.86%) and (1→4)-Xyl p (29.58%). • The polysaccharide exhibited strong antioxidant and antitumor effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the research about the structurally unique and biologically active compounds of the barks of Podocarpus macrophyllus. Topics discussed include the extraction of the dried and powered barks of P. macrophyllus with methanol, and fractionated on silica gel. Also mentioned the identified compounds through spectroscopic methods.