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With the application of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, the quality of the artificial medicinal plants has been found to be in a marked decline. The present paper focuses on the separation of endophytes from wild Angelica sinensis and the effects of endophytes on the growth of A. sinensis and synthesis of secondary metabolites. In this study, the endophytes, namely actinomycetes, fungi, and bacteria, were isolated. Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid were analyzed by HPLC. Our results confirmed that the contents of Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid showed an obvious increase on adding the endophytic fungi, but the additions of the endophytic actinomycetes and bacteria had shown inhibiting effects. Compared with the control group, the contents of Z-ligustilide and ferulic acid in the fungi group increased by 4.12- and 6.53-fold, respectively. This work demonstrates the fact that endophytic fungi can enhance the growth of plants and the production of natural products in A. sinensis.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is one of the most serious forms of malnutrition. It is possible that some strains present in the natural environment possess a higher tolerance to inorganic iron and a higher ability to convert and accumulate iron compared with Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild-type strain. In the present study, the strain no. YM1504, able to grow in an iron-rich environment, was used as a potential organic iron supplement, and its efficacy in alleviating IDA in rats was investigated. Sixty female weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a normal control group fed with a standard diet and a model group fed with an iron-deficient diet to create the IDA model. After the model was established, IDA rats were further randomly divided into five subgroups: the IDA group, the ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) group and Fe-YM1504 low-, medium- or high-dose groups receiving different concentrations of Fe-YM1504 supplements. Our results showed that Fe-YM1504 has an effective restorative function by returning the hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum iron (SI), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum ferritin (SF), etc. in IDA animals to the normal level. Moreover, malondialdehyde and the enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in both plasma and liver homogenate were improved. Finally, compared with the FeSO4 group, the Fe-YM1504 middle-dose was more effective in alleviating IDA and fewer side effects were observed. The present study indicated that iron-enriched strain no. YM1504 might play a significant role in ameliorating IDA rats and might be exploited as a new iron supplement.

The surface properties of 1-alkyl-3-vinylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([CnVIM][PF6], n = 2,4,6,8) ionic liquids and 1-allyl-3-vinylimidazolium ([AVIM]+), ionic-based liquids with different anions (Cl−, Br−, [BF4]−, [Tf2N]−) were investigated at temperatures between 303.15 and 343.15 K on the basis of inverse gas chromatography (IGC). The Schultz method and Dorris-Gray methods were used to estimate the dispersive free energy based on the net retention volumes of homogeneous n-alkanes, and it was found that the discrepancy between the two methods increases with increasing temperature, with the Dorris-Gray method providing slightly higher values than the Schultz method at the same test temperature. The Lewis acid-base parameters, KA and KB, were likewise assessed by the method proposed by Schultz, Flour and Papirer, Brookman and Sawyer, respectively. Although the difference between the values of acid-base parameters were observed, the ratios of KB/KA obtained by three methods presented the same tendency and implied that the surface of all the tested ionic liquids exhibited the Lewis amphoteric and stronger basic character. In addition, the values of the enthalpies of adsorption between the probes and ionic liquids were also determined.

Tobacco-specific nitrosamines are one of the most important groups of carcinogens in tobacco products. Using adsorbents as filter additives is an effective way to reduce tobacco-specific nitrosamines in cigarette smoke. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) using nicotinamide as template were grafted on the silica gel surface to obtain MIP@SiO2 and employed as filter additives to absorb tobacco-specific nitrosamines in mainstream cigarette smoke. Four milligrams of MIP@SiO2 per cigarette was added to the interface between filter and tobacco rod to prepare a binary filter system. The mainstream smoke was collected on an industry-standard Cambridge filter pad and extracted with ammonium acetate aqueous solution before analysis. Compared to the cigarette smoke of the control group, the levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines with silica gel and with MIP@SiO2 were both reduced, and the adsorption rates of N-nitrosonornicotine, N-nitrosoanabasine, N-nitrosoanatabine, and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridine)-1-butanone with silica gel and with MIP@SiO2 were 20.76, 15.32, 18.79, and 18.01%, and 41.33, 34.04, 37.86, and 35.53%, respectively. Furthermore the content of total particle materials in cigarette smoke with silica gel was decreased evidently but showed no observable change with MIP@SiO2 . It indicated MIP@SiO2 could selectively reduce tobacco-specific nitrosamines in the mainstream cigarette smoke with no change to the cigarette flavor.

Endophytes coexist with plants, in part, due to cellulase that allow saccharification of plant cell walls. The cellulase enzymes found in naturally occurring endophytes may exhibit stronger activity and more specificity than commercially available cellulase for enzyme-assisted extraction of compounds from medicinal plant materials. In order to identify endophytes with high cellulase activity, we screened endophytes taken from different parts of Angelica sinensis using the Congo red staining method. We identified three strains with higher cellulase activity. Of the 3 strains identified, No.Lut1201 increased the yield of extracted Z-ligustilide 2 fold compared to commercially available cellulase (Ningxia Sunson) using a cellulase-assisted extraction method and traditional extraction methods. Scanning electron microscopy clearly demonstrated that the cellulase extracted from endophytes enhance cell wall polysaccharide degradation as well as Z-ligustilide extraction from Radix Angelica sinensis (RAS). The current study provides a new method and ideas of using cellulase of endophytes for improving the extraction of compounds from medicinal plants.

BACKGROUND Sleep is a natural part of every individual's life. Delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) is a nonapeptide that could promote sleep through the induction of slow wave sleep. However, little is known about the pharmacological effect of DSIP on insomnia. OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study was to analyze the pharmacological effect of DSIP on insomnia. METHODS We designed a fusion protein containing N-terminal TAT-based transduction domain followed by human serum albumin and DSIP and designated this protein as PHD fusion protein. The PHD fusion protein were expressed in Pichia pastoris and purified. Mice were administered single subcutaneous injections three concentrations of PHD fusion protein (0.5, 1, 2 mg/kg), and the pharmacological activity of PHD fusion protein was studied using classic pentobarbitalinduced sleep test. RESULTS We expressed the PHD fusion protein in P. pastoris; furthermore, the PHD fused protein was purified to near homogeneity by DEAE Sepharose FF, Phenyl Sepharose HP and Blue Sepharose 6 FF. Our result showed that the increase of pentobarbital-induced hypnotic effect characterized by reducing sleep latency and prolonged sleep duration was observed for increasing concentrations of PHD fusion protein (P

Arsenite [As (III)] oxidation can be accelerated by bacterial catalysis, but the effects of the accelerated oxidation on arsenic toxicity and translocation in rice plants are poorly understood. Herein we investigated how an arsenite-oxidizing bacterium, namely Brevibacillus laterosporus , influences As (III) toxicity and translocation in rice plants. Rice seedlings of four cultivars, namely Guangyou Ming 118 (GM), Teyou Hang II (TH), Shanyou 63 (SY) and Minghui 63 (MH), inoculated with or without the bacterium were grown hydroponically with As (III) to investigate its effects on arsenic toxicity and translocation in the plants. Percentages of As (III) oxidation in the solutions with the bacterium (100%) were all significantly higher than those without (30–72%). The addition of the bacterium significantly decreased As (III) concentrations in SY root, GM root and shoot, while increased the As (III) concentrations in the shoot of SY, MH and TH and in the root of MH. Furthermore, the As (III) concentrations in the root and shoot of SY were both the lowest among the treatments with the bacterium. On the other hand, its addition significantly alleviated the As (III) toxicity on four rice cultivars. Among the treatments amended with B. laterosporus , the bacterium showed the best remediation on SY seedlings, with respect to the subdued As (III) toxicity and decreased As (III) concentration in its roots. These results indicated that As (III) oxidation accelerated by B. laterosporus could be an effective method to alleviate As (III) toxicity on rice seedlings.

Background Recent studies have demonstrated that volatile anesthetic preconditioning confers myocardial protection against ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury through activation of the reperfusion injury salvage kinase (RISK) pathway. As RISK has been shown to be impaired in hypercholesterolemia, we investigate whether anesthetic-induced cardiac protection was maintained in hypercholesterolemic rats. Methods Normocholesteolemic or hypercholesterolemic rat hearts were subjected to 30min of ischemia and 2h of reperfusion. Animals received 2.4% sevoflurane during three 5min periods with and without PI3K antagonist wortmannin (10μg/kg, Wort) or the ERK inhibitor PD 98059 (1mg/kg, PD). The infarct size, apoptosis, p-Akt, p-ERK1/2, p-GSK3β were determined. Results Two hundred and six rats were analyzed in the study. In the healthy rats, sevoflurane significantly reduced infarct size by 42%, a phenomenon completely reversed by wortmannin and PD98059 and increased the phosphorylation of Akt, ERK1/2 and their downstream target of GSK3β. In the hypercholesterolemic rats, sevoflurane failed to reduce infarct size and increase the phosphorylated Akt, ERK1/2 and GSK3β. In contrast, GSK inhibitor SB216763 conferred cardioprotection against IR injury in healthy and hypercholesterolemic hearts. Conclusions Hyperchoesterolemia abrogated sevoflurane-induced cardioprotection against IR injury by alteration of upstream signaling of GSK3β and acute GSK inhibition may provide a novel therapeutic strategy to protect hypercholesterolemic hearts against IR injury.