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A new monoterpene-lactone ( 1 ) along with five known compounds ( 2-6 ) were isolated from corn silk. The structure of the new compound was elucidated based on comprehensive spectroscopic analyses and quantum chemical calculations of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) curves. All compounds were evaluated for their neuroprotective effects against H 2 O 2 -induced damage in human dopaminergic neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y). As a result, compound 1 exhibited weak neuroprotective activity.

A pair of new flavan derivative enantiomers (1a and 1b), four new drimane sesquiterpene lactones (2-5) and a known compound (6) were isolated from Inonotus obliquus. Their structures were determined by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 1a/1b were separated by chiral chromatographic column successfully. The absolute configurations of compounds 1-5 were determined by comparison of their experimental and calculated ECD spectra. Notably, compounds 1a/1b represented the first pair of enantiomers in nature with tetrahydrofuran-flavan skeleton. A plausible biosynthetic pathway for (±)-1 was also proposed. All isolates were evaluated for their neuroprotective activities against H 2 O 2 -induced cell injury in SH-SY5Y cells. The results showed that compound 2 exhibited moderate neuroprotective activity at the concentration of 25.0 µM., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Three pairs of enantiomeric dihydrobenzofuran neolignans (1a/1b-3a/3b) including four new compounds (1a/1b and 2a/2b) were isolated from the fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida. Their structures including the absolute configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses and comparison between the experimental measurements of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and the calculated ECD spectra. Additionally, all the enantiomeric neolignans were investigated for their neuroprotective activities against H 2 O 2 -induced cell injury in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. It was found that enantiomers 1a and 1b displayed different degrees of neuroprotective activities, and the results showed enantioselectivity, in which that 1b exhibited noticeable neuroprotective activity, while its enantiomer 1a only exhibited obvious protective effect at lower concentration. Further study demonstrated that the potential protective activities of compounds appeared to be mediated via suppressing cell apoptosis., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To study the protective effects of nerve growth factor (NGF) and Danshen on hippocampal neurons in gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) with global ischemia-reperfusion injury., Methods: Global ischemia-reperfusion model was established in 54 male Z:ZCLA gerbils by occlusion of the bilateral carotid arteries. The animal models were randomized into 3 groups to receive treatment with normal saline, NGF, and Danshen 30 min after the reperfusion. At 6 h, 3 and 7 days after the reperfusion, the survival of the hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons was observed using optical and electron microscopy, and immunohistochemistry was employed to detect the expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax in the neurons., Results: Neuronal apoptosis was not observed in the hippocampus 6 h after the reperfusion, but at 3 and 7 days, the number of apoptotic neurons increased significantly in the CA1 region. Compared with normal saline, treatments with NGF and Danshen both significantly reduced the number of apoptotic neurons at 3 and 7 days. The number of apoptotic neurons showed no significant difference between NGF and Danshen treatment groups at 3 days, but at 7 days, the apoptotic cell number was significantly lower in NGF group (P<0.05). Bcl-2 expression was the highest in NGF group, and its highest expression occurred at 6 h after the reperfusion; Bax expression was detected in saline group, and underwent no significant changes with the passage of time., Conclusion: Both NGF and Danshen show protective effects against global ischemia-reperfusion injury. NGF has a stronger protective effect than Danshen, and this finding provides experimental evidence for selecting appropriate protective agents in the treatment of ischemic brain damage.