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Aim: To investigate the protective effects of Foeniculum vulgare root bark (FVRB), a traditional Uyghur medicine, against carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )-induced hepatic fibrosis in mice., Methods: Mice were randomly divided into eight groups ( n = 20 each). Except for the normal control group, mice in the rest groups were intraperitoneally injected (i.p.) with 0.1% CCl 4 -olive oil mixture at 10 mL/kg twice a week to induce liver fibrosis. After 4 wk, mice were treated concurrently with the 70% ethanol extract of FVRB (88, 176, 352 and 704 mg/kg, respectively) daily by oral gavage for 4 wk to evaluate its protective effects. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), triglyceride (TG), hexadecenoic acid (HA), laminin (LN), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver tissues were measured. Hematoxylin-eosin (H and E) staining and Masson trichrome (MT) staining were performed to assess histopathological changes in the liver. The expression of transforming growth factor β 1 (TGF-β 1 ), matrix metalloprotein 9 (MMP-9) and metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP-1) was detected by immunohistochemical analysis. Additionally, TGF-β 1 and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) protein expression was measured by Western blot., Results: A significant reduction in serum levels of AST, ALT, TG, HA and LN was observed in the FVRB-treated groups, suggesting that FVRB displayed hepatoprotective effects. Also, the depletion of GSH, SOD, and MDA accumulation in liver tissues was suppressed by FVRB. The expression of TGF-β 1 , MMP-9 and TIMP-1 determined by immunohistochemistry was markedly reduced in a dose-dependent manner by FVRB treatment. Furthermore, protective effects of FVRB against CCl 4 -induced liver injury were confirmed by histopathological studies. Protein expression of TGF-β 1 and α-SMA detected by Western blot was decreased by FVRB treatment., Conclusion: Our results indicate that FVRB may be a promising agent against hepatic fibrosis and its possible mechanisms are inhibiting lipid peroxidation and reducing collagen formation in liver tissue of liver fibrosis mice., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article are reported.

Rhodiola rosea L. (RRL) possesses a wide range of pharmacological properties, including lung-protective activity, and has been utilized in folk medicine for several 100 years. However, the lung-protective mechanism remains unclear. This study investigated the possible lung-protective activity mechanism of RRL in a pulmonary fibrosis (PF) rat model. Lung fibrotic injury was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by single intratracheal instillation of saline containing bleomycin (BLM; 5 mg/kg). The rats were administered 125, 250, or 500 mg/kg of a 95% ethanol extract of RRL for 28 days. The animals were killed to detect changes in body weight, serum levels of glutathione (GSH) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), as well as lung tissue hydroxyproline (HYP) content. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hematoxylin and eosin, Masson's trichrome, and immunohistochemical staining were performed to observe the histopathological changes in lung tissues. Additionally, target-related proteins were measured by Western blotting. RRL alleviated the loss of body weight induced by instilling BLM in PF rats, particularly at the 500 mg/kg per day dose. RRL reduced HYP (p < 0.01) and increased GSH and T-SOD contents. BALF levels of TNF-α, TGF-β1, and IL-6 decreased significantly in the RRL-treated groups. Expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and α-smooth muscle actin decreased significantly in a dose-dependent manner in response to RRL. Moreover, the levels of TGF-β1 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 in lung tissues also decreased in the RRL-treated groups. RRL alleviated BLM-induced PF in rats. Our results reveal that the protective effects of RRL against fibrotic lung injury in rats are correlated with its anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anti-fibrotic properties. MMP-9 may play important roles in BLM-induced PF.

This study aimed at investigating the possible mechanisms of hepatic protective activity of Cichorium intybus L. (chicory) in acute liver injury. Pathological observation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection and measurements of biochemical indexes on mouse models proved hepatic protective effect of Cichorium intybus L. Identification of active compounds in Cichorium intybus L. was executed through several methods including ultra performance liquid chromatography/time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-TOF-MS). Similarity ensemble approach (SEA) docking, molecular modeling, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation were applied in this study to explore possible mechanisms of the hepato-protective potential of Cichorium intybus L. We then analyzed the chemical composition of Cichorium intybus L., and found their key targets. Furthermore, in vitro cytological examination and western blot were used for validating the efficacy of the selected compounds. In silico analysis and western blot together demonstrated that selected compound 10 in Cichorium intybus L. targeted Akt-1 in hepatocytes. Besides, compound 13 targeted both caspase-1 and Akt-1. These small compounds may ameliorate liver injury by acting on their targets, which are related to apoptosis or autophagy. The conclusions above may shed light on the complex molecular mechanisms of Cichorium intybus L. acting on hepatocytes and ameliorating liver injury.

In this study, six varieties of Danshen from different populations and genuine ("Daodi" in Chinese transliteration) regions were discriminated and identified by a three-step infrared spectroscopy method (Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) coupled with second derivative infrared spectroscopy (SD-IR) and two dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy (2D-IR)). Though only small differences were found among the FT-IR spectra of the six Danshen samples, the positions and intensities of peaks at 3393, 3371, 1613, 1050, and 1,036 cm(-1) could be considered as the key factors to discriminate them. More significant differences were exhibited in their SD-IR, particularly for the peaks around 1080, 1144, 695, 665, 800, 1610, 1510, 1450, 1117 and 1,077 cm(-1). The visual 2D-IR spectra provided dynamic chemical structure information of the six Danshen samples with presenting different particular auto-peak clusters, respectively. Moreover, the contents of salvianolic acid B in all samples were measured quantitatively by a validated ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), which was consistent with the FT-IR findings. This study provides a promising method for characteristics and quality control of the complicated and extremely similar herbal medicine like Danshen, which is more cost effective and time saving., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A sensitive and accurate method for the simultaneous determination of five alkaloids, namely 9α-hydroxymatrine (M1), matrine (M2), sophoridine (M3), oxymatrine (M4), alopecurin A (M5) in different parts (seed, legume, stem, and root) and different harvest times of Sophora alopecuroides L. was developed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with photodiode array detector (PDA) for the first time. The separation by gradient elution was achieved on Scienhome Kromasil C(18) (4.6×250 mm, 5 μm) column at 30°C with acetonitrile (A)/0.1% phosphatic acid+0.1% triethylamine (B) as the mobile phase. The detection wavelength was 205 nm. The optimized method provided a good linear relation (r≥0.9993 for all the target compounds), satisfactory precision (RSD values less than 2.3%) and good recovery (96.4-103.6%). The limits of detection ranged between 0.11×10(-3) and 4.70×10(-3) μg for the different analytes. The method was successfully applied to analysis and quality control of alkaloid extracts from the traditional Chinese herbal drugs of S. alopecuroides L., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this research, three categories of phenylpropanoid glycosides (PPGs) were designed and synthesized with PPGs isolated from Rhodiola rosea L. as lead compounds. Their inhibitory abilities toward acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and xanthine oxidase (XOD) were also tested. Some of the synthetic PPGs exhibited excellent enzyme inhibitory abilities.

Introduction: Ephedrine alkaloids cannot account for all the effects of Ephedra sinica and the polysaccharides are also demonstrated to be one of the main bioactive constituents of E. sinica. However, no work has been reported on the analysis of monosaccharide composition of purified polysaccharides isolated from the stem of E. sinica., Objective: To develop a rapid and efficient capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method based on pre-column derivatisation with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone for the simultaneous determination of neutral and acidic sugars of purified polysaccharides from E. sinica., Methodology: Three polysaccharides (ESP-A3, ESP-A4 and ESP-B4) were isolated and purified by ion exchange and gel-filtration chromatography from the stem of E. sinica. The effects of background electrolyte pH and concentration, applied voltage and temperature on the separation were investigated. Meanwhile, factors affecting the hydrolysis of ESP-B4 with sulphuric acid were investigated by changing the hydrolysis time, acid concentration and hydrolytic temperature to achieve complete hydrolysis. The standard curves coupled with correction factors were used to calculate molar ratios., Results: The optimal CZE method coupled with correction factors was successfully applied to the determination of molar ratios of three purified polysaccharides and their corresponding partial acid hydrolysis products. ESP-A3, ESP-A4 and ESP-B4 were all typical acidic hetero-polysaccharides and consisted of xylose, arabinose, glucose, rhamnose, mannose, galactose, glucuronic acid and galacturonic acid, and their corresponding molar ratios were 6.8:7.5:1.0:14.0:13.7:22.3:10.2:3.8 for ESP-A3, 1.2:4.1:1.0:5.1:1.6:17.3:3.1:2.2 for ESP-A4, and 1.0:4.5:1.0:2.0:1.0:5.5:1.5:50.0 for ESP-B4., Conclusion: The results provided scientific evidence for the further study of the structure and bioactivity of complex acidic E. sinica polysaccharides., (Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

A UPLC–MS/MS method was developed and validated the determination and pharmacokinetic study of magnoflorine, cauloside C, hederagenin, and oleanolic acid from Caulophyllum robustum. Digoxin was used as the internal standard. The pretreated plasma samples were carried out on a Waters ACQUITYUPLC HSS T3 column at 35 °C with a mobile phase of acetonitrile–water (90:10, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. This article describes the most simple, sensitive, and validated UPLC–MS/MS method to date for the simultaneous successful determination of four compounds in rat plasma after oral administration of the extract of C. robustum and their pharmacokinetic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new ingol-type diterpenes, euphoresins A–B (1–2), have been isolated from the methanol extract of Euphorbium, the latex of Euphorbia resinifera Berg. Their structures were established on the basis of extensive analyses of their HR-ESI-MS, IR, UV, 1D, and 2D NMR spectra. The absolute configurations were confirmed by Mosher's method and circular dichroism (CD) analyses. The two compounds were tested for their cytotoxic activities against MCF-7, U937, and C6 cancer cell lines, but they both exhibited little cytotoxic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new phthalides, chuanxiongdiolides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the roots of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. Their structures were established by UV, IR, 1D (1H, 13C) and 2D (HSQC, 1H–1H COSY, HMBC, NOESY) NMR, and HR-ESI-MS methods, and their absolute configurations were assigned via circular dichroism exciton chirality. The two compounds showed different degrees of inhibitory effects against butyrylcholine esterase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new sesquiterpene benzoates, syreiteate A (1) and syreiteate B (2), were isolated from the roots of Ferula dissecta (Ledeb.) Ledeb. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods including 1D (1H and 13C) NMR, 2D (HSQC, HMBC, DQF-COSY, and NOESY) NMR, and ESI-TOF-MS. Their configurations were determined on the basis of the analysis of the coupling constants, NOESY correlations, and circular dichroism spectrum. Compounds 1 and 2 showed potent growth inhibitory activity against cervical cancer HeLa cell line with the IC50 values of 13.2 and 19.3 μM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new flavanol, named songarin A (1), was isolated from Cynomorium songaricum Rupr. The structure was established on the basis of spectroscopic methods including 2D NMR techniques. Compound 1 displayed the protective effect against d-galactosamine-induced HepG2 damage and reduced the damage from 58.64% to 22.26%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new tetracyclic triterpenoid compound named as mastichinoic acid A (1) was isolated from Mastich. The structure was established as 3,7-dioxo-11β-hydroxy-5α-tirucalla-8,24(Z)-dien-26-oic acid by various spectroscopic techniques including MS, 1D, and 2D NMR and HRTOFMS. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Three new steroidal saponins, pallidiflosides A (1), B (2), and C (3), have been isolated from the dry bulbs of Fritillaria pallidiflora Schrenk. Their structures were elucidated as 26-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(25R)-furost-5,20(22)-dien-3β,26-diol-3-O-β-d-xylopyranosyl(1 → 4)-[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1 → 2)]-β-d-glucopyranoside (1); 26-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-3β,26-dihydroxyl-20,22-seco-25(R)-furost-5-en-20,22-dione-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1 → 2)-β-d-glucopyranoside (2); and (25R)-spirost-5-ene-3β,17α-diol-3-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl(1 → 4)-β-d-galactopyranoside (3) by spectroscopic techniques and chemical means. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Four new ligustilides chuanxiongnolide R1 (1), chuanxiongnolide R2 (2), chuanxiongdiolide R1 (3) and chuanxiongdiolide R2 (4) together with eight known derivatives (5–12) were isolated from the root of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. Their structures were elucidated by HR-ESI-MS, UV, IR, 1D and 2D NMR (HSQC, HMBC, 1H–1H COSY, NOESY) methods. The absolute configurations were confirmed via the circular dichroism (CD) spectrum. The anti-inflammatory assay in LPS-triggered RAW 264.7 macrophages was carried out on the twelve compounds. 1, 3, 5 and 6 showed significant inhibitory effects against LPS-induced NO production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Five new chlorophenolic glucosides, curculigine E (1), curculigine F (2), curculigine G (3), curculigine H (5), curculigine I (6) and one new phenolic glycoside, orcinoside H (4), together with eight known phenolic glycosides (7–14) were isolated from the Curculigo orchioides Gaertn. Their structures were established by spectroscopic techniques (IR, UV, MS, 1D and 2D NMR). The isolated phenolic glycosides were evaluated for antiosteoporotic activity against MC3T3-E1 cell line using MTT assays. Compounds 1, 2, 3, and 5 showed moderate antiosteoporotic activity with the proliferation rate of 10.1–14.1%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]