Search

Background: Levisticum officinale commonly known as as Anjedan e roomi in the Persian language, is a member of the Apiaceae family. One of the most important biological activities reported to date for L. officinale is the antibacterial activity. So, a bioassay-guided fractionation technique was used to evaluate the active constituents of Levisticum officinale against some bacterial strains. Methods: Column chromatography was used to isolation of compounds from Levisticum officinale. Spectroscopic methods including 1D & 2D NMR and HRMS were used to identification of isolated compounds. Also to evaluate antibacterial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was carried out by broth micro-dilution method. Results: Phytochemical analysis of the ethyl acetate extract of the plant roots led to isolation of bergapten (1), isogosferol (2), oxypeucedanin (3), oxypeucedanin hydrate (4), oxyimperatorin (5), ferulic acid (6) and falcarindiol (7) that falcarindiol and oxypeucedanin were relatively active on MDR M. tuberculosis with MIC values of = 32 and 64 μg/mL, respectively. The results of the docking analysis showed that oxypeucedanin (3) and falcarindiol (7) had good affinity for InhA with docking score values of -7.764 and -7.703 kcal/mol, respectively. Also, compounds 3 and 7 were studied against two Gram negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and two Gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium) bacteria strains. Falcarindiol showed antibacterial activity against the S. aureus strain with a MIC value of 7.8 μg/mL and against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), with a MIC value of 15.6 μg/mL. Conclusion: Finally, 7 compounds were isolated that compounds 2-6 report for the first time from Levisticum officinale. On the basis of the molecular docking study, oxypeucedanin (3) and falcarindiol (7) as active compounds against M. tuberculosis may be proposed as potential inhibitors of 2-trans-enoyl-ACP reductase (InhA), a key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the mycobacterial cell wall.

Background: Panax ginseng (i.e., ginseng) root is extensively used in traditional oriental medicine. It is a modern pharmaceutical reagent for preventing various human diseases such as cancer. Ginsenosides—the major active components of ginseng—exhibit immunomodulatory effects. However, the mechanism and function underlying such effects are not fully elucidated, especially in human monocytes and dendritic cells (DCs). Methods: We investigated the immunomodulatory effect of ginsenosides from Panax ginseng root on CD14+ monocytes purified from human adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and on their differentiation into DCs that affect CD4+ T cell activity. Results: After treatment with ginsenoside fractions, monocyte levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10 increased through phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), but not p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). After treatment with ginsenoside fractions, TNF-α production and phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and JNK decreased in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-sensitized monocytes. We confirmed that DCs derived from CD14+ monocytes in the presence of ginsenoside fractions (Gin-DCs) contained decreased levels of the costimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86. The expression of these costimulatory molecules decreased in LPS-treated DCs exposed to ginsenoside fractions, compared to their expression in LPS-treated DCs in the absence of ginsenoside fractions. Furthermore, LPS-treated Gin-DCs could not induce proliferation and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) production by CD4+ T cells with the coculture of Gin-DCs with CD4+ T cells. Conclusion: These results suggest that ginsenoside fractions from the ginseng root suppress cytokine production and maturation of LPS-treated DCs and downregulate CD4+ T cells.

We characterized the biological functions of protocatechualdehyde (PA) isolated from the butanol extract of culture supernatant from Streptomyces lincolnensis M-20. Following butanol extraction, it was purified by silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. PA was analyzed by Furier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Gas chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS), and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). PA had potent antioxidant activity, as measured by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. Antitumor activity against MCF-7 human breast cancer cells was evaluated by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium-bromide (MTT) assay. PA treatment (0 approximately 150 muM) dose-dependently blocked apoptosis, as shown by improved cell viability and inter-nucleosomal DNA fragmentation. Our findings suggest that Streptomyces lincolnensis M-20, a lincomycin producer, also produces protocatechualdehyde.

In this study, we found that pectenotoxin-2 (PTX-2) decreased cell viability and inhibited telomerase activity with downregulation of hTERT expression in human leukemia cells. PTX-2 treatment also reduced c-Myc and Sp1 gene expression and DNA binding activity. Further chromatin immunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that PTX-2 attenuated the binding of c-Myc and Sp1 to the regulatory regions of hTERT. We also observed that PTX-2 treatment attenuated the phosphorylation of Akt, thereby reducing the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of hTERT. We concluded that PTX-2 suppressed telomerase activity through the transcriptional and post-translational suppression of hTERT and this process precedes cellular differentiation of human leukemia cells.Structured summaryMINT-6742762:hTERT (uniprotkb:O14746) physically interacts (MI:0218) with AKT (uniprotkb:P31749) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)

We investigated the effects of the fruiting bodies of cultivated Paecilomyces tenuipes grown on egg yolk (PTE) on lipid and antioxidant metabolisms. Forty 8-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high fat/high cholesterol diet (control) or a high fat/high cholesterol diet with 1%, 3%, or 5% PTE for 5 weeks. PTE was found to significantly lower plasma total lipid, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the atherogenic index, compared with the control. Hepatic total lipid and total cholesterol were also significantly lower than in the control group. The hypolipidemic activity of PTE was increased with increasing concentrations, and plasma lipid peroxidation was significantly lower in the 3% and 5% PTE groups than in the control or 1% PTE group. Plasma total radical trapping antioxidant potential, erythrocytic antioxidant enzyme, and leukocytic DNA damage were not significantly different among the groups. Our results indicate that P. tenuipes cultivated on egg yolk can improve lipid profiles and lipid peroxidation in rats fed a high fat/high cholesterol diet.

Purine nucleosides were chlorinated by the reaction of acyl chloride in DMF with MCPBA under mild conditions with moderate yields. And, satisfactory method for the synthesis of ribonucleoside-3',5'-cyclic phosphates and its characterization by(1)H and(13)C nmr spectroscopy is described.

From the freeze dried leaves ofAloe vera, aloe-emodin, feralolide, a mixture of aloins A and B, elgonica dimers A and B were isolated and characterized based on spectral data.

Okadaic acid (OA), dinophysistoxin-1 (DTX1), pectenotoxin-2, and yessotoxin (YTX) are classes of lipophilic toxins found in marine animals. OA and DTX1 accumulation causes diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, a worldwide public health problem. Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning has not previously been reported in gastropods, which are widely consumed in Korea. Seasonal variation in marine lipophilic toxins in gastropods was investigated using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Eighty specimens of Neptunea cumingii, 65 specimens of Rapana venosa, and 95 specimens of Batillus cornutus were collected at the Tongyeong fish market on the southern coast of Korea between May 2009 and December 2010. OA, DTX1, and YTX were detected in meat and digestive glands in all gastropod species studied. Pectenotoxin-2 was not found in any sample tested. Lipophilic toxins were detected in the digestive glands of gastropods; no lipophilic toxin was detected in the salivary glands of the carnivorous gastropods, N. cumingii and R. venosa. The highest concentrations of OA (21.5 ng/g) and DTX1 (8.4 ng/g) were detected in the digestive glands of R. venosa, and the maximum concentration of YTX (13.7 ng/g) was found in the digestive glands of N. cumingii. The maximum toxicities in gastropod tissues were lower than the European standard for acceptable levels. The concentrations of lipophilic toxins in carnivorous gastropods showed a high degree of seasonal variation; lipophilic toxins in carnivorous gastropods were found predominantly in spring and summer. This is the first report of the occurrence of lipophilic toxins in Korean gastropods.

Effects of betaine on glutamate-induced neurotoxicity were examined on primary cultures of chicken embryonic brain cells and on rat cortical cultures. Betaine was found to attenuate glutamate-induced neurotoxicity both morphologically and biochemically. A 30 min exposure of chicken embryonic brain cells cultured for 12 days to 500 μM glutamate produced wide-spread acute neuronal swelling and neuritic fragmentation. A 2-h pretreatment of cultured chicken embryonic brain cells with 1 mM betaine prior to a 30 min exposure to 500 μM glutamate significantly raised the survival rate of neurons in the culture. When chicken embryonic brain cells were pretreated for 2 h with 1 mM betaine followed by exposure to 100 μM glutamate for 42 h, lactate dehydrogenase levels within the cells remained at 63% of untreated control values while glutamate-treated controls fell to 0% lactate dehydrogenase. Betaine also exerted attenuating effects on N-methyl-D-aspartate-, kainate- and quisqualate-induced neurotoxicity in a similar manner to that observed with glutamate. Similar neuroprotective effects of betaine were obtained with rat cortical cultures.

To better understand critical aspects of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) occurrence in a chief producing region of bivalves in Korea, the geographical and annual variation of DSP toxins and other lipophilic toxins in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and oysters (Crassostrea gigas) were investigated by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in an area on the south coast of Korea from 2007 to 2009. The total lipophilic shellfish toxin (LST) levels in bivalves showed geographical and annual variations. LSTs were detected mostly in the hepatopancreas of mussels from Jinhae Bay throughout the entire year, except in November and December of 2007, but were almost undetectable in all samples during the entire year in 2009. The peak DSP toxin (okadaic acid plus dinophysistoxin 1) levels in the hepatopancreas of mussels from Jinhae Bay and the Tongyeong region were 945.3 and 37.6 ng/g, respectively. The DSP toxin content was about 10 times higher in mussels than in oysters collected from the same region. The major toxins in bivalves were okadaic acid and dinophysistoxin 1; however, pectenotoxin 2 or yessotoxin was occasionally detected as a major component. The results of a quantitative analysis of phytoplankton showed that Dinophysis acuminata was the most probable source of the LSTs, with the exception of yessotoxin. When the highest DSP toxin level was measured (945.3 ng/g in the hepatopancreas of mussels from Jinhae Bay), the toxin concentration in whole mussel tissue was calculated to be 114.0 ng/g. The calculated highest DSP toxin level in whole oyster tissue from both regions was 15.0 ng/g. The calculated maximum toxicities in whole mussel and oyster tissues were lower than the regulatory limit (160 to 200 ng/g) in Korea, the European Union, and the United States. Korean oysters (242 samples) and mussels (214 samples) were thus deemed safe for consumption. But because such variation was detected in a relatively small area of the coast, it is possible that at some locations or during a specific period LST levels could exceed the standard and a few consumers could be at risk of experiencing DSP.

A new dammarane glycoside, named ginsenoside Rg 6 , was isolated from the Korean red ginseng ( Panax ginseng ). Its chemical structure was established to be 3β,6α,12β-trihydroxydammar-20 (21),24- diene -6-O-α- l -rhamnopyranosyl -(1→2)-β- D-glucopyranoside based on spectral analysis.