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Thioacetamide (TAA) is a well-known toxicant and its long term exposure could induce liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. A liver fibrosis rat model was established by consecutive injection of TAA solution for 7 weeks. Serum and urine samples were collected weekly for NMR based metabolomic study. Clinical biochemistry of serum samples revealed liver impairment and fibrosis. Histopathological inspections disclosed severe liver fibrosis and cirrhosis formation, and pathological changes in kidney by long-term TAA administration. Orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was applied on serum and urine samples to excavate differential metabolites associated with TAA induced impairment and explore the time-dependent metabolic event associated with this xenobiotic perturbation. Integration of metabolomics results with serum biochemical revealed several potential biomarkers for liver fibrosis (2-hydroxybutyrate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and adipate in urine, and phenylalanine, N,N-dimethyl glycine, O-acetyl glycoprotein, N-acetyl glycoprotein and choline in serum). Pathway analysis revealed disturbed pathways concerning tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, pyruvate metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, glycolysis or gluconeogenesis, degradation of ketone bodies, butanoate metabolism, and biosynthesis of BCAAs (valine, leucine and isoleucine) and AAAs (phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan). This integrative study should help to develop a systematic understanding of liver fibrosis-related diseases and their metabolic events.

Aim To study the chemical constituents and bioactivity of the stem bark of Mitragyna diversifolia . Method Compounds were isolated by various chromatographic methods. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic techniques (IR, UV, MS, and NMR), and they were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities by the MTT method. Results Eight triterpenes were isolated and identified as 3α, 6β, 19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid ( 1 ), 3β, 6β, 19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid ( 2 ), 3-oxo-6β-19α-dihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid ( 3 ), 3β, 6β, 19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-24, 28-dioic acid 24-methyl ester ( 4 ), 3β, 6β, 19α, 24-tetrahydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid ( 5 ), rotundic acid ( 6 ), 23-nor-24-exomethylene- 3β, 6β, 19α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid ( 7 ), and pololic acid ( 8 ), respectively. All of the isolates were tested against two human tumor cell lines, MCF-7 (breast) and HT-29 (colon). Conclusion Compound 1 was a new triterpene. Compounds 5 − 7 exhibited potent inhibitory effects on the growth of MCF-7 and HT-29 cells, and the others showed no cytotoxicity.

Five new labdane diterpenes (1-5), serralabdanes A-E, were isolated from the whole plant of Chloranthus serratus. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, and the absolute configuration of the 12,13-diol moiety in serralabdane C (3) was determined by observing the induced circular dichroism (ICD) after addition of dimolybdenum teracetate in DMSO solution. Serralabdanes A-E (1-5) showed inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW264.7 cells.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Huang-Lian-Jie-Du-Decotion (HLJDD, Hwangryun-Hae-Dok-Decotion in Japan), an ancient antipyretic and detoxifying traditional Chinese medicine formula, was reported to have protective effect on ischemic stroke. Aim of the research To investigate the therapeutic effect of HLJDD on ischemic stroke and explore its mode of action. Material and methods A model of ischemic stroke in the rat was established after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by reperfusion. Rats were assigned randomly to groups of control, sham, transient ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), and three treatment groups by HLJDD at 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 mg/kg. The neurological deficit, the cerebral infarct size, morphology abnormality, biochemical parameters were examined, and the levels of relevant proteins were determined by immunoblotting analysis to evaluate the protective effects of HLJDD on ischemic stroke and explore the underlying mechanism. Results Compared with I/R group, HLJDD significantly ameliorated neurological deficit and histopathology changes, decreased infarct area, and restored the levels of biochemical indicators including nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX). HLJDD also notably elevated the levels of microtubule-associated protein1 light chain 3 (LC3), Beclin-1, and other autophagy related genes (Atgs), promoted the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK), protein kinase B (Akt), 3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase (PDK1), and inhibited the activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), c-Jun N-terminal protein kinases (JNK), p38, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN). Conclusion HLJDD showed neuroprotective effects on ischemic stroke, at least in part to the induced protective autophagy via the regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signals. This Akt-independent protective autophagy is favorable in the treatment of stroke, avoiding unfavorable side-effects associated with the inactivation of Akt. The efficacy of HLJDD on ischemic stroke and its safety warranted by its long-term clinical use in traditional Chinese medicine favored further study to develop HLJDD as an effective therapeutic agent to treat ischemic stroke.

An NMR-based metabolomics approach was conducted to holisticly explore the effect of XFZYD (a traditional Chinese medicine formula) on high-fat diet induced hyperlipidemia rats with one of the commonly used antihyperlipidemic agents, simvastatin as the positive control. NMR spectra from blood plasma combined with statistical analysis revealed compounds distinguishing hyperlipidemia rats from normal control rats. XFZYD could ameliorate hyperlipidemia by intervening in some major metabolic pathways, such as decreasing the accumulation of ketone body (β-hydroxybutyrate) and acetyl-glycoproteins, enhancing glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis, partially reversing energy and lipid metabolism disturbance. Oral administration of XFZYD could also be helpful to hyperlipidemia rats in bettering the serum chemistry profile. The combined results demonstrated that XFZYD could ameliorate the hyperlipidemic symptoms in a global scale and restore the abnormal metabolic state to a near normal level in a time-dependent pattern.

Metabonomic profiles of the type 2 diabetic rats induced by streptozotocin and high-sugar, high fat diet on the treatment of Gegen Qinlian Decoction (GQD) for 9 weeks were investigated. Rats were randomly divided into five groups: normal control (NC), type 2 diabetes (DM), metformin hydrochloric, GQD in high and low dosages. Plasma samples for 1H NMR-based metabolomic research, serum samples for clinical biochemistry, and liver and pancreas tissues for histopathology test were collected. Compared with NC rats, metabolic pathways of DM rats were revealed to be altered by pattern analyses of plasma NMR data, which was further correlated with serum biochemistry. Cross-validated scores mean trajectory derived from PLS-DA of NMR spectra demonstrated that GQD significantly restored the abnormal metabolic state in the long run, more potent than metformin hydrochloric. Detailed analysis of the altered metabolite levels indicated that GQD significantly ameliorated the disturbance in glucose metabolism, tricarboxylic acid cycle, lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism and gut microbial metabolism and N-acetyl group metabolism. The results confirmed the hypoglycemic efficacy of GQD and its ability to ameliorate the diabetic symptoms in a global scale. NMR-based metabonomics approach is helpful for the further understanding of diabetes-related mechanisms.

Aim To study the constituents and bioactivity of Illicium simonsii . Methods Compounds were isolated by a combination of chromatographic materials, silica gel, ODS, and Sephadex LH-20, and finally purified by preparative HPLC. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods, and they were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities by the MTT method. Results Seven compounds were obtained and were identified as veranisatin F ( 1 ), anisatin ( 2 ), (1 S )-minwanenone ( 3 ), honokiol ( 4 ), macranthol ( 5 ), (+-pinoresinol ( 6 ), and matairesinol ( 7 ). Conclusion Compound 1 is a new seco -prezizaane-type sesquiterpene, while compounds 6 and 7 were isolated from Illicium simonsii for the first time. Compounds 2 and 3 showed strong inhibitory activities against the growth of NCI-H460 and SMMC-7721 cells comparable to 5-fluorouracil, and compound 7 to a lesser extent; the other isolates showed no cytotoxicity.

Two new tirucallane-type triterpenoids, 3α,24β,25-trihydroxy-21,21-dimethoxy-23-oxo-tirucall-7-ene (1) and 3α-acetoxy-21β-methoxy-24,25,26,27-tetranortirucall-7-ene-23(21)-lactone (2), were isolated from the stem barks of Aphanamixis grandifolia, and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data analysis including 1D, 2D NMR, IR, and ESI-MS spectral methods. The two isolates were evaluated for their cytotoxicities using NCI-H460 and HeLa cell lines.

One new disesquiterpenoid (1), two new sesquiterpenoids (2, 3), were isolated from the dry flos of Chrysanthemum indicum. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, the absolute configurations of 1 and 3, were determined by single X-ray diffraction study.

A series of tirucallane triterpenoids isolated from the stem barks of Aphanamixis grandifolia were assessed for their anti-inflammatory activity, exhibiting from weak to strong anti-inflammatory activity, by testing their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced RAW264.7 murine macrophages. To explore the relationship between the structures and anti-inflammatory activity, a vast pool of molecular descriptors for each isolate were calculated. Genetic algorithms (GA) or simulated annealing (SA) based partial least squares (GA-PLS and SA-PLS) algorithms identified some important descriptor combinations, which were correlated with both sets of the anti-inflammatory data by partial least squares 2 (PLS2) method. S-Plot was used to visualize the descriptor influence in the PLS2 model, disclosed five most important molecular descriptors, nOHt, RDF150m, lip_violation, Mor32m and JhetZ.

Two new sesqui-neolignans with novel conjugation way, simonol A (1), featuring a unique motif of a 5,5-dihydro-pyran with a hemiketal carbon, while simonol B (2) possessing two dihydronfuran rings in the same direction, were isolated from the ethanol extract of the fruits of Illicium simonii. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods including 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS, and calculation of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) using density functional theory (DFT). The two isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory activities against the growth of four lines of human cancer cells (NCI-H460, SMMC-7721, MCF-7, BGC-823): 1 showed strong activities comparable to 5-Fluorouracil, and 2 to a less content. In addition, plausible biosynthetic routes for the two compounds were also proposed.

One new disesquiterpenoid (1), two new sesquiterpenoids (2, 3), were isolated from the dry flos of Chrysanthemum indicum. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, the absolute configurations of 1 and 3, were determined by single X-ray diffraction study.

Four new sesquiterpenes, chlorajapolides F-I (1-4), along with nine known terpenoids (5-13) were isolated from the aerial part of Chloranthus japonicus. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, and a lindenane sesquiterpene, named 9-hydroxy-heterogorgiolide, previously isolated from the C. japonicus, was revised as its 8-epimer (1a). Moreover, methanol extract (ME), EtOAc fraction (EF), water fraction (WF), and all isolates (1a, 1-13) were evaluated for their cytotoxicities using two human cancer cell lines.