-->Special Column：Medicinal Plants and Production for Massive Health

Medicinal seed plants flora in Shergyla Mountains, Tibet

2018/4/26 15:28:48

In order to verifiy the distribution of medicinal seed plant resources of Shergyla Mountains in Tibet of China, we investigated medicinal seed plants resources in Shergyla Mountains and analyzed its flora characteristics to provide scientific basis for protection and sustainable utilization of the resources in the district. According to State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine the Fourth Census for resource of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)standards, sixty-three sample groups were established and each group consisted of one sample plot for trees(10 m × 10 m), one sample plot for shrubs(5 m × 5 m)and four sample plots for grass(2 m × 2 m). The detailed information included altitude, longitude, latitude, slope and exposure were recorded of each plot. In each plot, the height, number and coverage of each species were investigated. We analyzed flora characteristic and corresponding medicinal efficacy of medicinal seed plants in Shergyla Mountains by using basic principles of geography and floristics. There were abundant medicinal seed plant resources in Shergyla Mountains, including 91 families, 335 genera and 625 species(including variations), which accounted for 11.8%,28.96% and 55.49% of respective species, genera and families of seed plants of Tibet. There were seven areal-types and five subtypes of families, with 25 families belonging to tropical and 26 families belonging to temperate, accounting for 49.02% and 50.98% of no word distribution. There were thirteen areal-types and thirteen subtypes of genera, with 52 genera belonging to tropical,236 genera belonging to temperate, accounting for 15.52% and 70.45% of total genera in Sheryla Mountains. The tropical components were dominant in the areal-types of medicinal seed plants species, including 429 species and accounting for 68.64% of total medicinal seed plants in Shergyla Mountains. There was no Chinese endemic family, one Chinese endemic genus and 176 Chinese endemic species, including 21 Tibet endemic species. The medicinal seed plants in Shergyla Moutains were abundant resources and with various distribution patterns. The analysis showed that the tropical components were dominant in medicinal seed plants flora of Shergyla Mountains. This flora originated in tropical-subtropical components and was in the transition of tropical to temperate zone. Further more, the flora medicinal seed plants were lack of old components and less endemic elements. In terms of the areal type of each medicinal plant, the medicinal plants contained in them have more medicinal effects

Contact toxicity and repellency of four plant oils against Odontotermes formosanus

2018/4/26 15:28:48

In order to study some natural plant oils with effective prevention of Odontotermes formosanus and reduce the use of synthetic organic pesticides, contact toxicity and repellency of four plant oils against O. formosanus were studied, including garlic essential oil, cinnamon oil, clove oil and neem oil. The results indicated that the corrected mortality of O. formosanus was 100% in the treatments with 5 and 10 mg·mL^-1 of garlic essential oil, cinnamon oil and clove oil after 2 h. However, the corrected mortality of O. formosanus was less than 5% in the treatments with 5 and 10 mg·mL^-1 of neem oil and control after 2 h. With the extension of treatment time, the corrected mortality of O. formosanus was also 100% in the treatments with 1.25 and 2.5 mg·mL^-1 of garlic essential oil, cinnamon oil and clove oil after 6 h, but the corrected mortality of O. formosanus was only 10% in the treatments with 1.25 and 2.5 mg·mL^-1 of neem oil and control after 6 h. The above results showed that garlic essential oil, cinnamon oil and clove oil had strong effects on the contact resistance to O. formosanus. Therefore, the lethal concentration 50(LC₅₀ values)of garlic essential oil, clove oil and cinnamon oil to O. formosanus were 1.572, 1.05 and 1.03 mg·mL^-1 respectively after 2 h, suggesting that cinnamon oil had the biggest contact toxicity against O. formosanus. Additionally, the repellent experiments showed that the number of O. formosanus in the treatment area with 10 mg·mL^-1 garlic essential oil, cinnamon oil or clove oil was significantly lower than that in the control area after 4, 6, 8 and 12 h, and the repellent efficiencies were all higher than 93%, while the repellent efficiency of neem oil was all less than 28.5%, which indicated that garlic essential oil, cinnamon oil and clove oil had significant repellent effect on O. formosanus in four selected plant oils. The above results showed that garlic essential oil, cinnamon oil and clove oil had good application prospects in the prevention and control of O. formosanus, and such three essential oils were optional materials to the development of green environmental protection and control of O. formosanus.

Screening of antimicrobial activities of 36 Chinese herbal medicines in vitro

2018/4/26 15:28:48

To determine the in vitro antimicrobial activities of 80% ethanol extracts from 36 common Chinese herbal medicines against common clinical pathogenic bacteria. The spectrum of multidrug-resistant clinical stains isolated from the sputum samples was determined by the Kirby-Bauer(K-B)method. The dried powder of the collected 36 Chinese herbal medicine samples were extracted with 80% ethanol and the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure to get the ethanol extracts. The antimicrobial activities of each extract against bacteria or fungi were studied by screening inhibition zone diameters(IZDs)with agar-diffusion methods, and minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)and minimum bactericidal concentration(MBC)were determined by serial microdilution method. The results showed that ethanol extracts of fifteen species among 36 species selected had wide spectrum of antimicrobial activities, including the activity against MRSA. Six kinds of Chinese herbal medicines had obvions antibacterial activities, i.e. Bergenia purpurascens, Selaginella tamariscina, Polygonum multiflorum, Caesalpinia sappan, Lindera aggregata and Prunella vulgaris. Their IZDs were greater than 11 mm and the bacteria showed moderately and highly sensitivity. The MIC/MBCs against seven standard strains were mostly less than 1.563 mg·mL^-1, in addition to 12.5 mg·mL^-1 individually. The MIC/MBCs against sixteen strains of MRSA were also less than 1.563 mg·mL^-1, and their sub-extracts were less than 1 mg·mL^-1. The fifteen species screened out among commonly used Chinese herbal medicines with good antibacterial activities could provide a basis for the subsequent activity tracking of isolated components, for the study on antibacterial mechanism and exploring effective Chinese medicine preparations against multiple resistant bacteria, and for solving the problem of bacterial resistance.

A new secoiridoid glycoside from Swertia cincta

2018/4/26 15:28:48

In order to study the water-soluble chemical constituents of Swertia cincta. The 80% MeOH extract of S. cincta was successively partitioned with dichloromethane. And water soluble fraction was separated and purified by column chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography, in combination of the structure accredited by spectroscopic analysis. A new secoiridoid glycoside separated from the methanolic extract out of S. cincta, named swertiacincside C.

Recombinant expression of α-L-Arabinofuranosidase from Bacillus pumilus and hydrolysis of xylan

2018/4/26 15:28:48

Hemicellulose is a rich renewable resource, which is one of the most promising raw materials for the production of biofuels. α-L-arabinofuranosidase(EC 3.2.1.55)is an auxiliary enzyme in hemicellulose hydrolase system which catalyzes the α-L-1,2, α-L-1,3 and α-L-1.5-arabinofuranoside residues in non-reducing terminal of various oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. Bacillus pumilus is a widely used, bio-friendly feed microbial strain that can degrades mannan, xylan, cellulose and so on. Therefore, cloning the α-L-arabinofuranosidase gene xyn43 from B. pumilus and recombinant expression is beneficial to the separation and purification of the enzyme and it can be applied to the hydrolysis of other hemicellulose polysaccharide. In this study, we used the E. coli BL21 expression system to express the α-L-arabinofuranosidase gene xyn43 isolated from the B. pumilus and then analyzed the enzymatic properties of recombinant enzyme Xyn43. And we used Xyn43 and commercial Xylanase derived from the mutant strain of Aspergillve clavatus to degrade the oat spelt xylan. The results showed that the optimal temperature of Xyn43 was 50 ℃ and the optimum pH was 6.0. It was stable over a pH range of 5.0 -10.0 and temperatures of 45-55 ℃. Compared with Xylanase alone, the reducing sugar content in the hydrolyzate of Xyn43 and Xylanase added simultaneously and Xyn43 added after Xylanase increased 16% and 20% respectively, and the xylose content increased of 35% and 48%. The studies indicate that Xyn43 is able to synergistically with commercial Xylanase for oat spelt xylan degradation and can improve the hydrolysis efficiency, produced more xylosaccharides, arabinose and xylose.

Antidiabetic effects of Fragaria nilgerrensis and Centella asiatica compound on STZ-induced diabetic mice

2018/4/26 15:28:48

We extracted medicine compound(FN-MC)by 75% ethanol. STZ-induced diabetic mice were randomly divided into model, low-dose and high-dose groups, respectively, and treated with distilled water and FN-MC at doses of 4 and 8 g·kg^-1 for 4 weeks. Control group was treated with distilled water. The results showed that FN-MC could significantly lower the fasting blood glucose, reduced food and water intake, and improved the level of OGGT. Low-dose FN-MC could obviously increase the levels of TC and TG(P<0.01 or P<0.05), decrease the level of MDA, enhance the activities of SOD and CAT(P<0.05). Besides, Low-dose FN-MC was more effective than metformin. Toxicity test showed that FN-MC was non-toxic. In conclusion, FN-MC could decrease blood glucose in STZ-induced diabetic mice by mechanisms of enhancing the activity of antioxidant in liver.

Chemical constituents and cytotoxic activities of roots from Aphanamixis grandifolia

2018/4/26 15:28:48

Aphanamixis grandifolia belongs to genus Aphanamixis of family Meliaceae. We made the experiment to clarify the constituents from the roots of A. grandifolia in this paper. The chemical constituents were isolated by silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatographic methods. The structures were identified by spectral analysis and comparing with the previously reported literatures. The results showed that ten compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate of ethanol extract from A. grandifolia and identified respectively as schleicheol(1), β-rosasterol(2), fregenedadiol(3), isojacareubin(4), syringaresinol(5), episyringaresinol(6), graminone A(7), sylvatesmin(8), methyl-Z-6-nonadecenoate(9), ralmitic acid(10). The compounds 1-4, 7-9 were obtained from A. grandifolia for the first time. The results of cytotoxic activity showed that compounds 1 and 2 had certain inhibitory activity on the growth of human gastric cancer cell SGC-7901.

Chemical constituents from walnut green husk: Phenols

2018/4/26 15:28:48

Walnut green husk, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, is often used for analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-tumor and so on. Previous studies show that walnut green husk contains lots of phenolic compounds. In order to get more monomer compounds and to facilitate better study of its physiological mechanism, 80% ethanol extract of walnut green husk was separated by the chromatography(macroporous resin HP-20SS, Sepadexs LH-20, and HPLC)and ten compounds were obtained. Their structures were identified by MS,1D(¹H and ¹³C)NMR, 2D(HSQC, HMBC)NMR spectral data analyses, as well as comparison with reported data as:gallic acid(1), methyl gallate(2), p-hydroxybenzoic acid(3), methyl-3,4-dihydroxybenzoate(4), 6-O-caffeic acid-D-glucose(5), 6-O-gallicacid-glucoside(6), 4,8-dihydroxy(7), 4,5,8-trihydroxy-1-tetralone(8), 5,8-dihydroxy-1-tetralone(9), 4-hydroxy-1-tetralone(10). Compounds 5 and 6 were isolated from the genus Juglans for the first time. The results can provide a reference for further study on the chemical composition and pharmacological effects of walnut green husk.

Chemical constituents of Cryptotaenia japonica and toxicity to Hep G2

2018/4/26 0:00:00

Chemical constituents of Cryptotaenia japonica were separated and purified by macroporous resin D101, silica gel chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 and octadecylisilyl(ODS). Component structures were identified by physical and chemical properties, using spectral analysis included MS and NMR. MTT method was used to evaluate anti-tumor activities of chemical components. The results were as follows: Seven constituents were obtained from C. japonica. The structures were identified as p-(acetylamino)phenol(1), methyl caprylate(2),isopentyl butyrate(3), N,N-dimethyl-1H-benzo [d]imidazol-2-amine(4),5-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)heptan-3-one(5),(3R*,5S*,7aR)-3,5-dibutylhexahydro-1H-pyrrolizine(6),(S)-4-(1-hydroxy-allyl)phenyl acetate(7). Componds 1-7 were obtained for the first time from C. japonic. Component 6 showed significant inhibitory effect against Hep G2 with the inhibition ratio 89.1% and had dose-dependent effect.

Quality analysis on Guizhou Zedoary turmeric oil

2018/4/26 15:28:48

This study was conducted refering to the 2015 version of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Zedoary turmeric oil under the relevant provisions. The relative density, refractive index, specific rotation and the content of heavy metal were determined using the method of pycnometer, refractive index method, optical rotation measurement and inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. HPLC method was used to analyze the content of Zedoary turmeric oil and its fingerprint similarity. The research method was feasible and the data were reliable. The results showed that the relative density of Guizhou Zedoary turmeric oil was 0.987 0, the specific rotation was +24.146 8°, and the refractive index was 1.509. The fingerprint was compared with the fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine preparations, the similarity was 0.976, and the total heavy metal content was less than 10 mg·kg^-1. Arsenic salt was not detected. The indicators tested are in compliance with the relevant provisions of the 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Zedoary Oil. The results confirmed that the medicinal Zedoary turmeric oil had high safety and good quality, and could be used as raw material for medicinal materials, which provided the scientific basis for the comprehensive development, utilization and quality control of Zedoary turmeric oil.