Oxomollugin, a potential inhibitor of lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production including nuclear factor kappa B signals

Effects of geographical, soil and climatic factors on the two marker secondary metabolites contents in the roots of Rubia cordifolia L

The growth and quality of medicinal plants depend heavily on environmental variables. The quality of Rubia cordifolia, an important medicinal plant, is determined by the two main secondary metabolites of the root, purpurin and mollugin. However, their relationship with environmental factors has not been studied. In this study, the purpurin and mollugin contents of R. cordifolia roots from different sampling sites in China were measured using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, and the correlations between the two secondary metabolites and environmental variables were analyzed. The results showed that there were significant differences in the contents of purpurin and mollugin in the roots of R. cordifolia at different sampling points. The content of purpurin ranged from 0.00 to 3.03 mg g-1, while the content of mollugin ranged from 0.03 to 10.09 mg g-1. The quality of R. cordifolia in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan border areas and southeastern Liaoning was higher. Liaoning is expected to become a R. cordifolia planting area in Northeast China. Correlation and regression analysis revealed that the two secondary metabolites were affected by different environmental factors, the two secondary metabolites contents were positively correlated with longitude and latitude, and negatively correlated with soil nutrients. In addition, higher temperature and shorter sunshine duration facilitated the synthesis of purpurin. Annual precipitation might be the main factor limiting the quality of R. cordifolia because it had opposite effects on the synthesis of two major secondary metabolites. Therefore, this study is of great significance for the selection of R. cordifolia planting areas and the improvement of field planting quality.

Oxomollugin, an oxidized substance in mollugin, inhibited LPS-induced NF-κB activation via the suppressive effects on essential activation factors of TLR4 signaling

Oxomollugin is a degraded product of mollugin and was found to be an active compound that inhibits LPS-induced NF-κB activation. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory activity of oxomollugin, focusing on TLR4 signaling pathway, resulting in NF-κB activation. Oxomollugin inhibited the LPS-induced association of essential factors for initial activation of TLR4 signaling, MyD88, IRAK4 and TRAF6. Furthermore, oxomollugin showed suppressive effects on LPS-induced modification of IRAK1, IRAK2 and TRAF6, LPS-induced association of TRAF6-TAK1/TAB2, and followed by IKKα/β phosphorylation, which critical in signal transduction leading to LPS-induced NF-κB activation. The consistent results suggested that oxomollugin inhibits LPS-induced NF-κB activation via the suppression against signal transduction in TLR4 signaling pathway.The activities of oxomollugin reported in this study provides a deeper understanding on biological activity of mollugin derivatives as anti-inflammatory compounds.

Four new compounds from fruits of Hypericum patulum Thunb

A new naphthoquinone, patulumnaphthoquinone A (1) and three new glycosides, patulumside B (2), patulumside C (3) and patulumside D (4) were isolated from the 30% ethanol extract of the fresh ripe fruits of Hypericum patulum Thunb. using column chromatography techniques. The structures of these compounds including absolute configurations were elucidated on the basis of HRESIMS, NMR spectroscopic analyses, calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra and comparison with the literatures.

Madder (Rubia cordifolia L.) Alleviates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Protecting Endothelial Cells from Apoptosis and Inflammation

Objective

Ischemia-reperfusion injury often occurs in organ transplantation, coronary heart disease, ischemic heart disease, and other diseases, which greatly reduces clinical efficacy. This study examined the effectiveness of madder as a medicine to treat ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Methods

The efficacy of madder was evaluated by measuring myocardial infarction size, coronary outflow volume, myocardial contraction rate, activation of inflammatory factors, autophagy factors, apoptosis factors, and related pathway genes in mice.

Results

The results indicated that treatment with madder can effectively reduce the area of myocardial infarction and restore arterial blood flow velocity and myocardial contractility in mice. Additionally, madder treatment inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors, autophagy factors, and apoptosis factors in mice and reduced the degree of myocardial cell injury. Studies have also shown that madder treatment can alleviate myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice and inhibit the occurrence of inflammatory response by inhibiting the activity of the NF-κB pathway.

Conclusion

The results showed that madder was effective against ischemia-reperfusion injury, thus showing potential as a clinical drug for treating ischemia-reperfusion injury.

CF₃-Substituted Mollugin 2-(4-Morpholinyl)-ethyl ester as a Potential Anti-inflammatory Agent with Improved Aqueous Solubility and Metabolic Stability

Although mollugin, the main ingredient of the oriental medicinal herb Rubia cordifolia, has considerable anti-inflammatory effects, it has poor aqueous solubility as well as poor metabolic and plasma stability. To overcome these shortfalls, various mollugin derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated for their ability to inhibit U937 monocyte cell adhesion to HT-29 colonic epithelial cells in TNF-α- or IL-6-induced models of colon inflammation. The 2-(4-morpholinyl)-ethyl ester of CF3-substituted mollugin (compound 15c) showed good water solubility, improved metabolic and plasma stability, and greater inhibitory activity than mesalazine in both the TNF-α- and IL-6-induced colonic epithelial cell adhesion assays, suggesting that 15c is a potential anti-inflammatory agent.

Syntheses and anti-inflammatory activity of azamollugin derivatives

Oxomollugin (2) is a degradation product of mollugin (1) and a potent inhibitor of NO-production including nuclear factor kappa B signals. In our endeavor to develop a potent anti-inflammatory compound, we synthesized several aza-derivatives of oxomollugin (2) and evaluated their NO-production inhibitory activity. Azamollugin (3) showed a potent inhibitory activity, and its activity (IC50 0.34μM) was proved to be more potent than that of oxomollugin (2, IC50 1.3μM).