Optimization on preparation condition of epimedium polysaccharide liposome and evaluation of its adjuvant activity

Isolation, Purification, and Structural Characterization of Polysaccharides from Codonopsis pilosula and Their Anti-Tumor Bioactivity by Immunomodulation

The activity of polysaccharides is usually related to molecular weight. The molecular weight of polysaccharides is critical to their immunological effect in cancer therapy. Herein, the Codonopsis polysaccharides of different molecular weights were isolated using ultrafiltration membranes of 60- and 100-wDa molecular weight cut-off to determine the relationship between molecular weight and antitumor activities. First, three water-soluble polysaccharides CPPS-I (<60 wDa), CPPS-II (60-100 wDa), and CPPS-III (>100 wDa) from Codonopsis were isolated and purified using a combination of macroporous adsorption resin chromatography and ultrafiltration. Their structural characteristics were determined through chemical derivatization, GPC, HPLC, FT-IR, and NMR techniques. In vitro experiments indicated that all Codonopsis polysaccharides exhibited significant antitumor activities, with the tumor inhibition rate in the following order: CPPS-II > CPPS-I > CPPS-III. The treatment of CPPS-II exhibited the highest inhibition rate at a high concentration among all groups, which was almost as efficient as that of the DOX·HCL (10 μg/mL) group at 125 μg/mL concentration. Notably, CPPS-II demonstrated the ability to enhance NO secretion and the antitumor ability of macrophages relative to the other two groups of polysaccharides. Finally, in vivo experiments revealed that CPPS-II increased the M1/M2 ratio in immune system regulation and that the tumor inhibition effect of CPPS-II + DOX was superior to that of DOX monotherapy, implying that CPPS-II + DOX played a synergistic role in regulating the immune system function and the direct tumor-killing ability of DOX. Therefore, CPPS-II is expected to be applied as an effective cancer treatment or adjuvant therapy.

Research progress on the extraction technology and activity study of Epimedium polysaccharides

More pharmacological effects of polysaccharides from traditional Chinese medicines have been discovered in recent years. Epimedium has been used for thousands of years as a traditional Chinese medicine in China. Water-soluble Epimedium polysaccharides is one of the main ingredients of Epimedium, which is one of the main active ingredients of Epimedium, mainly composed of mannose, rhamnose, galacturonic acid, glucose, and galactose. The extraction methods of Epimedium polysaccharides including hot water extraction, cellulase extraction, ultrasonic extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, ultrasound compound enzyme and ultra-high pressure extraction, they affect the yield of Epimedium polysaccharides. The characteristics of deproteinization including enzyme deproteinization, macroporous resin deproteinization and Sevag methods are introduced respectively. Some chemical modification methods of Epimedium polysaccharides are also involved such as phosphorylation, sulfation, selenization, and lipids encapsulated. Epimedium polysaccharides have a variety of pharmacological activities, including immune promotion, reproduction promotion, anti-osteoporosis, anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-fatigue and antivirus, also beneficial to nervous and hematopoietic systems. At present, the research of Epimedium polysaccharides has been in depth. In this paper, the research progress on extraction, purification, chemical modification methods and pharmacological activity of Epimedium polysaccharides summarized. The aim is to provide reference for further research and development of Epimedium polysaccharides.

Liposomes as Multifunctional Nano-Carriers for Medicinal Natural Products

Although medicinal natural products and their derivatives have shown promising effects in disease therapies, they usually suffer the drawbacks in low solubility and stability in the physiological environment, low delivery efficiency, side effects due to multi-targeting, and low site-specific distribution in the lesion. In this review, targeted delivery was well-guided by liposomal formulation in the aspects of preparation of functional liposomes, liposomal medicinal natural products, combined therapies, and image-guided therapy. This review is believed to provide useful guidance to enhance the targeted therapy of medicinal natural products and their derivatives.

Polysaccharides derived from Chinese medicinal herbs: A promising choice of vaccine adjuvants

Adjuvants have been used in vaccines for a long time to promote the body's immune response, reducing vaccine dosage and production costs. Although many vaccine adjuvants are developed, the use in human vaccines is limited because of either limited action or side effects. Therefore, the development of new vaccine adjuvants is required. Many studies have found that natural polysaccharides derived from Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) possess good immune promoting effects and simultaneously improve humoral, cellular and mucosal immunity. Recently polysaccharide adjuvants have attracted much attention in vaccine preparation because of their intrinsic characteristics: immunomodulation, biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity and safety. This review article systematically analysed the literature on polysaccharides possessing vaccine adjuvant activity from TCM plants, such as Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), Rehmannia glutinosa polysaccharide (RGP), Isatis indigotica root polysaccharides (IRPS), etc. and their derivatives. We believe that polysaccharide adjuvants can be used to prepare the vaccines for clinical use provided their mechanisms of action are studied in detail.

Extraction, purification, structural characteristics and biological properties of the polysaccharides from Codonopsis pilosula: A review

Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf., as a well-known homology plant of medicine and food, has the function of replenishing the Qi, strengthening the spleen and tonifying the lung, nourishing the blood and engendering the liquid in traditional Chinese medicine. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the C. pilosula polysaccharides (CPPs) are one of the major and representative pharmacologically active macromolecules and present multiple biological activities both in vitro and in vivo methods, such as immunomodulatory, antitumor, antioxidant, neuroprotective, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-fatigue, hypoglycemic, anti-hypoxia, renoprotective, gastroprotective, hepatoprotective, and prebiotic. The purpose of the present review is to provide comprehensively and systematically reorganized information in the extraction and purification, structure characterization, biological activities and the underlying mechanisms of action as well as toxicities of CPPs to support their therapeutic potentials and sanitarian functions. New valuable insights for the future researches regarding CPPs were also proposed in the fields of therapeutic agents and functional foods.

The structural characterization and immune modulation activitives comparison of Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide (CPPS) and selenizing CPPS (sCPPS) on mouse in vitro and vivo

Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide (CPPS) and selenizing CPPS (sCPPS) were prepared and identified by a combination of chemical and instrumental analysis. Their immune modulation activities were compared by lymphocyte proliferation and flowcytometry tests in vitro or serum antibody responses and cytokines with immunization against OVA mice in vivo. The results showed that the sCPPS was successfully modified in selenylation. In vitro, the sCPPS were more effective compared with CPPS in promoting lymphocyte proliferation synergistically with PHA or LPS and increasing the ratio of CD4+ to CD8 + T cells. In vivo, sCPPS could significantly raised IgG, IgM, IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4 contents in the serum of mouse against OVA in comparison with CPPS. These results indicate that selenylation modification can enhance the immune modulation activitives of CPPS. sCPPS would be as a component drug of new-type immunoenhancer.

Development of liposomes using formulation by design: Basics to recent advances

In couple of decennia, optimization tactics for drug delivery systems have been explored widely employing Design of Experiments (DoE) for desired outcomes to overcome drawbacks of "One Factor at a Time (OFAT)"conventional technique.. To pace with advances in computational approaches engaged in research domain, QbD-based tactic i.e. Formulation by Design (FbD) is under extensive investigation by budding scientists for better know-how of the product and process development for an unequivocal universal acceptation. Like other vesicular drug carriers, liposomes also demand robustness and reproducibility to scale up at industrial outset. Based on said outlook, this review focuses on the fundamentals and methodologies like Central Composite, Simplex Mixture, Box-Behnken, Factorial, Taguchi, Simplex Centroid, d-optimal, Placket Burman, and Orthogonal array with special reference to applications of FbD in the development of liposomes.

Polysaccharides as vaccine adjuvants

Adjuvant is a substance added to vaccine to improve the immunogenicity of antigens, and it can induce stronger immune responses and reduce the dosage and production cost of vaccine in populations responding poorly to vaccination. Adjuvants in development or in use mainly include aluminum salts, oil emulsions, saponins, immune-stimulating complexes, liposomes, microparticles, nonionic block copolymers, polysaccharides, cytokines and bacterial derivatives. Polysaccharide adjuvants have attracted much attention in the preparation of nano vaccines and nano drugs because natural polysaccharides have the characteristics of intrinsic immunomodulating, biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity and safety. Moreover, it has been proved that a variety of natural polysaccharides possess better immune promoting effects, and they can enhance the effects of humoral, cellular and mucosal immunities. In the present study, we systematically reviewed the recent studies on polysaccharides with vaccine adjuvant activities, including chitosan-based nanoparticles (NPs), glucan, mannose, inulin polysaccharide and Chinese medicinal herb polysaccharide. The application and future perspectives of polysaccharides as adjuvants were also discussed. These findings lay a foundation for the further development of polysaccharide adjuvants. Collectively, more and more polysaccharide adjuvants will be developed and widely used in clinical practice with more in-depth investigations of polysaccharide adjuvants.

Characterization of a protein-bound polysaccharide from Herba Epimedii and its metabolic mechanism in chronic fatigue syndrome

OBJECTIVES

Herba Epimedii is one of the famous Traditional Chinese Medicines used to treat the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The polysaccharides are the main active components in H. epimedii. The aim of this study is to discover the therapeutic effect and metabolic mechanism of H. epimedii polysaccharides against CFS.

METHODS

The polysaccharide conjugates named HEP2-a were isolated from the leaves of H. epimedii using a water extraction method, and the general physicochemical properties of HEP2-a were analysed. In addition, a CFS rat model was established, and then, urinary metabonomic studies were performed using gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) in combination with multivariate statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The physicochemical properties revealed that HEP2-a had an average molecular weight of 13.6×10⁴Da and consisted of mannose (4.41%), rhamnose (5.43%), glucose (31.26%), galactose (27.07%), arabinose (23.43%), and galacturonic acid (8.40%). The amino acids in HEP2-a include glutamate, cysteine, leucine, tyrosine, lysine, and histidine. Molecular morphology studies revealed many highly curled spherical particles with diameters of 5-10µm in solids and 100-200nm for particles in water. Five metabolites in the HEP2-a group were oppositely and significantly changed compared to the CFS model group.

CONCLUSION

Two metabolic pathways were identified as significant metabolic pathways involved with HEP2-a. The therapeutic effects of HEP2-a on CFS were partially due to the restoration of these disturbed pathways.

Continuous-release beads of natural allelochemicals for the long-term control of cyanobacterial growth: Preparation, release dynamics and inhibitory effects

The effects of allelochemicals on cyanobacterial blooms have been observed for more than 20 years; however, the use of these compounds, usually involving a "direct-added" mode, has clear disadvantages, such as a short activity period or temporarily excessive localized concentration. Here, a simulated-allelopathy mode to facilitate the application of allelochemicals was proposed and tested on Microcystis aeruginosa. The continuous-release beads of 5,4'-dihydroxyflavone (DHF) were constitutive of a polymer matrix and showed a high drug-loading rate (47.18%) and encapsulation efficiency (67.65%) with a theoretical release time of approximately 120 d. Cyanobacterial growth tests showed that the DHF beads had long-term inhibition effects (>30 d), whereas those of "direct-added" DHF to cells lasted a maximum of 10 d. The beads also continuously affected the superoxide dismutase, catalase, and lipid peroxidation of M. aeruginosa. The inhibitory effects of DHF beads on cyanobacterial growth increased as initial cell densities of M. aeruginosa decreased, suggesting that the beads inhibit cyanobacterial activity more effectively in the early bloom phase. Consequently, the anti-cyanobacterial beads represent a novel application mode of allelochemicals with long-term inhibitory effects on cyanobacterial growth. Our study demonstrates that the successful application of allelochemicals offers great potential to control harmful cyanobacterial blooms, especially at the initial stage of development.

Discovery and Current Status of Evaluation System of Bioavailability and Related Pharmaceutical Technologies for Traditional Chinese Medicines--Flos Lonicerae Japonicae--Fructus Forsythiae Herb Couples as an Example

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have attracted extensive interest throughout the world due to their long history of health protection and disease control, and the internalization of TCM preparations or patented drugs has been considered a wind vane in the process of TCM modernization. However, multi-target effects, caused by multiple components in TCMs, hinder not only the construction of the quality evaluation system (bioavailability), but also the application of pharmaceutical technologies, which results in the poor efficacy in clinical practice. This review describes the methods in the literature as well as in our thoughts about how to identify the marker components, establish the evaluation system of bioavailability, and improve the bioavailability in TCM preparations. We expect that the current study will be positive and informative.

The Adjuvant Activity of Epimedium Polysaccharide-Propolis Flavone Liposome on Enhancing Immune Responses to Inactivated Porcine Circovirus Vaccine in Mice

Objectives. The adjuvant activity of Epimedium polysaccharide-propolis flavone liposome (EPL) was investigated in vitro and in vivo. Methods. In vitro, the effects of EPL at different concentrations on splenic lymphocytes proliferation and mRNA expression of IFN-γ and IL-6 were determined. In vivo, the adjuvant activities of EPL, EP, and mineral oil were compared in BALB/c mice through vaccination with inactivated porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccine. Results. In vitro, EPL promoted lymphocytes proliferation and increased the mRNA expression of IFN-γ and IL-6, and the effect was significantly better than EP at all concentrations. In vivo, EPL significantly promoted the lymphocytes proliferation and the secretion of cytokines and improved the killing activity of NK cells, PCV2-specific antibody titers, and the proportion of T-cell subgroups. The effects of EPL were significantly better than EP and oil adjuvant at most time points. Conclusion. EPL could significantly improve both PCV2-specific cellular and humoral immune responses, and its medium dose had the best efficacy. Therefore, EPL would be exploited in an effective immune adjuvant for inactivated PCV2 vaccine.

PEG-based ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction of polysaccharides from Ginkgo biloba leaves

In this study, one kind of environmentally friendly solvents named polyethylene glycol (PEG) was developed for the ultrasound-assisted enzymatic extraction (UAEE) of polysaccharides from Gingko biloba leaves (GBLP). Box-Behnken design (BBD) was used to optimize the UAEE conditions of GBLP. Results showed that the optimal extraction conditions were: a pH of 4.34, an extraction temperature of 51.88 °C and an extraction time of 37.13 min. Under these optimal extraction conditions, the GBLP yield was 7.29±0.21%, which was well in agreement with the value predicted by the mathematical model.

Optimization on preparation condition of polyunsaturated fatty acids nanoliposome prepared by Mozafari method

This study presents the application of the response surface methodology (design) to develop an optimal preparation condition (independent variables) namely shear rate (600-1000 rpm), mixing time (30-60 min), and sonication time (10-20 min) for polyunsaturated fatty acids (docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid) nanoliposomes. Fifteen lipid mixtures were generated by the Box-Behnken design and nanoliposomes were prepared by the Mozafari (direct hydration and without using organic solvents) method. Nanoliposomes were characterized with respect to entrapment efficiency (EE) and vesicle size as Y1 and Y2 dependent variables, respectively. The results were then applied to estimate the coefficients of response surface model and to find the optimal preparation conditions with maximum EE and minimum vesicle size. The response surface analysis exhibited that the significant (p < 0.05) second-order polynomial regression equations were successfully fitted for all dependent variables with no significant (p > 0.05) lack of fit for the reduced models. The response optimization of experiments was the shear rate: 795 rpm; mixing time: 60 min; and sonication time: 10 min. The optimal nanoliposome had an average diameter of 81.4 nm and EE of 100%. The experimental results of optimal nanoliposomes characterization confirmed an accurate fitness of the predicted values by reduced response surface models.

The immunological adjuvant activity of gypenosides liposome against Newcastle disease vaccine

The adjuvant activity of gypenosides liposome (GPSL) encapsulated with liposome was investigated in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, different concentrations of GPSL were added into chicken's peripheral blood lymphocytes and splenic lymphocyte. The results showed that GPSL could significantly enhance T and B lymphocytes proliferation singly or synergistically with PHA and LPS and the efficacy were superior to those of gypenosides (GPS) and blank liposome (BL) at most of concentrations. In vivo, three hundred and fifty 14-day-old chickens were assigned to 7 groups randomly and vaccinated with Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine. Simultaneously, the chickens in experimental groups were, respectively, oral administration with the GPSL at three doses, GPS and BL. The results showed that GPSL could significantly enhance lymphocyte proliferation, increase antibody titer, and promote cytokine secretion in vitro and in vivo, moreover, the adjuvant activity of GPSL was better than those of GPS and BL. These indicated that formulations of GPS and liposome can further enhance the immune response against ND vaccine compared with the adjuvant alone.

Regulation of the sphingosine kinase/sphingosine 1-phosphate pathway

Sphingolipids have emerged as pleiotropic signaling molecules with roles in numerous cellular and biological functions. Defining the regulatory mechanisms governing sphingolipid metabolism is crucial in order to develop a complete understanding of the biological functions of sphingolipid metabolites. The sphingosine kinase/ sphingosine 1-phosphate pathway was originally thought to function in the irreversible breakdown of sphingoid bases; however, in the last few decades it has materialized as an extremely important signaling pathway involved in a plethora of cellular events contributing to both normal and pathophysiological events. Recognition of the SK/S1P pathway as a second messaging system has aided in the identification of many mechanisms of its regulation; however, a cohesive, global understanding of the regulatory mechanisms controlling the SK/S1P pathway is lacking. In this chapter, the role of the SK/S1P pathway as a second messenger is discussed, and its role in mediating TNF-α- and EGF-induced biologies is examined. This work provides a comprehensive look into the roles and regulation of the sphingosine kinase/ sphingosine 1-phosphate pathway and highlights the potential of the pathway as a therapeutic target.

The immunological activity of propolis flavonoids liposome on the immune response against ND vaccine

Three hundred and fifty 14-day-old chickens were randomly assigned to 7 groups. At the same time of vaccination with Newcastle disease vaccine, the chickens in experimental groups were injected with propolis flavonoids liposome (PFL) at three doses, PF and blank liposome, respectively. The titer of serum antibody, concentrations of immunoglobulins G (IgG) and immunoglobulins M (IgM), activity of lymphocytes proliferation and concentrations of cytokines were measured. The results showed that three doses of PFL could significantly enhance antibody titer, concentrations of IgG, IgM, and promote lymphocyte proliferation, interferon-γ and interleukin-2 secretion, and its high and medium doses possessed the best efficacy. In general evaluation, the efficacy of PFL was the best, with certain of dose- and time-effect relationships. These findings indicated that the immunological activity of PF could be enhanced with liposome encapsulation.