The tanshinones from the plant of Salvia miltiorrhiza

Effects of herbal dregs supplementation of Salvia miltiorrhiza and Isatidis Radix residues improved production performance and gut microbiota abundance in late-phase laying hens

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of a mixture of Chinese medicinal residues (CMRs) consisting of Salvia miltiorrhiza residues (SMR) and Isatidis Radix residues (IRR) on productive performance, egg quality, serum lipid and hormone levels, liver and blood antioxidant capacity, oviduct inflammation levels, and gut microbiota in the late-laying stage. A total of 288 fifty-four-week-old BaShang long-tailed hens were divided into four groups. The feed trial period was 8 weeks. The control group was fed the basic diet as a CCMR group, supplemented with 3, 4, and 6% for the experimental groups LCMR, MCMR, and HCMR. The egg production rate of the MCMR group was 8.1% higher than that of the CCMR group (p < 0.05). Serum triglyceride (TG) levels of hens of the CMR-supplemented group were significantly decreased than those of the CCMR group (p < 0.05). The group supplemented with different levels of CMR had significantly higher serum HDL-C levels compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were remarkably increased for the LCMR and MCMR groups and significantly decreased for the HCMR group compared to CCMR (p < 0.05). Serum and liver glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activities were significantly increased, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were significantly decreased in the MCMR group compared to the CCMR group (p < 0.05). The expression levels of tubal inflammatory factor markers (IL-4, IL-1β, TNF-α) in the MCMR and HCMR groups were consistent with the pathological findings of the sections. As for cecal microbiota, supplementation with CMR affected the alpha diversity of the cecum microbiome at the genus level. The Shannon index was significantly higher in the MCMR group than in the CCMR and HCMR groups (p < 0.05). Supplementation with different levels of CMR mainly regulated the ratio of intestinal Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes and the abundance of phyla such as Proteobacteria. In addition, CMR supplementation at different levels in the diet enriched lipid-metabolizing bacteria, such as Bacteroides and Ruminococcus_gnavus_group. Furthermore, according to linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis, the MCMR group showed an increase in the number of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria Romboutsia and fiber-degrading specialized bacteria Monoglobus. Therefore, supplementation of appropriate amounts of CMR to the diet of laying hens enhanced reproductive hormone levels, hepatic antioxidant capacity, and lipid metabolism, alleviated the levels of oviductal inflammatory factors, and modulated the abundance structure of bacterial flora to improve the late-laying performance and egg quality. The results of the current study showed that CMR is a beneficial feed supplement for chickens when added in moderation.

SmEIL1 transcription factor inhibits tanshinone accumulation in response to ethylene signaling in Salvia miltiorrhiza

Among the bioactive compounds, lipid-soluble tanshinone is present in Salvia miltiorrhiza, a medicinal plant species. While it is known that ethephon has the ability to inhibit the tanshinones biosynthesis in the S. miltiorrhiza hairy root, however the underlying regulatory mechanism remains obscure. In this study, using the transcriptome dataset of the S. miltiorrhiza hairy root induced by ethephon, an ethylene-responsive transcriptional factor EIN3-like 1 (SmEIL1) was identified. The SmEIL1 protein was found to be localized in the nuclei, and confirmed by the transient transformation observed in tobacco leaves. The overexpression of SmEIL1 was able to inhibit the tanshinones accumulation to a large degree, as well as down-regulate tanshinones biosynthetic genes including SmGGPPS1, SmHMGR1, SmHMGS1, SmCPS1, SmKSL1 and SmCYP76AH1. These are well recognized participants in the tanshinones biosynthesis pathway. Further investigation on the SmEIL1 was observed to inhibit the transcription of the CPS1 gene by the Dual-Luciferase (Dual-LUC) and yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) assays. The data in this work will be of value regarding the involvement of EILs in regulating the biosynthesis of tanshinones and lay the foundation for the metabolic engineering of bioactive ingredients in S. miltiorrhiza.

Elucidating the chemical interaction effects of herb pair Danshen-Chuanxiong and its anti-ischemic stroke activities evaluation

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Danshen) and Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. (Chuanxiong) is the core herb pair in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) formulae for treating ischemic stroke. However, the synergistic effect of Danshen-Chuanxiong against anti-ischemic stroke and its compatibility mechanism remains unclear.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to uncover the compatibility mechanism of Danshen-Chuanxiong against ischemic stroke through chemical profiling, pharmacodynamics evaluation, network pharmacology and experimental validation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) combined with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) and UHPLC connected with tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (QQQ-MS) were utilized to conduct the chemical interaction analysis. Then the synergistic effects of Danshen-Chuanxiong against ischemic stroke were comprehensively evaluated by the middle cerebral artery occlusion reperfusion (MCAO/R) mice model, zebrafish ischemic stroke model and glutamic acid-induced PC12 cells injury model. Afterwards, network pharmacology and molecular docking were applied to dissect the significant active compounds and potential mechanisms. Finally, the key target proteins were experimentally validated by Western blot.

RESULTS

83 compounds were characterized in Danshen-Chuanxiong by UHPLC-QTOF-MS analysis, and 4 compounds were tentatively identified for the first time. The quantification results (24 accurately identified compounds) in 13 proportions of Danshen-Chuanxiong revealed that Danshen significantly increased the dissolution of most phthalides (from Chuanxiong), while Chuanxiong facilitated the dissolution of most phenolic acids (from Danshen) in solution. The anti-ischemic stroke effects of Danshen-Chuanxiong were significantly better than Danshen or Chuanxiong in attenuating infarct size, reducing brain edema and neurological scores in MCAO/R mice. Also, compared with single herbs, this herb pair exerted better effects of suppressing the incidence of cerebral thrombosis in zebrafish, and increasing the cell viability of glutamic acid-induced PC12 cells. In network pharmacology, 7 effective compounds (rosmarinic acid, chlorogenic acid, salvianolic acid B, (Z)-ligustilide, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, tanshinone IIA) and 5 hub targets (AKT, TNF-α, IL-1β, CASP3 and BCL2) as well as 4 key pathways were predicted. Western blot results showed that Danshen-Chuanxiong exert therapeutic effects mainly through decreasing the protein expressions of TNF-α, IL-1β and Cleaved-CASP3, elevating the levels of p-AKT and BCL2.

CONCLUSIONS

This work provided an integration strategy for uncovering the synergistic effects and compatibility mechanism of Danshen-Chuanxiong herb pair for treating ischemic stroke, and laid foundation for the further development and utilization of this herb pair.

New triterpenoids from the aerial parts of the Uygur medicine Salvia deserta

Phytochemical investigation on the aerial parts of Salvia deserta led to the isolation of eight new pentacyclic triterpenoids including three oleanane- (1 - 3) and five ursane-type (4 - 8) triterpenoids, whose structures were elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic analysis and quantum chemical calculation. Weak immunosuppressive potency was observed for compounds 1, 2, and 4 - 8 via inhibiting the secretion of cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 in LPS-induced macrophages RAW264.7 at 20 μM. In addition, compounds 1, 2, and 4 - 6 exhibited moderate protective activity on t-BHP-induced oxidative injury in HepG2 cells.

An Update on Recent Studies Focusing on the Antioxidant Properties of Salvia Species

Nutrition has crucial effects and a significant role in disease prevention. Recently, nutraceuticals have attracted much attention in scientific research due to their pleiotropic effects and relatively non-toxic behavior. Among the biological effects displayed by plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family, such as antibacterial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and anticholinesterase, sage is well known for its antioxidant properties and is a rich source of numerous compounds that are biologically active, amongst them polyphenols, with more than 160 types identified. In this review we summarized some of the significant studies published in the last decade reporting the most employed extraction methods and the different assays that are useful for establishing the antioxidant properties of some sage species. Even though the scientific literature contains plenty of data regarding the antioxidant properties of many sage species, further studies are needed in order to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanism of action and the compounds responsible for their antioxidant activity. Finally, it should be taken into account that the data on the antioxidant properties of sage extracts are often difficult to compare with each other, since a series of variables in the extraction procedures, the type of assay used, and standardization may affect the final result.