Simultaneous Determinations of Eleven Bioactive Components in Suanzaoren Decoction Granules by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Its Application to the Quality Control in Productive Processes

6‴-Feruloylspinosin alleviated beta-amyloid induced toxicity by promoting mitophagy in Caenorhabditis elegans (GMC101) and PC12 cells

This study aims to investigate the neuroprotective effects of 6‴-feruloylspinosin (6-FS), one of the main active flavonoid components in Sour Jujube seeds, on beta-amyloid (Aβ) protein transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (GMC101) and PC12 cells, and determine the molecular mechanism of its action. We found that 6-FS could ameliorate the progression of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) phenotype by delaying the aging, decreasing the rate of paralysis, enhancing resistance to heat stress, and increasing the chemotaxis ability, and promotes autophagy activity though autophagy/lysosome pathway in GMC101. Furthermore, 6-FS reduced Aβ-induced toxicity by inhibiting the deposition of Aβ and the aggregated proteins, increasing the level of mitophagy in PC12 through promoting the expression of Pink1/Parkin in the mitophagy pathway. Our findings suggest that 6-FS may be used as a medicinal supplement for treating AD.

Determination of progesterone compounds in the crude methanol extract of benalu duku leaves

Background and Aim:

Dendrophthoepentandra L. Miq (benalu duku) is a parasitic herb that commonly grows on the host plant Lansium domesticum. Researchers have found that the plant contains anticancer compounds and may contain phytoandrogens, including progesterone-like compounds, in its crude methanol extract. The objective of the current study was to investigate the compound of phyto progesterone in benalu duku leaves after extracted by methanol and prepared using an analytical column of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Materials and Methods:

About 400 g of benalu duku leaves were pulverized, and their compounds were isolated by the isocratic method using an RP-18 analytical column (5 µm) with a mobile phase of 70:30 (methanol: water) in a photodiode array detector adjusted to 254 nm. The phyto progesterone compound was identified at a retention time of approximately 6.01 min.

Results:

By LC-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry focusing on molecular fractions, the fingerprint area of the Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR, cm⁻¹) and ^Hnuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra indicated that the phyto progesterone product isolated was identical to the certified reference material of pure progesterone, particularly the specific functional groups in the FT-IR spectrum at wavenumbers of 1317.43 cm⁻¹ and 1386.86 cm⁻¹ and in the proton ^HNMR spectrum at carbon 21 of progesterone (p<0.05).

Conclusion:

Each 49.888 µg/mL of crude benalu duku leaf extract dissolved in the mobile phase contained 28.515±0.713 µg/mL phyto progesterone.

The investigation of immunoprotective and sedative hypnotic effect of total polysaccharide from Suanzaoren decoction by serum metabonomics approach

Suanzaoren decoction, as one of the traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, has been most commonly used in Asian countries and reported to inhibit the process of immunodeficiency insomnia. Polysaccharide is important component which also contributes to the role of immunoprotective and sedative hypnotic effects. This study was aimed to explore the immunoprotective and sedative hypnotic mechanisms of polysaccharide from Suanzaoren decoction by serum metabonomics approach. With this purpose, complex physical and chemical immunodeficiency insomnia models were firstly established according to its multi-target property. Serum samples were analyzed using UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS spectrometry approach to determine endogenous metabolites. Then, principal component analysis was used to distinguish the groups, and partial least squares discriminate analysis was carried out to confirm the important variables. The serum metabolic profiling was identified and pathway analysis was performed after the total polysaccharide administration. The twenty-one potential biomarkers were screened, and the levels were all reversed to different degrees in the total polysaccharide treated groups. These potential biomarkers were mainly related to vitamin, sphingolipid, bile acid, phospholipid and acylcarnitine metabolisms. The result has indicated that total polysaccharide could inhibit insomnia triggered by immunodeficiency stimulation through regulating those metabolic pathways. This study provides a useful approach for exploring the mechanism and evaluating the efficacy of total polysaccharide from Suanzaoren decoction.

Simultaneous quantitative determination of 13 active components in the traditional Chinese medicinal preparation Suanzaoren oral liquid by HPLC coupled with diode array detection and evaporative light scattering detection

To control the quality of different forms of Suanzaoren decoction, an effective and reliable method for the simultaneous determination of 13 major components (neomangiferin, mangiferin, spinosin, liquiritin apioside, liquiritin, 6'''-feruloylspinosin, senkyunolide I, timosaponin BII, isoliquiritoside, timosaponin C, jujuboside A, jujuboside B, and timosaponin AIII) was developed and validated for the first time in this study using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and evaporative light scattering detection. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Venusil MP C₁₈ column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) at 30°C with a gradient of acetonitrile/redistilled water as the mobile phase. Diode array detection was carried out at a wavelength of 275 nm. The drift tube temperature and the nitrogen gas flow rate of the evaporative light scattering detection were set at 50°C and 1.6 L/min, respectively. The newly developed method was successfully applied to the determination of 13 components in lab-prepared Suanzaoren oral liquid, Suanzaoren mixture, and clinical Suanzaoren granules, and this study showed that this was a useful way to comprehensively evaluate the quality of Suanzaoren decoction in different forms of the preparation.

The Effects of Sweet Foods on the Pharmacokinetics of Glycyrrhizic Acid by icELISA

The effect of sweet foods, such as honey, was investigated from the perspective of pharmacokinetics on the absorption of glycyrrhizic acid (GA). Due to the unique properties of indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA), namely, its: specificity, sensitivity, repeatability, simple pretreatment of samples, fast and simple operation, and because it is economic and non-polluting, it has received increased attention. In this study, we used the advantages of this method to see how honey affected the pharmacokinetics of GA. The effects of honey on the pharmacokinetics of GA by ELISA were investigated for the first time. The results indicate that honey can postpone the peak concentration of GA in mouse blood, and this effect correlates well with fructose. As a representative of sweet foods, the result provides the valuable information that honey, or fructose, may act as sustained-releasing drugs in clinical scenarios; and that sweet foods may have some influences on drugs when taken together.