Baicalin Promotes Mammary Gland Development via Steroid-Like Activities

Rapid and comprehensive quality evaluation of Huang-qin from different origins by FT-IR and NIR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics

INTRODUCTION

Quality evaluation of Huang-qin is significant to ensure its clinical efficacy.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to establish an accurate, rapid and comprehensive Huang-qin quality evaluation method to overcome the time-consuming and laborious shortcomings of traditional herbal medicine quality assessment methods.

METHODS

The contents of baicalin, baicalein and scutellarin in Huang-qin from five different origins were analyzed by FT-IR and NIR spectra combined with multivariate data technology. The quality of Huang-qin from different origins was evaluated by TOPSIS and consistency analysis based on the content of three active ingredients. The correlation between ecological factors and the accumulation of active ingredients was explored.

RESULTS

Satisfactory prediction results of PLS models were obtained. Relatively, the model based on FT-IR combined with the PLS regression method has higher R2 and smaller RMSE than the NIR combined with the PLS method. TOPSIS and consistency analysis results showed that the quality of Huang-qin from different geographical origins was significantly different. The results showed that the quality of Huang-qin produced in Shanxi Province was the best among the five origins studied. The results also found that the quality of Huang-qin in different growing areas of the same origin was not completely consistent. The correlation study showed that altitude, sunshine duration and rainfall were the main factors that caused the quality difference of medicinal materials in different geographical origins.

CONCLUSION

This study provides a reference for the rapid quantitative analysis of the active components of herbal medicine and the quality evaluation of them.

Lithium Chloride Promotes Milk Protein and Fat Synthesis in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells via HIF-1α and β-Catenin Signaling Pathways

Lithium is one of the trace elements with many physiological properties, such as being anti-cancer, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory. However, little is known about its effect on milk synthesis during lactation. Therefore, we selected different concentrations (5 mM, 10 mM, and 20 mM) of lithium chloride (LiCl) and assessed the effect of LiCl on bovine mammary epithelial (MAC-T) cells that underwent 4 days of differentiation induction. Moreover, we analyzed the effect of LiCl on the expression of genes related to milk fat and milk protein synthesis. Herein, LiCl (5-20 mM) significantly increased the expression of β-casein, promoted mRNA expression and phosphorylated protein expression of the signal transduction molecule and activator of transcription 5β (STAT5-β), and inhibited mRNA and protein expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 2 (SOCS2). In contrast, 5 and 10 mM LiCl significantly inhibited expression of SOCS3. LiCl at concentration of 5-20 mM enhanced phosphorylation level of mTOR protein; at 10 mM and 20 mM, LiCl significantly promoted expression and phosphorylation of downstream ribosomal protein S6 kinase beta-1 (S6K1) protein. Considering milk fat synthesis, mRNA expression of acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) genes was considerably increased in the presence of LiCl (5-20 mM). Additionally, increased protein expression levels of stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1) were observed at all LiCl concentrations tested. Subsequently, LiCl (5-20 mM) significantly promoted protein expression and phosphorylation of β-catenin, while 10 mM and 20 mM of LiCl significantly promoted protein expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). Collectively, it has been shown that 10 mM LiCl can effectively activate HIF-1α, β-catenin, and β-catenin downstream signaling pathways. Conversely, at 10 mM, LiCl inhibited SOCS2 and SOCS3 protein expression through JAK2/STAT5, mTOR, and SREBP1 signaling pathways, improving synthesis of milk protein and fat. Therefore, LiCl can be used as a potential nutrient to regulate milk synthesis in dairy cows.