Geographic Authentication of Eucommia ulmoides Leaves Using Multivariate Analysis and Preliminary Study on the Compositional Response to Environment

Hypoglycemic activity of enzymatically extracted Eucommia ulmoides polysaccharide (EUL-w1) on IR-HepG2 cell via the AMPK/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

This study devised optimal conditions to extract Eucommia ulmoides leaf (EUL) polysaccharides using a cellulase and pectinase composite enzyme system based on one-way experiments and response surface methodology. Crude EUL polysaccharides (EULPs) were extracted and purified using a DEAE chromatography column. The polysaccharides EUL-w, EUL1, EUL2, and EUL3 were obtained by elution with water, 0.1 mol/L NaCl, 0.2 mol/L NaCl, and 0.3 mol/L NaCl, respectively. The EUL-w fraction had the highest hypoglycemic activity based on its α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities. The preliminary structure of purified EUL-w1 was elucidated. In vitro hypoglycemic activity studies and metabolomics analyses suggested that EUL-w1 modulated glucose metabolism by mediating the AMPK/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Our findings provide novel insights and data support for the utilization of EULPs as an emerging food resource in functional foods.

Feasibility study on discrimination of Polygonatum kingianum origins by NIR and MIR spectra data

Most existing studies have focused on identifying the origin of species with protected geographical indications while neglecting to determine the proximate geographical origin of different species. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of using near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy to identify the origin of 156 Polygonatum kingianum samples from six regions in Yunnan, China. In this work, spectral images of different modes reveal more information about the P. kingianum. Comparing the performance of traditional machine learning models according to single spectrum and data fusion, the middle-level data fusion-principal component model has the best performance, and its sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy are all 1, and the model has the least number of variables. The residual convolutional neural network (ResNet) model constructed in the 1050-850 cm-1 band confirms that fewer variables are beneficial in improving the accuracy of the model. In conclusion, this study verifies the feasibility of the proposed strategy and establishes a practical model to determine the source of P. kingianum.

Application of Data Fusion in Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Review

Traditional Chinese medicine is characterized by numerous chemical constituents, complex components, and unpredictable interactions among constituents. Therefore, a single analytical technique is usually unable to obtain comprehensive chemical information. Data fusion is an information processing technology that can improve the accuracy of test results by fusing data from multiple devices, which has a broad application prospect by utilizing chemometrics methods, adopting low-level, mid-level, and high-level data fusion techniques, and establishing final classification or prediction models. This paper summarizes the current status of the application of data fusion strategies based on spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, chromatography, and sensor technologies in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in light of the latest research progress of data fusion technology at home and abroad. It also gives an outlook on the development of data fusion technology in TCM analysis to provide references for the research and development of TCM.

Machine learning applications for multi-source data of edible crops: A review of current trends and future prospects

The quality and safety of edible crops are key links inseparable from human health and nutrition. In the era of rapid development of artificial intelligence, using it to mine multi-source information on edible crops provides new opportunities for industrial development and market supervision of edible crops. This review comprehensively summarized the applications of multi-source data combined with machine learning in the quality evaluation of edible crops. Multi-source data can provide more comprehensive and rich information from a single data source, as it can integrate different data information. Supervised and unsupervised machine learning is applied to data analysis to achieve different requirements for the quality evaluation of edible crops. Emphasized the advantages and disadvantages of techniques and analysis methods, the problems that need to be overcome, and promising development directions were proposed. To monitor the market in real-time, the quality evaluation methods of edible crops must be innovated.

Transcriptomic and Hormone Analyses Provide Insight into the Regulation of Axillary Bud Outgrowth of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver

An essential indicator of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver (E. ulmoides) is the axillary bud; the growth and developmental capacity of axillary buds could be used to efficiently determine the structural integrity of branches and plant regeneration. We obtained axillary buds in different positions on the stem, including upper buds (CK), tip buds (T1), and bottom buds (T2), which provided optimal materials for the study of complicated regulatory networks that control bud germination. This study used transcriptomes to analyze the levels of gene expression in three different types of buds, and the results showed that 12,131 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were discovered via the pairwise comparison of transcriptome data gathered from CK to T2, while the majority of DEGs (44.38%) were mainly found between CK and T1. These DEGs were closely related to plant hormone signal transduction and the amino acid biosynthesis pathway. We also determined changes in endogenous hormone contents during the process of bud germination. Interestingly, except for indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) content, which showed a significant upward trend (p < 0.05) in tip buds on day 4 compared with day 0, the other hormones showed no significant change during the process of germination. Then, the expression patterns of genes involved in IAA biosynthesis and signaling were examined through transcriptome analysis. Furthermore, the expression levels of genes related to IAA biosynthesis and signal transduction were upregulated in tip buds. Particularly, the expression of the IAA degradation gene Gretchen Hagen 3 (GH3.1) was downregulated on day 4, which may support the concept that endogenous IAA promotes bud germination. Based on these data, we propose that IAA synthesis and signal transduction lead to morphological changes in tip buds during the germination process. On this basis, suggestions to improve the efficiency of the production and application of E. ulmoides are put forward to provide guidance for future research.

Pharmacological network analysis of the functions and mechanism of kaempferol from Du Zhong in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD)

Background

Senescence and apoptosis of the nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) are essential components of the intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) process. Senescence and anti-apoptosis treatments could be effective ways to delay or even stop disc degeneration. IDD has been treated with Eucommia ulmoides Oliver (Du Zhong, DZ) and its active ingredients. However, the roles and mechanisms of DZ in NPC apoptosis and senescence remain unclear.

Methods

Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database was used to select the main active ingredients of DZ with the threshold of oral bioavailability (OB) ​≥ ​30% and drug-likeness (DL) ​≥ ​0.2. GSE34095 contained expression profile of degenerative intervertebral disc tissues and non-degenerative intervertebral disc tissues were downloaded for different expression genes analysis. The disease targets genes of IDD were retrieved from GeneCards. The online tool Metascape was used for functional enrichment annotation analysis. The specific effects of the ingredient on IL-1β treated NPC cell proliferation, cell senescence, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and cell apoptosis were determined by CCK-8, SA-β-gal staining, flowcytometry and western blot assays.

Results

A total of 8 active compounds of DZ were found to meet the threshold of OB ​≥ ​30% and DL ​≥ ​0.2 with 4151 drug targets. After the intersection of 879 IDD disease targets obtained from GeneCards and 230 DEGs obtained from the IDD-related GSE dataset, a total of 13 hub genes overlapped. According to functional enrichment annotation analysis by Metascape, these genes showed to be dramatically enriched in AGE-RAGE signaling, proteoglycans in cancer, wound healing, transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase signaling, MAPK cascades, ERK1/2 cascades, PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, skeletal system, etc. Disease association analysis by DisGeNET indicated that these genes were significantly associated with IDD, intervertebral disc disease, skeletal dysplasia, and other diseases. Active ingredients-targets-signaling pathway networks were constructed by Cytoscape, and kaempferol was identified as the hub active compound of DZ. In the IL-1β-induced IDD in vitro model, kaempferol treatment significantly improved IL-1β-induced NPC cell viability suppression and senescence. In addition, kaempferol treatment significantly attenuated IL-1β-induced ROS accumulation and apoptosis. Furthermore, kaempferol treatment partially eliminated IL-1β-induced decreases in aggrecan, collagen II, SOX9, and FN1 levels and increases in MMP3, MMP13, ADAMTS-4, and ADAMTS-5. Moreover, kaempferol treatment significantly relieved the promotive effects of IL-1β stimulation upon p38, JNK, and ERK1/2 phosphorylation. ERK1/2 inhibitor PD0325901 further enhanced the effect of kaempferol on the inhibition of ERK1/2 phosphorylation, downregulation of MMP3 and ADAMTS-4 expression, and upregulation of aggrecan and collagen II expressions.

Conclusion

Kaempferol has been regarded as the major active compound of DZ, protecting NPCs from IL-1β-induced damages through promoting cell viability, inhibiting cell senescence and apoptosis, increasing ECM production, and decreasing ECM degradation. MAPK signaling pathway may be involved.

The translational poteintial of this article

This study provides in vitro experimental data support for the pharmacological effects of kaempferol in treating IDD, and lays a solid experimental foundation for its future clinical application in IDD treatment.

In vitro propagation of Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf. using apical shoot segments and phytochemical assessments of the maternal and regenerated plants

BACKGROUND

Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf. is a medicinal plant traditionally used in China, Korea, and Japan to treat many diseases including poor gastrointestinal function, low immunity, gastric ulcers, and chronic gastritis. The increasing therapeutic and preventive use of C. pilosula has subsequently led to depletion of the natural populations of this species thus necessitating propagation of this important medicinal plant. Here, we developed an efficient and effective in vitro propagation protocol for C. pilosula using apical shoot segments. We tested various plant tissue culture media for the growth of C. pilosula and evaluated the effects of plant growth regulators on the shoot proliferation and rooting of regenerated C. pilosula plants. Furthermore, the tissues (roots and shoots) of maternal and in vitro-regenerated C. pilosula plants were subjected to Fourier-transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectrometry, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and their total flavonoids, phenolics, and antioxidant capacity were determined and compared.

RESULTS

Full-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium augmented with vitamins and benzylaminopurine (1.5 mg·L^-1) regenerated the highest shoot number (12 ± 0.46) per explant. MS medium augmented with indole-3-acetic acid (1.0 mg·L^-1) produced the highest root number (9 ± 0.89) and maximum root length (20.88 ± 1.48 mm) from regenerated C. pilosula shoots. The survival rate of in vitro-regenerated C. pilosula plants was 94.00% after acclimatization. The maternal and in vitro-regenerated C. pilosula plant tissues showed similar FT-NIR spectra, total phenolics, total flavonoids, phytochemical composition, and antioxidant activity. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) test confirmed the genetic fidelity of regenerated C. pilosula plants.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed in vitro propagation protocol may be useful for the rapid mass multiplication and production of high quality C. pilosula as well as for germplasm preservation to ensure sustainable supply amidst the ever-increasing demand.

A method of two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy combined with residual neural network for comparison and differentiation of medicinal plants raw materials superior to traditional machine learning: a case study on Eucommia ulmoides leaves

BACKGROUND

Eucommia ulmoides leaf (EUL), as a medicine and food homology plant, is a high-quality industrial raw material with great development potential for a valuable economic crop. There are many factors affecting the quality of EULs, such as different drying methods and regions. Therefore, quality and safety have received worldwide attention, and there is a trend to identify medicinal plants with artificial intelligence technology. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the comparison and differentiation for different drying methods and geographical traceability of EULs. As a superior strategy, the two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) was used to directly combined with residual neural network (ResNet) based on Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy.

RESULTS

(1) Each category samples from different regions could be clustered together better than different drying methods through exploratory analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis; (2) A total of 3204 2DCOS images were obtained, synchronous 2DCOS was more suitable for the identification and analysis of EULs compared with asynchronous 2DCOS and integrated 2DCOS; (3) The superior ResNet model about synchronous 2DCOS used to identify different drying method and regions of EULs than the partial least squares discriminant model that the accuracy of train set, test set, and external verification was 100%; (4) The Xinjiang samples was significant differences than others with correlation analysis of 19 climate data and different regions.

CONCLUSIONS

This study verifies the superiority of the ResNet model to identify through this example, which provides a practical reference for related research on other medicinal plants or fungus.

Phenotypic Trait Subdivision Provides New Sight Into the Directional Improvement of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver

Eucommia ulmoides Oliver has been used extensively in many fields. To satisfy increasing demand, great efforts must be made to further improve its traits. However, limited information is available on these traits, which is a factor that restricts their improvement. To improve traits directionally, nine clones were assigned to six sites to analyze the effect of different variation sources (the genotype, site, and genotype × environment interaction) on the phenotypic trait. In addition, a mixed linear model was used to assess the contribution of variations. In general, for most traits, the site effect accounted for a larger proportion of the variance, followed by the genotype and genotype × environment interaction effects. All the studied genotypes and sites had a significant effect, indicating that they could be improved by selecting preferable genotypes or cultivation areas, respectively. Interestingly, growth traits or economic traits could be improved simultaneously. Trait performance and stability are necessary when selecting genotypes. Moreover, the discriminating ability of genotypes should be considered in selecting cultivation areas. Annual mean temperature and annual sunshine duration proved to be crucial factors that affected the traits. They were correlated positively with economic traits and leaf yield and correlated negatively with growth traits. These findings contributed to selecting a wider range of cultivation areas. Regarding the genotype × environment interaction effect, there were significant differences only in the gutta-percha content, the total number of leaves, and the chlorogenic acid content. These traits could also be improved by choosing appropriate genotypes for the local environment. The research has provided preliminary data on the main factors that affect the traits of E. ulmoides and offered solutions for trait improvement. This information could be a reference for the trait improvement of other plants.

Aucubin slows the development of osteoporosis by inhibiting osteoclast differentiation via the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2-mediated antioxidation pathway

CONTEXT

Osteoporosis (OP) is a metabolic disease. We have previously demonstrated that aucubin (AU) has anti-OP effects that are due to its promotion of the formation of osteoblasts.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the mechanisms of anti-OP effects of AU.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group, 30 mg/kg Dex-induced OP group (OP model group, 15 μg/kg oestradiol-treated positive control group, 5 or 45 mg/kg AU-treated group), and 45 mg/kg AU-alone-treated group. The administration lasted for 7 weeks. Subsequently, 1, 2.5 and 5 µM AU were incubated with 50 ng/mL RANKL-induced RAW264.7 cells for 7 days to observe osteoclast differentiation. The effect of AU was evaluated by analysing tissue lesions, biochemical factor and protein expression.

RESULTS

The LD₅₀ of AU was greater than 45 mg/kg. AU increased the number of trabeculae and reduced the loss of chondrocytes in OP mice. Compared to OP mice, AU-treated mice exhibited decreased serum concentrations of TRAP5b (19.6% to 28.4%), IL-1 (12.2% to 12.6%), IL-6 (12.1%) and ROS (5.9% to 10.7%) and increased serum concentrations of SOD (14.6% to 19.4%) and CAT (17.2% to 27.4%). AU treatment of RANKL-exposed RAW264.7 cells decreased the numbers of multi-nuclear TRAP-positive cells, reversed the over-expression of TRAP5, NFATc1 and CTSK. Furthermore, AU increased the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and its downstream proteins in RANKL-exposed RAW264.7 cells.

CONCLUSIONS

AU slows the development of OP via Nrf2-mediated antioxidant pathways, indicating the potential use of AU in OP therapy and other types of OP research.

A Novel Multi-Preprocessing Integration Method for the Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Wild Medicinal Plants: Gentiana rigescens as an Example

Until now, the over-exploitation of wild resources has increased growing concern over the quality of wild medicinal plants. This led to the necessity of developing a rapid method for the evaluation of wild medicinal plants. In this study, the content of total secoiridoids (gentiopicroside, swertiamarin, and sweroside) of Gentiana rigescens from 37 different regions in southwest China were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) was adopted to trace the geographical origin (331 individuals) and predict the content of total secoiridoids (273 individuals). In the traditional FT-IR analysis, only one scatter correction technique could be selected from a series of preprocessing candidates to decrease the impact of the light correcting effect. Nevertheless, different scatter correction techniques may carry complementary information so that using the single scatter correction technique is sub-optimal. Hence, the emerging ensemble approach to preprocessing fusion, sequential preprocessing through orthogonalization (SPORT), was carried out to fuse the complementary information linked to different preprocessing methods. The results suggested that, compared with the best results obtained on the scatter correction modeling, SPORT increased the accuracy of the test set by 12.8% in qualitative analysis and decreased the RMSEP by 66.7% in quantitative analysis.

An in vitro Propagation of Aspilia africana (Pers.) C. D. Adams, and Evaluation of Its Anatomy and Physiology of Acclimatized Plants

Aspilia africana (Pers.) C. D. Adams is an important medicinal plant, that has been used as traditional medicine in many African countries for the treatment of various health problems, including inflammatory conditions, osteoporosis, tuberculosis, cough, measles, diabetes, diarrhea, malaria, and wounds. We developed an efficient and reproducible protocol for in vitro regeneration of A. africana from nodes. We assessed the effects of plant tissue culture media on A. africana growth, cytokinins for in vitro shoot regeneration and proliferation, and auxins for the rooting of regenerated shoots. Furthermore, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rates, anatomy (leaves, stems, and roots), and Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectra (leaves, stems, and roots) of the in vitro regenerated and maternal A. africana plants were compared. Murashige and Skoog media, containing vitamins fortified with benzylaminopurine (BA, 1.0 mg/l), regenerated the highest number of shoots (13.0 ± 0.424) from A. africana nodal segments. 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA, 0.1 mg/l) produced up to 13.10 ± 0.873 roots, 136.35 ± 4.316 mm length, and was the most efficient for rooting. During acclimatization, the in vitro regenerated A. africana plants had a survival rate of 95.7%, displaying normal morphology and growth features. In vitro regenerated and mother A. africana plants had similar chlorophyll contents, photosynthetic rates, stem and root anatomies, and FT-NIR spectra of the leaf, stem, and roots. The established regeneration protocol could be used for large-scale multiplication of the plant within a short time, thus substantially contributing to its rapid propagation and germplasm preservation, in addition to providing a basis for the domestication of this useful, high-value medicinal plant.