Antioxidant Properties of Essential Oil Extracted from Pinus morrisonicola Hay Needles by Supercritical Fluid and Identification of Possible Active Compounds by GC/MS

Attenuating lipid metabolism in atherosclerosis: The potential role of Anti-oxidative effects on low-density lipoprotein of herbal medicines

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a multifactorial chronic disease with great harm to the health of human being, which is a basic pathogenesis of many cardiovascular diseases and ultimately threatens human life. Abnormal blood lipid level is one of the most common diagnostic indicators of AS in clinic, and lipid metabolism disorder is often observed in patients with AS. Cholesterol is an important lipid in the human body, which is of great significance for maintaining normal life activities. Generally, cholesterol is transported to peripheral tissues by low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and then transported to the liver by high-density lipoprotein (HDL) via its cholesterol reverse transport function, and finally discharged. Under oxidative stress condition, LDL is commonly oxidized to the form ox-LDL, which is ingested by macrophages in large quantities and further forms foam cells, disrupting the normal metabolic process of cholesterol. Importantly, the foam cells are involved in forming atherosclerotic plaques, whose rupture may lead to ischemic heart disease or stroke. Furthermore, ox-LDL could also promote the development of AS by damaging vascular endothelium, promoting the migration and proliferation of smooth muscle cells, and activating platelets. Therefore, inhibiting LDL oxidation may be an effective way to improve lipid metabolism and prevent AS. In recent years, increasing studies have shown that herbal medicines have great potentiality in inhibiting LDL oxidation and reducing ox-LDL induced foam cell formation. Accordingly, this paper summarized current research on the inhibitory effects of herbal medicines against LDL oxidation and foam cell formation, and made a brief description of the role of cholesterol and LDL in lipid metabolism disorder and AS pathogenesis. Importantly, it is suggested that herbal medicines could inhibit LDL oxidation and regulate cholesterol homeostasis via downregulation of CD36 and SR-A, whereas upregulation of ABCA1 and ABCG1.

Rapid Preparation of Fluorescent Carbon Dots from Pine Needles for Chemical Analysis

Fluorescent carbon dots with blue, green, and red emissions were rapidly prepared from modified pine needles through microwave irradiation in a one-pot reaction. The fluorescence intensity and emission versatility for a carbon source were experimentally optimized. The reaction times were under 10 min and the reaction temperatures were lower than 220 °C. Potential applications of magnetic fluorescence-linked immunoassays of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were presented. The detection limits for CEA and TNF-α (3.1 and 2.8 pg mL^-1, respectively) are lower than those presented in other reports, whereas the linear ranges for CEA and TNF-α (9 pg mL^-1 to 18 ng mL^-1 and 8.5 pg mL^-1 to 17 ng mL^-1, respectively) are wider than those presented in other reports. Magnetic immunoassays with fluorescent CD_s prepared from pine needles can enable rapid, sensitive, and selective detections for biochemical analysis.

Ruscus hypophyllum L. extracts: chemical composition, antioxidant, anticoagulant, and antimicrobial activity against a wide range of sensitive and multi-resistant bacteria

The aim of this study is to evaluate the polyphenolic and flavonoid contents in the leaves extracts of Ruscus hypophyllum. Antioxidant activity was estimated by α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. The anticoagulant activity of Ruscus extracts was evaluated in vitro, using the prothrombin time (PT) and a PTT-activated partial thromboplastin time tests. The antibacterial activity was tested against large number of important medically and resistant bacteria by the broth dilution method. In this study, ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts displayed the highest total phenols contents (74.76 mg EAG/g and 73.89 mg EAG/g, respectively) and flavonoid content 40 and 32.43 mg EC/g, respectively. The GC-MS analysis of ethyl acetate extract confirmed the presence of oxygenated sesquiterpenes and hydrocarbon diterpenes with percentages of 16.41% and 10.72%, respectively, but chloroform extract was rich with, oxygenated monoterpenes, and oxygenated diterpenes, with percentages of 6.19 and 3.27%, respectively. Among tested extracts, ethyl acetate exhibited the best antioxidant and anticoagulant activities. Furthermore, ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts showed important antibacterial activity against resistant bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (SARM), Acinetobacter imipenem-resistant (IMP/R), P. aeruginosa imipenem-resistant (IMP/R) and extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing E. cloacae (BLSE) with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values varying between 0.125 and 0.5 mg/mL.

Phytochemical Constituents and the Evaluation Biological Effect of Cinnamomum yabunikkei H.Ohba Leaf

Cinnamomum yabunikkei H.Ohba leaf is known as a traditional medicinal material in Korea. However, no scientific identification of the components or efficacy of C.yabunikkei H.Ohba leaf has been reported. In the present study, we prepared various solvent extracts of C.yabunikkei H.Ohba leaf to understand its basic properties and evaluated the antioxidant, xanthine oxidase inhibitory, and elastase inhibitory activities of hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol, ethanol, and water extracts for the first time. The antioxidant properties were evaluated based on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity, reducing power, and total phenolic contents. The hot water extract showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity and total phenolic contents, and the reducing power was the highest in the water extract. The hexane extract showed an excellent elastase inhibitory effect compared to control (phosphoramidone) and the highest xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity. These results present basic information for the possible uses of the hot water and hexane extracts from C. yabunikkei leaf for the treatment of diseases caused by oxidative imbalance. In the present study, individual extracts exhibited different effects. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the applicability of C. yabunikkei will depend on the extraction method and nature of the extract. The hot water and hexane extracts could be used as antioxidants, and as anti-gout and anti-wrinkle materials respectively. Several biologically active substances present in hexane extract of C. yabunikkei have been analyzed by GCMS and demonstrated to possess antioxidant and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the chemical profiling and biological effects of various C. yabunikkei leaf extracts, suggesting their potential use in food therapy, cosmetics or alternative medicine.