Qishen Yiqi Dripping Pills for Cardiovascular Diseases: Effects and Mechanisms.

Qishen Yiqi Dripping Pills (QSYQ) is a compound of Chinese medicine, which has been used to treat coronary heart disease and cardiac dysfunction. Its natural components include astragaloside IV, flavonoids, danshensu, protocatechualdehyde, salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A, ginsenosides Rg1, ginsenosides Rb1, and essential oils, etc. It exerts effects of nourishing qi and promoting blood circulation to relieve pain. In this review, the bioactive components of QSYQ and its effects for treating cardiovascular diseases and possible mechanism were summarized, providing references for further study and clinical application of QSYQ.

Functional roles of C/EBPα and SUMO­modification in lung development.

CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPα) is a transcription factor regulating the core aspects of cell growth and differentiation. The present study investigated the level and functional role of C/EBPα during the development of the rat lung. C/EBPα protein exhibits a dynamic expression pattern. The correlation between the expression of C/EBPα protein and the content of glycogen during lung maturation was analyzed to understand the function of C/EBPα in lung differentiation. The high expression of C/EBPα coincides with the reduction of glycogen in the fetal lung. In addition, the authors identified that changes in the level of C/EBPα are associated with the secretion of pulmonary surfactant. C/EBPα is modified by small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) post-translationally. The results of double immunofluorescence staining and immunoprecipitation demonstrated that SUMO-modified C/EBPα was present in the lung. The sumoylated C/EBPα gradually decreased during lung differentiation and was negatively correlated with pulmonary surfactant secretion, thereby suggesting that the SUMO modification may participate in C/EBPα-mediated lung growth and differentiation. These results indicated that C/EBPα played a role in lung development and provided the insight into the mechanism underlying SUMO-modification.

Extraction and purification of capsaicin from capsicum oleoresin using an aqueous two-phase system combined with chromatography.

Capsaicin was extracted from capsicum oleoresin using an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) composed of an ethylene oxide-propylene oxide (EOPO) copolymer, salt and ethanol. Capsaicin was concentrated in the top polymer-rich phase. To determine the optimal conditions, the partitioning of capsaicin in the ATPS was investigated, considering a single-factor experiment including the salt concentration, polymer concentration, buffer pH, ethanol concentration, sample loading and extraction duration. Response surface methodology was applied to investigate the effects of the polymer concentration, buffer pH and sample loading on capsaicin partitioning. A capsaicin yield of 95.5% was obtained using the optimal extraction system, which consisted of 16.3% UCON 50-HB-5100/10% K2HPO4/1% ethanol, a buffer pH of 4.35 and 0.24g of capsicum oleoresin. Capsaicin was purified from the capsaicinoid extract using a two-step macroporous adsorption resin (MAR) method. After purification using non-polar MAR ADS-17, the recovery and purity of capsaicin were 83.7% and 50.3%, respectively. After purification using weakly polar MAR AB-8, the recovery and purity of capsaicin were 88.0% and 85.1%, respectively.

Activation of the NF-κB pathway as a mechanism of alcohol enhanced progression and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer, is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in human. Alcohol is a known risk factor for HCC. However it is still unclear whether and how alcohol enhances the progression and metastasis of existing HCC. METHODS AND RESULTS: We first retrospectively investigated 52 HCC patients (24 alcohol-drinkers and 28 non-drinkers), and found a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and advanced Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) stages, higher vessel invasion and poorer prognosis. In vitro and in vivo experiments further indicated that alcohol promoted the progression and migration/invasion of HCC. Specifically, in a 3-D tumor/endothelial co-culture system, we found that alcohol enhanced the migration/invasion of HepG2 cells and increased tumor angiogenesis. Consistently, higher expression of VEGF, MCP-1 and NF-κB was observed in HCC tissues of alcohol-drinkers. Alcohol induced the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the activation of NF-κB signaling in HepG2 cells. Conversely, blockage of alcohol-mediated ROS accumulation and NF-κB signaling inhibited alcohol-induced expression of VEGF and MCP-1, the tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that chronic moderate alcohol consumption may promote the progression and metastasis of HCC; the oncogenic effect may be at least partially mediated by the ROS accumulation and NF-ĸB-dependent VEGF and MCP-1 up-regulation.

Aqueous two-phase extraction combined with chromatography: new strategies for preparative separation and purification of capsaicin from capsicum oleoresin.

Capsaicin was preparatively separated and purified from capsicum oleoresin with a new method combined with aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) and chromatography. Screening experiments of ATPE systems containing salts and hydrophilic alcohols showed that potassium carbonate/ethanol system was the most suitable system for capsaicin recovery among the systems considered. Response surface methodology was used to determine an optimized aqueous two-phase system for the extraction of capsaicin from capsaicin oleoresin. In a 20 % (w/w) ethanol/22.3 % (w/w) potassium carbonate system, 85.4 % of the capsaicin was recovered in the top ethanol-rich phase while most oil and capsanthin ester were removed in the interphase. The capsaicinoid extract was then subjected to two chromatographic steps using D101 macroporous resin and inexpensive SKP-10-4300 reverse-phase resin first applied for the purification of capsaicin. After simple optimization of loading/elution conditions for D101 macroporous resin chromatography and SKP-10-4300 reverse-phase resin chromatography, the purities of capsaicin were improved from 7 to 85 %. In the two chromatography processes, the recoveries of capsaicin were 93 and 80 % respectively; the productivities of capsaicin were 1.86 and 4.2 (g capsaicin/L resin) per day respectively. It is worth mentioning that a by-product of capsaicin production was also obtained with a high purity (90 %).

Combination of aqueous two-phase extraction and cation-exchange chromatography: new strategies for separation and purification of alliin from garlic powder.

In this study, a two-step process combining aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) with chromatography was developed for extraction and purification of alliin from garlic powder. The partition coefficient and yield value of alliin in different types of aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) were compared and response surface methodology (RSM) was used for analyzing and optimizing the extraction process. The optimal extraction conditions of 19% (w/w) (NH4)2SO4, 20% (w/w) 1-prpanol, at 30°C, pH 2.35 with 8.54% (w/w) NaCl was chosen based on the higher yield. Compared to the results obtained with the conventional extraction method, this method had an evident advantage on yield (20.4mg/g versus the original yield of 15.0mg/g) and the concentration of alliin in extract solution by ATPE was close to three times of that with conventional extraction. The purification of alliin was carried out with the ammonium form of sulfonic acid cation-exchange resins 001×7. Sample solution with alliin concentration of 1mg/mL was passed through resins and the desorption of alliin was accomplished by water at the flow velocity of 0.5mL/min, 1.5mL/min, respectively. The purity and recovery of alliin after purification were 80% and 76%, respectively.