Pterostilbene, an active component of the dragon's blood extract, acts as an antidepressant in adult rats.

BACKGROUND: Hippocampal neurogenesis has been widely considered as one of the potential biological mechanisms for the treatment of depression caused by chronic stress. Many natural products have been reported to be beneficial for neurogenesis. OBJECTIVES: The present study is designed to investigate the effect of dragon's blood extract (DBE) and its biologically active compound, pterostilbene (PTE), on hippocampal neurogenesis. METHODS: The male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used in this study, which were maintained on the normal, DBE and PTE diet groups for 4 weeks before dissection in the normal rat model and behavioral testing in the CUS depression rat model. Meanwhile, DMI-treated rats are subcutaneously injected with DMI (10 mg/kg, i.p.). RESULTS: Results revealed that DBE and PTE have the ability to promote hippocampal neurogenesis. DBE and PTE also promoted the proliferation of neural stem cells isolated from the brain of suckling rats. Oral administration of DBE and PTE induced the proliferation, migration, and differentiation of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in chronic unexpected stressed (CUS) model rats, and improved the behavioral ability and alleviated depress-like symptoms of CUS rats. It was also observed that PTE treatment significantly induced the expression of neurogenesis-related factors, including BDNF, pERK, and pCREB. CONCLUSION: Oral administration of PTE could affect neurogenesis and it is likely to be achieved via BDNF/ERK/CREB-associated signaling pathways.

Dragon's blood extracts reduce radiation-induced peripheral blood injury and protects human megakaryocyte cells from GM-CSF withdraw-induced apoptosis.

PURPOSE: Dragon's blood (DB), a Chinese traditional herb, was shown to have certain protective effects on radiation-induced bone marrow injury due to the presence of several phenolic compounds. The 50% ethanol extracts (DBE) were separated from DB by the methods of alcohol extracting-water precipitating. The protective effects of DBE on hematopoiesis were studied, particularly on megakaryocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we investigated the in vivo radioprotective effects of DBE on hematopoiesis and pathological changes using an irradiated-mouse model. Moreover, the protective effects and potential molecular mechanisms of DBE on megakaryocytopoiesis in vitro were explored in GM-CSF depletion-induced Mo7e cell model. RESULTS: DBE significantly promoted the recovery of peripheral blood cells in irradiated mice. Histology bone marrow confirmed the protective effect of DBE, as shown by an increased number of hematopoietic cells and a reduction of apoptosis. In a megakaryocytic apoptotic model, DBE (50 µg/mL) markedly alleviated GM-CSF withdrawal-induced apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest of Mo7e cells. DBE (50 µg/mL) also significantly decreased the ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 expression, inhibited the active caspase-3 expression. In addition, DBE could induce ERK1/2 phosphorylation in GM-CSF-depleted Mo7e cell, but not Akt. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrated that DBE could effectively accelerate the recovery of peripheral blood cells, especially platelet. DBE attenuated cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest through the decrease of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and the reduction of active caspase-3 expression. The effect of DBE on Mo7e cells survival and proliferation is likely associated with the activation of ERK, but not Akt.

Potential therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's disease targeting or beyond ß-amyloid: insights from clinical trials.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with two hallmarks: ß-amyloid plagues and neurofibrillary tangles. It is one of the most alarming illnesses to elderly people. No effective drugs and therapies have been developed, while mechanism-based explorations of therapeutic approaches have been intensively investigated. Outcomes of clinical trials suggested several pitfalls in the choice of biomarkers, development of drug candidates, and interaction of drug-targeted molecules; however, they also aroused concerns on the potential deficiency in our understanding of pathogenesis of AD, and ultimately stimulated the advent of novel drug targets tests. The anticipated increase of AD patients in next few decades makes development of better therapy an urgent issue. Here we attempt to summarize and compare putative therapeutic strategies that have completed clinical trials or are currently being tested from various perspectives to provide insights for treatments of Alzheimer's disease.

Radioprotective effects of dragon's blood and its extracts on radiation-induced myelosuppressive mice.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Dragon׳s blood, a traditional Chinese herb, has been used to "panacea of blood activating" and its major biological activity appears to be from phenolic compounds. In this study, our research aims to examine the effects of Dragon׳s blood (DB) and its extracts (DBE) on radiation-induced myelosuppressive mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult BALB/C mice were exposed to the whole body irradiation with 4 Gy (60)Co γ-rays. DB and DBE were respectively administered orally for 5 constitutive days prior to irradiation treatment. The radioprotective effects and relevant mechanisms of DB and DBE in radiation-induced bone marrow injury were investigated by ex vivo examination. RESULTS: We found that the administration of DB and DBE significantly increased the numbers of peripheral blood cells and colony forming unit of bone marrow-derived stem/progenitor cells. Interestingly, compared with the irradiation group, the administration of DB and DBE significantly decreased the levels of the inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ and oxidative stress injury such as SOD, CAT, GSH, MDA in serum of mice. Furthermore, DBE markedly improved the morphology of bone marrow histopathology. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that DB and DBE effectively attenuate radiation-induced damage in bone marrow, which is likely associated with the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties of DB and DBE.

Radioprotective effects of Dragon's blood and its extract against gamma irradiation in mouse bone marrow cells.

PURPOSE: The radioprotective effects of Dragon's blood (DB) and its extracts (DBE) were investigated using the chromosomal aberrant test, micronucleus and oxidative stress assay for anti-clastogenic and anti-oxidative activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult BALB/C mice were exposed to the whole body irradiation with 4 Gy (60)Co γ-rays. DB and DBE were administered orally once a day from 5 days prior to irradiation treatment to 1 day after irradiation. The mice were sacrificed on 24 h after irradiation. The cells of bone marrow were measured by counting different types of chromosomal aberrations and the frequency of micronuclei. Oxidative stress response was carried out by analysis of serum from blood. RESULTS: DB and DBE significantly decreased the number of bone marrow cells with chromosome aberrations after irradiation with respect to irradiated alone group. The administration of DB and DBE also significantly reduced the frequencies of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MPCE) and micronucleated normochromatic erythrocytes (MNCE). In addition, DB and DBE markedly increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the level of antioxidant molecular. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels in serum were significantly reduced by DB and DBE treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggested that DB and DBE have potential radioprotective properties in mouse bone marrow after (60)Co γ-ray exposure, which support their candidature as a potential radioprotective agent.

Dragon's blood and its extracts attenuate radiation-induced oxidative stress in mice.

Dragon's blood (DB) possesses great medicinal values due to the presence of several phenolic compounds. This study was designed to investigate the effects of DB and its extracts (DBEs) on oxidative stress in mice exposed to whole body (60)Co-γ irradiation (4 Gy). DB and DBEs were intragastrically administered to mice for 5 d prior to radiation. The antioxidant activities, including malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) levels in liver and spleen were measured using kits. Furthermore, DB and DBE effects were determined by organ indices and histology of liver and spleen. Our results indicated that the DB and DBE-treated groups showed a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in levels of MDA in liver and spleen compared with the irradiation-only group. Moreover, the activity of SOD, CAT and the level of GSH in liver and spleen tissue were enhanced significantly (P < 0.05) in the DB and DBE groups. DB and DBE also had a significant effect on the recovery of thymus indices. The histological observations of groups having treatment with DB and DBE indicated significant reduction in the radiation-induced damage to the liver and spleen, together with improvement in the morphology of the liver and spleen. These results suggest that DB and DBE treatment prevents radiation-induced oxidative stress injury and restores antioxidant status and histopathological changes in the liver and spleen, but there is need for further study to explore the precise molecular mechanism and strategy for optimal practical application of DB and DBE.