A polysaccharide from the stems of Rubus amabilis Focke and its immunological enhancement activity.

A water-soluble polysaccharide (named RAP) was newly isolated from the stems of Rubus amabilis. Structural confirmation of the polysaccharide was provided by hydrolysis, periodate oxidation, Smith degradation, and methylation analysis, combined with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), capillary electrophoresis (CE), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and gas chromatography-mass spectra (GC-MS). In vitro immunological enhancement activity was characterized using the proliferative activity of spleen lymphocytes and phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages in mice. The polysaccharide was mainly composed of xylose, arabinose, glucose, rhamnose, galactose, mannose, glucuronic acid, and galactocuronic acid in the molar ratio of 1.0:6.9:0.8:1.1:6.9:0.3:0.5:3.3, with the average molecular weight of 26.2 kDa. The linkage types of netural monosaccharides were as follows: the arabinose was →2) Ara (1→ and galactose were Gal (1→, →3) Gal (1→, →3,6) Gal (1→, →2,3,6) Gal (1→ and →2,3,6) Galf (1→. Xyl (1→, →6) Glc (1→, →2) Glc (1→, →3) Rha (1→, Rha (1→ and Man (1→ were also found in the structure. RAP-B-2 could improve the proliferative activity of spleen T cells and B cells and boost phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages at the concentration of 50 µg/ml (p < 0.05, p < 0.01).

A new comprehensive procedure for the quality control of Semen Cassiae and its application in evaluating commercially available material in China.

AIM: To establish a more comprehensive and suitable procedure for the quality control of Semen Cassiae which can be used to supplement the evaluation procedure adopted by the Pharmacopoeia of the Peoples Republic of China. METHODS: A HPLC assay-based comprehensive quality evaluation procedure for Semen Cassiae using three bioactive compounds including anthraquinones and naphthopyrones, i.e., chrysophanol-1-O-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-ß-D-glucopyranoside (1), rubrofusarin-6-O-ß-D-gentiobioside (2) and toralactone-9-O-ß-D-gentiobioside (3) as the index components was established. The resultant data were further analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and data distribution methods using software SPSS 16.0. RESULTS: Sixty-six batches of Semen Cassiae obtained from various regions of China were analyzed with the procedure. Based on the test results of these batches, the content limits of the three bioactive compounds in Semen Cassiae were proposed. CONCLUSION: The procedure established herein is more comprehensive and appropriate for the quality evaluation of Semen Cassiae commercially available in China, and can be used as a useful supplement to the current official method in China for the quality evaluation of Semen Cassiae.