Optimization of Bear Oil Extraction Process and Hair Growth Activity.

According to ancient Chinese books, bear grease has the effects of strengthening muscles and bones, which is beneficial for weakness, but there is relatively little research on it. Thus, the extraction of it is beneficial for compensating for research in this area. In this study, a uniform experimental design method was used to optimize the extraction process of bear grease by enzymatic hydrolysis extraction, and the extraction rate can reach 81.89% under optimized extraction conditions. Furthermore, the components of bear grease obtained by this study were analyzed by GC-MS, and the results showed that ursolic oil was rich in unsaturated fatty acids (67.51%), which was higher than that of the traditional method (66.92%). The composition of bear grease extracted by the enzymatic method was also better than that extracted by the traditional method. In addition, bear grease obtained in this study had the obvious activity of promoting hair growth. The length, weight, and number of hair follicles in the depilation area of mice in the high-dose group were significantly different from those in the blank group (p < 0.01). This study optimized the extraction process of bear grease and conducted a preliminary analysis of its fatty acid composition, which is expected to provide some reference for the development of the medicinal value of bear grease.

A brief review of polysialic acid-based drug delivery systems.

Polysialic acid (PSA) is a straight-chain homoglycan linked by N-acetylneuraminic acid monomers via α-2, 8- or α-2, 9-glycosidic bonds. As a negatively charged non-glycosaminoglycan, PSA has the remarkable characteristics of non-immunogenicity and biodegradation. Although different in class, PSA is similar to poly(ethylene glycol), and was originally used to increase the stability of the delivery system in circulation to prolong the half-life. As research continues, PSA's application potential in the pharmaceutical field becomes increasingly prominent. It can be used as a biomaterial for protein polysialylation and tissue engineering, and it can be used alone or with other materials to develop multifunctional drug delivery systems. In this article, the results of the bioproduction and biofunction of PSA are introduced, the common strategies for chemical modification of PSA are summarized, and the application progress of PSA-based drug delivery systems is reviewed.

Ionic Liquid-Like Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Applications of Ionic Liquids in Medicinal Chemistry: Development, Status and Prospects.

BACKGROUND: As a new kind of green media and bioactive compounds with special structure, Ionic Liquids (ILs) are attracting much attention and applied widely in many fields. However, their roles and potential have not been fully recognized by many researchers of medicinal chemistry. Because of obvious differences from other traditional drugs and reagents, their uses and performance together with advantages and disadvantages need to be explored and reviewed in detail. METHODS: For a systematic and explicit description of the relationship between ILs and medicinal chemistry, all of the contents were elucidated and summarized in a series of independent parts. In each part, it started from the research background or a conceptual framework and then specific examples were introduced to illustrate the theme. Finally, the important conclusions were drawn and its future was outlooked after the discussion about related key problems appearing in each mentioned research. Meanwhile, methodologies such as empirical analysis, comparison and induction were applied in different sections to exposit our subject. RESULTS: The whole review was composed of five parts, and 148 papers were cited in total. Related basic information of ionic liquids was provided on the basis of representative references, including their concepts and important characters. Then 82 papers outlined ionic liquid-like active pharmaceutical ingredients, which unfolded with their major biological activities (antimicrobial activity, antibiofilm activity, antitumor activity, anticholinesterase activity and so on). Applications of ionic liquids in the synthesis of drugs and pharmaceutical intermediates were elaborated in 92 papers to illustrate the important roles of ILs and their extraordinary properties in this field. Moreover, new technologies (such as immobilization of IL, microwave reaction, solventfree synthesis, microreactor, etc) were introduced for further innovation. Finally, 26 papers were included to expound the status of the IL-assisted derivatization of various natural lead compounds. CONCLUSION: This review placed emphasis on chemical structures of ILs and their structureactivity relationships in a specific manner, leading to meaningful and valuable related information to some related fields and thus promotes further development and application of various ILs for medicinal chemistry. The deep exploration for key scientific problems is the driving force to propel their theoretical breakthrough and industrial production.

Systematic investigation for extraction and separation of polyphenols in tea leaves by magnetic ionic liquids.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic separation has become a mature industrial technique in many fields and its application in the food and agricultural fields is expected for further extension. Furthermore, there has been little application of magnetic ionic liquids in the preparation of bioactive products. In the present study, 0.8 mol L-1 C3 MIMFeCl4 in its aqueous solution was found to be ideal for the extraction of active constituents from tea leaves. After extraction, polyphenols, caffeine and ionic liquid were also satisfactorily separated from the crude extract by various easy operations. RESULTS: The average extraction efficiency of tea polyphenols could reach up to 185.38 g kg-1 and the recovery percent of the magnetic ionic liquid was 99.8% through an external magnetic field. The extraction process was more consistent with a pseudo-second order kinetic model. Moreover, C3 MIMFeCl4 had no effect on the stability of tea polyphenols, which was very different from ordinary ferric salt. The presence of magnetic ionic liquid had a positive effect on the antioxidant activity of the product. CONCLUSION: The developed method had a good performance for selective extraction together with separation of tea polyphenols and caffeine, which is expected in the preparation of more similar active components from food and agricultural resources as a useful multifunctional solvent. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Bionic multi-tentacled ionic liquid-modified silica gel for adsorption and separation of polyphenols from green tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves.

For the first time, a new kind of bionic multi-tentacled ionic liquid-modified silica gel was synthesized and used as selective adsorbent in the preparative separation of tea polyphenols (TP) from green tea leaves. It was found that silica particles with polyvinyl alcohol chains modified by N-methyl imidazole proline salt (PVA·Im+·Pro-@SiO2) had the excellent performance in selective adsorption as well as fine separation for target compounds. The new adsorbent exhibited high adsorption capacity and good reusability, meanwhile the antioxidant activity of TP could be improved through its efficient enrichment. It properties and adsorption mechanism were also investigated comprehensively and compared with those reported sorbents. Finally, the preparative separation of individual catechin from crude extracts was successfully achieved on the chromatographic column packed with PVA·Im+·Pro-@SiO2 particles and four main constituents were obtained successively. The study was expected to provide a new way for the effective separation of similar bioactive compounds.