[Research progress on chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Trigonella foenum-graecum].

Trigonella foenum-graecum is an annual plant of the genus Trigonella in the Leguminosae family. It is widely distributed in China and has a long history of application. According to phytochemistry research, the seeds, stem, and leaves of this herb contain not only a variety of bioactive ingredients, including alkaloids, saponins, polysaccharides, flavonoids, and phenols, but also abundant nutrients such as unsaturated fatty acids and amino acids and various trace elements. Pharmacological studies have shown that both the extract of T. foenum-graecum and its chemical constituents exhibit hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, antitumor, antioxidative, antimicro-bial, and hepatoprotective activities. This paper reviews the research progress on the chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of T. foenum-graecum, which may contribute to further development, application, and clinical research of this herb.

Triterpenic Acids from Potentilla parvifolia and Their Protective Effects against Okadaic Acid Induced Neurotoxicity in Differentiated SH-SY5Y Cells.

Six triterpenic acids were separated and purified from the ethyl acetate extractive fraction of ethanol extracts of Potentilla parvifolia FISCH. using a variety of chromatographic methods. The neuroprotective effects of these triterpenoids were investigated in the present study, in which the okadaic acid induced neurotoxicity in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were used as an Alzheimer's disease cell model in vitro. The cell model was established with all trans-retinoic acid (5 µmol/L, 4 d) and okadaic acid (40 nmol/L, 6 h) treatments to induce tau phosphorylation and synaptic atrophy. Subsequently, the neuroprotective effects of these triterpenic acids were evaluated in vitro by this cell model. Results from the Western blot and morphology analysis suggested that compounds 3-6 had the better neuroprotective effects. Furthermore, we tested the level of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial membrane potential of these compounds in SH-SY5Y cells by flow cytometry technology to investigate the potential neuroprotective mechanism of these compounds. All of the results indicated that maybe the mechanism of compounds 5 and 6 is to protect the cell from mitochondrial oxidative stress injuries.

Protective effect of seed oil of Herpetospermum pedunculosum against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury in rats.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the protective effect of Herpetospermum pedunculosum (H. pedunculosum) seed oil against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver damage. METHODS: This experimental study was conducted at the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Yantai University, China from November 2012 to May 2013. The H. pedunculosum seed oil was extracted using supercritical carbon dioxide. The antioxidant activities of H. pedunculosum seed oil were assayed in vitro by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay, lipid peroxidation assay, and antihemolytic assay. Adult Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 6 groups (10 rats/group) including control, CCl4, CCl4+bifendate, and CCl4+H. pedunculosum seed oil (3 different doses) groups. RESULTS: The CCl4-induced liver lesions include hepatocyte necrosis, ballooning degeneration, calcification, and fibrosis. Moreover, CCl4 damage results in an obvious increase of serum triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, malondialdehyde, total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activity. In addition, CCl4 also significantly decreased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD). By contrast, H. pedunculosum seed oil administration significantly ameliorated the CCl4-induced liver lesions, lowered the serum levels of hepatic enzyme markers, and increased the activities of SOD. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that H. pedunculosum seed oil can be proposed to protect the liver against CCl4-induced oxidative damage in rats, and the hepatoprotective effect might be correlated with its potent antioxidant and free radical scavenging effect.