Vagus nerve stimulated by microbiota-derived hydrogen sulfide mediates the regulation of berberine on microglia in transient middle cerebral artery occlusion rats.

Amelioration of neuroinflammation via modulating microglia is a promising approach for cerebral ischemia therapy. The aim of the present study was to explore gut-brain axis signals in berberine-modulating microglia polarization following cerebral ischemia. The potential pathway was determined through analyzing the activation of the vagus nerve, hydrogen sulfide (H2 S) metabolism, and cysteine persulfides of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) receptor. The cerebral microenvironment feature was explored with a metabolomics assay. The data indicated that berberine ameliorated behavioral deficiency in transient middle cerebral artery occlusion rats through modulating microglia polarization and neuroinflammation depending on microbiota. Enhanced vagus nerve activity following berberine treatment was blocked by antibiotic cocktails, capsazepine, or sodium molybdate, respectively. Berberine-induced H2 S production was responsible for vagus nerve stimulation achieved through assimilatory and dissimilatory sulfate reduction with increased synthetic enzymes. Sulfation of the TRPV1 receptor resulted in vagus nerve activation and promoted the c-fos and ChAT in the nucleus tractus solitaries with berberine. Sphingolipid metabolism is the primary metabolic characteristic with berberine in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebral spinal fluid disrupted by antibiotics. Berberine, in conclusion, modulates microglia polarization in a microbiota-dependent manner. H2 S stimulates the vagus nerve through TRPV1 is responsible for the berberine-induced gut-brain axis signal transmission. Sphingolipid metabolism might mediate the neuroinflammation amelioration following vagus afferent fiber activation.

Functional polysaccharides of carob fruit: a review.

Polysaccharides in carob fruit, including carob bean gum (also known as carob gum, locust bean gum) and carob fiber, are widely used in industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, paper, textile, oil well drilling and cosmetics. Carob bean gum is a galactomannan obtained from the seed endosperm of carob tree and the fiber is obtained by removing most of soluble carbohydrates in carob pulp by water extraction. Both the gum and fiber are beneficial to health for many diseases such as diabetes, bowel movements, heart disease and colon cancer. This article reviewed the composition, properties, food applications and health benefits of polysaccharides from carob fruit.

[Effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine on bioavailability and brain distribution of curcumin by nasal delivery].

Curcumin( Cur) is a natural active substance extracted from the roots or tubers of traditional Chinese medicinal materials. It has anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities on brain diseases. Due to the poor stability,low solubility,poor absorption and low bioavailability of curcumin,N-acetyl-L-cysteine( NAC) was used as an absorption enhancer and mixed with curcumin to improve the absorption of curcumin in the body. In this paper,curcumin was smashed by airflow pulverization,and Cur-NAC mixtures were prepared by being grinded with liquid. Then,the raw material and the product were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry( DSC),X-ray diffraction( XRD) for structural characterization. The dissolution was determined by high performance liquid chromatography( HPLC) analysis. The characteristic peaks of the samples prepared by grinding method were similar to those of the raw materials,while the melting temperature and the accumulated dissolution degree were not significantly changed. The crystal forms of the products were not changed,and no new crystal form was formed after grinding. After the administration of intranasal powder,blood samples were collected from the orbit,while the whole brain tissues were removed from the skull and dissected into 10 anatomical regions. The concentrations of curcumin in these samples were determined by UPLC-MS/MS. The concentrations of curcumin in plasma and brain were compared at different time points. After intranasal administration of two drugs,it was found that the concentration of curcumin after sniffing up the mixtures in plasma was high,and the concentration of the drug in the olfactory bulb,hippocampus,and pons was increased significantly. Within 0. 083-0. 5 h,the olfactory bulb,piriform lobe and hippocampus remained high concentrations,the endodermis,striatum,hypothalamus and midbrain reached high concentrations within 1-3 h; and the cerebellum,pons and brain extension maintained relatively high concentrations within 3-7 h. The experiment showed that nasal administration of Cur-NAC mixtures can significantly improve the bioavailability of curcumin,and lead to significant differences in brain tissue distribution.

[Study on essential oil separation from Forsythia suspensa oil-bearing water body based on vapor permeation membrane separation technology].

To investigate the feasibility of vapor permeation membrane technology in separating essential oil from oil-water extract by taking the Forsythia suspensa as an example. The polydimethylsiloxane/polyvinylidene fluoride (PDMS/PVDF) composite flat membrane and a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) flat membrane was collected as the membrane material respectively. Two kinds of membrane osmotic liquids were collected by self-made vapor permeation device. The yield of essential oil separated and enriched from two kinds of membrane materials was calculated, and the microscopic changes of membrane materials were analyzed and compared. Meanwhile, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to compare and analyze the differences in chemical compositions of essential oil between traditional steam distillation, PVDF membrane enriched method and PDMS/PVDF membrane enriched method. The results showed that the yield of essential oil enriched by PVDF membrane was significantly higher than that of PDMS/PVDF membrane, and the GC-MS spectrum showed that the content of main compositions was higher than that of PDMS/PVDF membrane; The GC-MS spectra showed that the components of essential oil enriched by PVDF membrane were basically the same as those obtained by traditional steam distillation. The above results showed that vapor permeation membrane separation technology shall be feasible for the separation of Forsythia essential oil-bearing water body, and PVDF membrane was more suitable for separation and enrichment of Forsythia essential oil than PDMS/PVDF membrane.

[Studies on bioactive constituents of whole herbs of Vernonia cinerea].

OBJECTIVE: To study the constituents of the whole herbs of Vernonia cinerea. by bio-activity guided isolation with PC-12 model. METHOD: The constituents were separated by column chromatography and the structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. RESULT: Four compounds were identified to be (+)-lirioresinol B (1), stigmasterol (2), stigmasterol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside (3), 4-sulfo-benzocyclobutene (4), and their NGF inducing activity were also investigated. CONCLUSION: Compounds 1, 3, 4 were isolated from this genus for the first time, and compound 4 was identified as a new natural product. Compounds 1, 3, 4 showed cytotoxicity on PC-12, and compounds 2, 3, 4 showed inhibition activity. Compound 4 showed a specific effect on the survival of TrkA fibroblasts, and resulted in the inducing NGF activity.

Cytotoxic diterpenoids from the roots of Euphorbia ebracteolata.

Three new diterpenoids, yuexiandajisu D (1), E (2) and F were isolated from the roots of Euphorbia ebracteolata, along with eight known diterpenoids, jolkinolide B (4), jolkinolide A, ent-11alpha-hydroxyabieta-8(14),13(15)-dien-16,12alpha-olide (6), ent-(13S)-hydroxyatis-16-ene-3,14-dione, ent-3beta,(13S)-dihydroxyatis-16-en-14-one, ent-3-oxokaurane-16alpha,17-diol, ent-16alpha,17-dihydroxyatisan-3-one and ent-atisane-3beta,16alpha,17-triol. The structures of all compounds were deduced using spectroscopic methods and confirmed for 1 and 2 by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. A biogenetic pathway for the formation of 1 and 2 is proposed briefly. Cytotoxic activities were evaluated against ANA-1, B 16 and Jurkat tumor cells. Jolkinolide B (4) displayed modest activity on ANA-1, B 16 and Jurkat tumor cells with IC50 values 4.46 x 10(-2), 4.48 x 10(-2), 6.47 x 10(-2) microM, and ent-11alpha-hydroxyabieta-8(14),13(15)-dien-16,12alpha-olide (6) showed significant activity against ANA-1 and Jurkat cells with IC50 values 7.12 x 10(-3) and 1.79 x 10(-2) microM. Compound 1 was found to be slightly active against ANA-1 cells with an IC50 value 2.88 x 10(-1)microM. Structure-activity relationships of isolated compounds are also discussed.

Activity of macrocyclic jatrophane diterpenes from Euphorbia kansui in a TrkA fibroblast survival assay.

Three new macrocyclic diterpenes, kansuinins F (1), G (2), and H (3), together with four known jatrophane diterpenes, kansuinins D (4), E (5), and A (6) and 3beta,5alpha,7beta,15beta-tetraacetoxy-9alpha-nicotinoyloxyjatropha-6(17)-11E-dien-14-one, were isolated from the roots of Euphorbia kansui. Compounds 1 and 2 were assigned as 6(17)-en-11,12-epoxy-14-one-type jatrophane diterpenes, and compound 3 as a 6(17)-en-11,14-epoxy-12-one jatrophane diterpene. The structures of compounds 1-3 and the relative configurations of compounds 4 and 5 were determined by spectral data analysis. Kansuinin E (5) exhibited a specific survival effect on fibroblasts that expressed TrkA, a high-affinity receptor for nerve growth factor.