Alkaloids from the stem of Ephedra equisetina.

Two new cyclotrypyamine alkaloids equisetinines A and B, as well as three known alkaloids (3-5) were isolated from the stems of Ephedra equisetina Bunge. Their structures were characterized by spectroscopic methods, and the absolute configurations of the new compounds were determined by interpretation of their electronic circular dichroism. Anti-asthmatic activities of compounds were evaluated by releasing ß-Hex in C48/80-induced RBL-2H3 cells, and compound 5 exhibited significant anti-asthmatic activities.

[Mechanism of "Ephedrae Herba-Descurainiae Semen Lepidii Semen" combination in treatment of bronchial asthma based on network pharmacology and experimental verification].

This study aims to investigate mechanism of "Ephedrae Herba-Descurainiae Semen Lepidii Semen" combination(MT) in the treatment of bronchial asthma based on network pharmacology and in vivo experiment, which is expected to lay a theoretical basis for clinical application of the combination. First, the potential targets of MT in the treatment of bronchial asthma were predicted based on network pharmacology, and the "Chinese medicine-active component-target-pathway-disease" network was constructed, followed by Gene Oncology(GO) term enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment of the potential targets. Molecular docking was used to determine the binding activity of key candidate active components to hub genes. Ovalbumin(OVA, intraperitoneal injection for sensitization and nebulization for excitation) was used to induce bronchial asthma in rats. Rats were classified into control group(CON), model group(M), dexamethasone group(DEX, 0.075 mg·kg~(-1)), and MT(1∶1.5) group. Hematoxylin and eosin(HE), Masson, and periodic acid-Schiff(PAS) staining were performed to observe the effect of MT on pathological changes of lungs and trachea and goblet cell proliferation in asthma rats. The levels of transforming growth factor(TGF)-ß1, interleukin(IL)6, and IL10 in rat serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA), and the mRNA and protein levels of mitogen-activated protein kinase 8(MAPK8), cyclin D1(CCND1), IL6, epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3 K), and protein kinase B(Akt) by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Network pharmacology predicted that MAPK8, CCND1, IL6, and EGFR were the potential targets of MT in the treatment of asthma, which may be related to PI3 K/Akt signaling pathway. Quercetin and ß-sitosterol in MT acted on a lot of targets related to asthma, and molecular docking results showed that quercetin and ß-sitosterol had strong binding activity to MAPK, PI3 K, and Akt. In vivo experiment showed that MT could effectively alleviate the symptoms of OVA-induced asthma rats, improve the pathological changes of lung tissue, reduce the production of goblet cells, inhibit the inflammatory response of asthma rats, suppress the expression of MAPK8, CCND1, IL6, and EGFR, and regulate the PI3 K/Akt signaling pathway. Therefore, MT may relieve the symptoms and inhibit inflammation of asthma rats by regulating the PI3 K/Akt signaling pathway, and quercetin and ß-sitosterol are the candidate active components.

Structural identification, rheological properties and immunological receptor of a complex galacturonoglucan from fruits of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill.

A complex heteropolysaccharide SCP-2 named schisanan B (Mw = 1.005 × 105 g/mol) was obtained from water extracts of Schisandra chinensis fruits, and its planar structure was finally deduced as a galacturonoglucan by a combination of monosaccharide compositions, methylation analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis and 1D/2D-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The conformation of SCP-2 exhibited a globular shape with branching in ammonium formate aqueous solutions. The rheological properties of SCP-2 were investigated on concentrations, temperature, pH and salts. The in vitro immunomodulatory activity assay demonstrated that SCP-2 significantly enhanced the production of nitric oxide (NO) and stimulated the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in macrophages. Through a combination of high-resolution live-cell imaging, surface plasmon resonance, and molecular docking techniques, SCP-2 exhibited a strong binding affinity with the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Moreover, western blot analysis revealed that SCP-2 effectively induced downstream signaling proteins associated with TLR4 activation, thereby promoting macrophage activation. The evidence strongly indicates that TLR4 functions as a membrane protein target in the activation of macrophages and immune regulation induced by SCP-2.

Lignans and terpenoids from the stem of Ephedra equisetina Bunge.

Seven undescribed lignans, equiselignan A-F, and six undescribed terpenoids, equiseterpenoid A-E (including two pairs of enantiomers, (+/-)-equiselignan A and (+/-)-equiseterpenoid E), were isolated from the stems of Ephedra equisetina Bunge. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, and the absolute configurations of the undescribed compounds were determined by interpretation of their electronic circular dichroic (ECD) and optical rotation data. In ß-hexosaminidase (ß-Hex) release assay, anti-asthmatic activities of all of the compounds were evaluated by releasing ß-Hex in C48/80-induced RBL-2H3 cells. The ß-Hex release rates of equiselignan B and equiseterpenoid B were 0.86 ± 0.094 and 0.86 ± 0.012 by comparing with model group, whereupon equiselignan B and equiseterpenoid B exhibited significant anti-asthmatic activities.