Chemical Compositions and Pharmacological Activities of Polygoni Multiflori Radix / 中国实验方剂学杂志

As a common tonic traditional Chinese medical herb,Polygoni Multiflori Radix has been extensively applied in clinic. In recent years,there have been many literatures related to Polygoni Multiflori Radix. By reviewing the literatures in domestic and foreign,the latest progress on chemical components and pharmacology of Polygoni Multiflori Radix have been summarized and analyzed. At present,more than 133 kinds of compounds have been isolated from Polygoni Multiflori Radix, such as stilbene glycosides,terpenoids,flavonoids,phospholipids and phenylpropanoids. Among them, stilbene dimer and dianthrone glycosides are two kind of new compounds recently isolated from it. The current researches about the pharmacological effect of Polygoni Multiflori Radix focus on anti-oxidative,anti-tumor,anti-atherosclerosis and neuro-protective effects,with potentials in treating neurodegenerative diseases, preventing and treating arterial and reducing blood sugar. Its medicinal ingredients mainly include stilbene glycosides,terpenoids and flavonoids,in which 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxysilbene 2-O-glucopyranoside shows a variety of biological activities. However,there are a few studies on the pharmacological activities of other compounds. Therefore,to ensure the further development and utilization of Polygoni Multiflori Radix,it is suggested to conduct a more in-depth and comprehensive research on the material basis of its efficacy.

Traditional Application of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus, a traditional Chinese medicine with dual-purpose of drug and food, has a long history of cultivation and application, showing high medicinal, dietetic, ornamental and economic values. Many modern researches have been conducted on the extraction technology, chemical constituents, quality standards and biological activities, but the herbal textual researches were relatively insufficient. The related records of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus in the ancient Chinese medicinal classics were ambiguous and confusing. By referring to ancient Chinese medicinal classics and modern books, the textual researches of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus, including the names, plant morphology, origin, medicinal properties, efficiency and application were systematically reviewed and analyzed in this paper, in order to provide the basis for the confirmation of original source of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus. The results showed that Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus was usually recorded as ‘Xiangyuan’ ‘Juyuan’ ‘Ganyuan’ ‘Xiangyuan’ ‘Foshougan’ etc. in ancient books. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, it became clear that ‘Xiangyuan’ was equivalent to ‘Juyuan’, but different from ‘Foshougan’. Therefore, these two species were recorded separately. From the ancient times to the present day, Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus was always mainly distributed in south of the Yangtze River, such as Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Jiangxi provinces. Ancient records and modern reports basically have the same understanding on properties, efficacies and indications of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus, considering it was warm in nature with the effectiveness of soothing liver, relieving pain, eliminating dampness and resolving phlegm. ‘Baking it into powder on new tiles’ and ‘steaming’ were the traditional processing methods. The description of ‘The longer of storage period, the better of the effect’ was occasionally recorded. These results provide theoretical references for the further study, resource development and comprehensive application of Citri Sarcodactylis Fructus.

Quality evaluation of Desmodium styracifolium by fingerprint, pattern recognition combined with quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker / 中国中药杂志

HPLC analysis was performed on a Phenomenex PS C₁₈（4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm）column using methanol -0.2% formic acid (30:70) at a flow rate of 0.8 mL·min⁻¹. The column temperature was 30 °C and the detection wavelength was set at 335 nm. The injection volume was 10 μL. The HPLC fingerprint of Desmodium styracifolium was established with 10 common peaks, and 5 of them were identified as vicenin-1, schaftoside, isoorientin, isoschaftoside and isovitexin, respecivetly. The fingerprints of 21 batches of D. styracifolium samples were analyzed with similarity evaluation, cluster analysis, principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis. There was no significant difference among the quantitative results of these five ingredients verified by external standard method (ESM) and quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker (QAMS) method. The application of fingerprint, pattern recognition combined with QAMS can provide more comprehensive references for the quality control and evaluation of D. styracifolium.

Research on distribution and quality suitability division of Desmodium styracifolium / 中国中药杂志

The research on distribution and quality suitability division of Desmodium styracifolium were formulated by Maxent and ArcGIS model based on the content of schaftoside and polysaccharide of D. styracifolium and its field research in the south and southwest areas of China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Yunnan), and the most suitable habitats of distribution suitability and quality suitability were screened. The distribution suitability results indicated that average air temperature in April,mean temperature of coldest quarter, soil type, coldness index were found as the four dominant factors contributing to the plant distribution. The quality suitability results indicated that: ①Polysaccharide content and precipitation in April show significant positive correlation;Schaftoside content and mean temperature of April, mean temperature of coldest quarter show significant negative correlation. Schaftoside content shows significant negative correlation with the precipitation in October and November and the sunshine duration in April and May, while there is a significant positive correlation between schaftoside content and precipitation in April and temperature seasonality standard deviation, and a highly significant positive correlation was found between schaftoside content and precipitation in February and March. ②The quality zoning map was drawn depend on general content of polysaccharide and schaftoside as the index of quality. And this research provides scientific location basis for the production regionalization, cultivation bases selection and directive breeding of D. styracifolium.

Isolation, purification and anti-oxidant activity of polysaccharides from Acanthopanax trifoliatus / 中草药

Objective To extract, isolate and purify the polysaccharides from Acanthopanax trifoliatus (ATP), determine the monosaccharide composition and molecular weight distribution of ATP, and evaluate its anti-oxidant activity in vitro. Methods ATPs were prepared by water extraction ethanol precipitation. Sevage deproteinization, DEAE-cellulose 52, and Sephadex G-50 column chromatography were applied for the further isolation and purification of polysaccharides. Then, the monosaccharide composition and mean molecular mass of ATP were analyzed by HPLC and HPGPC. The antioxidant activity of ATP was evaluated through the scavenging capabilities of DPPH∙, ABTS+∙, ∙OH and O[a formular is presented] free radicals. Results A neutral homogeneous polysaccharide (ATP1-1) and two acidic polysaccharides (ATP2 and ATP3) were obtained by column chromatography. According to the HPLC analysis, ATP1-1 consists of glucose, galactose, mannose and rhamnose. ATP2 consists of glucuronic acid, glucose, galactose, arabinose, mannose, and rhamnose. ATP3 was composed of rhamnose, glucuronic acid, glucose, galactose, and arabinose. ATP1-1 with the average molecular mass of 2 310, had obvious effect on scavenging ability of DPPH∙, ABTS+∙, ∙OH and O[a formular is presented] free radicals, with IC50 values of 0.042 4, 0.007 9, 2.313 6, and 1.753 0 mg/mL, respectively. Conclusion ATP1-1 displayed obvious anti-oxidant activity with a good dose-effect relationship.

De novo sequencing and analysis of root transcriptome to reveal regulation of gene expression by moderate drought stress in Glycyrrhiza uralensis / 中国中药杂志

Moderate drought stress has been found to promote the accumulation of active ingredients in Glycyrrhiza uralensis root and hence improve the medicinal quality. In this study, the transcriptomes of 6-month-old moderate drought stressed and control G. uralensis root (the relative water content in soil was 40%-45% and 70%-75%, respectively) were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq 2000. A total of 80,490 490 and 82 588 278 clean reads, 94,828 and 305,100 unigenes with N50 sequence of 1,007 and 1,125 nt were obtained in drought treated and control transcriptome, respectively. Differentially expressed genes analysis revealed that the genes of some cell wall enzymes such as β-xylosidase, legumain and GDP-L-fucose synthase were down-regulated indicating that moderate drought stress might inhibit the primary cell wall degradation and programmed cell death in root cells. The genes of some key enzymes involved in terpenoid and flavonoid biosynthesis were up-regulated by moderate drought stress might be the reason for the enhancement for the active ingredients accumulation in G. uralensis root. The promotion of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of auxin, ethylene and cytokinins by moderate drought stress might enhance the root formation and cell proliferation. The promotion of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of abscisic acid and jasmonic acid by moderate drought stress might enhance the drought stress tolerance in G. uralensis. The inhibition of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of gibberellin and brassinolide by moderate drought stress might retard the shoot growth in G. uralensis.

Secondary metabolites from a deep-sea-derived actinomycete Micrococcus sp. R21 / 中国中药杂志

To investigate cytotoxic secondary metabolites of Micrococcus sp. R21, an actinomycete isolated from a deep-sea sediment (-6 310 m; 142 degrees 19. 9' E, 10 degrees 54. 6' N) of the Western Pacific Ocean, column chromatography was introduced over silica gel, ODS, and Sephadex LH-20. As a result, eight compounds were obtained. By mainly detailed analysis of the NMR data, their structures were elucidated as cyclo(4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-leu) (1), cyclo(L-Pro-L-Gly) (2), cyclo( L-Pro-L-Ala) (3), cyclo( D-Pro-L-Leu) (4), N-β-acetyltryptamine (5), 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (6), and phenylacetic acid (7). Compound 1 exhibited weak cytotoxic activity against RAW264. 7 cells with IC50 value of 9.1 μmol x L(-1).

Effects of storage time on quality of Desmodium styracifolium seeds / 中国中药杂志

The dynamic changes of germination percentage, germination potential, thousand-seed weight, antioxidase activity in Desmodium styracifolium seeds with different storage time were tested, and electrical conductivity, contents of soluble sugar, soluble protein, starch in seed leach liquor were also determined in order to reveal the mechanism of seed deterioration. The results as the following. (1) The germination percentage, germination potential and thousand-seed weight of D. styracifolium seeds declined, while the seed coat color darkened with the extension of storage time. (2) The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) decreased with the prolongation of storage period. The SOD activity declined fastest in 1,095-1,185 d of storage, while the POD activity declined significantly in 365-395 d of storage. (3) The electrical conductivity and the contents of soluble sugar, starch in seed leach liquor increased, while the content of soluble protein declined with the extension of storage time. (4) Correlation analysis indicated that the germination percentage, germination potential and thousand-seed weight of D. styracifolium seeds have a significantly positive correlation with SOD and POD activity, while have a significantly negative correlation with the electrical conductivity, contents of soluble sugar and starch. It can be concluded that during the storage of D. styracifolium seeds, physiological and biochemical changes including decrease in antioxidase activity, rise in electrical conductivity, degradation effluent of soluble sugar and starch, degradation of soluble protein were the main factors leading to the seed deterioration.

Analysis of quality variation and genetic diversity of Desmodium styracifolium from different provenances / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the quality variation and genetic diversity of Desmodium styracifolium from different provenances, and lay a foundation for rational exploitation on germplasm resources and fine variety breeding of D. styracifolium.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were developed to analyze genetic diversity in D. styracifolium from 18 resources. NTSYSpc-2. 11F software was used to analyze the similarity among the D. styracifolium germplasms and construct the genetic phylogenetic tree. The schaftoside content in D. styracifolium from different provenances was determined by HPLC.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>A total of 844 fragments were amplified with 8 primers, in which 717 were polymorphic bands, accounting for 84. 27% of the total detected variation. All the specimens from 18 resources could be grouped into 3 clusters by cluster analysis. The schaftoside contents of D. styracifolium germplasms differed significantly, with the highest content in the germplasm from Sanya, Hainan.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Significant quality variation and genetic diversity can be observed among D. styracifolium germplasms. The diverse germplasm resources should be explored and the fine variety should be selected to breed.</p>

Cloning and expression regulation of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase cDNA from Alpinia officinarum / 中国中药杂志

The rhizome of Alpinia officinarum is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine. The essential oil in A. officinarum rhizome is mainly composed of 1, 8-cineole and other monoterpenes, as the major bioactive ingredients. In plants, monoterpenes are synthesized through the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway in the plastids, and 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) is an enzyme catalyzing a committed step of the MEP pathway. In the present study, the full-length cDNA encoding DXR was cloned from the rhizome of A. officinarum, using homology-based RT-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) techniques. The new cDNA was designated as AoDXR and submitted to GenBank to be assigned with an accession number HQ874658. The full-length cDNA of AoDXR was 1 670 bp containing a 1 419 bp open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 472 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 51.48 kDa and an isoelectric point of 6.15. Bioinformatic analyses revealed that AoDXR showed extensive homology with DXRs from other plant species and contained a conserved plastids transit peptide, a Pro-rich region and two highly conserved NADPH-binding motifs in its N-terminal region characterized by all plant DXRs. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that AoDXR belonged to angiosperm DXRs. The structural modeling of AoDXR showed that AoDXR had the typical V-shaped structure of DXR proteins. The tissue expression pattern analysis indicated that AoDXR expressed strongly in leaves, weak in rhizomes of A. officinarum. Exogenous methyl jasmonate (MeJA) could enhance the expression of AoDXR and the production of 1, 8-cineole in A. officinarum rhizomes. The cloning and characterization of AoDXR will be helpful to reveal the molecular regulation mechanism of monoterpene biosynthesis in A. officinarum and provides a candidate gene for metabolic engineering in improving the medicinal quality of A. officinarum rhizome.