Hot water extract of adzuki (Vigna angularis) suppresses antigen-stimulated degranulation in rat basophilic leukemia RBL-2H3 cells and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reaction in mice.

The hot water extract of adzuki (HWEA), which is produced as a byproduct in the adzuki bean boiling process, has anti-tumor, antioxidative, and anti-diabetic activities. In this study, we fractionated HWEA to 4 fractions using stepwise gradient column chromatography with water and ethanol, and demonstrated the effects of each fraction on antigen (Ag)-stimulated degranulation in rat basophilic leukemia RBL-2H3 cells. The 40% ethanol eluate extract (EtEx.40) showed the strongest inhibition level of these fractions. To reveal the inhibitory mechanisms underlying degranulation by EtEx.40, we investigated intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, intracellular free Ca²âº concentration ([Ca²âº]i), and early intracellular signaling pathways. Treatment with EtEx.40 markedly inactivated Lyn following Ag stimulation, resulting in the suppressions of intracellular elevation of [Ca²âº]i and production of ROS. To identify the active compound in EtEx.40, we isolated 7 flavonoids from EtEx.40 and calculated their inhibition levels on Ag-stimulated degranulation. These flavonoids inhibited degranulation by about 25-60%. We further examined the in vivo effects of HWEA or EtEx.40 using a passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reaction. Both extracts strongly suppressed the PCA reaction. These findings suggest that HWEA and/or EtEx.40 are beneficial for alleviating type I allergic symptoms.

Structural Revision of a Naphthodipyranodione from Gentian Root and its Degradation Pathway from Gentiopicroside.

Based on NOE experiments, the structure of naphthodipyranodione from Gentianaceae plants was revised to 1,2-dihydro-4H,6H,8H-naphto[1,2-d:4,5- c'd']dipyrano-4,8-dione. Naphthodipyranodione was assumed to be formed by the degradation of gentiopicroside by enzymatic hydrolysis at low water -concentration. The degradation pathway was a unique domino-reaction triggered by enzymatic hydrolysis. Naphthodipyranodione may become an index compound for the drying and/or fermenting procedure of Gentian root.

Lupane-type saponins from leaves of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus and their inhibitory activity on pancreatic lipase.

Three known saponins, chiisanoside, 11-deoxyisochiisanoside, and isochiisanoside, and one novel saponin, 3,4-seco-4(23),20(29)-lupadiene-3,28-dioic acid 28-O-alpha-l-rhamnopyranosyl (1-->4)-beta-d-glucopyranosyl (1-->6)-beta-d-glucopyranoside, referred to as sessiloside, were isolated from a hot water extract of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus leaves. All of these saponins were lupane-type triterpene triglycosides, and their concentrations were 4.1, 1.0, 0.5, and 0.4% (w/w) of the total extract, respectively. Sessiloside and chiisanoside inhibited pancreatic lipase activity in vitro, and addition of the saponin-rich fraction to a high-fat diet suppressed the body weight gain of mice. The possibility of application of the lupane-type saponins from A. sessiliflorus leaves to the treatment of obesity is discussed.

Pharmaceutical terms reflecting the change in practice in Japan.

The implementation of Iyaku Bungyo, the changed regulations for drug distribution and the proposed change of pharmacy education from a four-year program to a six-year program are rapidly changing the practice of pharmacy. However, pharmacists' activities still remain at the level of simple dispensing and selling of drugs. Also, the terms that describe the essence of pharmacists' activities, such as services in patient care areas are still unclear. In order to solve and improve the problem of terminology for pharmacists' activities the use of terms related to pharmacists' services were examined in historical context. It was found that the terms "Rinsho yakugaku" and "Iryo yakugaku" have been used as having a similar meaning. Further, the term "Iryo yakugaku" was used to denote the comprehensive scope of pharmacists' services including "Rinsho yakugaku". It was verified that "Rinsho yakugaku" is a valid translation for "clinical pharmacy". "Iryo yakugaku" has a more comprehensive translation than "pharmaceutical care", therefore, it appears that "Iryo yakugaku" is a suitable translation for "pharmaceutical services". Hence, we proposed "Iryo yakugaku" as the English translation for "pharmaceutical services" and "Chiryo yakugaku" as the Japanese translation for "pharmaceutical care". There is a need, however for further clarification and definition of pharmacists' activities.

The case for a shift in pharmacists' activities and pharmacy education.

In Japan, pharmacists' activities for the most part consist of dispensing although in some University Hospitals they are directly involved in patient care. In the United States, pharmacists' activities have evolved over forty years in providing drug therapy and have now expanded to improvement in the patient's quality of life. In addition, a six-year pharmacy education program based on patient care is now in place nationally. Furthermore, World Health Organization (WHO) and International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) have made recommendations on pharmacists' activities. Shifting to a six-year pharmacy education in Japan has now been decided, and new approaches are being proposed. For pharmacists to serve society in their role as health care professionals, one needs to examine the activities they are expected to perform and pharmacy education necessary to develop these skills. In this paper, pharmacy education was examined by analyzing and comparing Western countries and Japan, with a focus on Canadian pharmacists' activities and pharmacy education in Alberta.

Pharmacognostic studies on ginger and related drugs--part 1: five sulfonated compounds from Zingiberis rhizome (Shokyo).

Five sulfonated compounds, namely 4-gingesulfonic acid and shogasulfonic acids A, B, C and D, were isolated together with seven known compounds including 6-gingesulfonic acid from Zingiberis rhizome (Japanese name: Shokyo) made out of ginger. Their structures were characterized by means of spectroscopic analysis.

Cytotoxic and radical scavenging activity of blended herbal extracts.

Chinese medicines have been applied to a variety of diseases producing various favorable effects, possibly due to the interactions between individual components. Establishment of an evaluation method for such interactions may facilitate the production of new natural medicines. We investigated here the interaction of the hot water extract of Aconiti Tuber (one of the most prominent Chinese medicines) and that of Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, Glycyrrhizae Radix, Atractylodesi, Lanceae Rhizoma or Poria, by measuring the superoxide anion (O2-), hydroxyl radical (OH) and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging activity, using ESR spectroscopy. We found that a 1:1 mixture of the hot water extract of one herb and that of another herb (referred to as a combined formula) showed a higher radical scavenging activity and cytotoxic activity than the hot water extract of a 1:1 mixture of two herbs (referred to as a blended formula). Both formulae showed higher cytotoxic activity against human oral tumor cell lines than against normal cells. These data further confirm the medicinal usefulness of combinations of empirical Chinese medicines.

Achyranthoside H methyl ester, a novel oleanolic acid saponin derivative from Achyranthes fauriei roots, induces apoptosis in human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-453 cells via a caspase activation pathway.

Achyranthoside H methyl ester (AH-Me) is an oleanolic acid saponin derivative isolated from the roots of Achyranthes fauriei through diazomethane treatment. AH-Me exhibited significant cytotoxicity against human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-453 cells, with respective ID(50) values of 4.0 and 6.5 muM: in the MTT assay. AH-Me is a unique saponin containing three methoxycarbonyl groups in the sugar moiety linked to the C-3 position of oleanolic acid. The demethylation of these methoxycarbonyl groups by alkaline hydrolysis caused a marked reduction of the cytotoxicity of AH-Me, suggesting that the methoxycarbonyl groups of AH-Me are key groups for the acquisition of cytotoxicity against human cancer cells. The staining of cancer cells with 4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) showed that the population of cells with altered nuclear morphology, for example chromatin condensation and fragmentation, increased markedly after AH-Me treatment. Exposure of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-453 cells to AH-Me resulted in a dose-dependent and time-dependent increase in the sub-G1 population, and in the cleavage of poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) followed by the formation of an 89 kD peptide. Pretreatment of the cells with the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk abolished the cleavage of PARP by AH-Me treatment and suppressed the antiproliferative effect of AH-Me on tumor cell growth. These results together led to the suggestion that AH-Me induces apoptosis via the caspase activation pathway in human breast cancer cells, and apoptosis is the major mode of the cytotoxic effect triggered by AH-Me.

Two new glucuronide saponins, Achyranthosides G and H, from Achyranthes fauriei root.

Two oleanolic acid saponins named achyranthosides G (1) and H (2) were newly isolated from Achyranthes fauriei root as methyl esters in addition to methyl esters of achyranthosides A - F and five oleanolic acid glucuronides (chikusetsusaponins IVa, V, 28-deglucosyl chikusetsusaponin V, pseudoginsenoside RT(1), and oleanolic acid 3-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranoside) as well as oleanolic acid 28-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, beta-ecdysterone, and polypodine B. Their structures were characterized as follows on the basis of the chemical and spectroscopic evidences.

Control of chemoselectivity of microbial reaction with resin adsorbent: enhancement of Baeyer-Villiger oxidation over reduction.

Amberlite XAD-7, a hydrophobic polymer, was used to change microbial reaction of ketones from reduction to Baeyer-Villiger (BV) oxidation. Thus, D. magnusii NBRC 4600 and G. reessii NBRC 1112 could catalyze the BV reaction of ketones in the presence of the polymer while reduction of the substrates proceeded, and BV oxidation was scarcely found in the absence of the polymer.

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of sacranosides a and B.

Direct beta-glucosidation between (-)-myrtenol and nerol and D-glucose (3) using the immobilized beta-glucosidase from almonds with the synthetic prepolymer ENTP-4000 gave myrtenyl O-beta-D-glucoside (4) and neryl O-beta-D-glucoside (10), respectively. The coupling of the myrtenyl or neryl O-beta-D-glucopyranoside congeners (7 or 13) and 2,3,4-tri-O-benzoyl-beta-L-arabinopyranosyl bromide (8) afforded the coupled products (9 or 14), respectively. Deprotection of the coupled products (9 or 14) afforded the synthetic myrtenyl 6-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (Sacranoside A, 1) or neryl 6-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (Sacranoside B, 2), respectively.

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of naturally occurring benzyl 6-O-glycosyl-beta-D-glucopyranosides.

Direct beta-glucosidation between benzyl alcohol and D-glucose (5) using the immobilized beta-glucosidase from almonds with the synthetic prepolymer ENTP-4000 gave a benzyl beta-D-glucoside (1) in 53% yield. The coupling of the benzyl beta-D-glucopyranoside congener (8) derived from 1 with phenyl 2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-xylopyranoside (9), ethyl 2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-1-thio-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside (13), and 2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl bromide (15) afforded 10, 14, and 16, respectively, as coupled products. Deprotection of 10, 14, and 16 provided the synthetic benzyl beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2), benzyl alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3), and benzyl alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (4), respectively.

Simple synthesis of beta-D-glycopyranosides using beta-glycosidase from almonds.

Enzymatic glycosidation of twenty-one kinds of alcohols (n-hepanol, n-octanol, 2-phenylethanol, 3-phenylpropanol, 4-phenylbutanol, 5-phenylpentanol, 6-phenylhexanol, furfury alcohol, 2-pyridinemethanol, isobutanol, isopentanol, p-methoxycinnamylalcohol) including secondary alcohols (isopropanol, cyclohexanol, 1-phenylethanol) and 1,omega-alkanediols (1,5-pentanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, 1,7-heptanediol, 1,8-octanediol, 1,9-nonanediol), salicyl alcohol and 4-nitrophenyl beta-D-glucopyranoside (5) using beta-glucosidase from almonds stereoselectively gave the corresponding beta-D-glucopyranosides in moderate yield.

Aggregation of RecA-derived peptides on single-stranded oligonucleotides triggered by schiff base-mediated crosslinking.

We here show that single-stranded oligonucleotides containing 5-formyl-2'-deoxyuridine (fdU) can crosslink the peptides derived from the DNA binding site of RecA protein through a Schiff base formation. The ability of crosslinking of fdU-containing oligonucleotides was investigated using a series of peptides whose amino acid residues spanning the center of the RecA-derived peptide were sequentially replaced with lysine. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, gel mobility shift assay and sedimentation experiment demonstrated that crosslinking reaction proceeded efficiently only when the peptides bound to the oligonucleotides.

Glycosides of Atractylodes japonica.

From the water-soluble portion of the methanol extract of the fresh rhizome of Atractylodes japonica, five new sesquiterpenoid glycosides, including a compound having a secoguaiane skeleton, and a new aromatic compound glycoside were isolated together with ten known compounds. Their structures were clarified by spectral investigation.

Specific inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 alpha activation and of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production by flavonoids.

Screening using a reporter under the control of the hypoxia-response element (HRE) identified several flavonoids and homoisoflavonoids that inhibit the activation of HRE under hypoxic conditions. Among various compounds, isorhamnetin, luteolin, quercetin, and methyl ophiopogonanone B (MOB) were effective at 3 to 9 microg/ml in inhibiting the reporter activity. The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA during hypoxia was also inhibited by MOB in HepG2 cells, but the effective doses were 10 to 20 microg/ml. MOB caused destabilization of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha, as revealed by Western blotting, that was dependent on proteasome activity and the tumor suppressor, p53. The tubular formation and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells was also inhibited by MOB. MOB is expected to act as an inhibitor of angiogenesis.

Glycosides of Atractylodes ovata.

A new coumarin glycoside and a new glycoside of an acetylene derivative were isolated from the water-soluble portion of the methanolic extract of Atractylodes ovata rhizome together with eight known compounds. Their structures were characterized as scopoletin beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside and (2E)-2-decene-4,6-diyne-1,8-diol 8-O-beta-D-apiofuranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, respectively, based on chemical and spectroscopic investigations. A comparison of the polar constituents among Atractylodes japonica, Atractylodes lancea, and A. ovata is led to the conclusion that A. ovata is distinguishable from A. lancea and A. japonica, as also shown by phylogenetic analysis.

Glycosides of Atractylodes lancea.

Five sesquiterpenoid glycosides (two guaiane-type glycosides and three eudesmane-type glucosides) and a glucoside of an acetylene derivative were newly isolated from the water-soluble portion of the methanolic extract of Atractylodes lancea rhizome together with 26 known compounds. Their structures were characterized as atractyloside A 14-O-beta-D-fructofuranoside, (1S,4S,5S,7R,10S)-10,11,14-trihydroxyguai-3-one 11-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, (5R,7R,10S)-isopterocarpolone beta-D-glucopyranoside, cis-atractyloside I, (2R,3R,5R,7R,10S)-atractyloside G 2-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, and (2E,8E)-2,8-decadiene-4,6-diyne-1,10-diol 1-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic investigation. The presence of six characteristic guaiane-type glucosides in both rhizomes of A. lancea and Atractylodes japonica suggested a close chemotaxonomic relationship between them.

Five triterpene glycosides from Oxytropis myriophylla.

Four new triterpene glycosides: one cycloartane-type glycoside and three azukisapogenol glycosides were isolated together with one known oleanene bisdesmoside from the Mongolian natural medicine, Oxytropis myriophylla.

Sophoranone, extracted from a traditional Chinese medicine Shan Dou Gen, induces apoptosis in human leukemia U937 cells via formation of reactive oxygen species and opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores.

Screening of various natural products in a search for novel inducers of apoptosis in human leukemia cells led us to identify the strong apoptosis-inducing activity in a fraction extracted with methanol from the roots of Sophora subprostrata Chun et T. Chen. We purified the compound that induced apoptosis in human leukemia cells and identified it as sophoranone. Sophoranone inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in various lines of cells from human solid tumors, with 50% inhibition of growth of human stomach cancer MKN7 cells at 1.2 +/- 0.3 microM. The growth-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing activities of sophoranone for leukemia U937 cells were very much stronger than those of other flavonoids, such as daidzein, genistein and quercetin. At the early stages of treatment of U937 cells with sophoranone, reactive oxygen species were formed, mitochondrial permeability pores were opened and cytochrome c was released from mitochondria. Cytochrome c was also released upon treatment of isolated mitochondria with sophoranone. Inhibitors of complexes III and IV, but not complexes I and II, of the mitochondrial respiratory chain prevented the release of cytochrome c from isolated mitochondria by sophoranone, as well as the induction of apoptosis in U937 cells in response to sophoranone. Our results indicate that sophoranone might be a unique apoptosis-inducing anticancer agent that targets mitochondria.