Effects of topping on rhizome, and analysis of chemical composition, antioxidant activity and α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition of the aerial parts in Polygonatum cyrtonema.

Polygonatum cyrtonema is a perennial plant, and it has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine for food and medicine. The medicinal part of P.cyrtonema is the rhizome; however, the aerial part has not been studied. To understand the effect of the topping of aerial parts on the yield and chemical components of rhizomes, as well as the chemical constituents, antioxidant, and in vitro hypoglycemic activities of the aerial stem, leave, and flower parts of P.cyrtonema, the present study was conducted. The results showed that compared to the control (CK) treatment, the topping of the aerial part increased rhizome weight gain coefficient (3.43) and the total saponin content (37.60 mg/g) significantly (P<0.01) than the CK treatment. The contents of total phenols and total flavonoids in PCL and PCF were significantly (P<0.01) higher than those in rhizomes; however, the polysaccharide content (10.47%) in PCR (whole rhizome) was higher than that in PCS (3.65%), PCL (5.99%), and PCF (4.76%) content. The protein and amino acid contents in PCS, PCL, and PCF were higher than those in rhizomes. The protein and amino acid contents in PCS, PCL, and PCF were higher than those in rhizomes. PCS, PCL, and PCF showed strong antioxidant activity (DPPH, ·OH, ABTS, and FRAP), which were better than traditional medicinal parts (the rhizome).In vitro hypoglycemic results showed that PCS, PCL, and PCF had certain inhibitory activities on α-amylase and α-glucosidase (66.25% and 52.81%), which were close to the hypoglycemic activity of rhizomes (67.96% and 52.22%). The leaf extracts also showed better inhibitory activity. To sum up, the topping measures can improve yield and total saponin content of the rhizomes from P.cyrtonema, which can be applied to improve production. The stems, leaves, and flowers had a much stronger antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities and higher the total polyphenols, flavonoids, proteins, and amino acid content. Therefore, stems, leaves, and flowers of Polygonatum can be fully developed according to different needs. they are typically used in animal feed, food storage and cosmetics.

Clinical effect of wumei bolus on ulcerative colitis: A meta-analysis.

Wumei Bolus is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, first appeared in Shennong Bencao Jing. Modern pharmacology believes that Wumei Bolus has antibacterial, antitussive, sedative, antiviral and anti-tumor effects, and plays a therapeutic role by acting on multi-target/multi-pathway. Moreover, it has great advantages in digestive system diseases, such as repairing the damaged gastrointestinal mucosa and improving the inflammatory environment. Aim of the study: This review aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of prescriptions based on the Wumei Bolus treating ulcerative colitis (UC). Materials and methods: In this meta-analysis, we searched CNKI, Wanfang Database, VIP, Pubmed, Web of Science (WOS) with language restrictions of Chinese and English for articles published from the establishment of the database to Dec 2022. This meta-analysis controlled randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy and safety of Wumei Bolus against ulcerative colitis and using RevMan 5.4 and Stata 15.0to analyze information from the compliant studies. Results: The search incorporated 3145 results (1617 cases assigned into Wumei Bolus group and 1528 cases assigned into control group), from which 37 studies fulfilled our inclusion criteria and were included. The outcomes of this meta-analysis showed that compared to the control group, the Experiment group was significantly more effective (RR = 1.24，95%CI [1.20，1.28])and lower adverse reactions (RR = 0.32, 95%CI [0.20, 0.53]). According to the subgroup analysis, The results showed that the RR = 1.23 and 95%CI [1.16, 1.30] in the group treated with Wumei Bolus alone and the group treated with Western medicine with RR = 1.25 and 95%CI [1.20, 1.30], indicating that the efficacy of Wumei Bolus in the treatment of UC was better and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.00001). The results showed that compared with the control group, the experimental group had more advantages in reducing inflammatory factors whether TNF-α or IL-8 (TNF-α:SMD = -4.44, 95%CI [-5.75, -3.14]; IL-8: SMD = -3.02, 95%CI [-4.06, -1.97]) and improving TCM symptoms and reduced TCM syndrome points (SMD = -3.82, 95%CI [-4.30, -3.34]). There was significant association of the basic treatment of Wumei Bolus improving clinical efficacy, reducing serum pro-inflammatory factors, improving symptoms, and reducing adverse reactions in UC patients. These results were statistically significant (P < 0.00001). Conclusions: The prescriptions based on the Wumei Bolus is greatly related to reducing serum pro-inflammatory factors, improving symptoms, improving clinical efficacy and reducing adverse reactions in the treatment of UC compared to conventional western medicine and improve the total clinical effective rate.

Comparative Analysis of Roots from Vicatia thibetica de Boiss and Angelica sinensis Based on Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, Nitrite-Scavenging and Enzyme Inhibition Activities.

Radix Vicatia thibetica de Boiss (RVT) is locally known as "Xigui" or "Dujiao-danggui" in Tibetan medicine and is often used as a substitute for Radix Angelica sinensis (RAS) in daily nourishing diets and clinical applications. In this study, we determined and compared the contents of polysaccharides, total coumarins, ferulic acid, total phenols, total flavonoids, chlorogenic acid, protein, and amino acids, and the composition of volatile oil in RVT and RAS. Biological activities, including antioxidants, scavenging of nitrite, inhibition of tyrosinase, thrombin, and coagulation FXa, were comparatively evaluated. Results showed that RVT contains more polysaccharides, phenols, flavonoids, proteins, glutamic acid, and lysine as compared to RAS. Among volatile compounds, 14 species are similar, and 20 species are different in RVT and RAS. Overall, among volatile compounds, the content of 3-N-Butylphthalide was higher, whereas the content of ligustilide was lower in RVT volatile oil. A significant difference was reported in the bioactivity of RVT and RAS. The biological activity of RVT had higher antioxidant, nitrite scavenging, and tyrosinase inhibitory activities, whereas it showed much lower thrombin and FXa inhibitory activities. Correlation analysis showed that the antioxidant, nitrite scavenging, and tyrosinase inhibitory activities were related to the phenol and flavonoid content, whereas the thrombin and FXa inhibitory activities were related to ferulic acid and volatile oil content. This study presents a comparative analysis of RAS and RVT's chemical compositions of antioxidant, nitrite-scavenging, inhibition of tyrosinase, thrombin, and coagulation FXa activities. It was found that both RVT and RAS have their unique advantages, and RVT has the potential to be utilized as functional foods, cosmetics, and medical products.

Decontamination performance of a bioretention system using a simple sand-based filler proportioning method.

This study investigated the decontamination performance of a bioretention system using a sand-based filler constructed using sand and peat soil. The filler was constructed according to a simple proportioning method that considers water turnover time and organic content. Different inorganic constituents were added to the filler including zeolite, volcanic rock, coal slag, vermiculite and perlite to further improve the decontamination effect. Total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N), total nitrogen (TN) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were measured in the influent and effluent. The results showed that: (1) the overall removal effect of the sand-based filler was satisfactory, indicating a certain feasibility and practicality of the method; (2) bioretention based on the sand-based filler had a better performance in removing TSS and TP with the removal rate both over 95%, and the addition of inorganic constituents to the filler was beneficial to TSS removal due to the effect of cumulative filtration capabilities of multiple materials, while phosphate was easily adsorbed by the positively charged particles of the peat soil; (3) the high removal rate of NH4+-N was due to adsorption and it could reach more than 80% by adding inorganic constituents with good adsorption such as zeolite vermiculite and perlite. Similarly, the addition of vermiculite and coal slag could increase the removal rate of COD by 15-25%. This research offers a novel alternative for guiding the selection and proportion of fillers in bioretention systems.

Kadanguslactones A-E, further oxygenated terpenoids from Kadsura angustifolia fermented by a symbiotic endophytic fungus, Penicillium ochrochloron SWUKD4.1850.

The fermentation of Kadsura angustifolia with an endophytic fungus, Penicillium ochrochloron SWUKD4.1850 yielded five additional undescribed oxygenated terpenoids, kadanguslactones A-E, together with ten known compounds. Their structures were established by the extensive 1D, 2D-NMR, HR-ESI-MS, CD and X-ray crystallography data analysis. Kadanguslactone A is the first example of 1,30-cyclo-3,4; 9,10-disecocycloartanes that combine a five-membered lactone ring A with a cyclopentane ring B consisting of C-1, C-4, C-5, C-10, C-30. Kadanguslactone B was a rare highly oxygenated 18-norschiartane-type bisnortriterpenoid with spirocyclis rings F and G, whereas kadanguslactone C was an uncommon henrischinin-type schitriterpenoid containing a unique 3-one-2-oxabicyclo [3,2,1]-octane motif. The cytotoxicity against HepG2 cell line of all compounds were evaluated. Except nigranoic acid, all other metabolites have been first found in unfermented K. angustifolia, suggesting that main functional ingredients from K. angustifolia may be converted by P. ochrochloron SWUKD4.1850 into highly oxygenated terpenoids. This study provided a fascinating prospective for setting up alternative processing techniques to enhance the functionality and utility of Chinese herbal medicine.

[Effect of harvest times on yield and quality of Isatidis Folium in Longzhong semi-arid region].

Different harvest times of Isatidis Folium had a significant effect on the yield and the quality of Isatidis Radix and Isatidis Folium. The harvest could increase the yield of Isatidis Folium, but reduce the yield of Isatidis Radix, the quality of Isatidis Radix and Isatidis Folium. One, two and three harvests of the Isatidis Folium reduced the yield of Isatidis Radix as 18.3%, 58.6%, 67.4% and increased the yield of the Folium as 107.3%, 86.3% and 116.6%. Ethanol-soluble extract of Isatidis Radix was 42.50%, 42.24%, 31.77%, which were 1.19%, 1.79%, 26.13% lower than those of the control, respectively. The water-soluble extract, indirubin, indigo content reduced with increase of the harvest times. Indirubin contents with two or three times harvests were higher than that of the control, but the content of water-soluble extract, ethanol-soluble extract, indigo were lower than those of the control.

Identification and characterization of the human SCAN domain zinc-finger gene ZNF449.

Zinc-finger proteins play important roles in various cellular functions, including cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In this study, we identified a gene encoding a zinc finger protein named ZNF449, which was isolated from human testis cDNA library and mapped to Xq26.3 by searching the UCSC genomic database. The ZNF449 cDNA consists of 4035 nucleotides and has a 518-amino acids open reading frame. The predicted protein contains a leucine-rich region (LER or SCAN domain) at the N-terminus. At the C-terminus of the protein, there are 7 C(2)H(2) (Cys2-His2) zinc-finger motifs. The expression pattern of ZNF449 showed that it was ubiquitously expressed in 18 human adult tissues. ZNF449 protein was located in the nucleus when overexpressed in cultured cells. These results indicate that ZNF449 is a member of the zinc-finger family and it may function as a transcription factor.

Activation of transcriptional activities of AP1 and SRE by a novel zinc finger protein ZNF445.

Zinc finger proteins play important roles in various cellular functions, including cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction pathways are one of the most common mechanisms in eukaryotic cell regulation. Many transcription factors are important targets of MAPKs. In this study, we identified a novel gene encoding a zinc finger protein named ZNF445. The ZNF445 mRNA consists of 9105 nucleotides and has a 1031-amino acid open reading frame. The predicted 119-kDa protein contains a leucine-rich region (LER or SCAN domain) at the N-terminus, followed by a well-conserved Krüppel-associated box (KRAB) domain. At the C-terminus of the protein, there are 14 C2H2 (Cys2-His2) zinc finger motifs. ZNF445 gene is mapped to chromosome 3p21.32. Northern blot analysis indicates that a 9.1 kb transcript specific for ZNF445 is expressed in uterus, thymus, small intestine, colon, pancreas, peripheral blood leukocyte, and especially at a higher level in the testis and skeletal muscle in human adult tissues. ZNF445 protein was located in the nucleus when overexpressed in cultured cells. Reporter gene assays showed that ZNF445 is a transcriptional repressor, and overexpression of ZNF445 in the HEK 293T cells activates the transcriptional activities of AP1 and SRE. Deletion studies showed that the SCAN domain of ZNF445 may be involved in this activation. Furthermore, we found that expression of ZNF445 can increase p42/44 MAPK, MEK and Raf-1 phosphorylation. These results clearly indicate that ZNF445 is a member of the zinc finger transcription factor family and may function in MAPK pathway through Raf-1/MEK/p42/44 MAPK signals.

Cloning and characterization of the CDZFP gene which encodes a putative zinc finger protein.

We report here the cloning and characterization of a novel human cytoplasm-distribution zinc finger protein (CDZFP) gene, isolated from human ovary cDNA library, and mapped to 4p12 by searching the UCSC genomic database. The CDZFP cDNA is 1793 base pairs in length and contains an open reading frame (ORF) encoding 236 amino acids. The CDZFP gene consists of 7 exons and encodes a putative zinc finger protein with a transmembrane region and two zinc finger motifs. Subcellular localization demonstrated that CDZFP protein was located in the cytoplasm when overexpressed in Hela cells and northern blot analysis revealed that CDZFP was ubiquitously expressed in 16 human tissues.