Fermented rape pollen powder can alleviate benign prostatic hyperplasia in rats by reducing hormone content and changing gut microbiota.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) can cause urethral compression, bladder stone formation, and renal function damage, which may endanger the life of patients. Therefore, we aimed to develop plant-based preparations for BPH treatment with no side effects. In this study, the Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 322Hp, Lactobacillus acidophilus 322Ha, and Limosilactobacillus reuteri 322Hr were used to ferment rape pollen. The fermented rape pollen was subsequently converted into fermented rape pollen powder (FRPP) through vacuum freeze-drying technology. After fermenting and drying, the bioactive substances and antioxidant capacity of FRPP were significantly higher than those of unfermented rapeseed pollen, and FRPP had a longer storage duration, which can be stored for over one year. To investigate the therapeutic effect of FRPP on BPH, a BPH rat model was established by hypodermic injection of testosterone propionate. The BPH rats were treated differently, with the model group receiving normal saline, the positive control group receiving finasteride, and the low, medium, and high dose FRPP group receiving FRPP at doses of 0.14 g/kg/d, 0.28 g/kg/d, and 0.56 g/kg/d, respectively. The results indicate that medium dose FRPP reduced the levels of hormone such as testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and oestradiol in rats with BPH by about 32%, thus bringing the prostate tissue of BPH rats closer to normal. More importantly, medium dose FRPP treatment had a significant effect on the composition of gut microbiota in rats with BPH, increasing the levels of beneficial genera (such as Coprococcus and Jeotgalicoccus), and decreasing the levels of harmful pathogens (such as Turicibacter and Clostridiaceae_Clostridium) in the gut. This study showed that medium dose FRPP reduced the hormone level and regulated the unbalanced gut microbiota in BPH rats, thereby alleviating BPH.

Bioactive secondary metabolites from Nigrospora sp. LLGLM003, an endophytic fungus of the medicinal plant Moringa oleifera Lam.

An endophytic fungus was isolated from the root of the medicinal plant Moringa oleifera Lam. Based on analyzing the rDNA sequence, the fungus was identified as Nigrospora sp. This is the first report of the isolation of endophytic Nigrospora from M. oleifera. By bioassay-guided fractionation, four antifungal secondary metabolites were isolated from liquid cultures of the fungus Nigrospora sp. LLGLM003, and their chemical structures were determined to be griseofulvin (1), dechlorogriseofulvin (2), 8-dihydroramulosin (3) and mellein (4) on the basis of spectroscopic analyses. Compound 2, 3 and 4 were isolated from Nigrospora sp. for the first time. In vitro antifungal assay showed that griseofulvin displayed clear inhibition of the growth of 8 plant pathogenic fungi. Dechlorogriseofulvin and mellein exhibited only weak antifungal activities, whereas 8-dihydroramulosin displayed no antifungal activities.

[Studies on the chemical constituents from Aquilegia ecalcarata Maxim].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents from Aquilegia ecalcarata. METHOD: Compounds were isolated with silica gel and polyamide chromatography and their structures were determined by spectral analysis and chemical evidence. RESULT: Five compounds were obtained and identified as beta-sitosterol, isoorientin-7-O-glucoside, isovitexin-4'-O-glucoside, isovitexin-2'-O-rhamnoside, luteolin-7-O-glucoside. CONCLUSION: All the compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time.

Effect of berbamine on T-cell mediated immunity and the prevention of rejection on skin transplants in mice.

Berbamine, an ingredient of Berberis, which itself is widely utilized in Chinese folk-medicine has been used as a source of leukogenics, anti-arrhythmics and anti-hypertensives. In recent years, the immunosuppressive effects of berbamine has been demonstrated. In order to further investigate the value of berbamine as an immunosuppressive agent, the delayed type hypersensitivity reaction (DTH) response with sheep red blood cells (SRBC), the mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and a skin model of allograft rejection on mice were studied. Berbamine showed suppressive effects on DTH and MLR and significantly prolonged allograft survival compared with untreated transplanted mice. The results indicate that berbamine may be a potential agent in clinical transplantation.

Immunological aspects of Chinese medicinal plants as antiageing drugs.

The development of a predominantly geriatric community worldwide has become an inevitable fact. Antiageing agents could be, in a certain sense, attentive to the well-being of the aged. There are quite a lot of medicinal plants and prescriptions recorded in Chinese medical literatures aimed at the well-being of the aged as well as the prevention of diseases and prolongation of life-span. By means of modern scientific research, a strategy towards antiageing drugs is presented in this paper. One of the effective routes is to select the candidates based on their ethnopharmacological usages, followed by immunological investigation in connection with other antiageing experimentation. A list of Chinese medicinal plants used as or related to the antiageing agents are presented. Specifically, five Chinese traditional drugs, Herba Epimedii, Fructus Lycii, Radix Polygoni multiflori, Radix Cynanchi auriculati and Ganoderma along with a composite prescription 'American Ginseng Royal Jelly' are selected as representatives. The prospect of research and development of antiageing drugs based on natural origin is also discussed.

[Statistical analysis of ethnopharmacologic data based on Chinese medicinal plants using a computer (II) Hamamelidae and Caryophyllidae].

Statistical analysis of Chinese medicinal plants, Hamamelidae and Carophyllidae, has been made to the clarification of the ethnopharmacologic data collected nationwide, and hence trend and regularity of these data have been abstracted and quantitatively presented. The main parameters of this study involved: family medicinal coefficient (alpha f) i.e. the radio of medicinal/total genera within a certain family; genus medicinal coefficient (alpha g) i.e. the radio of medicinal/total species within a certain genus; traditional therapeutic usages coefficient (TRI) and extent of traditional therapeutic usages within a certain taxon (beta). The results may be of value to the resources utilization, new drug searching, as well as systematization of traditional Chinese and herbal medicine.