The flavonoid-rich fraction from rhizomes of Smilax glabra Roxb. ameliorates renal oxidative stress and inflammation in uric acid nephropathy rats through promoting uric acid excretion.

Uric acid metabolic disorder is considered to be the main pathogenesis of uric acid nephropathy (UN). Smilax glabra Roxb. is a traditional Chinese herb which has been used in the treatment of gout, but the mechanism was unclear. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of the flavonoid-rich fraction from rhizomes of Smilax glabra Roxb. (SGF) on uric acid nephropathy rats and its underlying mechanisms of promoting uric acid excretion. Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were induced by high purine diet (yeast pellets + adenine) for 5 weeks. Rats were orally treated with SGF or allopurinol daily. The biochemical parameters and enzymes in different treated rats were determined by commercial kits. Kidney pathology was visualized using optical microscopy and electron microscopy. Renal inflammatory factors were detected by ELISA. Renal fibrosis factors and uric acid transporters were analyzed by real time RT-PCR and western blot. The results showed that SGF significantly improved kidney function. Histopathologic examination revealed that urate-induced renal damage was markedly reversed by SGF. Meanwhile, SGF treatment was also found to significantly inhibit renal oxidative stress. SGF treatment obviously suppressed the inflammatory factors of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the profibrotic factors of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) expression in UN rats. Moreover, SGF either significantly inhibited uric acid production or promoted uric acid excretion in UN rats. The mechanism of SGF promoting uric acid excretion was related to its increase of ATP-binding cassette transporter G2 (ABCG2), organic anion transporter 1 (OAT1), organic anion transporters 2 (OCT2) and organic cation/carnitine transporters 2 (OCTN2) expression. In conclusion, SGF could ameliorate renal oxidative stress and inflammation in UN rats through promoting uric acid excretion.

Antioxidant and antibacterial activity of six edible wild plants (Sonchus spp.) in China.

The total phenolic and flavonoid, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of six Sonchus wild vegetables (Sonchus oleraceus L., Sonchus arvensis L., Sonchus asper (L.) Hill., Sonchus uliginosus M.B., Sonchus brachyotus DC. and Sonchus lingianus Shih) in China were investigated. The results revealed that S. arvensis extract and S. oleraceus extract contained the highest amount of phenolic and flavonoid, respectively. Among the methanol extracts of six Sonchus species, S. arvensis extract exhibited the highest radical (DPPH and ABTS+ scavenging power and lipid peroxidation inhibitory power. It also exhibited the highest reducing power at 500 µg mL⁻¹ by A (700) = 0.80. The results of antibacterial test indicated that the S. oleraceus extract showed higher activity than the other five Sonchus wild vegetables extracts, both in Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and Vibrio parahaemolyticus) and in a Gram-positive bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus). These results indicate that Sonchus wild food plants might be applicable in natural medicine and healthy food.

Protective effect of Smilax glabra extract against lead-induced oxidative stress in rats.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Smilax glabra Roxb. is a traditional Chinese herb, the rhizome of Smilax glabra has been used in folk medicine for the treatment of lead poisoning. AIMS OF THE STUDY: The present study was conducted to investigate the protective role of Smilax glabra extract (SGE) individually or combined with meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) against the effects of lead acetate on oxidative stress and lead burden in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The biochemical parameters and enzymes in different treated rats were determined by commercial kits. The metal concentrations were measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. RESULTS: SGE (300 mg/kg) showed very low toxicity to organs in non-lead exposed rats. Administration of SGE individually had no effect on blood zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) level but significantly enhanced the glutathione (GSH) content and delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities in lead exposed rats. The co-treatment of SGE and DMSA had a synergism in increasing brain, liver and kidney superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activities and GSH level, and decreasing oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) levels. Moreover, the co-treatment could improve the hepatic and renal histopathology changes. SGE as chelating agent showed significant efficiency in reducing blood and tissue lead burden. CONCLUSIONS: The in vivo results suggested that SGE individually or combined with DMSA exhibited remarkable protective effects on lead-induced oxidative stress and lead burden in rats.

Anti-obesity and hypolipidemic effects of ethanolic extract from Alpinia officinarum Hance (Zingiberaceae) in rats fed high-fat diet.

To investigate the anti-obesity and hypolipidemic effects of Alpinia officinarum ethanolic extract (AOE) for the first time, anti-obesity models in vivo were used. Ten male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed normal control diet (NC); other groups of rats were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) with or without different proportions of AOE (AOE-1, 3%; AOE-2, 5%) for 6 weeks to examine feed intake, body and adipose tissue weight, serum total cholesterol (Total-C), triacylglycerol (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and leptin levels, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotranferase activities, hepatic Total-C and TG levels, and the pathological changes in liver and epididymal adipose tissues. Interestingly, feed intakes among the experimental groups were not significantly different. Body weight gains were significantly lowered in the AOE-1 and AOE-2 groups compared with the HFD group (P < .05) and near to the level of the NC group. AOE also improved the lipid profile in serum and the pathological changes in liver and adipose tissue and decreased the relative weights of epididymal and perirenal white adipose tissues. They improved lipid profile by lowering serum Total-C, TG, and LDL-C concentrations, leptin content, and the atherogenic index compared with the HFD group. The HDL-C concentration and the ratio of HDL-C/Total-C significantly increased compared with those of the HFD group. The serum ALT activity of the AOE-2 group was notably lower than that of the HFD group. Our data suggest that AOE can be considered as an anti-obesity agent that is effective for suppressing body weight gain and decreasing lipid profile.