Simultaneous quantification of chemical constituents in matcha with visible-near infrared hyperspectral imaging technology.

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of identifying multiple chemical constituents in matcha using visible-near infrared hyperspectral imaging (VNIR-HSI) technology. Regions of interest (ROIs) were first defined in order to calculate the representative mean spectrum of each sample. Subsequently, the standard normal variate (SNV) method was applied to correct the characteristic spectra. Competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and bootstrapping soft shrinkage (BOSS) were used to optimize the models. They were built based on partial least squares (PLS), creating two models referred to as CARS-PLS and BOSS-PLS. The BOSS-PLS models achieved best predictive accuracy, with coefficients of determination predicted to be 0.8077 for caffeine, 0.7098 for tea polyphenols (TPs), 0.7942 for free amino acids (FAAs), 0.8314 for the ratio of TPs to FAAs, and 0.8473 for chlorophyll. These findings highlight the potential of VNIR-HSI technology as a rapid and nondestructive alternative for simultaneous quantification of chemical constituents in matcha.

Plumbagin Protects Mice from Lethal Sepsis by Modulating Immunometabolism Upstream of PKM2.

Sepsis is characterized by dysregulated systemic inflammation with release of early (for example, interleukin (IL)-1ß) and late (for example, HMGB1) proinflammatory mediators from macrophages. Plumbagin, a medicinal plant-derived naphthoquinone, has been reported to exhibit antiinflammatory activity, but the underling mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we have demonstrated that plumbagin inhibits the inflammatory response through interfering with the immunometabolism pathway in activated macrophages. Remarkably, plumbagin inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced aerobic glycolysis by downregulating the expression of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), a protein kinase responsible for the final and rate-limiting reaction step of the glycolytic pathway. Moreover, the NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4)-mediated oxidative stress was required for LPS-induced PKM2 expression, because pharmacologic or genetic inhibition of NOX4 by plumbagin or RNA interference limited LPS-induced PKM2 expression, lactate production and subsequent proinflammatory cytokine (IL-1ß and HMGB1) release in macrophages. Finally, plumbagin protected mice from lethal endotoxemia and polymicrobial sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture. These findings identify a new approach for inhibiting the NOX4/PKM2-dependent immunometabolism pathway in the treatment of sepsis and inflammatory diseases.

In vitro experiment of allergic reactions induced by traditional Chinese medicine injections.

Allergic reactions caused by traditional Chinese medicine injections (TCMIs) become a greatest concern in the clinic application safety. The integral animal evaluation method commonly used in the preclinical evaluation for allergic reactions of TCMIs was not sensitive, specific, quick and objective in observation indexes. Therefore, more researchers have paid attention to the in vitro test method for evaluating allergic reactions induced by TCMIs. Currently, the methods for evaluating allergic reactions induced by TCMIs are mainly targeted at type I allergic reaction and anaphylactic reaction, with only a few in vitro methods for evaluating type II allergic reaction. In this paper, researchers summarized relevant literatures published about evaluation methods for allergic reactions induced by TCMIs in recent years.

Anti-tumor activities of active ingredients in Compound Kushen Injection.

Kushen (Radix Sophorae Flavescentis) has a long history of use for the treatment of tumors, inflammation and other diseases in traditional Chinese medicine. Compound Kushen Injection (CKI) is a mixture of natural compounds extracted from Kushen and Baituling (Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae). The main principles of CKI are matrine (MT) and oxymatrine (OMT) that exhibit a variety of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-viral, anti-fibrotic and cardiovascular protective effects. Recent evidence shows that these compounds also produce anti-cancer actions, such as inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, inducing cell cycle arrest, accelerating apoptosis, restraining angiogenesis, inducing cell differentiation, inhibiting cancer metastasis and invasion, reversing multidrug resistance, and preventing or reducing chemotherapy- and/or radiotherapy-induced toxicity when combined with chemotherapeutic drugs. In this review, we summarize recent progress in studying the anti-cancer activities of MT, OMT and CKI and their potential molecular targets, which provide clues and references for further study.