RESUMEN
As the national flower of Korea, the Hibiscus syriacus L. (Rose of Sharon) is symbolic in its abundance and is a prominent feature of Korean culture. H. syriacus has played an important role in Korea, not only as an ornamental plant but also as an essential ingredient in folk remedies through its various parts. This study aimed to characterize the nutritional and biochemical composition of each plant unit of H. syriacus "Wonhwa." The units are namely: the petals, leaves, roots, and sprouts from its seeds. According to the results each unit produced, the sprouts had the highest content of amino acids and fatty acids which adhere to the requirements of nutritionally excellent food ingredients. The petals produced high quantities of glucose, sucrose, and fumaric acid, with the highest antioxidant activity among the four units. The main bioactive compounds detected in H. syriacus extracts in the four units were o-coumaric acid, p-coumaric acid, schaftoside, isoschaftoside, apigenin-6-C-glucoside-7-o-glucoside, and kaempferol-3-O-galactoside-7-O-rhamnoside. Overall, the highest number of bioactive compounds, 2 phenolic acids and 22 flavonoids, were identified in the petals. These results suggest the possibility of excellent pharmacological activity in the petals.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Codonopsis lanceolata, a plant with antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and blood lipid improving effects, has been widely used as a therapeutic agent in traditional medicine. PURPOSE: The present study investigated the ability of an ethanol extract of Codonopsis lanceolata (ECL) to prevent hypertension in hypertensive rats. METHODS: Rats were orally administered daily doses of 0â¯mg/kg, 200â¯mg/kg and 400â¯mg/kg ECL for 3 weeks. As a positive control, rats were orally administered 10â¯mg/kg/day nifedipine. Hypertension was induced by immobilization stress for 2â¯h/day and by administration of 0.8â¯mg/kg/day nicotine for 3 weeks, followed by injection of 3â¯mg/kg nicotine on the day of sacrifice. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured using a volume pressure recording system. Vasoconstriction and vasodilation of aortic cross sections were measured with a physiological recorder. Neutrophil counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were estimated with an automated cell counter. RESULTS: Treatment with both dosages of ECL significantly reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP) in hypertensive rats. Both doses of ECL tended to increase ACh- and SNP-induced vascular relaxation in hypertensive rats. Treatment with 200â¯mg/kg ECL significantly reduced neutrophil in hypertensive rats. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ECL is effective in reducing SBP and inflammation in hypertensive conditions.
Asunto(s)
Antihipertensivos/farmacología , Codonopsis/química , Hipertensión/prevención & control , Extractos Vegetales/farmacología , Animales , Antihipertensivos/administración & dosificación , Presión Sanguínea/efectos de los fármacos , Líquido del Lavado Bronquioalveolar/citología , Etanol/química , Frecuencia Cardíaca/efectos de los fármacos , Hipertensión/tratamiento farmacológico , Masculino , Neutrófilos/efectos de los fármacos , Extractos Vegetales/química , Plantas Medicinales/química , Ratas Sprague-Dawley , Vasoconstricción/efectos de los fármacos , Vasodilatación/efectos de los fármacosRESUMEN
Cassiae Semen (seeds of Cassia tora) showed a remarkably different HPLC chromatogram after being treated with a crude enzyme extract from Aspergillus usamii. Increased and decreased compounds were identified as aurantio-obtusin and glucoaurantio-obtusin, respectively. The aurantio-obtusin content reached its maximum level (133.58 +/- 0.39 microg/mg extract) after being incubated for 50 min at 37 degrees C, whereas the inactivated crude enzyme-treated control remained unchanged (54.13 +/- 1.33 microg/mg). On the other hand, the glucoaurantio-obtusin content decreased by less than one-third (51.09 +/- 1.63 microg/ mg) of the untreated control (143.19 +/- 2.12 microg/mg), suggesting that an increase in aurantio-obtusin content originated from the enzymatic cleavage of its glucoside glucoaurantio-obtusin.
Asunto(s)
Antraquinonas/análisis , Aspergillus/enzimología , Cassia/química , Manipulación de Alimentos , FermentaciónRESUMEN
In the course of screening anti-dementia agents from natural products, two beta-secretase (BACE1) inhibitors were isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of Sanguisorbae Radix by the activity-guided purification using silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and RP-HPLC. They were identified as 1,2,3-trigalloyl-4,6-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (Tellimagrandin II, 1) and 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2) and were shown to non-competitively inhibit beta-secretase (BACE1) with the IC50 values of 3.10x10(-6) M and 3.76x10(-6) M, respectively. The Ki values of 1 and 2 were 6.84x10(-6) M and 5.13x10(-6) M. They were less inhibitory to alphasecretase (TACE) and other serine proteases such as chymotrypsin, trypsin, and elastase, suggesting that they were relatively specific inhibitors of BACE1.