Raspberry pulp polysaccharides inhibit tumor growth via immunopotentiation and enhance docetaxel chemotherapy against malignant melanoma in vivo.

It has been reported previously that the systemic efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents is substantially restricted for some cancer types, including malignant melanoma. Therefore, the development of more effective treatment modalities remains a critical, albeit elusive, goal in anticancer therapy. The study presented here evaluates the antitumor activity of raspberry pulp polysaccharides (RPPs) against malignant melanoma using a murine tumor-bearing model. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism of this antitumor activity has also been investigated. The results show that while RPP exhibits no direct cytotoxic effect on HT-29, MGC-803, HeLa, Bel-7402, L02 and B16F10 cells in vitro, it does demonstrate a dose-dependent growth inhibition of melanoma in vivo with an inhibition ratio of 59.95% at a dose of 400 mg kg(-1). Besides this, the body weight and spleen index in tumor-bearing mice have also been improved in RPP-treated groups. RPP is also found to induce splenocyte proliferation and is able to upregulate the activity of immune-related enzymes, including acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the spleen of tumor-bearing mice. The levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interferon γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin 2 (IL-2) in the serum of tumor-bearing mice show to be effectively increased upon RPP treatment. Histopathological analyses show that RPP induces tumor tissue necrosis by increasing inflammatory cell infiltration and causes no lesions to liver and kidney tissues. Remarkably, RPP further enhances the antitumor effect of the chemotherapeutic drug docetaxel and alleviates docetaxel-induced liver and kidney lesions in tumor-bearing mice. These findings indicate that RPP exhibits antitumor activity in vivo against malignant melanoma, partly by enhancing the cellular immune response of the host organism. In summary, RPP features critical properties to potentially find use as an immunopotentiating agent or as a chemotherapy adjuvant agent for the treatment of malignant melanoma.

Protective effect of seed oil of Herpetospermum pedunculosum against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury in rats.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the protective effect of Herpetospermum pedunculosum (H. pedunculosum) seed oil against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver damage. METHODS: This experimental study was conducted at the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Yantai University, China from November 2012 to May 2013. The H. pedunculosum seed oil was extracted using supercritical carbon dioxide. The antioxidant activities of H. pedunculosum seed oil were assayed in vitro by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay, lipid peroxidation assay, and antihemolytic assay. Adult Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 6 groups (10 rats/group) including control, CCl4, CCl4+bifendate, and CCl4+H. pedunculosum seed oil (3 different doses) groups. RESULTS: The CCl4-induced liver lesions include hepatocyte necrosis, ballooning degeneration, calcification, and fibrosis. Moreover, CCl4 damage results in an obvious increase of serum triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, malondialdehyde, total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activity. In addition, CCl4 also significantly decreased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD). By contrast, H. pedunculosum seed oil administration significantly ameliorated the CCl4-induced liver lesions, lowered the serum levels of hepatic enzyme markers, and increased the activities of SOD. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that H. pedunculosum seed oil can be proposed to protect the liver against CCl4-induced oxidative damage in rats, and the hepatoprotective effect might be correlated with its potent antioxidant and free radical scavenging effect.

Preparative separation and purification of four cis-trans isomers of coumaroylspermidine analogs from safflower by high-speed counter-current chromatography.

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) was successfully applied for the first time to isolate and purify four cis-trans isomers of coumaroylspermidine analogs from Safflower. HSCCC separation was achieved with a two-phase solvent system composed of chloroform-methanol-water (1:1:1, v/v/v) with the upper phase as the mobile phase. In a single run, a total of 1.3mg of N(1), N(5), N(10)-(E)-tri-p-coumaroylspermidine (EEE), 4.4mg of N(1)(E)-N(5)-(Z)-N(10)-(E)-tri-p-coumaroylspermidine (EZE), 7.2mg of N(1)(Z)-N(5)-(Z)-N(10)-(E)-tri-p-coumaroylspermidine (ZZE), and 11.5mg of N(1),N(5),N(10)-(Z)-tri-p-coumaroylspermidine (ZZZ) were obtained from 100mg of crude sample. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that the purities of these four components are 95.5%, 98.1%, 97.5% and 96.2%, respectively. The chemical structures were identified by ESI-MS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR.

[Rapid determination of fatty acids in soybean oils by transmission reflection-near infrared spectroscopy].

In the present research, a novel method was established for determination of five fatty acids in soybean oil by transmission reflection-near infrared spectroscopy. The optimum conditions of mathematics model of five components (C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3) were studied, including the sample set selection, chemical value analysis, the detection methods and condition. Chemical value was analyzed by gas chromatography. One hundred fifty eight samples were selected, 138 for modeling set, 10 for testing set and 10 for unknown sample set. All samples were placed in sample pools and scanned by transmission reflection-near infrared spectrum after sonicleaning for 10 minute. The 1100-2500 nm spectral region was analyzed. The acquisition interval was 2 nm. Modified partial least square method was chosen for calibration mode creating. Result demonstrated that the 1-VR of five fatty acids between the reference value of the modeling sample set and the near infrared spectrum predictive value were 0.8839, 0.5830, 0.9001, 0.9776 and 0.9596, respectively. And the SECV of five fatty acids between the reference value of the modeling sample set and the near infrared spectrum predictive value were 0.42, 0.29, 0.83, 0.46 and 0.21, respectively. The standard error of the calibration (SECV) of five fatty acids between the reference value of testing sample set and the near infrared spectrum predictive value were 0.891, 0.790, 0.900, 0.976 and 0.942, respectively. It was proved that the near infrared spectrum predictive value was linear with chemical value and the mathematical model established for fatty acids of soybean oil was feasible. For validation, 10 unknown samples were selected for analysis by near infrared spectrum. The result demonstrated that the relative standard deviation between predict value and chemical value was less than 5.50%. That was to say that transmission reflection-near infrared spectroscopy had a good veracity in analysis of fatty acids of soybean oil.

The glycosides from Lomatogonium rotatum.

A new phenyl glycoside, 2-(3'-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)benzoyloxygentisic acid (1), along with seven known glycosides 2-8 was isolated from Tibetan herbal medicine Lomatogonium rotatum. The structures of the compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods including 1D and 2D NMR techniques and MS data.

[Determination of trace arsenic and mercury in medicine animal horns by hydride atomic fluorescence spectrometry].

A hydride atomic fluorescence spectrometry has been developed for the determination of trace arsenic and mercury in medicinal animal horns. This method was simple, rapid and sensitive. The samples were digested with HNO3-HClO4(5:1), under the optimum conditions, the allowable amounts of 26 coexist elements were determined. The detection limits of this method were as follows: As 1.50 ng.mL-1, Hg 0.80 ng.mL-1. The relative standard deviations of 11 determinations were 1.2%-2.3% for As and 2.5%-4.7% for Hg. The recoveries were 98.9%-103.8% for As and 95.4%-105.0% for Hg.