Peanut skin extract ameliorates high-fat diet-induced atherosclerosis by regulating lipid metabolism, inflammation reaction and gut microbiota in ApoE-/- mice.

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a serious threat to the health and life of humans worldwide. The mitigating effect of polyphenol compounds from peanut skin extract (PSE) on AS has attracted great research attention. However, the mechanism underlying this mitigating effect remains poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the preventive effect of PSE on high-fat diet-induced AS in mice and explore the underlying mechanisms. PSE treatment significantly reduced atherosclerotic plaques, particularly at high doses. Dietary PSE intervention obviously alleviated the lipid metabolism disorder in ApoE-/- mice by reducing the serum TC and LDL-C contents and increasing the HDL-C content. In addition, PSE intervention significantly decreased the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 and increased that of anti-inflammatory IL-10, thus exhibiting a significant anti-inflammatory effect. More interestingly, analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that PSE could significantly alter the community composition of the gut microbiota. Specifically, PSE enhanced the abundance of Roseburia, Rothia, Parabacteroides and Akkermansia, and reduced that of Bilophila and Alistipes. Some of these intestinal bacteria exhibited good anti-inflammatory effects, which are related to the production of short chain fatty acids. Thus, the anti-atherosclerotic effect of PSE may be partly attributed to changes in the composition and function of gut microbiota, which may be closely associated with its anti-inflammatory effect. Moreover, untargeted metabolomics analysis indicated that PSE could regulate the levels of differential metabolites in the liver, serum and fecal samples.

[Rapid screening and identification of 62 kinds of illegally added traditional Chinese medicine in food by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry].

An analytical method based on high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was established for the rapid screening and identification of 62 kinds of illegally added traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in food. According to the notice of the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China on further regulating the management of raw materials of health food (Weifa Jianfa (2002) No. 51), the characteristic components of the 62 kinds of TCM were screened, and the corresponding characteristic component lists of different TCM were obtained. Methanolic extracts of the 62 kinds of standard medicinal materials were subjected to HPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis. The filtrate was separated on a Thermo Accucore aQ column (150 mm×2.1 mm, 2.6 µm) using 0.1%(v/v) formic acid aqueous solution or water and acetonitrile as the mobile phases for gradient elution in the electrospray positive and negative ion scanning mode. All the data were determined on the full scan of primary mass spectrometry and secondary mass spectrometry, with mass acquisition ranges of 100-1000 Da and 50-1000 Da, respectively. A 10 mmol/L sodium formate solution was used as the mass correction solution in both the positive and negative ion modes. Library View software was used to establish the precursor ion accurate quality database and the product ion fragment mass spectrometry database of the corresponding characteristic components of the different kinds of TCM. In the Library View database software, the name of each characteristic component of the 62 kinds of TCM was input (serial number) in order to classify the screened characteristic components. The samples were processed using the same method and analyzed. Peak View software was used to rapidly analyze and screen the target components of the TCM. The high-resolution data collected from the samples to be tested were imported into the Peak View software, followed by the compound list of the established MS database of standard medicinal materials. After setting the identification method parameters and library retrieval parameters, a matching analysis was performed, and the candidate substances for each peak were automatically identified by comparing the mass spectrum, accurate molecular ion mass number, fragment ion mass number, retention time, and other related parameters. The determination conditions of compound detection were as follows: the comprehensive score was more than 70 points. The molecular formula, retention time, mass spectrum as well as the primary isotope mass spectrometry, primary mass spectrometry, and secondary mass spectrometry data were matched with the library compounds. The corresponding list of "TCM-characteristic components" was established, and a high-resolution MS library of 388 characteristic components from the 62 types of TCM was constructed. Each TCM contains 5-10 characteristic components. According to the screening analysis of the actual food samples of the prepared wine, substitute tea, and beverage, one batch of the prepared wine sample matched with seven characteristic components of epimedium, and it was inferred that epimedium was added to the prepared wine samples. This method can allow for the qualitative screening of TCM without standards and has the characteristics of high throughput, accuracy, simplicity, and rapidity. It solves the difficulty in identifying and confirming illegally added TCM in food; provides technical methods and a basis for cracking down on the illegal addition of TCM in food; and facilitates the rapid screening and identification of illegally added TCM in food.

G-quadruplex-based fluorometric biosensor for label-free and homogenous detection of protein acetylation-related enzymes activities.

Reversible protein acetylation, one of the key types of post-translational modifications, is composed of histone acetylation and deacetylation, which is typically catalyzed by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) respectively. Herein, a label-free fluorescent method has been established for the homogeneous bioassay of HAT/HDAC activity and respective inhibitors. The proposed approach is primarily based on the electrostatic interaction between G-quadruplexes (G4s) and acetylation-related peptides, which results in marked change of fluorescent intensity of G4/Thioflavin T (ThT) complexes. This HAT (p300) activity assay is exceedingly sensitive and selective, with a linear range from 0.1 to 120nM and a detection limit of 0.05nM. Moreover, this biosensor is feasible to detect the HDAC (Sirt1) activity with a linear range from 1 to 450nM and a detection limit of 1nM. The potency of this assay is further demonstrated by detecting HAT/HDAC activity in cell lysates and evaluating HAT and HDAC-targeted inhibitors, C464 and EX 527, respectively. The proposed assay is convenient, label-free and cost-efficient, which is promising for HAT/HDAC-targeted epigenetic research and pharmaceutical development.

[Clinical observation on treatment of mycotic vaginitis with Sophora gel combined with Fluconazole capsules].

Mycotic vaginitis is a common and frequently-occurring gynaecopathia and easy to attack repeatedly, so painful to patients. In this study, the authors observed the clinical efficacy of Sophora gel combined with Fluconazole capsules in treating mycotic vaginitis, in order to seek an effective method for treating mycotic vaginitis. Totally 85 patients with mycotic vaginitis treated in our hospital between December 2012 and July 2014 were randomly divided into the treatment group (43 patients) and the control group (42 patients). The treatment group was given vaginally Sophora gel (one piece every night for 14 days) and orally Fluconazole capsules (150 mg, once every three days, four times in total); The control group was only administered with Fluconazole capsules. The total efficacy, cure rate, recurrence rate and clinical symptom improvements of the two groups were observed. The results show that the total efficacy, the cure rate and the recurrence rate of the treatment group vs. the control group were respectively 97.7%, 90.7% and 2.6% vs. 83.3%, 71.4% and 20.0%, with statistical significance in their differences (P < 0.05). The treatment group showed reduced leucorrhea, pruritus vulvae disappearance and earlier mucosal hyperemia disappearance than the control group, with statistical significance in their differences (P < 0.05). In conclusion Sophora gel combined with Fluconazole capsules can improve antifungal activity of drugs, relieve clinical symptoms, shorten the course of disease, enhance the cure rate and reduce the recurrence rate; So this therapy can be widely applied in clinic.

Triterpene saponins with anti-inflammatory activity from the stems of Entada phaseoloides.

The phytochemical investigation of the ethanol extract from the stems of Entada phaseoloides (L.) Merr (also called "Guo Gang Long") led to the isolation of eleven triterpene saponins (1-11). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods including 1D- ((1)H and (13)C) and 2D-NMR ((1)H-(1)H COSY, HSQC, HMBC, HSQC-TOCSY and ROESY) experiments as well as ESIMS analysis and hydrolysis. These saponins comprised entagenic acid as the main aglycon, saccharide moieties at C-3 and C-28, and esterification of C-2 or C-3 hydroxyl group of the terminal ß-d-glucopyranose unit with a monoterpenic acid. To further explain the clinical applications of "Guo Gang Long" for its anti-inflammatory effect, the inhibitory activities on the production of NO of the saponins and the related aglycon, entagenic acid (12), were evaluated in vitro. The compounds containing a free hydroxyl at C-3 of aglycon (1 and 4) and entagenic acid showed significant activities against NO production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells with IC50 values of 25.08, 20.13 and 23.48 µM, respectively. And the three compounds could also inhibit the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6 and IL-8.

Three new phenolic compounds from the roots of Glycyrrhiza yunnanensis.

Three new phenolic compounds (1-3), together with 16 known compounds (4-19), were isolated from the roots of Glycyrrhiza yunnanensis Cheng f. et L. K. Dai. On the basis of 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic analysis, structures of the new compounds were elucidated as 2-(2'-methoxy-4'-hydroxy)-aryl-3-methy-6-hydroxy-benzofuran (1), (2S)-6,7-(2,2-dimethyldihydropyrano)-8-prenyl-4'-hydroxyflavanone (2), and 6-prenyl-7,3',4'-trihydroxyflavone (3). Compounds 1, 3, 5, 12, 14, 15 and 16 showed antioxidant activity by an ABTS-based assay.