Complete chloroplast genome of Adonis pseudoamurensis W.T.Wang (Ranunculaceae).

Adonis pseudoamurensis W.T. Wang 1980 is an important traditional medicinal plant used for the treatment of cardiac diseases. The complete chloroplast (cp) genome of Adonis pseudoamurensis is reported for the first time in this study. The circular cp genome is 156,917 bp in length, consisting of a large single-copy region (86,262 bp), a small single-copy region (18,067 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (26,294 bp). The genome encodes 129 genes, comprising 84 protein-coding genes, 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that A. pseudoamurensis is closely related to A. amurensis.

Inhibition effect of Zedoary turmeric oil on Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus growth and exotoxin proteins production.

PURPOSE: Zedoary turmeric oil (ZTO), the steam extract of Curcuma zedoaria Rosc was researched for its chemical composition, antibacterial activity, and mechanism for countering two major food-borne pathogenic species, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. METHODOLOGY: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to analyse and characterize the chemical composition of ZTO. Its MICs for the two bacterial species and growth curves were measured. Western blot and real-time reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR assays were utilized to elaborate the mechanism of the antibacterial effect of ZTO by examining the expression levels of virulence-related extracellular proteins. ELISA was used to explore the biological relevance. RESULTS: GC-MS revealed high contents of curzerene, eucalyptol, germacrone and (-)-g-elemene representing 28.45, 10.94, 10.77 and 10.54  %, respectively, of the whole components. The MICs of ZTO that combatted L. monocytogenes and S. aureus were similar (1-2 mg ml-1 ). After adding ZTO at increasing concentrations, there was an evident reduction in the transcription of hly, iap, hla, sea, seb and agrA in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, TNF-α accumulation in RAW264.7 cells stimulated by L. monocytogenes and S. aureus supernatants was restricted by a 1/4 MIC of ZTO. CONCLUSION: Overall, L. monocytogenes and S. aureus were comparably susceptible to ZTO. These data demonstrated that ZTO's antimicrobial property was mediated by the repression of the production of virulence factors involved in L. monocytogenes and S. aureus pathogenesis, a finding that can potentially further progress in the development of new anti-virulence drugs.

[Research progress on metabolism and pharmacological activities of several iridoid glycosides].

As a large category of natural products widely present in traditional Chinese medicine, iridoid glycosides have multiple pharmacological activities. Recent researches suggest that iridoid glycosides mainly exist in vivo in the forms of original form, aglycone and a series of their Ⅰ and Ⅱ metabolites under the biotransformation effect, and their metabolites have been proved to have multiple pharmacological activities. The research progress on in vivo metabolism and metabolite activities of several iridoid glycosides would be reviewed in this article, to provide a theoretical basis for the further development and utilization of iridoid compounds and their metabolites.

An improved ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/quadrupole-time-of-flight high-definition mass spectrometry method for determining ingredients of herbal Fructus corni in blood samples.

BACKGROUND: Fructus Corni (FC), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), derived from the dry ripe sarcocarp of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc (Cornaceae), has been widely prescribed to treat disease in China for centuries. It has attracted increasingly much attention as one of the most popular and valuable herbal medicine in clinic. However, the systematic analysis of the chemical constituents of FC is difficult to determine and remain unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this work, a rapid, sensitive, and reliable ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/quadrupole-time-of-flight high-definition mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI/QTOF/MS) with automated data analysis (MetaboLynx™) in negative ion mode were established to characterize the chemical constituents of FC and simultaneously identify components in blood after oral administration of FC, respectively. The analysis was performed on a Waters UPLC™ HSS T3 (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.8 µm) using gradient elution system. MS/MS fragmentation behaviors were proposed for aiding the structural identification of the components. RESULTS: With optimized conditions, a total of 34 peaks were obtained from FC, 23 of which were tentatively characterized by comparing the retention time and mass spectrometry data and retrieving the reference literatures. Of note, the 25 compounds were identified after oral administration of FC, which might be the potential active components in vivo. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates the potential of UPLC-ESI/QTOF/MS approach for the rapid and reliable characterization of the metabolites of natural products.