Protective effects of the active fraction from the tuber of Scirpus yagara in mouse endotoxin shock model.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Scirpus yagara Ohwi is a perennial, aquatic plant, whose dry tubers have long been used as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) "Sanleng" for the treatment of postpartum abdominal pain, hyperemesis gravidarum, amenorrhea, dyspepsia and several inflammatory related diseases. Although it is known to have anti-inflammatory activities, its mechanism of action on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation has not yet been identified in detail.This study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of the active fraction (AF) from the tuber of Scirpusyagara both in vitro and in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: RAW264.7 macrophage was incubated for 16h with 1µg/ml of LPS in absence or presence of AF (0, 10, 50 and 100µg/ml) and the secretions of tumor necrosis-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the medium were determined by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In the in vivo study, mice were orally administrated with AF (50 and 300mg/kg) for three days consecutively. 1h after the last AF administration, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (15mg/kg), and the life span of LPS-challenged mice were determined. Furthermore, the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 in the serum, lung and liver were measured using ELISA kit, and histological change in lungs was examined by light microscopy. Additionally, the components of AF were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a C18 column. RESULTS: AF significantly decreased TNF-α and IL-6 production induced by LPS in RAW264.7 macrophage. In LPS-induced mouse endotoxin shock model, AF pre-treatment significantly improved the survival rate of mice. And LPS-induced increases of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 in the serum, lung and liver were markedly suppressed by AF. Moreover, the histopathological examination indicated that AF could significantly attenuate lung tissues injury in endotoxemic mice. In addition, eight compounds (protocatechuic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, methyl-3,6-dihydroxy-2-[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-ethynyl] benzoate, sciryagarol I, sparstolonin B, SanLeng diphenyllactone) of AF were quantified by HPLC analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that AF protected mice against LPS-induced lethality by inhibiting the production of multiple cytokines and organ dysfunction. Thus AF may prove beneficial in the prevention and treatment of endotoxin shock.

[Sulfur-fumigation, maintenance method of Chinese herbal medicine-discard or inheritance].

Sulfur-fumigation processing technology is an ancient maintenance method, which plays a certain role in storage and preservation for Chinese herbal medicine. But in recent years, with the further explanation of sulfur-fumigation processing mechanism and more attention to the safety of drugs, such traditional maintenance method of Chinese herbal medicine is now being questioned by more and more people. The authors think we should have selective inheritance rather than abslute discard to this ancient processing technology after reviewing the literatures published in recent 20 years, and some suggestions are also put forward, which can supply some references for related drug supervision departments.

Bioactive cis-stilbenoids from the tubers of Scirpus yagara.

Two new cis-stilbenoids, sciryagarol I (1) and II (2) were isolated from the EtOAc extract of the tubers of Scirpus yagara, together with four known compounds. The structures of all compounds were determined by comprehensive analyses of their spectroscopic data and comparison with literature information. The compounds 3, 4 and 6 were isolated for the first time from this genus. Some compounds were tested for their cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines and antimicrobial activity. Compounds 1-4 showed significant cytotoxicity against the Hela cell lines with IC(50) values ranging from 7.21 to 61.21µM. 1 and 2 exhibited some antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans with uniform MICs of 79.3µl/ml for 2, and 152µl/ml for 1, respectively.