Sophora tonkinensis: response and adaptation of physiological characteristics, functional traits, and secondary metabolites to drought stress.

The medicinal plant Sophora tonkinensis is a characteristic Chinese shrub of karst areas. The arid climate in karst areas produces high-quality S. tonkinensis; however, the mechanisms of drought tolerance are not clear, which restricts sustainable plantings of S. tonkinensis. This study involved a 20-day drought stress experiment with potted S. tonkinensis and threee soil water regimes: control (CK), mild drought (MDT), and severe drought (SDT). Plant morphology, biomass, physiological indicators, alkaloid content, and other changes under drought stress were monitored. The content of soluble sugars and proteins, and activity of antioxidant enzymes in leaves and roots were higher under drought than CK, indicating that S. tonkinensis is tolerant to osmotic stress in early drought stages. Content of matrine and oxymatrine increased gradually with increasing drought duration in the short term. The epidermis of S. tonkinensis leaves have characteristics of desert plants, including upper epidermal waxy layer, lower epidermal villi, and relatively sunken stomata, suggesting that S. tonkinensis has strong drought tolerance. In conclusion, drought stress changed the cell structure of S. tonkinensis, induced antioxidant enzyme activity and increased its resistance to drought.

Effect and mechanism of pearl on ovarian function of rats with premature ovarian failure induced by tripterygium glycosides.

Background and aim: Recent studies show that combination of apoptosis and oxidative stress forms a "vicious circle" in the process of premature ovarian failure (POF). Pearl extract has a good effect for anti-oxidation and anti-aging in vitro and vivo and can be used to treat various aging diseases. However, reports about effect and mechanism of pearl on ovarian function of premature ovarian failure (POF)are limited. Experimental procedure: The effect and mechanism of pearl on ovarian function of rats with POF were evaluated using rats with premature ovarian failure induced by tripterygium glycosides. The estrous cycle, contents of serum reproductive hormones, tissue structure, oxidative stress level, autophagy and apoptotic protein expression, and MAPK signaling pathway of ovary were assessed to characterise pearl. Result and conclusion: Low, medium and high-dose pearl improved the estrous cycle in POF rats, and high-dose pearl was the best in terms of recovery effect; high-dose pearl significantly increased (P < 0.05) contents of E2, AMH and GSH, activities of SOD, CAT and GSH-PX and follicular development, while significantly decreased (P < 0.05)contents of FSH, LH and ROS and MDA in POF rats; low, medium and high-dose pearl notably reduced (P < 0.05) the apoptotic protein cleaved-caspase 3 and Bax expression, and MAPK signaling pathway of ERK1/2, p38 and JNK in POF rats, among which high-dose pearl behaved best. Medium and high-dose pearl apparently raised (P < 0.05)expressions of autophagy protein LC3II, Beclin-1 and p62 in POF rats. Therefore, pearl can effectively enhance ovarian function of POF rats. The optimal concentration was found to be 740 mg kg-1 at a high dose. The mechanism may be related with the enhanced follicular development through improving granulosa cell autophagy and inhibiting granulosa cell apoptosis by inhibition of MAPK signaling pathway after scavenging excessive ROS. Section: 1. Natural Products. Taxonomy classification by EVISE: Ovarian Cancer, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Oxidative Stress, Antioxidant Studies, Rat, Autophagy.

Effect of pulp cell wall polysaccharides on citrus fruit with different mastication traits.

Mastication trait is a primary quality attribute of citrus fruit, influencing consumer demands and industrial processing conditions. However, the underlying causes of differences in mastication traits of citrus remain unclear. In this study, microscopy, spectroscopy and diffraction techniques were applied to investigate the physicochemical properties of Hongmeiren (HMR), Satsuma (WM) and Nanfeng tangerine (NF) with superior, moderate and inferior mastication traits, respectively. Ultrastructure indicated that NF had more neatly arranged and regularly shaped cells than HMR and WM. The monosaccharide composition of NF revealed that multi-branched Na2CO3-soluble pectin (NSF) enhanced intercellular adhesion. Additionally, FT-IR analysis revealed more intense vibrations of O2-H····O6 intramolecular hydrogen bonds within NF cellulose, which resulted in a higher crystallinity of cellulose (73.75%) than HMR (32.53%) and WM (43.76%). Overall, the high content and crystallinity of cellulose, the multi-branched NSF and the high content of hemicellulose contributed to the inferior mastication trait of citrus fruit.

Multi-microscopy techniques combined with FT-IR spectroscopy reveals the histological and biochemical causes leading to fruit texture difference in oriental melon (Cucumis melo var. Makuwa Makino).

Multi-microscopy techniques and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were used in this study to investigate the intrinsic causes leading to fruit texture difference between two cultivars of oriental melon 'HDB' (crisp) and 'HPM' (mealy). On the histological aspect, orderly arranged regular-shaped cells with tissue natural fracture pattern showed cell rupture in 'HDB' versus loosely arranged irregular-shaped cells with tissue natural fracture pattern showed cell-to-cell separation in 'HPM' of sarcocarp are histological causes for crisp and mealy fruit texture, respectively. On the biochemical aspect, FT-IR spectra (4000-850 cm-1) of sarcocarp tissue cell wall materials (CWM) happened a dramatic change at the mature stage in 'HPM', but not in 'HDB'. Insightly, the lower de-methyl-esterified homogalacturonan (HG) abundance with higher water-soluble pectin (WSP) ratio and lower hemicellulose (HC) content contribute a poor intercellular adhesion in 'HPM' middle lamella (ML) at the mature stage compared to 'HDB'.

Progress of Experimental Research on Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Proteins Associated Asthmatic Airway Remodeling / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Airway remodeling is an important pathological basis of asthma， and also the main reason for the difficulty in asthma therapy. By referring to the experimental reports on the treatment of airway remodeling in asthma with traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） in recent years， the authors comprehensively analyzed the effect of TCM on proteins related to airway remodeling in asthma， and it was found that TCM could regulate the signal pathway related proteins （such as transforming growth factor-β1/Smads， extracellular signal-regulated kinase and Wnt/β-catenin）， structural proteins （such as α-smooth muscle actin， collagen， osteopontin and fibrin） and gene regulatory proteins （such as matrix metalloproteinase-9， vascular endothelial growth factor， B lymphoma cell-2 related X protein）， and participate in the regulation of airway remodeling signaling pathway， tissue structure homeostasis and gene expression， so as to inhibit airway remodeling in asthma. In conclusion， TCM can improve the pathological morphology of airway remodeling and delay the progress of airway remodeling by controlling the corresponding proteins. At present， however， a lot of studies are limited to single Chinese herbal or TCM extract in animal experiments， and there is a lack of clinical research. It is suggested to establish a systematic and multi-level study on the mechanism of TCM for treating airway remodeling in asthma based on the theory of TCM， so as to provide a better reference for clinical practice.

[Influence of early bolting on anatomical structure and coumarins of Peucedanum praeruptorum].

To explore the effects of early bolting on the quality of Peucedanum praeruptorum, the anatomical structures of P. praeruptorum root between bolting and no-bolting were investigated by paraffin section method, and contents of praeruptorin A, praeruptorin B, praeruptorin E, bergapten were determined by HPLC, then the differences and inter-relations were studied by comparative analysis method. The results showed that there existed great influences of early bolting on the root anatomical structures and coumarins content of P. praeruptorum.(1)The area of pericyclic parenchyma tissue and secondary phloem in P. praeruptorum without bolting are large, and have higher content of coumarins.(2) The areas of secondary phloem in bolting P. praeruptorum are large, and have lot of vessels and wood fiber, and the content of coumarins is low.(3)There are significant different of coumarins contents in P. praeruptorum with and without bolting, in their main root(MR),outside the vascular cambium(PP), inside the vascular cambium(PX), and the leaf(LF) parts, and the total content of coumarins was PP>MR>LF>PX. Accordingly, the root anatomical structure and active component of P. praeruptorum were changed after early bolting, which have an important influence on the quality of Peucedani Radix.

Pharmacognostic Study of Melilotus officinalis / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To study pharmacognosy of Melilotus officinalis.METHODS:Qualitative identification of M.officinalis was conducted in respects of morphology,macroscopic characters,microscopic identification,UV spectra for medicinal extracts and IR spectra for medicinal powder.RESULTS:Nineteen bundles of rays were distributed in the radial bundle of root cross section of M.officinalis.The main vein vascular bundle of leaf cross section had a palisade tissue passing over it.The pith of the cross section of the stem occupied 4/5 of the whole cross section.The cross section of the leafstalk was heart-shaped,and unequal vascular bundles arranged in a triangular array.There were glandular hairs,which consist of three cells,and unicellular non glandular hairs in leaf epidermis.The crystal fibers of calcium oxalate crystals and infinitive blowhole were found in the leaves;glandular hairs and non glandular hairs could be found in the leafstalk under tissue dissociation;verrucous like protuberance and threaded catheter were found on the surface.The UV spectrum of extract and two order derivative IR spectrum of the medicinal powder showed obvious characteristics.CONCLUSIONS:Established method can be used for pharmacognostic identification of M.officinalis.