Structural characterization and anti-inflammatory activity of neutral polysaccharides from American ginseng.

American ginseng, a precious classic herbal medicine, is used extensively in China for life prolongation purpose. This study aimed to elucidate the structure and anti-inflammatory activity of a neutral polysaccharide isolated from American ginseng (AGP-A). Nuclear magnetic resonance in conjunction with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to analyze AGP-A's structure, whereas Raw264.7 cell and zebrafish models were employed to assess its anti-inflammatory activity. According to the results, AGP-A has a molecular weight of 5561 Da and is primarily consisted of glucose. Additionally, linear α-(1 â†’ 4)-glucans with α-D-Glcp-(1 â†’ 6)-α-Glcp-(1→ residues linked to the backbone at C-6 formed the backbone of AGP-A. Furthermore, AGP-A significantly decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α) in Raw264.7 cell model. AGP-A in zebrafish model significantly lower the massive recruitment of neutrophils to the neuromast of the caudal lateral line. Inflammation may be relieved by the AGP-A component in American ginseng based on these results. In conclusion, our study shows the structural characterization, remarkable anti-inflammatory properties of AGP-A and its potential curative efficacy as a safe, valid natural anti-inflammatory medicine.

An efficient high-speed counter-current chromatography method for the preparative separation of sesquiterpenoids from the rhizomes of Cyperus rotundus L. combined with evaluation of the anti-inflammation activity in vitro and molecular docking.

Cyperus rotundus L. has been extensively used in ancient medication for the treatment of different disorders worldwide, in which sesquiterpenes are the most representative components. In this study, sesquiterpenes were effectively purified by two-dimensional counter-current chromatography in combination with continuous injection and inner-recycling mode with a solvent system of n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (1:0.2:1:0.2, v/v/v/v). For one-dimension separation, continuous injection mode was used with three times injection and the inner-recycling mode was adopted for the separation of two mixtures for two-dimensional separation. Finally, four sesquiterpenoids, including scariodione (1), cyperenoic acid (2), scariodione (3), and α-cyperone (4), were obtained with purities over 98%. Mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance were applied to identify their structures. The results from the anti-inflammation effect with zebrafish demonstrated that cyperenoic acid exhibited stronger anti-inflammation activity. Molecular docking results suggested that cyperenoic acid possessed lower binding energies -9.4545 kcal/mol with 1CX2 to form formed hydrogen bond interaction with ARG120. In general, all the obtained findings proved that the strong anti-inflammation capacity of cyperenoic acid can have the potential of being adopted for treating diseases resulting from inflammation.

An efficient isolation and purification of broad partition coefficient range ginsenosides from roots of Panax quinquefolium L. by linear gradient counter-current chromatography coupled with preparative high-performance liquid chromatography.

As a famous health food, roots of Panax quinquefolium L. possessed immune regulation and enhancement of the central nervous system, in which ginsenosides are the main active component with different numbers and positions of sugars, causing different chemical polarities with a challenge for the separation and isolation. In this study, a fast and effective bilinear gradient counter-current chromatography was proposed for preparative isolation ginsenosides with a broad partition coefficient range from roots of Panax quinquefolium L. In terms of the established method, the mobile phases comprising n-butanol and ethyl acetate were achieved by adjusting the proportion. Coupled with the preparative HPLC, eleven main ginsenosides were successfully separated, including ginsenoside Rg1 (1), Re (2), acetyl ginsenoside Rg1 (3), Rb1 (4), Rc (5), Rg2 (6), Rb3 (7), quinquefolium R1 (8), Rd (9), gypenoside X VII (10) and notoginsenoside Fd (11), with purities exceeding 95% according to the HPLC results. Tandem mass spectrometry and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry were adopted for recognizing the isolated compound architectures. Our study suggests that linear gradient counter-current chromatography effectively separates the broad partition coefficient range of ginsenosides compounds from the roots of Panax quinquefolium L. In addition, it can apply to active compound isolation from other complicated natural products.