Determination of multiple elements in samples of the medicinal plant Marsdenia tenacissima and estimation of geographic origin via pattern recognition techniques.

Multi-element analysis of the medicinal plant Marsdenia tenacissima was used to develop a reliable method of tracing the geographical source of the samples. The concentrations of 27 elements in 128 samples from 4 provinces in China were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. Pattern recognition techniques, viz. principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA), stepwise linear discriminant analysis (SLDA) and k-nearest neighbor analysis (KNN), were used for this purpose. It was verified that 21 elements in the M. tenacissima samples from different regions showed significant differences (P < 0.05). The PCA explained 87.36 % of the variance with the first seven principal component variables, and a score plot produced from the largest three principal components showed that the source area of most samples could be correctly distinguished. The CA showed that samples were separated into three clusters. The SLDA produced an overall correct classification rate of 87.5 % and a cross-validation rate of 85.2 %. The KNN analysis performed ideally, with an average identification rate of 100 % for the training set and 93.33 % for the test set. These results laid the foundation for the application of multi-element analysis combined with pattern recognition techniques for tracing the geographical origin of samples of medicinal plants.

Sodium tanshinone iia sulfonate attenuates seawater aspiration-induced acute pulmonary edema by up-regulating Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity.

Relieving pulmonary edema is the key of a successful treatment to seawater drowning. Sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) has been observed to reduce lung edema from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung injury. In this study the authors investigated whether STS attenuates seawater aspiration-induced acute pulmonary edema, and examined the effects of sodium-potassium adensosine triphosphatase (Na(+),K(+)-ATPase) on it. Seawater was instilled through an endotracheal tube. The anesthetized and spontaneously breathing rats received STS intraperitoneally after seawater aspiration. Pao(2), lung wet-to-dry weight ratio, and pulmonary microvascular permeability were tested. The authors explored the effects of STS on the expression and activity of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase in vivo and in vitro. Additionally, the authors investigated the role of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling pathway in the stimulation of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase by STS. The results showed that STS significantly improved hypoxemia, attenuated lung edema, and alleviated seawater-induced lung injury in vivo. Both in vivo and in vitro, it was observed that STS up-regulated the expression and activity of Na(+),K(+)-ATPase. ERK1/2 inhibitor partially blocked the effects of STS on Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity in alveolar type II cells following seawater incubation. These results indicated that STS could improve seawater aspiration-induced acute pulmonary edema by up-regulating Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity, and the ERK1/2 signaling pathway may be involved in it.