A pair of novel phenylethanol glycosides from Cistanche tubulosa (Schenk) Wight.

A pair of differential epimers with opposite C-7 configurations, crenatosides A and B (1 and 2), and 10 known phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs) (3-12) were obtained from the succulent stem of Cistanche tubulosa. The structures were elucidated based on extensive spectral data (UV, IR, 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESIMS), which are first reported natural products with unique glycoside structures. After acid hydrolysis, the configuration of the sugar was determined by comparing it with the normative sugar by HPLC. The absolute configurations of both compounds were determined by ECD spectrum analysis. All the obtained compounds were examined for their inhibitory effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in mouse microglial cells (BV-2 cells), and compounds 1 and 2 showed potent inhibition on NO production with IC50 values of 5.62 µM and 6.30 µM, respectively.

Uncovering the pharmacological mechanism of Wei-Tong-Xin against gastric ulcer based on network pharmacology combined with in vivo experiment validation.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The prescription of Wei-Tong-Xin (WTX) is improved based on the prescription "Wanyingyuan", a famous decoction documented in the book of Huatuozhongzangjing in the Han dynasty. Many years of clinical verification have demonstrated that WTX can be used to treat gastrointestinal diseases, especially gastric ulcer (GU). However, the potential pharmacological mechanism is undefined. AIM OF THE STUDY: This research was conducted to explore the pharmacological mechanisms under the consideration of the therapeutical effect of WTX against GU by combining the network pharmacology strategy and in-vivo verified experiments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prediction network describing the relationship between WTX and GU was established based on information collected from multiple databases. Then, the intersecting protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of the drug-disease overlapping gene targets was constructed, and several key targets related to both WTX and GU were obtained. Besides, the Gene Ontology (GO) biological enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed to investigate the key target genes and pathways of WTX against GU. Then, the candidate targets and signaling pathways of network pharmacology were validated in a rat model of GU induced by indomethacin following the results and available proof. RESULTS: There are 243 targets obtained from the 65 active ingredients in WTX, and 1362 disease targets related to GU were identified. Then, 6 key targets were determined with the PPI interaction network, which was structured from 126 overlapping gene targets. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that the phosphoinositide-3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) signaling pathway might play a crucial role in the therapeutic mechanism of GU. In vivo verified experiments, WTX significantly reduced the ulcer area and improved the histopathological appearance of gastric tissues. Moreover, down-regulated the protein levels of IL6, TNF-α, and Caspase 3 in the gastric tissues while up-regulating the expression of p-PI3K, p-AKT, p-P53, and VEGFA compared to the model group. CONCLUSION: WTX, an ancient traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound prescription, may affect the inflammatory response and apoptosis process by regulating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and related gene targets. Therefore, it is an effective drug candidate for the modern treatment of GU.

Integrated Strategy of UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS and Molecular Networking for Identification of Diterpenoids from Euphorbia fischeriana Steud. and Prediction of the Anti-Breast-Cancer Mechanism by the Network Pharmacological Method.

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women worldwide. Traditional Chinese medicine has been used as adjunctive or complementary therapy for breast cancer. Diterpenoids from Euphorbia fischeriana Steud. have been demonstrated to possess anti-breast-cancer activity. This research was aimed to systematically explore the diterpenoids from E. fischeriana and study the multiple mechanisms on breast cancer. The structures of diterpenoids were identified by the integrated strategy of UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS and molecular networking. A total of 177 diterpenoids belonging to 13 types were collected. In silico ADME analysis was performed on these compounds. It indicated that 130 of 177 diterpenoids completely adjusted to Lipinski's rule. The targets of compounds were obtained from PharmMapper. The targets of breast cancer were collected from GeneCards. Then, 197 compounds-related targets and 544 breast cancer-related targets were identified. After the intersection process, 58 overlapping targets between compounds-related targets and breast cancer-related targets were acquired. The STRING database was applied to predict the protein-protein interactions. The GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed by using the KOBAS database. It indicated that these predicted pathways were closely related to breast cancer. The treatment effect of E. fischeriana on breast cancer might be performed through signaling pathways, such as IL-17 signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. The predicted top genes such as EGFR, ESR, MAPK, SRC, CASP3, CDK2, and KDR were involved in cell proliferation, gene transcription, apoptosis, signal transduction, DNA damage and repair, tumor differentiation, metastasis, and cell cycle, which indicated that E. fischeriana might treat breast cancer comprehensively. A compounds-KEGG pathways-related targets network was built by using cytoHubba to analyze the hub compounds and targets. It concluded that E. fischeriana treated breast cancer not only by the main components but also by the microconstituents, which reflected the overall regulatory role of multicomponents treating breast cancer. To estimate the binding affinities, binding sites, and binding postures, molecular docking simulations between 177 diterpenoids and top 19 targets were carried out. The results are basically in line with expectations. In conclusion, these results can serve as references for researchers studying potential targets of diterpenoids from E. fischeriana on breast cancer in the future.

A Combined Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Approach to Investigate Candidate Active Components and Multitarget Mechanisms of Hemerocallis Flowers on Antidepressant Effect.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our research is to systematically explore the multiple mechanisms of Hemerocallis fulva Flowers (HF) on depressive disorder (DD). METHODS: The components of HF were searched from the literature. The targets of components were obtained from PharmMapper. After that, Cytoscape software was used to build a component-target network. The targets of DD were collected from DisGeNET, PharmGKB, TTD, and OMIM. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) among the DD targets were executed to screen the key targets. Afterward, the GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed by the KOBAS database. A compound-target-KEGG pathway network was built to analyze the key compounds and targets. Finally, the potential active substances and targets were validated by molecular docking. RESULTS: A total of 55 active compounds in HF, 646 compound-related targets, and 527 DD-related targets were identified from public databases. After treated with PPI, 219 key targets of DD were acquired. The gene enrichment analysis suggested that HF probably benefits DD patients by modulating pathways related to the nervous system, endocrine system, amino acid metabolism, and signal transduction. The network analysis showed the critical components and targets of HF on DD. Results of molecular docking increased the reliability of this study. CONCLUSIONS: It predicted and verified the pharmacological and molecular mechanism of HF against DD from a holistic perspective, which will also lay a foundation for further experimental research and rational clinical application of DD.

Optimization of extraction for Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge. using silica gel-based vortex-homogenized matrix solid-phase dispersion and rapid identification of antioxidant substances.

A novel and simple method was established for the extraction and determination of seven compounds in Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bge. using silica gel-based vortex-homogenized matrix solid-phase dispersion and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole-time of-flight mass spectrometer. The conditions for the extraction were optimized. Silica gel was used as the dispersant, 50% methanol-water was selected as an elution solvent and the grinding time was 3 min. Compared with the traditional ultrasonic-assisted extraction, the developed method was rapid and efficient. In order to screen potential antioxidants, extract dealing with the optimized method was applied to a polyamide chromatography column and a D-101 macroporous resin column. Fr.2.2 showed the highest antioxidant activities with the most content of flavonoid. A total of 25 peaks were identified from the active fraction. A 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry approach was adopted for the rapid and exact screening and identification of antioxidant compounds. It indicated that flavonoids exhibited potential antioxidant activities. The antioxidant activities of nine monomeric compounds in vivo were tested. Structure-activity relationships were discussed. Five flavonoids with the concentration of 500 µg/mL would reduce the oxidative stress of PC12 cells that were induced with 2,2'-azobis[2-methylpropionamidine] dihydrochloride.

Simultaneous determination of senkyunolide I and senkyunolide H in rat plasma by LC-MS: application to a comparative pharmacokinetic study in normal and migrainous rats after oral administration of Chuanxiong Rhizoma extract.

A selective liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric method has been developed and validated for simultaneous determination of senkyunolide I (SEI) and senkyunolide H (SEH) from Chuanxiong Rhizoma in rat plasma. Plasma samples were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and separated on a Kromasil C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm), with methanol-water (55:45, v/v) as mobile phase. The linear range was 0.05-25 µg/mL for SEI and 0.01-5.0 µg/mL for SEH, with lower limits of quantitation of 0.05 and 0.01 µg/mL, respectively. Intra- and inter-day precision were within 10.0 and 9.8%, and the accuracies (relative errors) were <9.6 and 5.9%, with the mean extraction recoveries 81.0-86.6 and 80.5-85.0% for the two anayltes, respectively. The validated method was successfully applied to a comparative pharmacokinetic study of SEI and SEH in normal and migrainous rats after oral administration of Chuanxiong Rhizoma extract. The results indicated that there were obvious differences between normal and migrainous rats in the pharmacokinetic behavior after oral administration of Chuanxiong Rhizoma extract. The absorption of SEI and SEH were significantly increased in migrainous rats compared with normal rats.

[UPLC characteristic chromatographic profile of Moutan Cortex].

OBJECTIVE: To develop an UPLC method of determining the characteristic chromatographic profiles of Moutan Cortex for quality control of the medicine. METHOD: The UPLC characteristic chromatographic profiles of fifteen batches of Moutan Cortex were determined on an HSS T3 column (2.1 mm x 100 mm, 1.8 microm) eluted with the mobile phase consisted of water containing 0.05% phosphoric acid and acetonitrile in gradient mode and the detection wavelength was set at 254 nm. RESULT: The common mode of the UPLC characteristic chromatographic profile was set up under the established condition. There were 20 common peaks in the characteristic chromatographic profile of fifteen samples, ten of which were identified, and the similar degrees of the fifteen batches to the common mode were between 0.973-0.998. CONCLUSION: The method was fast and accurate. The characteristic chromatographic profile of Moutan Cortex with high specificity can be used to control the quality of Moutan Cortex.