Insoluble Dietary Fiber from Pear Pomace Can Prevent High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Rats Mainly by Improving the Structure of the Gut Microbiota.

Supplement of dietary fibers (DF) is regarded as one of the most effective way to prevent and relieve chronic diseases caused by long-term intake of a high-fat diet in the current society. The health benefits of soluble dietary fibers (SDF) have been widely researched and applied, whereas the insoluble dietary fibers (IDF), which represent a higher proportion in plant food, were mistakenly thought to have effects only in fecal bulking. In this article, we proved the anti-obesity and glucose homeostasis improvement effects of IDF from pear pomace at first, and then the mechanisms responsible for these effects were analyzed. The preliminary study by real-time PCR and ELISA showed that this kind of IDF caused more changes in the gut microbiota compared with in satiety hormone or in hepatic metabolism. Further analysis of the gut microbiota by high-throughput amplicon sequencing showed IDF from pear pomace obviously improved the structure of the gut microbiota. Specifically, it promoted the growth of Bacteroidetes and inhibited the growth of Firmicutes. These results are coincident with previous hypothesis that the ratio of Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes is negatively related with obesity. In conclusion, our results demonstrated IDF from pear pomace could prevent high-fat diet-induced obesity in rats mainly by improving the structure of the gut microbiota.

Polyphenolic content and physiological activities of Chinese hawthorn extracts.

Hawthorn polyphenol (HP) was prepared by ethyl acetate treatment of the ethanol extract (HE) of Chinese hawthorn fruit. The concentrations of 15 polyphenols in the HP, HE, extraction residue (HJ), and a hawthorn leaf extract (HF) were determined by HPLC. For HP, the total content of the 15 polyphenols was 21.4%, comprised of 19.7% of procyanidins, 1.21% of chlorogenic acid, and 0.48% of flavonoids, compared to 2.55% for the HE. The yields of procyanidin monomer, dimer, trimer, tetramer, and pentamer were 50.5%, 30.3%, 23.0%, 14.6%, and 12.5% respectively, and the mean degree of polymerization was reduced to 1.39 (HP) from 1.65 (HE). Seven different physiological actions of the four extracts were investigated. The HP showed strong O(2)(-) and (.-)OH scavenging capacities (IC(50) values of 6.3 microg/ml and 1.1 microg/ml respectively), as well as selective prolyl endopeptidase inhibition (IC(50) of 60 microg/ml). The active constituents appeared to be procyanidins.

The use of CE-electrochemiluminescence with ionic liquid for the determination of bioactive constituents in Chinese traditional medicine.

CE / tris(2,2-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)(3) (2+)) electrochemiluminescence (ECL), CE-ECL, with an ionic liquid (IL) detection system was established for the determination of bioactive constituents in Chinese traditional medicine opium poppy which contain large amounts of coexistent substances. A minimal sample pretreatment which involves a one-step extraction approach avoids both sample loss and environmental pollution. As the nearby hydroxyl groups in some alkaloid such as morphine may react with borate to form complexes and IL, as a high-conductivity additive in running buffer, could cause an enhanced field-amplified effect of electrokinetic injection. Running buffer containing 25 mM borax-8 mM 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMImBF(4))IL (pH 9.18) was used which resulted in significant changes in separation selectivity and obvious enhancement in ECL intensities for those alkaloids with similar structures. Sensitive detection could be achieved when the distance between the Pt working electrode and the outlet of separation capillary was set at 150 microm and the stainless steel cannula was fixed approximately 1 cm away from the outlet of the capillary. Quantitative analysis of four alkaloids was achieved at a detection voltage of 1.2 V and a separation voltage of 15 kV in less than 7 min. Detection limits of thebaine, codeine, morphine, and narcotine were 2.5 x 10(-7), 2.5 x 10(-7), 1 x 10(-9) and 1 x 10(-6) M(S/N = 3), respectively. The method was successfully applied to determine the amounts of opium alkaloids in real poppy samples.

[Determination of Chinese traditional medicine activity eliminating superoxide anion radical by kinetics spectrophotometry].

A new method to determine Chinese traditional medicine activity eliminating superoxide anion radical by kinetic spectrophotometry was developed. It is shown that the optimum determination condition may be obtained when wavelength is 520 nm, the concentration of enzyme is 4 x 10(-3) microg x mL(-1), the reaction time is between 2-7 min. Vitamin C activity eliminating superoxide anion radical was determined under the condition, and the results were identical with literature. The method is used to determine IC50 of Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis and Cortex Eucommia, and they are 7.580 and 323.800 mg x L(-1) respectively.

[Determination of eliminating ratio of Chinese traditional medicine for hydroxyl radical by fluorescent spectrophotometry].

Benzoic acid with weak fluorescence may react on .OH, and products with intense fluorescence are made. Extractives of Chinese traditional medicine may eliminate .OH in solution, and make amounts of the products to reduce. Then, increase level of fluorescence of products in solution will be lowered. Based on this principle, a new method is developed to determine eliminating ratio of Chinese traditional medicine for .OH. It is shown that productivity of .OH tends to saturation when H2O2 is shown more than 20 min by 280 nm UV light; .OH may react on benzoic acid completely when molar ratio of H2O2 and benzoic acid is 30:1; linear response range of products fluorescence is 2.2-80 mmol.L-1 with concentration of H2O2. IC50 of elimination .OH with magnoliae and eucommia are 1.025 and 515.3 mg.L-1 respectively. There are no remarkable difference between these results and that of spectrophotometry.