Ginkgolide C attenuates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion-induced inflammatory impairments by suppressing CD40/NF-κB pathway.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ginkgo biloba L. (Ginkgoaceae), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been applied for thousands of years for the treatment of cardio-cerebral vascular diseases in China. It is written in Compendium of Materia Medica that Ginkgo has the property of "dispersing poison", which is now referred to as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Ginkgolides are important active ingredients in Ginkgo biloba leaves and ginkgolide injection has been frequently applied in clinical practice for the treatment of ischemic stroke. However, few studies have explored the effect and mechanism of ginkgolide C (GC) with anti-inflammatory activity in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CI/RI). AIM OF THE STUDY: The present study aimed to demonstrate whether GC was capable of attenuating CI/RI. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory effect of GC in CI/RI was explored around the CD40/NF-κB pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vivo, middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) model was established in rats. The neuroprotective effect of GC was assessed by neurological scores, cerebral infarct rate, microvessel ultrastructure, blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, brain edema, neutrophil infiltration, and levels of TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and iNOS. In vitro, rat brain microvessel endothelial cells (rBMECs) were preincubated in GC before hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) culture. The cell viability, levels of CD40, ICAM-1, MMP-9, TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6, and activation of NF-κB pathway were examined. In addition, the anti-inflammatory effect of GC was also investigated by silencing CD40 gene in rBMECs. RESULTS: GC attenuated CI/RI as demonstrated by decreasing neurological scores, reducing cerebral infarct rate, improving microvessel ultrastructural features, ameliorating BBB disruption, attenuating brain edema, inhibiting MPO activity, and downregulating levels of TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and iNOS. Coherently, in rBMECs exposed to H/R GC enhanced cell viability and downregulated levels of ICAM-1, MMP-9, TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6. Furthermore, GC suppressed CD40 overexpression and hindered translocation of NF-κB p65 from the cytosol to the nucleus, phosphorylation of IκB-α, and activation of IKK-ß in H/R rBMECs. However, GC failed to protect rBMECs from H/R-induced inflammatory impairments and suppress activation of NF-κB pathway when CD40 gene was silenced. CONCLUSIONS: GC attenuates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion-induced inflammatory impairments by suppressing CD40/NF-κB pathway, which may provide an available therapeutic drug for CI/RI.

An electrochemical method for plant species determination and classification based on fingerprinting petal tissue.

The identification of plant species not only is a hobby but also has important application value in plant resources science. Traditional plant identification often relies on the experience of botanists. The infrageneric identification of plants is easily mistaken due to similarities in organ features. In this work, we propose an electrochemical method to obtain fingerprints of plant petal tissue. Fourteen species of Lycoris were used as a model for validating this methodology. Pattern and color recognition were established for visualization of electrochemical fingerprints recorded after various solvent extractions. In addition, the infrageneric relationships of these Lycoris species were deduced from the electrochemical fingerprints since the type and content of electroactive compounds in plants are controlled by genes. The results indicate that the electrochemical fingerprints of Lycoris petals are correlated with the infrageneric relationships of native Lycoris species.

Electrochemical antioxidant screening based on a chitosan hydrogel.

A chitosan based hydrogel has been fabricated using silver ions as crosslinking agent. Silver redox behavior in the hydrogel is suppressed due to complexation. However, hydrogen peroxide induced hydroxyl radicals could attract the glucoside bonds and consequently restore silver redox behavior. Therefore, we used this hydroxyl radical induced chitos and epolymerization mechanism as an indicator for antioxidant capacity evaluation. Therefore, we used this hydroxyl radical induced chitos and epolymerization as an indicator for antioxidant capacity evaluation. Due to the low cost, portability and avoidance of the need for electrode modification, we believe the proposed hydrogel sensing platform shows great potential for antioxidant screening applications.

Hydrothermal preparation of reduced graphene oxide-silver nanocomposite using Plectranthus amboinicus leaf extract and its electrochemical performance.

Graphene based nanocomposites are receiving increasing attention in many fields such as material chemistry, environmental science and pharmaceutical science. In this study, a facial synthesis of a reduced graphene oxide-silver nanocomposite (RGO-Ag) was carried out from Plectranthus amboinicus leaf extract. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope and UV-vis spectroscopy for structural confirmation. The reduction of graphene oxide and silver ions was achieved simultaneously due to the reducibility of the Plectranthus amboinicus leaf extract. We further investigated the electrochemical properties of the biosynthesized RGO-Ag nanocomposite. A nonenzymatic H2O2 electrochemical sensor was shown to be successfully fabricated by using biosynthesized RGO-Ag nanocomposite. Moreover, the fabricated electrochemical sensor also showed good selectivity.

[Preparation and clinical observation of Koukuining granules in 50 patients with recurrent aphthous ulcer].

PURPOSE: To prepare Koukuining granules and observe its efficiency in the treatment of recurrent aphthas ulce (RAU). METHODS: In accordance with the theories of traditional Chinese medicine, the prescriptions of Koukuining granules were composed of rhizoma coptidis, radix scutellariae and other Chinese herbs, and the preparation procedure was conducted by means of wet granulation technology. One hundred patients with RAU were randomly divided into experimental group and control group equally. Patients in the experimental group took particles orally after a meal, 3 times a day, 1 bag each time, for successive 10 days as one treatment course. The treatment was repeated after 3 days of interval. Patients in the control group took vitamin C, compound vitamin B2, orally for 2 courses. The treatment effect was evaluated. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 11.5 software package. RESULTS: The preparation process was controllable and the quality of the products was stable. The overall effective rate of the experimental group was 88.4% and there was a significant difference compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The preparation of Koukuining granules was feasible with stable quality of final products. Treatment of RAU with the granules was effective and worthy of clinical application.

[The common and variation peak ratio dual index sequence analysis on UV fingerprint spectra of Paeonia Lactiflora Pall].

Baishao and Chishao (Paeonia Lactiflora Pall.) and their close relative Danpi (Paeonia Suffruticosa Andr) samples were estimated quantitatively, based on their UV fingerprint spectra of the extracts obtained with chloroform, ethanol and water, by applying the common and variation peak ratio dual index sequence analysis method. The analytical results showed that the Baishao samples B2, B3 and B4 from the closest regions were the most similar samples. Their common peak ratios were larger than 70 percent and their variation peak ratios were less than 33.3 percent. However, there existed obvious differences among Baishao sample group 1 (B1 and B5), group 2 (B2, B3 and B4) and group 3 (B6) from different regions. The common peak ratios among group 1 (B1 and B5) and group 2(B2, B3 and B4) were lower than 60 percent, while those among group 1 (B1 and B5) and group 3 (B6) were less than 57 percent. The Baishao samples B1 and B5 from the same region collected in different years were of significant disparity, their common peak ratio was only 44.4 percent, but their variation peak ratios were larger than 100 percent. In fact, this method reaches the limitation of quantitative identification of herbs, and can distinguish at least two samples quantitatively.