[Effects of different carbon sources on growth and active component contents in Salvia miltiorrhiza and S. castanea f. tomentosa hairy roots].

Salvia miltiorrhiza(Sm) and Salvia castanea f. tomentosa(Sc) hairy roots were used as experimental materials to study the effects of six different carbon sources, galactose, fructose, lactose, glucose, arabinose and sucrose(control), on fresh weight, dry weight, contents and yields of salvianolic acids and tanshinones. The results showed that galactose was most beneficial to the growth of two kinds of hairy roots, while lactose and arabinose were not conducive to their growth. As for Sm hairy roots, fructose significantly promoted the accumulation of salvianolic acid B, and the content increased by 5.801 times and 10.151 times compared with the control group, respectively. Glucose significantly promoted the accumulation of salvianolic acids. The content and yield of rosmarinic acid were 7.674 times and 9.260 times of that of the control group, and the content and yield of salvianolic acid B were 5.532 times and 6.675 times of the control group. For the hairy roots of Sc, galactose significantly increased the content and yield of rosmarinic acid, reaching 7.820 times and 9.944 times of the control group, respectively. Fructose promoted the increase of the content and yield of cryptotanshinone, reaching 9.242 times and 6.609 times of the control group, respectively. The study confirmed the optimal carbon source for the hairy root culture of Sm and Sc, and provided theoretical guidance for large-scale production of Sm drug-derived components and the utilization of Sc.

Effect of curcumin on down-expression of thrombospondin-4 induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein in mouse macrophages.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of curcumin on the expression of thrombospondin-4 (THBS-4) in mouse macrophages treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL). The mouse macrophage cell line ANA-1 was treated with oxLDL. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. ANA-1 cells were divided into five groups: control group, model group, 5 µM curcumin group, 15 µM curcumin group and 25 µM curcumin group. The gene and protein expression levels of THBS-4 in each group were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blotting, respectively. MTT assay showed that curcumin concentrations up to 25 µM and oxLDL concentrations up to 20 µg/ml had no significant cytotoxic effects on macrophages at 24 h. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that THBS-4 mRNA expression was markedly reduced by stimulation with oxLDL, but subsequently significantly increased by treatment with curcumin. Western blotting confirmed that curcumin (5, 15, and 25 µM) significantly prevented the decrease in THBS-4 expression induced by oxLDL (20 µg/ml) in macrophages. Curcumin prevents the decrease in THBS-4 expression induced by oxLDL, which may represent one of the anti-atherosclerotic mechanisms of curcumin.