Potent nitric oxide inhibitory sesquiterpenoids from the rhizome of Curcuma aromatica Salisb.

One new sesquiterpenoid, curcaromatin (1), together with twenty-one known compounds 2-22, were isolated from the rhizomes of Curcuma aromatica Salisb. (Zingiberaceae). Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic (1D and 2D NMR and HR-MS) analysis. Most of the isolated compounds were investigated for nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW264.7 cells. (-)-Xanthorrhizol (3) displayed the strongest NO inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 4.3 µM, which was 3.7-fold more active than the reference compound, aminoguanidine (IC50 15.9 µM). The selectivity index (SI > 28.1) of compound 3 was almost 3-fold higher than that of aminoguanidine.

Pelargonic acid vanillylamide alleviates hepatic autophagy and ER stress in hepatic steatosis model.

Pelargonic acid vanillylamide (PAVA) has been shown to reduce hepatic lipid accumulation in an obese rat model, however the underlying mechanism responsible for regulating lipid metabolism remains unclear. This study investigated the molecular mechanisms invoked by PAVA in regulating lipogenesis, autophagy, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in obese rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed on a diet consisting of 65.26% fat (16 weeks) and HepG2 cells were incubated with 200 µM oleic acid (OA) plus 100 µM palmitic acid (PA) for 48 h. These treatments resulted in a steatosis model. PAVA was shown to reduce fat deposition in hepatocytes in HepG2 by reducing lipotoxicity, the triglyceride content, the expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) and fatty acid synthase (FASN). PAVA also significantly reduced the calcium level and the expression of calpain 2 and upregulated the expression of Atg7 in comparison to the HFD group. In addition, PAVA was shown to significantly decrease the expression of autophagy pathway-related proteins including LC3 and p62. Treatment with PAVA (1 mg/day) reduced the expressions of ER stress markers Bip, ATF6 (p50), p-IRE1/IRE1, p-eIF2α/eIF2α, pJNK, CHOP and cleaved CASP12. In conclusion, PAVA ameliorated obesity induced hepatic steatosis by attenuating defective autophagy and ER stress pathways.