Metabolomic profiling of the effects of Curcumae rhizoma and Sparganii rhizome on stress-led blood stasis.

Blood stasis (BS) is a complex syndrome with blood flow retardation or cessation. The Traditional Chinese Medicine, Curcumae rhizome (CR) and Sparganii rhizome (SR), showed promising effects on this disease, and especially effective when used in combination. However, the detailed influence of the TCMs on the BSS disturbed metabolic pathways was still unclear. In this study, a BS model was constructed in SD rat and the TCMs were used individually or in combination to assess the effects. As a result, combination of CR and SR led to the improvement in hemorheology parameters of up to 80% in the BS model. Further analyzing using metabolomics showed several metabolic pathways, including center carbon metabolism, amino acid metabolism, etc., recovered to the normal levels after treatment. Informatively, tyrosine and thymidine exhibited potential importance in the BSS and its treatment process. From these results, the metabolic profiles of BS and the SR-CR treatment were provided, which may helpful for better understanding the BSS mechanism and the development of more effective therapies.

Seropositivity and identification of paramyosin for sparganosis in the Kangwon and Incheon provinces of the Republic of Korea.

Sparganosis is one of the top three tissue-dwelling heterologous helminthic diseases, along with cysticercosis and paragonimiasis, in Korea. Due to a lack of effective early diagnosis and treatment methods, this parasitic disease is regarded as a public health threat. This study evaluated reactivity, against sparganum extracts, of sera from inhabitants of Cheorwon-gun, Goseong-gun and Ongjin-gun in Korea. The sera from 836 subjects were subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblot analysis. The sera from 18 (5.8%) and 15 (5.1%) inhabitants in Cheorwon-gun (n = 312) and Goseong-gun (n = 294), respectively, exhibited highly positive reactions to the sparganum antigen, whereas only two (0.9%) inhabitants in Ongjin-gun (n = 230) showed positivity. We sought antigenic proteins for serodiagnosis of positive sera by immunoproteomic approaches. Total sparganum lysates were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and then subjected to immunoblot analysis with mixed sparganosis-positive sera. We found seven antigenic spots and identified paramyosin as an antigenic protein by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. By two-dimensional (2D)-based mass analysis and immunoblotting against sparganosis-positive sera, paramyosin was identified as a candidate antigen for serodiagnosis of sparganosis.

[Soluble proteins of the plerocercoid of Spirometra mansoni].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze soluble proteins of the plerocercoid of Spirometra mansoni. METHODS: The total protein of the plerocercoid of S. mansoni was separated by SDS-PAGE and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). Western blotting was performed to find out distinct antigens by sera of plerocercoid-infected mice. RESULTS: A total of 33 protein bands were separated by SDS-PAGE (Mr 13,800-145,400). Four of them were high-abundance proteins with Mr 26,500, Mr 37,600, Mr 88,200, and Mr 130,200, respectively. At least two protein bands of Mr 31,600 and 37,600 reacted with the infected mice sera. 367 protein spots were detected on 2-DE gel, among which. about 67% proteins were found within Mr 18,840-46,800 and isoelectric point (pI) 4-7. Western blotting showed 30 antigen spots specifically reacting with sera from mice infected by S. mansoni. CONCLUSION: Two protein bands and thirty protein spots are specific acidic proteins of S. mansoni plerocercoid.

Separation of the syncytial layer of spargana using urea.

The tegument of tapeworms is known to be composed of an outer syncytial cytoplasm layer which includes microtriches and cytoplasmic organelles (= syncytial layer), and a parenchymatous cytoplasm layer that contains subtegumental cell nuclei (= subtegumental layer) and organelles. In the present study, separation of the syncytial layer of the sparganum, the plerocercoid stage of Spirometra mansoni, was tried using urea as the chemical reagent. Histological sections were prepared to visualize the status of separation after staining with hematoxylin and eosin. The results showed that the syncytial layer of the sparganum tegument which includes microtriches and cytoplasmic organelles were successfully separated from the parenchyma using 3 M urea.

Selective estrogen receptor modulator: A novel polysaccharide from Sparganii Rhizoma induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells.

A polysaccharide named SpaTA, as novel selective estrogen receptor modulator, was isolated from water extraction of traditional Chinese herbal medicine Sparganii Rhizoma. SpaTA had a backbone consisting of 2-O-grailsine-ß-xylose (4→6)-α-glucose (1→4) -ß-mannose osamine. There is an aluminium element combined with nitrogen on both grailsine and mannose osamine in repeating unit of SpaTA. The anticancer effect of SpaTA was assessed using ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells. The results showed that SpaTA induced sequential increases in proliferation and apoptosis through a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Further studies revealed that SpaTA regulated the expression and nuclear translocation of ERα, then modulated the downstream estrogen signaling pathway. Moreover, knock-down ERα in ZR-75-1 cells and overexpress ERα in MDA-MB-231 cells also provided evidences that SpaTA activated the apoptosis-related caspase -3, -8, -9 and PARP in an ERα-dependent manner. Taken together, these results indicated that SpaTA can induce the apoptosis of breast cancer cells through regulating ERα. Therefore, SpaTA may be considered as an effective agent against human breast cancer.

A novel fucosylated glycosphingolipid with a Gal beta 1-4Glc beta 1-3Gal sequence in plerocercoids of the parasite, Spirometra erinacei.

A novel glycosphingolipid (SEGLx) has been isolated from the plerocercoids of a tapeworm, Spirometra erinacei. From the results of compositional analysis, methylation analysis, exoglycosidase hydrolysis, acid hydrolysis, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, its structure was concluded to be [formula: see text] This is the first report of a glycosphingolipid with a novel carbohydrate structure which is characterized by i) the occurrence of a penultimate glucose molecule attached to the reducing end galactose through a beta 1-3 linkage and ii) the presence of a fucose attached to a glucose through an alpha 1-3 linkage. The ceramide contained sphinganine or 4-D-hydroxy-sphinganine, and either a nonhydroxy fatty acid with 16, 18, 26, or 28 carbon atoms, or hydroxystearic acid. Proton NMR analysis revealed that the chemical species of both the long chain base and fatty acid moieties affect the chemical shifts of the anomeric proton resonances of not only the reducing terminal galactose but also the penultimate glucose.

Inhibition of polycystin-L channel by the Chinese herb Sparganum stoloniferum Buch.-Ham.

The Chinese herb Sparganum stoloniferum Buch.-Ham. (SBH) is frequently used to improve blood circulation and to rehabilitate vascular obstruction in traditional Chinese medicine. It was recently reported that SBH reduces the proliferation of renal epithelial cells stimulated by epidermal growth factor (EGF), and inhibits the phosphorylation of the EGF receptor. SBH has also been used as a trial drug to treat polycystic kidney disease (PKD) patients in China. The potential molecular actions of SBH on PKD remain unknown. Autosomal dominant PKD (ADPKD) is associated with mutations in polycystin-1 or polycystin-2 (PC2). PC2 and its homologue, polycystin-L (PCL), are nonselective cation channels permeable to potassium, sodium, and calcium. Here, we examine the effects of SBH on the human PCL channel expressed in Xenopus oocytes, using 2-microelectrode voltage-clamp electrophysiology and radiotracer uptake measurements. In PCL-expressing oocytes, with or without preincubation with SBH, the PCL channel was inhibited by SBH in a dose-dependent and reversible manner; a concentration of 2% SBH completely abolished the channel activation. The IC50 value for SBH was 0.48% +/- 0.03%, with a 10-min preincubation period. SBH was also found to inhibit the PCL-mediated 45Ca tracer uptake in oocytes. Our study suggests that SBH contains 1 or more yet-to-be determined components that are inhibitors of PCL channel. The therapeutic potential of SBH for ADPKD and its chemical composition remain to be investigated.

Component proteins and protease activities in excretory-secretory product of sparganum.

Spirometra mansoni plerocercoid (sparganum) was incubated in saline at 4 degrees C or 37 degrees C up to 100 hours. Protein contents in the excretory-secretory product (ESP) were rather constant (mean 7.7 mg of protein/gram of sparganum) in the preparations. Reducing SDS-PAGE of ESP showed similar protein subunit compositions with those in crude extract. Antigenic 36 and 31 kDa proteins were major bands in ESP. ESP exhibited specific activities of protease (2.9-5.3 units/mg) at pH 6.0 and pH 7.5. Presence of protease activity in ESP may be a supporting evidence that hitherto known cysteine protease of sparganum is possibly secreted.