Traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Ficus hispida L.f.: A review.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ficus hispida L.f. (Moraceae) has long been used as a traditional medicine in India, China, Sri Lanka, Australia, and Myanmar in the treatment of diarrhea, ulcer, anemia, diabetes, inflammation, and cancer. AIM OF THE REVIEW: This review provides a systematic comment on the botany, traditional uses, and phytochemical and pharmacological studies of F. hispida, with an aim to make critical update of the current knowledge and obtain opportunities for further therapeutic potential. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The information was derived from scientific literature databases including PubMed, Baidu Scholar, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Science Direct. Additional information was gathered from books, Ph.D. and M.Sc. dissertations, and unpublished materials. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: F. hispida is used especially in Chinese and Indian traditional medical systems as a remedy for skin disorders, respiratory diseases, and urinary diseases. Wound healing, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, sedative, antidiarrheal, antiulcer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antineoplastic, and antidiabetic activities have been reported for crude extracts and isolated metabolites, but the methodologies in these studies often have inadequate design and low technical quality. More than 76 compounds have been isolated from F.hispida, including sesquiterpenoids and triterpenoids, flavonoids, coumarins, phenylpropionic acids, benzoic acid derivatives, alkaloids, steroids, other glycosides, and alkanes, but the method of bioassay-guided fractionation is seldom applied in the isolation from F. hispida. CONCLUSION: F. hispida is used widely in traditional medicines and has multiple pharmacological effects that could support traditional uses. However, pharmacological studies should be viewed with caution because of the inappropriate experimental design. More in vitro and in vivo research is urgently needed to study the molecular mechanisms and assess the effective and safe dose of F. hispida.

A novel neutral and thermophilic endoxylanase from Streptomyces ipomoeae efficiently produced xylobiose from agricultural and forestry residues.

Endoxylanases capable of producing high ratios of xylobiose from agricultural and forestry residues in neutral and high temperature conditions are attractive for the prebiotic and alternative sweetener industries. In this study, a putative glycosyl hydrolase gene from Streptomyces ipomoeae was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme, named as SipoEnXyn10A, hydrolyzed beechwood xylan in endo-action mode releasing xylobiose as its main end product. It was most active at pH 6.5 and 75-80 °C and showed remarkable stability at 65 °C. The xylobiose yield from 10 g corncob and moso bamboo reached 1.123 ±â€¯0.021 and 0.229 ±â€¯0.005 g, respectively, at pH 6.5 and 70 °C, whichwas higher than other reports using the same material. Moreover, high ratios of xylobiose in the xylose-based product of about 85% were obtained from corncob, moso bamboo sawdust, cassava stem and Chinese fir sawdust. These results demonstrated that SipoEnXyn10A has potential for industrial application.

A novel non-hydrolytic protein from Pseudomonas oryzihabitans enhances the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose.

Several kinds of protein such as the expansin, expansin-like proteins and LPMOs (lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases) are known to exert enhancement effects on cellulase activity. In this study, a novel cellulase synergistic protein named POEP1 was purified from the culture filtrate of Pseudomonas oryzihabitans CGMCC 6169, and was homogeneous on SDS-PAGE with a molecular weight of 60kDa. Mass spectrometry analysis indicated that it was an unknown protein without sequence similarity to the expansin and expansin-like proteins. Evaluation of the enzymatic hydrolysis of filter paper revealed that POEP1 had no cellulase activity but displayed high synergistic activity of 364% at a cellulase concentration of 0.1FPU/g of filter paper. When a mixture containing 0.6FPU cellulase and 700µg POEP1 per g of cellulose was evaluated, the maximal sugar yield was achieved, which was 2.2-fold greater than that with the cellulase alone. POEP1 was found to have functional similarity to the expansin and expansin-like proteins, which could decrease both the hydrogen-bond intensity and crystallinity, and cause the filter paper disruption. This study provided evidence for the existence of novel bacterial proteins in nature serving the same function as expansin and expansin-like proteins.

[Value of intra-operative ultrasound in detecting the boundaries of intra cranial gliomas].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application of intra-operative ultrasound (IOUS) in detecting the boundaries of intracranial gliomas. METHODS: One hundred and five consecutive patients with supra-tentorial glioma were included, male: 42 cases, female: 46 cases, age ranged from 15 - 67 years (mean 41 yrs), intra-operative ultrasound B was used to detect tumour boundaries before and after resection in 88 cases, tissues with suspicious echo was taken for verification by histological examination. And repeated MRI scan was received within 3 day after operation to judge the resection extent. The result was judged by Ultrasound doctor, neurosurgeon and pathologist, respectively. RESULTS: Eighty-eight patients were operated assisted by IOUS B. Tumour was nearly total removed in 83 cases and subtotal removed in 5 cases. Histological examination showed WHO Grade II 30 cases, Grade III 31 cases and Grade IV 27 cases. One hundred and twenty samples were taken and 101 were verified as tumours. And residual tumours were found in 17 cases and brain contusion and laceration was found in 1 case. The sensitivity of IOUS was 80.1% and the specificity was 69.8%. CONCLUSIONS: IOUS could produce a marked effect in judging boundaries of glioma, especially in low grade gliomas. IOUS could be a routine technique in intracranial glioma operation.

Protective effect of ischemic preconditioning on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury by advancing the expressive phase of survivin in rats.

BACKGROUND: Survivin is a new and important gene in the regulation of apoptosis. It is very important to explore the effect of the expression of survivin protein caused by ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. The effect of IR injury caused by ischemic preconditioning (IP) on the liver in rats and the relation between the protective effect of IP and the expression of survivin are unclear. METHODS: One hundred and fifty male Wistar rats (weighing 190-210 g, aged 6-7 weeks) were divided into three groups at random: ischemic preconditioning (IP), ischemia-reperfusion (IR) and sham-operation (SO). Sample specimens were collected from each group at 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after reperfusion. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured by an automatic biochemical analyzer. Malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver tissue was measured. Pathological changes in the liver and immunohistochemical staining for survivin were determined with an optical microscope. RESULTS: The ALT levels in the IP and IR groups after reperfusion at each time were higher than those in the SO group (P<0.05), whereas after reperfusion for 6 and 12 hours, the ALT levels in the IP group were lower than those in the IR group (P<0.05). The AST levels in all IP and IR groups were higher than those in the SO group (P<0.05), whereas after reperfusion for 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours, the AST levels in the IP group were lower than those in the IR group (P<0.05). The MDA concentrations after reperfusion in the IP group were lower than those in the IR group (P<0.05), though the MDA concentrations in the IP and IR groups increased in contrast to those in the SO group after reperfusion at each time (P<0.05). After reperfusion for 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours, the number of survivin-positive cells was larger in the IP and IR groups than in the SO group (P<0.05). After reperfusion for 12, 24, and 48 hours the number of survivin-positive cells in the IP group increased compared with that in the IR group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: IR increases the protein expression of survivin in liver tissue. IP inhibits the accumulation of MDA, advances the expressive phase of survivin protein in hepatic tissue, and improves liver function.

Melatonin protects liver from intestine ischemia reperfusion injury in rats.

AIM: To investigate the protective effect of melatonin on liver after intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. METHODS: One hundred and fifty male Wistar rats, weighing 190-210 g, aged 7 wk, were randomly divided into melatonin exposure group, alcohol solvent control group and normal saline control group. Rats in the melatonin exposure group received intraperitoneal (IP) melatonin (20 mg/kg) 30 min before intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IR), rats in the alcohol solvent control group received the same concentration and volume of alcohol, and rats in the normal saline control group received the same volume of normal saline. Serum samples were collected from each group 0.5, 1, 6, 12, and 24 h after intestinal IR. Levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured with an auto-biochemical analyzer. Serum TNF-alpha was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver was detected by colorimetric assay. Pathological changes in liver and immunohistochemical straining of ICAM-1 were observed under an optical microscope. RESULTS: The levels of ALT measured at various time points after intestinal IR in the melatonin exposure group were significantly lower than those in the other two control groups (P < 0.05). The serum AST levels 12 and 24 h after intestinal IR and the ICAM-1 levels (%) 6, 12 and 24 h after intestinal IR in the melatonin exposure group were also significantly lower than those in the other two control groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Exotic melatonin can inhibit the activity of ALT, AST and TNF-alpha, decrease the accumulation of MDA, and depress the expression of ICAM-1 in liver after intestinal IR injury, thus improving the liver function.

Interaction of daunomycin antibiotic with human serum albumin: investigation by resonant mirror biosensor technique, fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular modeling methods.

Daunomycin (DM) is a clinically used antitumor anthracycline antibiotic, which is transported primarily by human serum albumin (HSA) in the blood. Binding characteristics are therefore of interest for both the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of DM. A new optical biosensor technique based on the resonant mirror was used to characterize interaction of DM with HSA at different temperatures and the affinity constants were obtained. The HSA-DM interaction is exothermic with having favorable enthalpy and entropy followed by the integrated van't Hoff equation analysis. Fluorescence studies showed that DM has an ability to quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA through a static quenching procedure according to the Stern-Volmer equation and DM displays a pH-dependent binding affinity to HSA. Molecular modeling calculations showed that the DM binds HSA to a non-classical drug binding site and further analysis of the binding site of DM within the HSA molecule suggested that hydrophobic contacts, hydrogen bond formation and electrostatic interactions account for the binding of DM.

[Spectral analysis of the structure of 1, 1'-and 1, 2'-dinaphthyl methanone].

The structure of 1, 1'-and 1, 2'-dinaphthyl methanone synthesized by the reaction of naphthalene with oxalyl chloride in the presence of AlCl3 were studied by using UV and FTIR in this paper. The analysis results showed that the difference of structures (symmetry) of 1,1'-and 1, 2'-dinaphthyl methanone were represented on the obvious difference of the spectra of UV and FTIR.