Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antitussive and antipyretic activities of polyphenol-enriched fraction from Nymphaea candida.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: "Snow-white waterlily" (Nymphaea candida) dried flower possesses various efficacy in Uighur medicine such as reducing fever and nourishing the liver, anti-inflammatory and cough relieving, moistening the throat and quenching thirst. AIM OF THE STUDY: Polyphenols are characteristic component of N. candida as well as its quality markers, and the purpose of this study was to conduct investigations into anti-inflammatory, antitussive, antipyretic, and analgesic activities of the polyphenol-enriched fraction from N. candida (NCTP) in order to validate the traditional efficacy of this plant. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The polyphenols in NCTP were analyzed by HPLC, and an acute oral toxicity study was conducted for NCTP. The anti-inflammatory activities of NCTP were evaluated using xylene induced ear edema, capillary permeability, cotton pellet granuloma, and carrageenan-induced rat paw edema, of which multiple biochemical indices were measured in carrageenan-induced rat paw edema such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2),5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH) activities; the analgesic activities were investigated using acetic acid writhing, hot plate test, and formalin test; the anti-tussive and antipyretic effects were tested by ammonia induced cough in mice and yeast-induced fever respectively. RESULTS: NCTP with LD50 of 5222 mg/kg was low toxicity and safety. NCTP (200 mg/kg) could significantly reduce ear swelling and capillary permeability by 30.63% and 31.37%, respectively. NCTP revealed 15.76% inhibiting activities in cotton pellet granuloma in mice at a dosage of 200 mg/kg. Furthermore, NCTP (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) substantially decreased carrageenin-induced paw edema in rats between 1 and 5 h, and NCTP could decrease PGE2, 5-LOX, COX-2 levels as well as IL-6, IL-1ß, TNF-α activities compared with the control group; NCTP could decrease MDA contents in carrageenin-induced rise, and increase SOD and GSH activities. Furthermore, the dose-dependent inhibition effect of NCTP on pain was revealed in the hot plate experiment. In addition to reducing the amount of writhes brought on by acetic acid, NCTP (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) significantly inhibited pain latency against both stages of the formalin test. Moreover, NCTP (50, 100, 200 mg/kg) showed the better antitussive activities in mice in a dose-dependent manner. In the yeast-induced pyrexia test, dosages of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg resulted in a statistically significant drop in rectal temperature. CONCLUSION: The experimental results proved the analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tussive and antipyretic activities of the polyphenol-enriched fraction from N. candida, and supported the traditional use of this plant as well.

Alterations in the "Gut-Liver Axis" on Rats with Immunological Hepatic Fibrosis.

There remains a lack of standard models that have all the characteristics of human diseases. Especially in immunological hepatic fibrosis, the bovine serum albumin (BSA)-induced liver fibrosis models have the same developmental mechanisms as human liver fibrosis models, but have received little attention. We standardized a BSA-induced liver fibrosis model in rats and thoroughly assessed its pathological characteristics. We also used 16S sequencing to assess homeostasis of the intestinal microflora of rats with BSA-induced liver fibrosis and detected various differential metabolites in the serum of these rats using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). We observed stable and unambiguous histological changes in liver tissue morphology and remarkably high concentrations of inflammatory markers in the serum of BSA-induced liver fibrosis rats. In keeping with the fact that BSA induction can cause gut microbiota disorders in rats. UHPLC-MS/MS analysis of rat serum samples in positive-ion mode and negative-ion mode revealed 17 and 25 differential metabolites, respectively. Network analysis revealed that phenylalanine or tyrosine metabolites (e.g., PAGln) were the predominant metabolites in the sera of BSA-induced liver fibrosis rats. Taken together, our results suggest that disorders of amino acid metabolism caused by the gut microbiota may play an important role in the progression of immunological hepatic fibrosis.

A Novel and Reliable Rat Model of Autism.

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that lacks an ideal animal model to recapitulate the disease state of ASD. Previous studies have reported that transplanting gut microbiota of ASD patients into pregnant mice is sufficient to promote the changes of autism-like behavior in offspring. This study aims to explore whether fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) can be used as a new method to establish the ASD animal model. Methods: We transplanted the fecal sample extract of ASD children into pregnant rats (rFMT) repeatedly to establish an ASD rat model (oFMT) and compare it with the classical valproic acid (VPA) model (oVPA). Results: First, we reveal that oFMT shows hypoevolutism and typical behavioral characteristics of ASD, consistent with the previous study. Second, the gut microbiota of oFMT mainly consists of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, recapitulating the abnormal gut microbiota of ASD. In oFMT, the abundance of Lactobacillus and Collinsella increased (Lactobacillus: oFMT 60.16%, oVPA 64.13%, oCON 40.11%; Collinsella: oFMT 3.73%, oVPA 1.39%, oCON 1.28%), compared with oVPA, gut microbiota also showed high consistency. Third, the expression of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in oFMT serum increased, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and norepinephrine (NE) in oFMT serum decreased. Fourth, the gut microbiota of oFMT also has some ASD characteristic gut microbiota not found in oVPA. Fifth, pregnant rat with VPA showed significant immune activation, while those with FMT showed relatively minor immune activation. Limitations: Although the mechanism of establishing FMT autism rat model (oFMT) has not clearly defined, the data show that the model has high structural validity, and FMT model is likely to be a new and reliable potential animal model of ASD, and will have potential value in studying gut microbiota of ASD. Conclusions: The FMT autism rat model has high structural validity, and the FMT model is likely to be a new and reliable potential animal model of ASD.