Ultrasound-Enhanced Subcritical CO2 Extraction of Lutein from Chlorella pyrenoidosa.

Lutein is an important pigment of Chlorella pyrenoidosa with many beneficial functions in human health. The main purpose of this study was to extract lutein from C. pyrenoidosa using ultrasound-enhanced subcritical CO2 extraction (USCCE). Effects of operating conditions on the extraction, including extraction pretreatment, temperature, pressure, time, CO2 flow rate, and ultrasonic power, were investigated, and an orthogonal experiment was designed to study the effects of extraction pressure, temperature, cosolvent amount, and time on the extraction yields. The USCCE method was compared with other extraction methods in terms of the yields of lutein and the microstructure of C. pyrenoidosa powder by scanning electron microscopy. A maximal extraction yield of 124.01 mg lutein/100 g crude material was achieved under optimal conditions of extraction temperature at 27 °C, extraction pressure at 21 MPa, cosolvent amount at 1.5 mL/g ethanol, and ultrasound power at 1000 W. Compared to other methods, USCCE could significantly increase the lutein extraction yield at lower extraction temperature and pressure. Furthermore, the kinetic models of USCCE and subcritical CO2 extraction (SCCE) of lutein from C. pyrenoidosa were set as E = 130.64 × (1 - e(-0.6599t)) and E = 101.82 × (1 - e(-0.5683t)), respectively. The differences of parameters in the kinetic models indicate that ultrasound was able to enhance the extraction process of SCCE.

Ligusticum chuanxiong prevents ovariectomy-induced liver and vascular damage in rats.

Post-menopause, there is an increase in body weight, visceral adiposity, and risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which leads to various cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Some natural products have proven useful for counteracting the detrimental effects of menopause. The rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. (LC) is a well-known medicinal herb widely used in Chinese communities for the treatment of CVDs. The hepatic and vascular protective effects of LC ethanolic extract under postmenopausal conditions were investigated on ovariectomized (OVX) rats supplemented with or without LC ethanolic extract (600 mg/kg body weight/day, p.o.) or 17ß-estradiol (1 mg/kg body weight/day, p.o.) for 12 weeks. The current findings demonstrated that consumption of LC ethanolic extract could reduce the body weight gain, improve serum lipid profile (lowering low density lipoprotein cholesterol but raising high density lipoprotein cholesterol), combat NAFLD, and protect vascular endothelium in the OVX rats. The beneficial effects of LC may be associated with its antioxidant or vasorelaxant compounds, which enhance the levels of hepatic antioxidant enzymes and up-regulate endothelial nitric oxide synthase mRNA expression, respectively. Taken together, LC may be a promising natural supplement for postmenopausal women to prevent NAFLD and CVDs.

Aqueous extract of danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge) protects ovariectomized rats fed with high-fat diet from endothelial dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal women. Danshen, the dried root of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, has been used clinically in China to treat CVD and dyslipidemia in postmenopausal women, and its major active ingredients have been found to have an estrogenic effect. The aim of this study was to elucidate the underlying mechanism of danshen's protective effects on vascular function in an ovariectomized (OVX) hyperlipidemic rat model. METHODS: Thirty-five 6-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups: sham-operated rats with low-fat control diet + vehicle, sham-operated rats with high-fat diet (HFD) + vehicle, OVX rats with HFD + vehicle, OVX rats with HFD + 17ß-estradiol (1 mg kg d, PO), and OVX rats with HFD + danshen aqueous extract (600 mg kg d, PO). After 12 weeks of treatment, gains in body weight and serum lipid profile levels in rats were measured and histological examination of livers was carried out. Vascular function was evaluated by measuring relaxation responses. Molecular mechanisms were also analyzed in isolated aorta. RESULTS: Treatment with danshen aqueous extract reduced body weight gain, improved serum lipid profiles, and prevented formation of fatty liver induced by HFD and OVX. In addition, danshen could increase endothelial-dependent vasorelaxation and displayed vasoprotection in OVX rats fed with HFD, primarily by stimulating nitric oxide (NO) production, up-regulating the mRNA expression of endothelial NO synthase, and down-regulating the mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor α, intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in the isolated aortas. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude for the first time that danshen aqueous extract could protect OVX rats fed with HFD from endothelial dysfunction. Its effect may be related to its abilities to normalize serum lipid profiles and enhance NO availability in the vascular system. Our findings indicate that danshen aqueous extract could be a promising natural supplement for postmenopausal women for preventing CVD.

[Comparison on extraction of volatile oils from Lithospermum erythrorhizon by different methods].

OBJECTIVE: To extract the volatile oils from Lithospermum erythrorhizon via ultrasound-enhanced sub-critical water extraction (USWE) and compare with ultrasound-enhanced solvent extraction (USE) and steam distillation extraction (SD). METHODS: The extraction yield of the volatile oils, the containing components of extract, the effect of scanvenging activities on free radical DPPH and reducing activities as well as the inhibitory on escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus were investigated. RESULTS: The extraction yield of volatile oils by USWE, USE and SD were 2.39%, 1.93% and 0.62%, respectively, the extracts by three methods all contained six major components, but the extracts by SD and USE contained more impurities. The inhibitory effect on escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus of the extract by SD and its reducing action were the best,but those by USWE were the worst. CONCLUSION: the extraction yield of volatile oils by USWE is the highest, and it contains less impurities based on the worst in reducing power and inhibitory effects.

Ultrasound assisted supercritical fluid extraction of oil and coixenolide from adlay seed.

Oil and coixenolide are important components of adlay seed (Coix lachrymal-jobi L. var. Adlay) with many beneficial functions to human health. In this work, a novel extraction technique--ultrasound assisted supercritical fluid extraction (USFE)--was studied. Effects of operating conditions on the extraction, including extraction temperature (T), pressure (P), time (t), CO(2) flow rate (F) and ultrasonic power (I) were investigated. There are optimum temperatures which gives the maximum extraction yields (EYs) for the supercritical fluid extractions with and without ultrasound. The effect of pressure on EYs for is similar to that of pressure on CO(2) density. Based on the yield of extraction, the favorable conditions for supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) were: T at 45 degrees C, P at 25 MPa, t at 4.0 h and F at 3.5L/h. While ultrasound was applied as in USFE, the following parameters were preferred: T at 40 degrees C, P at 20 MPa, t at 3.5h and F at 3.0 L/h, respectively. The results show that supercritical fluid extraction with the assistance of ultrasound could reduce the temperature, pressure, CO(2) flow rate, as well as time used in the process. Compared with SFE, USFE could give a 14% increase in the yield for extracting oil and coixenolide from adlay seed with less severe operating conditions.

Ligustilide inhibits vascular smooth muscle cells proliferation.

Proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are believed to develop atherosclerosis and venous bypass graft disease. Ligustilide is widely used to treat some pathological settings such as atherosclerosis and hypertension. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of ligustilide on VSMCs proliferation. The results show that ligustilide significantly inhibited VSMCs proliferation and cell cycle progression. Further analysis shows that ligustilide suppressed reactive oxygen species production and extracellular signal-related kinases (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK), and p38 MAP kinase. Cells were treated with antioxidant, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and DPI, respectively, leading to repress ERK, JNK, and p38 activation. The inhibitors of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), PD98059, SB203580, and Sp600125, inhibited cell proliferation. These findings suggest the antiproliferative effect of ligustilide was associated with the decrement of reactive oxygen species resulting in the suppression of MAPK pathway. Thus, ligustilide contribute to be the effective agent in preventing cardiovascular diseases.