Thermal imagery of woodland tree canopies provides new insights into drought-induced tree mortality.

Our understanding of how water dynamics determines the probability of tree mortality during drought is incomplete. Here we help address this shortcoming by coupling approaches from the disciplines of ecophysiology, geophysics and remote sensing in a woodland ecosystem undergoing protracted drying. Water uptake and use strategies varied between the dominant canopy species of the ecosystem. At one extreme were species that tightly regulate their water status, which is broadly consistent with the definition of isohydry. The higher leaf temperatures revealed by thermal imagery of these isohydric species are likely a reflection of reduced latent cooling owing to a stringent control of transpiration rate. Where silty sediments occur in the root zone, this strategy may have the effect of limiting the water sources available to these species during prolonged drought because of an insufficient hydraulic gradient for water uptake. In contrast were species that allowed their water status to fluctuate, operating in a fashion more consistent with anisohydry. For these species, latent cooling owing to relatively high transpiration rates maintained leaf temperatures near, or below, the ambient air temperature. The resulting drawdown in leaf water potential between soil and leaves in these anisohydric species may generate a sufficient hydraulic gradient to enable water uptake from silty soil during seasonal or prolonged droughts. In this way the spatial distribution of fine textured soil could indicate areas where the isohydric hydraulic control strategy is disadvantageous during prolonged droughts or where annual soil water recharge has fallen below a critical threshold.

Net effects of conservation agriculture principles on sustainable land use: A synthesis.

Despite the strong recommendations from scientists, to till or not to till remains a confusing question for many farmers around the world due to the worries of crop yield decline and negative impacts on soils and environment. A confused understanding of the role of the individual principles of conservation agriculture significantly limits the effectiveness and applicability of soil conservation strategies and frameworks to achieve sustainable agriculture. By distinguishing clearly between the different principles of conservation agriculture, the net effects of no-tillage on improving and sustaining agro-ecosystems are analyzed based on 49 recent meta-analyses in this study. The review shows that no-tillage leads to a significant decline of crop yield (-8.0% to 10.0%, median: -1.9%), whereas residue retention represents the key driver for improving crop production (4.0%-28.0%, median: 8.2%). The efficacy of no-tillage for water erosion control, especially runoff (-24.0% to -0.7%, median: -10.0%), is often insignificant and otherwise lower compared to residue retention (-87.0% to -14.0%, median: -45.5%). Soil carbon sequestration potential under conservation tillage is quite limited or even close to zero, and if any, it can likely be attributed to the associated residue retention (-0.1% to 12.8%, median: 9.7%) rather than no-tillage (-2.0% to 10.0%, median: 4.8%). Our analysis illustrates that in conservation agriculture, no-tillage as the original and central principle of soil management is often less effective than associated supplementary measures, in particular residue retention. Residue retention may therefore play a key role for achieving sustainable land use. An additional benefit of residue retention is the less dramatic change of farming practices compared to no-tillage. The results of this review illustrate that a new framework for assessing the benefits of conservation practices has to be developed. To till, or not to till, is not the question: residue retention seems more critical.

No tillage is not an ideal management for water erosion control in China.

No tillage (NT) has been recommended as an essential conservation agriculture (CA) management in terms of water erosion control. However, the term of NT actually represents both NT and NT plus straw mulching (NTS) in a large amount of studies, which is out of the scope of its original meaning. Consequently, the mixed use of the two terms may cause biased estimate of the role of NT in erosion reduction. We aimed to distinguish actual roles of tillage reduction and residue retention in erosion control based on published data from field experiments of China. A database of paired experiments was compiled from 40 published literatures, with tillage practices including conventional tillage, reduced tillage, no tillage, and their combinations with residue retention. Variable-controlling approach was adopted to comprehensively identify the roles of tillage reduction and residue retention in runoff and soil loss reduction. Our results showed that residue retention caused significant decline of both water and sediment loss, whereas tillage reduction only led to insignificant change of runoff and soil loss. No tillage plus residue retention was also beneficial in terms of erosion control, very likely due to the application of residue retention. The results strengthen the higher influence of residue retention over tillage reduction with respect to soil and water conservation. It also challenges the conclusion of previous studies that NT could lead to the reduction of both runoff and soil loss based on the mixed use of NT and NTS. Furthermore, the efficiency of straw mulching in erosion control declines as application duration increases, indicating the effects of CA should not be overestimated in longer-term. The effectiveness of CA in erosion control also differs among various soil types. Overall, this study highlights the necessity of understanding the influences of tillage reduction, residue retention and the combination of the two managements in order to better evaluate and manage CA with respect to water erosion control, but the impacts of application duration of CA and soil types must be properly considered when adopting CA to reduce erosion.

Assessment of crusting effects on interrill erosion by laser scanning.

BACKGROUND: Crust formation affects soil erosion by raindrop impacted flow through changing particle size and cohesion between particles on the soil surface, as well as surface microtopography. Therefore, changes in soil microtopography can, in theory, be employed as a proxy to reflect the complex and dynamic interactions between crust formation and erosion caused by raindrop-impacted flow. However, it is unclear whether minor variations of soil microtopography can actually be detected with tools mapping the crust surface, often leaving the interpretation of interrill runoff and erosion dynamics qualitative or even speculative. METHODS: In this study, we used a laser scanner to measure the changes of the microtopography of two soils placed under simulated rainfall in experimental flumes and crusting at different rates. The two soils were of the same texture, but under different land management, and thus organic matter content and aggregate stability. To limit the amount of scanning and data analysis in this exploratory study, two transects and four subplots on each experimental flume were scanned with a laser in one-millimeter interval before and after rainfall simulations. RESULTS: While both soils experienced a flattening, they displayed different temporal patterns of crust development and associated erosional responses. The laser scanning data also allowed to distinguish the different rates of developments of surface features for replicates with extreme erosional responses. The use of the laser data improved the understanding of crusting effects on soil erosional responses, illustrating that even limited laser scanning provides essential information for quantitatively exploring interrill erosion processes.

Matting Calcium Crystals by Melamine Improves Stabilization and Prevents Dissolution.

Melamine induces calcium phosphate (CaP) and calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal formation; however, the physicochemical mechanism is not clear. Recently, we found that melamine has a discriminatory effect on CaP, CaOx, and CaP + CaOx (Mixed) crystal dissolution. Thus, to delineate the mechanism, we examined crystal interactions through birefringence analysis and found that CaP becomes increasingly birefringent when bound to melamine, while the birefringence of CaOx decreases when it forms CaOx-melamine cocrystals. We also confirmed the feasibility of such melamine-CaP/CaOx co-crystallization at the nanomicromolar range. Interestingly, ammeline, which is a similar triazine, did not accelerate CaP/CaOx/Mixed crystal formation and growth, indicating the specificity of crystal interaction by melamine. Furthermore, melamine stabilizes the CaP/CaOx/Mixed crystals when exposed to a crystal inhibitor (etidronic acid) or dissolution agents (citrate analogues), while it induces crystal growth by increasing crystal retention, suggesting melamine's interference with conventional dissolution remedies. Morphological and elemental analysis of melamine-CaP/CaOx/Mixed co-crystals using scanning electron microscopy further revealed that melamine harbors such crystals by creating a nucleation site. Finally, we confirmed the physiological relevance of melamine exposure using artificial urine to show the induction, stabilization, and retention of mixed crystals in the presence of crystal-inhibitor/dissolution agent and thus established potential causes of recurrence of kidney stones.

High-resolution maps of Swiss apiaries and their applicability to study spatial distribution of bacterial honey bee brood diseases.

Honey bees directly affect and are influenced by their local environment, in terms of food sources, pollinator densities, pathogen and toxin exposure and climate. Currently, there is a lack of studies analyzing these data with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to investigate spatial relationships with the environment. Particularly for inter-colonial pathogen transmission, it is known that the likelihood of a healthy colony to become infested (e.g., Varroosis) or infected (e.g., American foulbrood-AFB, European foulbrood-EFB) increases with higher colony density. Whether these transmission paths can actually be asserted at apiary level is largely unknown. Here, we unraveled spatial distribution and high-resolution density of apiaries and bacterial honey bee brood diseases in Switzerland based on available GIS data. Switzerland as 'model country' offers the unique opportunity to get apiary data since 2010 owing to compulsory registration for every beekeeper. Further, both destructive bee brood diseases (AFB and EFB) are legally notifiable in Switzerland, and EFB has an epizootic character for the last decades. As governmental data sets have to be ameliorated, raw data from the cantonal agricultural or veterinary offices have been included. We found a mean density of 0.56 apiaries per km2, and high resolution spatial analyzes showed strong correlation between density of apiaries and human population density as well as agricultural landscape type. Concerning two bacterial bee brood diseases (AFB, EFB), no significant correlation was detectable with density of apiaries on cantonal level, though a high correlation of EFB cases and apiary density became obvious on higher resolution (district level). Hence, Swiss EFB epizootics seem to have benefited from high apiary densities, promoting the transmission of pathogens by adult bees. The GIS-based method presented here, might also be useful for other bee diseases, anthropogenic or environmental factors affecting bee colonies.

Palaeogenomics of the Hydrocarbon Producing Microalga Botryococcus braunii.

Botryococcus braunii is a colonial microalga that appears early in the fossil record and is a sensitive proxy of environmental and hydroclimatic conditions. Palaeozoic Botryococcus fossils which contribute up to 90% of oil shales and approximately 1% of crude oil, co-localise with diagnostic geolipids from the degradation of source-signature hydrocarbons. However more recent Holocene sediments demonstrate no such association. Consequently, Botryococcus are identified in younger sediments by morphology alone, where potential misclassifications could lead to inaccurate paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Here we show that a combination of flow cytometry and ancient DNA (aDNA) sequencing can unambiguously identify Botryococcus microfossils in Holocene sediments with hitherto unparalleled accuracy and rapidity. The application of aDNA sequencing to microfossils offers a far-reaching opportunity for understanding environmental change in the recent geological record. When allied with other high-resolution palaeoenvironmental information such as aDNA sequencing of humans and megafauna, aDNA from microfossils may allow a deeper and more precise understanding of past environments, ecologies and migrations.

A prototype tracing-technique to assess the mobility of dispersed earthworm casts on a vegetated hillslope using caesium-134 and cobalt-60.

Soil transport on fully vegetated land surfaces is typically detachment limited. Rates of soil and nutrient transport, and ultimately long-term landscape evolution, are controlled by processes that supply soil material for entrainment and transport. Despite their on-going nature, many such processes operate at low rates and have not been subject to detailed investigation. We present preliminary findings from a prototype tracing approach to quantify one such process; namely to determine the relative mobility of sediment from earthworm casts on a fully vegetated hillslope surface. A 0.6 ∗ 0.5 m bounded area of pasture was prepared and fifteen intact earthworm casts representing 203 g of soil were labelled with an estimated 216 Bq of caesium-134 (134Cs) activity and evenly distributed across the upslope half of the plot, 0.3-0.6 m from the downslope outlet. A further 15 intact casts representing 190.7 g of soil were labelled with 224 Bq of cobalt-60 (60Co) activity and distributed between 0.3 and 0.0 m from the same outlet. All labelled casts were exposed to natural weather events over 76 days, during which time 186.3 mm of rainfall generated 16 runoff samples. A mass balance was used to partition labelled sediment from the unlabelled material. A total of 27.17 g of 60Co-labelled casts, equivalent to 14.2% of the original mass deployed, was recovered from a distance of ≤0.3 m from their original locations. In contrast, 8.77 g of 134Cs-labelled casts, equivalent to 4.3% of the original mass deployed, was recovered from a distance ≥0.3 m from their original locations. Some runoff-derived samples recorded an over-enrichment of radionuclide material, which suggests that intact casts may sorb more material than the original assumption predicts. Ways in which sorption can be more accurately quantified to improve the accuracy of the tracing approach are outlined.

Bioenergy crop induced changes in soil properties: A case study on Miscanthus fields in the Upper Rhine Region.

Biomass as a renewable energy source has become increasingly prevalent in Europe to comply with greenhouse gas emission targets. As one of the most efficient perennial bioenergy crops, there is great potential in the Upper Rhine Region to explore biomass utilization of Miscanthus to confront climate change and land use demand in the future. Yet, the impacts of Miscanthus cultivation on soil quality have not been adequately explored. This study investigated the soil profiles of five- and 20-year-old Miscanthus fields (1 m depth) as well as grassland for reference in eastern France and Switzerland. The soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations and δ13C compositions of four soil layers (0-10 cm, 10-40 cm, 40-70 cm and 70-100 cm) were determined. The CO2 emission rates of the topsoil were monitored for 42 days. Our results showed that Miscanthus, in general, could increase the SOC stocks compared to grassland, but the benefits of SOC sequestration were constrained to the surface soil. Isotopically, the Miscanthus-derived SOC ranged from 69% in the top 10 cm of soil down to only 7% in the 70 cm to 100 cm layer. This result raises the risk of overestimating the total net benefits of Miscanthus cultivation, when simply using the greater SOC stocks near the surface soil to represent the SOC-depleted deep soil layers. The Miscanthus fields had greater CO2 emissions, implying that the Miscanthus fields generated greater ecosystem respiration, rather than larger net ecosystem exchanges. Compared to the grassland soils, the surface soils of the Miscanthus fields tended to have a risk of acidification while having higher concentrations of phosphorus and potassium, calling for the inclusion of soil characteristics and SOC stability when evaluating the impacts of long-term Miscanthus cultivation on both current and future land use changes.

Postoperative treatment of metacarpal fractures-Classical physical therapy compared with a home exercise program.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort randomized controlled trial. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Is either a home exercise (HE) program or traditional physical therapy (PT) more effective in the postoperative management of metacarpal fractures? METHODS: Sixty patients suffering from nonthumb metacarpal fractures who received mobilization-stable open reduction and internal fixation were included. All patients were prospectively randomized into either the PT group or the HE group. Follow-up examinations at 2, 6 and 12 weeks postoperatively. RESULTS: After 2 weeks, the range of motion (ROM) in both groups was still severely reduced. Twelve weeks after surgery the ROM improved to 245° (PT) and 256° (HE). Grip strength after 6 weeks was 68% (PT) and 71% (HE) when compared to the non-injured hand, improving to 91% (PT) and 93% (HE) after 12 weeks. CONCLUSION: Study results show that both HE program and traditional PT are effective in the postoperative management of metacarpal fractures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

Differential effects of imipramine and CORT118335 (Glucocorticoid receptor modulator/mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist) on brain-endocrine stress responses and depression-like behavior in female rats.

Depression is commonly associated with hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction that primarily manifests as aberrant glucocorticoid secretion. Glucocorticoids act on Type I mineralocorticoid (MR) and Type II glucocorticoid receptors (GR) to modulate mood and endocrine responses. Successful antidepressant treatment normalizes HPA axis function, in part due to modulatory effects on MR and GR in cortico-limbic structures. Although women are twice as likely to suffer from depression, little is known about how antidepressants modulate brain, endocrine, and behavioral stress responses in females. Here, we assessed the impact of CORT118335 (GR modulator/MR antagonist) and imipramine (tricyclic antidepressant) on neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to restraint or forced swim stress (FST) in female rats (n=10-12/group). Increased immobility CORT118335 in the FST is purported to reflect passive coping or depression-like behavior. CORT118335 dampened adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone responses to the FST, but did not affect immobility. Imipramine suppressed ACTH, but had minimal effects on corticosterone responses to FST. Despite these marginal effects, imipramine decreased immobility, suggesting antidepressant efficacy. In an effort to link brain-endocrine responses with behavior, c-Fos was assessed in HPA axis and mood modulatory regions in response to the FST. CORT118335 upregulated c-Fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Imipramine decreased c-Fos in the basolateral amygdala and hippocampus (CA1 and CA3), but increased c-Fos in the central amygdala. These data suggest the antidepressant-like (e.g., active coping) properties of imipramine may be due to widespread effects on cortico-limbic circuits that regulate emotional and cognitive processes.

A pharmacological basis of herbal medicines for epilepsy.

Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disease, affecting about 1% of the world's population during their lifetime. Most people with epilepsy can attain a seizure-free life upon treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Unfortunately, seizures in up to 30% do not respond to treatment. It is estimated that 90% of people with epilepsy live in developing countries, and most of them receive no drug treatment for the disease. This treatment gap has motivated investigations into the effects of plants that have been used by traditional healers all over the world to treat seizures. Extracts of hundreds of plants have been shown to exhibit anticonvulsant activity in phenotypic screens performed in experimental animals. Some of those extracts appear to exhibit anticonvulsant efficacy similar to that of synthetic AEDs. Dozens of plant-derived chemical compounds have similarly been shown to act as anticonvulsants in various in vivo and in vitro assays. To a significant degree, anticonvulsant effects of plant extracts can be attributed to widely distributed flavonoids, (furano)coumarins, phenylpropanoids, and terpenoids. Flavonoids and coumarins have been shown to interact with the benzodiazepine site of the GABAA receptor and various voltage-gated ion channels, which are targets of synthetic AEDs. Modulation of the activity of ligand-gated and voltage-gated ion channels provides an explanatory basis of the anticonvulsant effects of plant secondary metabolites. Many complex extracts and single plant-derived compounds exhibit antiinflammatory, neuroprotective, and cognition-enhancing activities that may be beneficial in the treatment of epilepsy. Thus, botanicals provide a base for target-oriented antiepileptic drug discovery and development. In the future, preclinical work should focus on the characterization of the effects of plant extracts and plant-derived compounds on well-defined targets rather than on phenotypic screening using in vivo animal models of acute seizures. At the same time, available data provide ample justification for clinical studies with selected standardized botanical extracts and plant-derived compounds. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Botanicals for Epilepsy".

An in vitro study of anti-inflammatory activity of standardised Andrographis paniculata extracts and pure andrographolide.

BACKGROUND: The anti-inflammatory activity of Andrographis paniculata (Acanthaceae), a traditional medicine widely used in Asia, is commonly attributed to andrographolide, its main secondary metabolite. Commercial A. paniculata extracts are standardised to andrographolide content. We undertook the present study to investigate 1) how selective enrichment of andrographolide in commercial A. paniculata extracts affects the variability of non-standardised phytochemical components and 2) if variability in the non-standardised components of the extract affects the pharmacological activity of andrographolide itself. METHODS: We characterized 12 commercial, standardised (≥30% andrographolide) batches of A. paniculata extracts from India by HPLC profiling. We determined the antioxidant capacity of the extracts using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and a Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) antioxidant assays. Their anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by assaying their inhibitory effect on the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in the human monocytic cell line THP-1. RESULTS: The andrographolide content in the samples was close to the claimed value (32.2 ± 2.1%, range 27.5 to 35.9%). Twenty-one non-standardised constituents exhibited more than 2-fold variation in HPLC peak intensities in the tested batches. The chlorogenic acid content of the batches varied more than 30-fold. The DPPH free radical scavenging activity varied ~3-fold, the ORAC and FC antioxidant capacity varied ~1.5 fold among batches. In contrast, the TNF-α inhibitory activity of the extracts exhibited little variation and comparison with pure andrographolide indicated that it was mostly due to their andrographolide content. CONCLUSIONS: Standardised A. paniculata extracts contained the claimed amount of andrographolide but exhibited considerable phytochemical background variation. DPPH radical scavenging activity of the extracts was mostly due to the flavonoid/phenlycarboxylic acid compounds in the extracts. The inhibitory effect of andrographolide on the release of TNF-α was little affected by the quantitative variation of the non-standardised constituents.

Quality assessment of medicinal herbs and their extracts: Criteria and prerequisites for consistent safety and efficacy of herbal medicines.

Ingredients of commercial herbal medicines are assessed for quality primarily to ensure their safety. However, as complex mixtures of different groups of plant secondary metabolites, retention of overall phytochemical consistency of herbal medicines is pivotal to their efficacy. Authenticity and homogeneity of the herbs and strict regimes of physical processing and extract manufacturing are critical factors to maintain phytochemical consistency in commercial products. To ensure both safety and efficacy of herbal medicines, implementation of and adherence to good agricultural and collection practice (GACP), good plant authentication and identification practice (GPAIP), good manufacturing practice (GMP) before and during the manufacturing process, and good laboratory practice (GLP) in analysis are necessary. Establishment and application of harmonized multilaboratory-validated analytical methods and transparency in the supply (value) chain through vendor audits are additional requirements in quality assurance. In this article, we outline steps of a comprehensive quality assurance paradigm aimed at achieving and maintaining safety, consistent phytochemical composition, and clinical efficacy of ingredients of herbal medicines. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Botanicals for Epilepsy.

Anti-inflammatory activity of cinnamon (C. zeylanicum and C. cassia) extracts - identification of E-cinnamaldehyde and o-methoxy cinnamaldehyde as the most potent bioactive compounds.

Chronic inflammation is a contributing factor in many age-related diseases. In a previous study, we have shown that Sri Lankan cinnamon (C. zeylanicum) was one of the most potent anti-inflammatory foods out of 115 foods tested. However, knowledge about the exact nature of the anti-inflammatory compounds and their distribution in the two major cinnamon species used for human consumption is limited. The aim of this investigation was to determine the anti-inflammatory activity of C. zeylanicum and C. cassia and elucidate their main phytochemical compounds. When extracts were tested in LPS and IFN-γ activated RAW 264.7 macrophages, most of the anti-inflammatory activity, measured by down-regulation of nitric oxide and TNF-α production, was observed in the organic extracts. The most abundant compounds in these extracts were E-cinnamaldehyde and o-methoxycinnamaldehyde. The highest concentration of E-cinnamaldehyde was found in the DCM extract of C. zeylanicum or C. cassia (31 and 34 mg g(-1) of cinnamon, respectively). When these and other constituents were tested for their anti-inflammatory activity in RAW 264.7 and J774A.1 macrophages, the most potent compounds were E-cinnamaldehyde and o-methoxycinnamaldehyde, which exhibited IC50 values for NO with RAW 264.7 cells of 55 ± 9 µM (7.3 ± 1.2 µg mL(-1)) and 35 ± 9 µM (5.7 ± 1.5 µg mL(-1)), respectively; and IC50 values for TNF-α of 63 ± 9 µM (8.3 ± 1.2 µg mL(-1)) and 78 ± 16 µM (12.6 ± 2.6 µg mL(-1)), respectively. If therapeutic concentrations can be achieved in target tissues, cinnamon and its components may be useful in the treatment of age-related inflammatory conditions.

Effects of Video-Based Visual Training on Decision-Making and Reactive Agility in Adolescent Football Players.

This study investigated the trainability of decision-making and reactive agility via video-based visual training in young athletes. Thirty-four members of a national football academy (age: 14.4 ± 0.1 years) were randomly assigned to a training (VIS; n = 18) or a control group (CON; n = 16). In addition to the football training, the VIS completed a video-based visual training twice a week over a period of six weeks during the competition phase. Using the temporal occlusion technique, the players were instructed to react on one-on-one situations shown in 40 videos. The number of successful decisions and the response time were measured with a video-based test. In addition, the reactive-agility sprint test was used. VIS significantly improved the number of successful decisions (22.2 ± 3.6 s vs. 29.8 ± 4.5 s; p < 0.001), response time (0.41 ± 0.10 s vs. 0.31 ± 0.10 s; p = 0.006) and reactive agility (2.22 ± 0.33 s vs. 1.94 ± 0.11 s; p = 0.001) pre- vs. post-training. No significant differences were found for CON. The results have shown that video-based visual training improves the time to make decisions as well as reactive agility sprint-time, accompanied by an increase in successful decisions. It remains to be shown whether or not such training can improve simulated or actual game performance.

An in vitro study of neuroprotective properties of traditional Chinese herbal medicines thought to promote healthy ageing and longevity.

BACKGROUND: Age is the leading risk factor for acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases. The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, the oldest known compendium of Chinese materia media, lists herbal medicines that were believed to exert neither fast acting pharmacological effects nor discernible toxicity, but to promote general health and longevity. In modern terms, these herbal medicines could be considered as complementary health care products for prevention rather than treatment of diseases. In the present study, we examined whether a selection of 13 such herbal medicines exhibited neuroprotective activity. METHODS: The antioxidant capacity of the herbal extracts was determined using three non-cellular assays measuring the total phenol content (FCR assay), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Cytotoxic effects of the herbal extracts were assayed in cultured mouse cortical neurons and their neuroprotective activities were studied using staurosporine-induced apoptosis of the cultured neurons. RESULTS: Most of the herbal extracts showed negligible toxic effects at 100 µg/ml. However, Polygonum multiflorum and Rhodiola rosea exhibited some neurotoxicity at this concentration. Extracts of Ganoderma lucidum, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Schizandra chinensis, and Polygonum cuspidatum inhibited staurosporine-induced apoptosis by 30 - 50% in a dose-dependent manner. The neuroprotective effects of Polygonum cuspidatum were predominantly due to its major ingredient, resveratrol. The effective herbal extracts showed various levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging capacity, which was significantly correlated with their neuro- protective activity. However, P. multiflorum and R. rosea extracts proved to be the exception as they exhibited a high level of antioxidant capacity, but did not exhibit neuroprotective effects in cell-based assay. CONCLUSIONS: This in vitro study provides evidence for neuroprotective activity of some Chinese herbal medicines traditionally used to promote healthy ageing and longevity. Our results provide a justification for further study of these herbal extracts in neurodegenerative animal models to assess their safety and effectiveness as a basis for subsequent clinical trials. These herbal medicines might potentially offer a novel preemptive neuroprotective approach in neurodegenerative diseases and might be developed for use in persons at risk.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae transcriptome as a mirror of phytochemical variation in complex extracts of Equisetum arvense from America, China, Europe and India.

BACKGROUND: Pattern-oriented chemical profiling is increasingly being used to characterize the phytochemical composition of herbal medicines for quality control purposes. Ideally, a fingerprint of the biological effects should complement the chemical fingerprint. For ethical and practical reasons it is not possible to test each herbal extract in laboratory animals or humans. What is needed is a test system consisting of an organism with relevant biology and complexity that can serve as a surrogate in vitro system. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae transcriptome might be used as an indicator of phytochemical variation of closely-related yet distinctly different extracts prepared from a single species of a phytogeographically widely distributed medicinal plant. We combined phytochemical profiling using chromatographic methods (HPTLC, HPLC-PDA-MS/MS) and gene expression studies using Affymetrix Yeast 2.0 gene chip with principal component analysis and k-nearest neighbor clustering analysis to test this hypothesis using extracts prepared from the phytogeographically widely distributed medicinal plant Equisetum arvense as a test case. RESULTS: We found that the Equisetum arvense extracts exhibited qualitative and quantitative differences in their phytochemical composition grouped along their phytogeographical origin. Exposure of yeast to the extracts led to changes in gene expression that reflected both the similarities and differences in the phytochemical composition of the extracts. The Equisetum arvense extracts elicited changes in the expression of genes involved in mRNA translation, drug transport, metabolism of energy reserves, phospholipid metabolism, and the cellular stress response. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that functional genomics in S. cerevisiae may be developed as a sensitive bioassay for the scientific investigation of the interplay between phytochemical composition and transcriptional effects of complex mixtures of chemical compounds. S. cerevisiae transcriptomics may also be developed for testing of mixtures of conventional drugs ("polypills") to discover novel antagonistic or synergistic effects of those drug combinations.

Effects of a novel herbal formulation JSK on acute spinal cord injury in rats.

PURPOSE: Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) triggers multiple cellular and molecular pathways; therapy aimed at only one pathway is unlikely to succeed. Anecdotal reports indicate that a novel herbal formulation (JSK-Ji-Sui-Kang) may enhance recovery in humans with SCI. We investigated whether JSK's therapeutic effects could be verified in a well-established SCI model in rats. METHODS: Therapeutic effects of JSK were tested using a standard behavioral assessment, histological, immunochemical and microarray analysis. Phytochemical fingerprinting of JSK was performed using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. JSK or vehicle was gavaged to rats 24 hours after SCI and daily thereafter for 3 weeks. RESULTS: Locomotor function significantly improved (n = 12; p < 0.05), tissue damage was reduced (p < 0.01; n = 6) and more axons and myelin were observed in JSK-treated compared with vehicle control animals. JSK significantly enhanced expression of neuroglobin, vascular endothelial growth factor and growth-associated protein 43, and reduced the expression of caspase 3, cyclooxygenase-2, RhoA (p < 0.05; n = 6) and fibrinogen (p < 0.01; n = 6). RNA microarray indicated that JSK altered transcription of genes involved in ischemic and inflammatory/immune responses and apoptosis (p < 0.05; n = 3). CONCLUSIONS: JSK appears to target multiple biochemical and cellular pathways to enhance functional recovery and improve outcomes of SCI. The results provide a basis for further investigation of JSK's effects following SCI.