Structural characteristics and antioxidant activities of a novel polysaccharide from Euphorbia himalayensis root.

Euphorbia himalayensis Boiss. is an alpine member of the Euphorbiaceae family. Its dried roots have been used to treat digestive problems and chest congestion in traditional Tibetan and Mongolian medicine. Despite thousands of years of use in medicine, the bioactive compounds of the root remain unknown. Herein, we isolated a novel aqueous-soluble polysaccharide (EHP2) from the E. himalayensis root and determined its structural characteristics via high-performance gel permeation chromatography, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry. The homogeneous molecular weight of EHP2 was 23.6 kDa with narrow polydisperity (Mw/Mn = 1.4), and EHP2 mainly comprised of glucose (86.4%), galactose (11.9%) and mannose (1.7%). The major backbone of EHP2 was →4)-α-D-GalAp-(1 â†’ 4)-α-D-Glcp-(1 â†’ and the branch chain was α-D-Glcp-(1→. The antioxidant activity of the EHP2 was evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and superoxide anion radical scavenging assays, and antioxidant enzyme activity (SOD, GSH and MDA) was determined in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The EHP2 demonstrated lower potential scavenging effects on DPPH and superoxide free radical scavenger than ascorbic acid, and in HUVECs, it led to increased SOD and GSH activities and decreased MDA levels. This study is the first to describe an E. himalayensis polysaccharide compound with potential antioxidant activity.

Occurrence of piperidine alkaloids in Piper species collected in different areas.

A simple and convenient method was established for simultaneous quantitative determination of piperine and piperlonguminine in dried fruits of Piper longum and allied plants. The average content of piperine in P. longum (18.26 mg/g, range 12.05-33.23 mg/g) was about one half that of P. nigrum (40.09 mg/g, range 29.57-54.23 mg/g), but the content of piperlonguminine in P. longum was in the range of 0.42-1.82 mg/g, and the average content of piperlonguminne (0.91 mg/g) was about seven times higher than that in P. nigrum (0.13 mg/g). A sample of P. longum from Vietnam and a sample of P. retrofractum collected in Ishigaki, Japan, showed high contents of piperine and piperlonguminine. On the other hand, a sample of P. betle collected in Taiwan showed low content of piperine, and piperlonguminine was not detected.

Inhibitory effects of Capsicum annuum L. water extracts on lipoprotein lipase activity in 3T3-L1 cells.

Obesity, an intractable metabolic disease, currently has no medical treatment without side effects, so studies have been actively carried out to find natural compounds that have anti-obesity activity with minimum side effects. In this study, the anti-obesity effects of water extracts of seven Capsicum annuum L. varieties being Putgochu (Pca), Oyee gochu (Oca), Kwari putgochu (Kca), Green pepper (Gca), Yellow paprika (Yca), Red paprika (Rca) and Cheongyang gochu (Cca), were examined through the evaluation of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) mRNA expression level in 3T3-L1 cells (mouse pre-adipocytes). After capsaicin elimination by chloroform defatting, freeze-dried powder of Cca was treated to 3T3-L1 cells and anti-obesity effects were examined by determining the LPL mRNA level using the RT-PCR method. Of the primary fractions, only proven fractions underwent secondary and tertiary refractionating to determine anti-obesity effects. From seven different Capsicum annuum L., there was a significant decrease of the LPL mRNA expression level of 50.9% in Cca treatment compared to the control group. A significant decrease of the LPL mRNA expression level was shown in primary fractions (Fr) 5 (36.2% decrease) and 6 (30.5% decrease) of the Cca water extracts. Due to the impurities checked by UPLC chromatography, Fr 5 and 6 were refractionated to determine the LPL mRNA expression level. Treatment of Fr 6-6 (35.8% decrease) and Fr 5-6 (35.3% decrease) showed a significant decrease in the LPL mRNA expression level. When analyzed using UPLC, major compounds of Fr 6-6 and Fr 5-6 were very similar. Subsequently, we refractionated Fr 6-6 and Fr 5-6 to isolate the major peak for structure elucidation. Treatment of Fr 5-6-1 (26.6% decrease) and Fr 6-6-1 (29.7% decrease) showed a significant decrease in the LPL mRNA expression level. Consequently, the fractions may have a possibility to ameliorate obesity through the decrease of the LPL mRNA expression level.

Botanical origin of mei-gui hua (petal of a Rosa species).

Mei-gui hua has been used as a crude drug in traditional medicine and as herbal tea in China. The scientific name of Mei-gui is Rosa rugosa thunb. However, the morphological characteristics and botanical ecology of Mei-gui were different from those of R. rugosa. Since the botanical origins of Mei-gui cultivated in China have not yet been clarified, we compared Mei-gui and R. rugosa in terms of their morphological characteristics, phylogenetic analysis, and phytochemical studies. Our research suggested that Mei-gui cultivated around Tarim Basin in Xinjiang Province showed homology to Rosa gallica, while those cultivated in the northeastern parts of China are considered to be hybrids of R. rugosa.

Simultaneous determination of hydrolysable tannins in the petals of Rosa rugosa and allied plants.

The petals of Rosa rugosa and allied plants for medicinal use contain abundant hydrolysable tannins, and they show remarkable biological activities. The activities are dependent on the structures of the hydrolysable tannins, so their contents and compositions are essential for evaluation of medicinal potency. Therefore, we optimized the simultaneous quantitative determination of the hydrolysable tannins using ultra-performance liquid chromatography. A column of ethylene bridged hybrid (BEH) phenyl (C(6) alkyl phenyl group as solid-phase modification) was shown to be most effective for the separation of hydrolysable tannins isolated from R. rugosa and related compounds when the column temperature was kept under 25 degrees C. The efficacy of the BEH phenyl column might be due to the interaction between solid phase and phenolic ester groups of hydrolysable tannins such as galloyl, hexahydroxydiphenoyl and valoneoyl groups. The relation between the retention times on the BEH phenyl column and the column temperature was demonstrated to depend on the structural characteristics of hydrolysable tannins.

Inhibitory effects of Rosa gallica on the digestive enzymes.

The 50% aqueous ethanol extracts of petals of Rosa gallica collected in Xinjiang province, China, exhibited potent inhibitory effects against alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase. As the active principles, seven hydrolysable tannins were isolated from this species for the first time and elucidated by NMR and ESI-TOF-MS analysis. Quantitative analysis by ultra-performance liquid chromatography demonstrated that the contents of these hydrolysable tannins were 3-5% of the dry weight of the petals, and the hydrolysable tannins must be related to the medicinal utilization of this species.