Advances of chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of Myristica genus / 中国中药杂志

The genus Myristica (Myristicaceae) consists of 120 species, which were distributed in South Asia, from west Polynesia, Oceania, eastern India to the Philippines. Phytochemical studies showed that 164 compounds including a majority of lignans, along with phenglpropanoids, flavonoids and phenolics, have been isolated from this genus, which exhibited anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, hyperglycemic and hepatic protective activities. This article summarizes research progress of the chemical compositions and their pharmacological activities from this genus, which could provide reference for the in-depth development and utilization of the Myristica plants.

Sodium nitrite induces PC12 cell differentiation / 药学学报

To investigate the potential ability of the nitrite to induce neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells, cultured PC12 cells planted on matrigel in the presence or absence of sodium nitrite were employed as model, nerve growth factor (NGF) served as a positive control. After 48 h, sodium nitrite enhanced cell viability and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion. Same as the effect of NGF, sodium nitrite (1.4 mmol x L(-1)) treated cultures contained a greater proportion of cells bearing neurites and neurites were much longer than those found in negative control cultures (P < 0.05). Compared with the negative control, sodium nitrite (1.4 mmol x L(-1)) also upregulated the expression of VEGF mRNA (P < 0.05) and hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) or VEGF protein expression (P < 0.05) in cultures of PC12 cells. On the other hand, these effects of the sodium nitrite were likely mediated by HIF-1alpha, since their effects were antagonized by addition of HIF-1alpha inhibitor YC-1. Taken together, these results suggest that low doses of sodium nitrite could induce neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells by activating the HIF-1alpha-VEGF pathway.