Biotransformation and antitumor activity of triterpenoid derivatives from Ardisia gigantifolia / 中草药

Objective: To study the chemical constituents of transformed products by Sphingomonas yabuuchiae GTC 868T (AB071955) and Pectinex Ultra AFP from the saponin of Ardisia gigantifolia. Methods: Transformation products separated by the process of silica gel column, compounds were identified and elucidated by spectral and chemical methods. Their cytotoxicity activities were tested by Cell Counting Kit 8 colorimetric assay. Results: Five triterpenoid saponins were obtained, including 3β-O-{α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→3)-[β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→2)]-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-α-L-arabinopyranosyl}-cyclamiretin A (1), 3β-O-{β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)]-α-L-arabinopyranoside}-cyclamiretin A (2), 3β-O-{β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-arabinopyranoside}-cyclamiretin A (3), 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl cyclamiretin A (4), and cyclamiretin A (5). Conclusion: Compounds 2-5 are obtained by biotransformation for the first time. Some of the compounds showed certain antitumor activity, among them, compound 2 shows more cytotoxicity activity than Ag3 and positive control.

Identification of the metabolites of Dingzhi Xiaowan extract in depressive rat plasma, urine, feces and bile after intragastric administration / 中国中药杂志

Dingzhi Xiaowan is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine in treating depression, which is a similar formula of Kaixinsan. In this research, a rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS(E)) method was established to analyze the metabolites of Dingzhi Xiaowan in depressive model rat plasma, bile, urine and feces. After we established Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model rats and orally administrated Dingzhi Xiaowan, rat plasma, bile, urine and feces samples were collected and prepared. Using Waters Cortects UPLC C18 column (2.1 mm x 50 mm, 1.6 μm), acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid mobile phase gradient, these samples were analyzed and 33 metabolites of nine bioactive compounds were detected and tentatively identified by Metabolynx. Among the 33 metabolites, three metabolites were identified from plasma sample, three came from bile sample, and 27 metabolites were identified from urine and feces samples. This approach provided a rapid method for characterizing the metabolites of Dingzhi Xiaowan and gave the truly active structures and the action mechanism of their antidepressant effects.

Studies on chemical constituents of Cercis chinensis / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the chemical constituents from the aerial part of Cercis chinensis.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The constituents of C. chinensis were separated with various chromatographic techniques and their structures were elucidated by means of spectral analysis and physico-chemical properties.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Nine compounds were isolated from C. chinensis. They were identified as 3-O-methylquercetin (1), quercetin (2), (2R,3R)-3, 5, 7, 3', 5'-pentahydroxyflavan (3), 3', 5, 5', 7-tetrahydroxyflavanone (4), [+]-taxifolin (5), (2R)-naringenin (6), friedelin (7), beta-sitosterol (8), daucosterin (9).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>compounds 1 and 3-7 were isolated from the genus Cercis for the first time.</p>