ABSTRACT
Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have continued to be a treasure trove. The study of chemodiversity and versatility of bioactivities has always been an important content of pharmacophylogeny. There is amazing progress in the discovery and research of natural components with novel structures and significant bioactivities in 2020. In this paper we review 271 valuable natural products, including terpenoids, steroids, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, phenolics, nitrogen containing compounds and essential oil, etc., isolated and identified from TCMs published in journals of Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs (Zhong Cao Yao) and Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHMs), and focus on their structures, source organisms, and relevant bioactivities, paying special attention to structural characteristics of novel compounds and newly revealed pharmacological properties of known compounds. It is worth noting that natural products with antitumor activity still constitute the primary object of research. Among the reported compounds, two new triterpenoids, i.e., ursolic acid 3-O-β-cis-caffeate and mollugoside E, display remarkable cytotoxicity against PC-9 and HL-60 cell lines, respectively. Three known phenolic compounds, i.e., pyoluteorin, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy cinnamaldehyde and 3,7-dimethoxy-5-hydroxy-1,4-phenanthrenequinone, exhibit significant cytotoxicity against multiple cell lines. Numerous studies on the free radical scavenging activity of reported compounds are currently underway. In vitro, three known phenolic compounds, i.e., 3,4-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid methyl ester, 3,4,5-O-tricaffeoylquinic acid methyl ester and arbutin, had more considerable antioxidant activities than vitamin C. The anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, hypolipidemic, neuroprotective and antimicrobial activities of isolated compounds are also encouraging. The structural characteristics and bioactivities of TCM compounds highlighted here reflect the enormous progress of CHM research in 2020 and will play a positive role in the future drug discovery and development. According to pharmacophylogeny, the phylogenetic distribution of compounds with different natures and flavors can be explored, with view to better mining TCM resources.
ABSTRACT
The Ranunculaceae genus(order Ranunculales), comprising more than 150 species, mostly herbs, has long been used in folk medicine and worldwide ethnomedicine. Various medicinal compounds have been found inplants, especially triterpenoid saponins, some of which have shown anti-cancer activities. Somecompounds and extracts display immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities. More than 50 species have ethnopharmacological uses, which provide clues for modern drug discovery.compounds exert anticancer and other bioactivitiesmultiple pathways. However, a comprehensive review of themedicinal resources is lacking. We here summarize the ethnomedical knowledge and recent progress on the chemical and pharmacological diversity ofmedicinal plants, as well as the emerging molecular mechanisms and functions of these medicinal compounds. The phylogenetic relationships ofspecies were reconstructed based on nuclear ITS and chloroplast markers. The molecular phylogeny is largely congruent with the morphology-based classification. Commonly used medicinal herbs are distributed in each subgenus and section, and chemical and biological studies of more unexplored taxa are warranted. Gene expression profiling and relevant "omics" platforms could reveal differential effects of phytometabolites. Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics should be highlighted in deciphering novel therapeutic mechanisms and utilities ofphytometabolites.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the clinical value of ultrasonic diagnosis for neonatal annular pancreas,analyze the reasons of missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis,and improve diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography for this disease.Methods Clinical data of 98 newborns with annular pancreas confirmed by gastrointestinal contrast and surgery were analyzed retrospectively.Preoperative ultrasonogram were compared with the result of gastrointestinal contrast and surgery.Ultrasound images failed to be correctly dignosed were further studied to summarize diagnostic points for this disease.Results Among the 98 cases, 75 were correctly diagnosed by ultrasound with a diagnostic accordance rate of 76.5%,1 8 were missed diagnosed and 5 were misdiagnosed with a total misdiagnosis rate of 23.5%.Ten cases associated with other congenital gastrointestinal tract anomalies were missed diagnosed due to ignoring scanning pancreas.Five cases were missed diagnosed due to obvious intestinal cavity flatulence.Three cases were missed diagnosed due to lack of awareness of the disease.Five cases were misdiagnosed for duodenal stenosis or duodenal atresia.Conclusions Ultrasound has important diagnostic value for neonatal annular pancreas,providing the dignostic evidences for clinical treatment.Thus it can be used as the preferred auxiliary examination of the disease.Since annular pancreas is often accompanied by other gastrointestinal malformations and can be interfered by abdominal gas,missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis occurred easily.To improve the accuracy of ultrasonic diagnosis,all causes of neonatal gastrointestinal tract obstructions should be considered during the examination.
ABSTRACT
A new phenolic glycoside was isolated from the spikes of Prunella vulgaris. Its structure was elucidated as gentisic acid 5-O-beta-D-(6'-salicylyl)-glucopyranoside by spectroscopic evidence and chemical analysis.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the inhibition of three C2 steroidal saponins from Cynanchum auriculatum on the cell growth and cell cycle of human lung cancer A549 cells.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>A549 cells were exposed to three C21 steroidal saponins of different concentrations (5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 micromol L(-1)) for 48 hours. After 48 h, MTT assay was used to evaluate the inhibiting effects of three C21 steroidal saponins on the proliferation of the A549 cells. Exponential growth phase A549 cells were treated with 47, 34, 60 micromol x L(-1) of three C21 steroidal saponins respectively for 12, 24, 48 h, then the changes of cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The three C21 steroidal saponins could inhibit the growth of A549 cells in dose-dependent manner and IC50 is 46. 07 mol x L(-1), 33.02 mol x L(-1), 59.92 mol x L(-1) respectively. The cell cycle analysis showed that wilfoside C1N and wilfoside C3N increased the percentage of G0/G1 phase cells and decreased G2/M and S-phase cells while the proportion of cells in S-phase was lower and in G2/M phase the proportion was higher than control when the cells were cultivated with wilfoside K1N (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Three C21 steroidal saponins could inhibit the proliferation of A549 cells in dose-dependent manner and the mechanism may be related to its arresting the cell cycle.</p>