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Objective To observe the protective effect and mechanism of taraxasterol on cardiomyocytes in oxidative injury model caused by ischemia-reperfusion (I/R).Methods Mouse cardiomyocytes (CSC cells) were used as the study objects and divided into the normal control group,I/R group,taraxasterol treating I/R group (5,10,30 μmol/L) and positive control group.The cell viability was measured by MTT.The expressions of Caspase-3 and Bcl-2 were detected by RT-PCR.The expressions of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MAD) were detected by biochemical methods.The expression of ERK1/2 was detected by western blot.Results MTT assay showed that 30 μmol/L taraxasterol increased the cell viability of CSC cells injured by I/R (P＜0.05).The RT-PCR results showed that the expression of Caspase-3 mRNA was decreased with 10,30 μmol/L taraxasterol treatment,the difference was statistically significant when compared with I/R group (P＜0.05).The expression of Bcl-2 mRNA was increased with 30 μmol/L taraxasterol treatment,the difference was statistically significant when compared with the I/R group (P＜0.05).The biochemical method detection showed that 30 μmol/L taraxasterol induced SOD expression was increased and MAD expression was decreased,the difference was statistically significant when compared with the I/R group (P＜0.05).Western blot detection showed that 30 μmol/L taraxasterol treatment increased the ratio of p-ERK1/2 to t-ERK1/2 in injured CSC cells (P＜0.05).Conclusion Taraxasterol might inhibit ischemia-reperfusion caused cardiomyocyte oxidative injury by up-regulation of ERK1/2 expression.
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Taraxaci Herba (Taraxacum mongolicum and other species) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine and dietary application for a long history in China, and Taraxacum officinale has been applied in medicinal and food use in other regions and cultures around the globe. In this review, the phytochemical constituents of dandelion (particularly from T. mongolicum and T. officinale) were summarized. Recent published health benefits of dandelion, such as anti-oxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity, blood sugar and lipids regulation and hepatoprotective activity, as well as its safety data were highlighted. The limited human clinical study and pharmacokinetics information lead to the thought that well-designed human clinical study should be the focus and opportunity for the future research area to truly understand efficacy function and health benefit of dandelion for its application in medicine and health food area.
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OBJECTIVE: To screen optimal ratio of Prunella vulgaris(PV) and Taraxacum mongolicum(TM) as a synergetic combination for anti-breast cancer treatment in vitro based on combination index(CI) and to investigate the effects of PV and TM on cell proliferation and apoptosis under the optimized ratio in tumor-bearing(4T1) female BALB/c mice in vivo. METHODS: Cell proliferation was assayed by MTT method. The dose-effect of PV combined with TM was evaluated by CI method, The combination has a synergistic effect when the CI value is less than 1. Breast cancer model was established by subcutaneous injection of 4T1 cells in BABL/c mice, the mice were given medicated feed daily for 25 d. Body weight and tumor growth were measured every three days. Histological change and cell apoptosis in tumor tissue from breast cancer mice were evaluated via HE and TUNEL methods. RESULTS: The results indicated that cell proliferation of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 treated with PV and TM in combination was markedly inhibited. The combination index of PV and TM was 0.199 8 and 0.407 at a ratio of 4:3, which showed a synergistic effect. In addition, PV+TM treatment significantly reduced tumor volume without affecting body weight in breast cancer mice. HE staining showed that the infiltration of inflammatory cells appeared around the tumors and the areas of necrosis. TUNEL staining showed the induced apoptosis in tumor cells from breast cancer mice. CONCLUSION: PV+TM combination has a significant anti-breast cancer activity possibly by boosting immunity and promoting apoptosis in tumor cells, which suggests that PV+TM combination might be a novel potent therapy for the treatment of breast cancer.
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Objective: To study the effects of different origins, collection and processing methods on the quality of Taraxacum mongolicum. Methods:The HPLC fingerprints of Taraxacum mongolicum were established. Totally 11 batches of Taraxacum mongoli-cum were analyzed by similarity evaluation and cluster analysis. Results:According to the results of HPLC, 11 batches of Taraxacum mongolicum had good baseline separation and showed 5 common peaks. Based on the established HPLC method, the quality of different batches of Taraxacum mongolicum showed difference according to the results of similarity evaluation and cluster analysis. The quality of batch 121231-1 was the best. Conclusion:The origin, collection and processing method show notable influence on the quality of Ta-raxacum mongolicum, and the comprehensive score method can be applied in the quality evaluation of Chinese herbs.