Species identification of Ligustrum lucidum / 中国中药杂志

Ligustrum lucidum is a woody perennial plant of genus Ligustrum in family Oleaceae. Its dried fruit has high medicinal value. In this study, the authors evaluated the variability and species identification efficiency of three specific DAN barcodes(rbcL-accD, ycf1a, ycf1b) and four general DAN barcodes(matK, rbcL, trnH-psbA, ITS2) for a rapid and accurate molecular identification of Ligustrum species. The results revealed that matK, rbcL, trnH-psbA, ITS2 and ycf1a were inefficient for identifying the Ligustrum species, and a large number of insertions and deletions were observed in rbcL-accD sequence, which was thus unsuitable for development as specific barcode. The ycf1b-2 barcode had DNA barcoding gap and high success rate of PCR amplification and DNA sequencing, which was the most suitable DNA barcode for L. lucidum identification and achieved an accurate result. In addition, to optimize the DNA extraction experiment, the authors extracted and analyzed the DNA of the exocarp, mesocarp, endocarp and seed of L. lucidum fruit. It was found that seed was the most effective part for DNA extraction, where DNAs of high concentration and quality were obtained, meeting the needs of species identification. In this study, the experimental method for DNA extraction of L. lucidum was optimized, and the seed was determined as the optimal part for DNA extraction and ycf1b-2 was the specific DNA barcode for L. lucidum identification. This study laid a foundation for the market regulation of L. lucidum.

Research on Molecular Mechanism of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi against Osteoporosis based on Network Pharmacology

Abstract TCMSP platform of systematic pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (NZZ, Chinese abbreviation) against osteoporosis (OP) by means of network pharmacology.ChemDraw Professional 15.1 software and Molinspiration Smiles database were used to draw the chemical formulas of the components. The active ingredients and related target proteins of NZZ were searched in platform of systematic pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine database, Drugbank, Therapeutic Target Database, SymMap and other databases. Gene Ontology(GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were carried out on the selected target through Enrichr and KEGG Automatic Annotation databases, and their mechanism was studied. A total of 29 compounds and 140 corresponding targets, including 14 key targets and 14 protein factors in protein-protein interaction core network were obtained. The key targets were tumor necrosis factor(TNF), interleukin(IL)-6R and sestrogen receptor alpha. The number of GO items was 466 (P<0.05), including 399 items of biological process (BP), 54 items of cell composition (MF) and 13 items of molecular function (CC). KEGG pathway enrichment screened 85 signaling pathways (P<0.05), including the IL-17 signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, advanced glycation end products and their receptors signaling pathway and cAMP signaling pathway. The active ingredients of NZZ. exert their anti-OP effects through multi-components, multi-targets and multi-pathways, which can provide new evidence for further study of their anti-OP mechanism.

Complete chloroplast genome of Ligustrum lucidum and highly variable marker identification for Ligustrum / 中国中药杂志

Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, the sun-dried mature fruit of Ligustrum lucidum, is cool, plain, sweet, and bitter, which can be used as both food and medicine, with the effects of improving vision, blacking hair, and tonifying liver and kidney. It takes effect slowly. However, little is known about the genetic information of the medicinal plant and it is still a challenge to distinguish Ligustrum species. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of L. lucidum was obtained by genome skimming and then compared with that of five other Ligustrum species, which had been reported. This study aims to evaluate the interspecific variation of chloroplast genome within the genus and develop molecular markers for species identification of the genus. The result showed that the chloroplast genome of L. lucidum was 162 162 bp with a circular quadripartite structure of two single-copy regions separated by a pair of inverted repeats. The Ligustrum chloroplast genomes were conserved with small interspecific difference. Comparative analysis of six Ligustrum chloroplast genomes revealed three variable regions(rbcL-accD, ycf1a, and ycf1b), and ycf1a and ycf1b can be used as the species-specific DNA barcode for Ligustrum. Phylogeny analysis provided the best resolution of Ligustrum and supported that L. lucidum was sister to L. gracile. This study clarified the genetic diversity of L. lucidum from provenance, which can serve as a reference for further analysis of pharmacological differences and breeding of excellent varieties with stable drug effects.

Mechanism and experimental verification of "Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix-Ligustri Lucidi Fructus" combination in treatment of acute gouty arthritis based on network pharmacology / 中国中药杂志

Based on network pharmacology, the mechanism of Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix-Ligustri Lucidi Fructus(PL) combination against acute gouty arthritis(AGA) was explored and preliminarily verified by animal experiment. The chemical components and corresponding targets of PL were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP). The active components with oral bioavailability(OB)≥30% and drug-likeness(DL)≥0.18 were screened based on literature, and the related protein targets were collected. Then the protein targets were standardized with the help of UniProt database. The AGA-related targets were searched from GeneCards, NCBI, and DrugBank. The common targets of the disease and the medicinals were yielded by FunRich V3, and the protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was constructed to screen the key targets, followed by Gene Ontology(GO) term enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of the key targets. Afterwards, some of the key targets were verified by sodium urate crystal-induced AGA mouse model. A total of 25 active components and 287 targets of PL, 811 targets of AGA, and 88 common targets were screened out. PPI network analysis showed that tumor necrosis factor(TNF), interleukin-6(IL-6), and interleukin-1β(IL-1β) may be the core targets of PL in the treatment of AGA. The key targets were mainly involved in 566 GO terms(P<0.05), including multiple biological processes such as inflammatory response and immune response. Moreover, they were related to 116 KEGG pathways and these pathways were involved in inflammation and immunity, mainly including NOD-like receptor signaling pathway and TNF signaling pathway. Animal experiment confirmed that PL can alleviate ankle swelling, improve abnormal gait, and down-regulate the protein expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in AGA mice, indicating that PL can treat AGA through TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β and the feasibility of network pharmacology to predict drug targets. This study preliminarily discussed the key targets and biological signaling pathways involved in the treatment of AGA with PL combination, which reflected the multi-pathway and multi-target action characteristics of Chinese medicine. Moreover, this study laid a scientific basis for research on the treatment of AGA with PL combination, as well as the mechanism of action.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis on triterpenoids in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus / 中国中药杂志

Triterpenoids are one of the most active constituents in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, but only oleanolic acid has been mostly studied. In recent years, a growing number of studies have shown that other triterpenes from Ligustri Lucidi Fructus also have various biological activities, so it is necessary to build up a detailed profile of the triterpenoids in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus. The chromatographic separation was performed on a C_(18) column(4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm) with mobile phase of methanol-acetonitrile-0.2% formic acid for gradient elution. The detection wavelength was set at 210 nm, with a flow rate of 0.5 mL·min~(-1), and the column temperature of 25 ℃. The HPLC fingerprint of triterpenoids in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus was built by testing 21 batches of samples from different sources. The structures of the total 15 common chromatographic peaks were elucidated with UHPLC-ESI-Orbitrap-MS/MS technique and six of them were identified as tormentic acid, pomolic acid, maslinic acid, botulin, oleanolic acid and ursolic acid by comparison to the reference substances. Under the same chromatographic condition, four main triterpenes(podocarboxylic acid, hawthorn acid, oleanolic acid and ursolic acid) were quantified and the results of system adaptability and methodology investigation all met the requirements of content determination. Meanwhile, with oleanolic acid(A) as the internal reference substance, quantitative analysis of multi-components by single marker(QAMS) method was used to analyze the above four components. The relative correction factor of oleanolic acid(B), hawthorn acid(C) and ursolic acid(D) to oleanolic acid was f_(B/A)=1.12, f_(C/A)=1.02 and f_(D/A)=0.88, respectively, and the relative retention values of these three to oleanolic acid was RRV_(B/A)=0.46, RRV_(C/A)=0.70 and RRV_(D/A)=1.03, respectively. The contents determined by two methods were similar. In conclusion, the method built in this paper is proved to be simple, reliable and specific for the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative analysis of the triterpenoids in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, which can lay foundation for further assays of the triterpenoids in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus and the relative products.

Comparative study on HPLC fingerprints between crude and processed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus / 中国中药杂志

To establish high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) fingerprints for crude and processed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus,and to evaluate their quality through the similarity calculation and chemical pattern recognition. The separation was performed with Syncronis C_(18) column(4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm), with acetonitrile(A) and 0.1% phosphoric acid solution(B) as the mobile phase for gradient elution, and a detection wavelength of 280 nm. HPLC was used to detect 22 batches of crude and processed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus,and the Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine(2012 Edition) was used to evaluate the similarity among 22 batches. The research on pattern recognition was conducted with cluster analysis(CA), principal component analysis(PCA), and partial least squares discriminate analysis(PLS-DA). HPLC fingerprints of crude and processed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus were established, with similarity ranging from 0.9 to 1.0. The crude and processed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus can be obviously distinguished by using CA, PCA and PLS-DA. According to the results of PLS-DA,11 constituents including hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, specnuezhenide and oleuropein were the main marker components leading to the difference. The established fingerprint method is stable and reliable, and can provide method basis for quality control of crude and processed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus. Chemical pattern recognition is proved to be helpful in comprehensive quality control and evaluation of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus before and after the process.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis on non-triterpenoids in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus / 中国中药杂志

In order to improve the quality control level of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus(LLF) and to explore the changes of chemical components after processing,the HPLC method for fingerprint and simultaneous determination of the major polar components in LLF were established. The octadecylsilane bonded silica gel was used as the stationary phase,with acetonitrile as the mobile phase A and0. 2% formic acid as the mobile phase B in a gradient elution procedure at a flow rate of 1. 0 m L·min-1. The detection wavelength was set at 280 nm and the column temperature was 25 ℃. There were 22 common peaks,20 of which were selected from the fingerprint of LLF and its wine-steamed product,respectively,and 14 chromatographic peaks were identified with reference substances. With the same chromatographic conditions,seven components were quantitatively analyzed and the results of system adaptability and methodology investigation all met the requirements of content determination. Compared with the crude LLF,the content of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural and salidroside significantly increased in wine-steamed LLF,while the contents of iridoid glycosides generally decreased. The method provided a basis for quality control of LLF and its processed products as well as the related preparations.

Study on quality characteristics of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus in national resource survey and consideration on standards of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus in Chinese Pharmacopoeia / 中国中药杂志

The content of tyrosol,salidroside,echinacoside,rutin,acteoside,ligustroflavone,specnuezhenide,and quercetin were determined by HPLC,and the color of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus was determined by comparison with color card.Hundred-seed weight was analyzed by using gravimetric method.The correlation analysis and One-way ANOVA were used to analyze the relationship between the characters,the chemical composition,the harvest time and the geographical location of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus,for giving a comprehensive evaluation of the quality of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus The results showed that 92% of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus were all up to quality standard of Chinese Pharmacopoeia,and the contents of 7 components in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus(except quercetin) were higher than those in samples with black colors.The content of salidroside in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus harvested in June was the highest and the other7 components of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus were relatively high in 8-10 months.According to the quality parameters of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus,the Ligustri Lucidi Fructus from six habitats can not be distinguished effectively.The results showed that there was a certain relationship between the color,harvest season and component content of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus,and the habitats were not related to the quality parameters of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus.The study aimsat providing data support for the resource status of native Ligustri Lucidi Fructus,and a theoretical basis for the revision of standards of Ligustri Lucidi Fructusin the future.

Gene cloning and prokaryotic expression of glycosyltransferase from Ligustrum quihoui / 中国中药杂志

According to the previous results from transcriptome analysis of Ligustrum quihoui, a glycosyltransferase gene(xynzUGT) was cloned by rapid amplification of cDNA ends(RACE). The full length cDNA of xynzUGT was 1 598 bp, consisting of 66 bp 5'-UTR, 1 440 bp ORF and 92 bp 3'-UTR. The ORF encoded a 480 amino-acid protein(xynzUGT) with a molecular weight of 54 826.67 Da and isoelectric point of 5.82. The structure of enzyme was analyzed by using bioinformatics method, the results showed that the primary structure contained a highly conserved PSPG box of glycosyltransferase, the secondary structure included α helix(38%), sheet(12.1%) and random coil(49.9%), and tertiary structure was constructed by peptide chain folding to form two face-to-face domains(often referred to as a Rossmann domains), between which a substrate binding pocket is sandwiched. The phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that xynzUGT might catalyze glycosylation of phenylpropanoids, such as tyrosol. Further simulation experiment of molecular docking between enzyme and tyrosol showed that Gly138 and Ser285 located in the binding pocket interacted with tyrosol by hydrogen bonding. SDS-PAGE analysis exhibited that the prokaryotic expression system successfully expressed recombinant xynzUGT with molecular weight of 58 370.57 Da, but it exists in the form of non-soluble inclusion bodies. Using the molecular chaperone and enzyme co-expression method, the soluble expression was promoted to some extent. The above works laid the foundation for further studying on enzymatic reaction and clarifying the functional mechanism of enzyme.

Content change of main components in processed Ligustrum lucidum fruits of different processing time and their characteristic quality standard based on UPLC technology / 中国中药杂志

To investigate the dynamic change law of the main components in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus during the wine-steaming process and attempt to establish the characteristic quality standard of wine-steamed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus by determining the content of salidroside and specnuezhenide using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) technology at different processing time points (12, 15, 18, 21, 24 h). The chromatographic separation was performed on Waters Acquity UPLC®BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 mm×50 mm, 1.7 μm) with acetonitrile and 0.2% formic acid aqueous solution as the mobile phase for gradient elution; and the detection wavelength was set at 280 nm; the flow rate was 0.5 mL·min⁻¹, and the column temperature was set at 40 °C. The results showed that the two components were well separated in the above conditions. The salidroside and specnuezhenide showed a good linear relationship within the range of 10.19-326 ng and 49.53-1 585 ng, respectively. Their average recovery was 103.4% and 101.7% with RSD of 0.81% and 0.79%, respectively. With the extension of processing time, the content of specnuezhenide was decreased, while salidroside was gradually increased. For the 27 batches of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, the content of salidroside was between 0.042 5% and 0.192 4%, and that of specnuezhenide was between 0.829 7% and 5.218 0%. While for the 25 batches of wine-steamed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, the content of the first one was between 0.229 2% and 1.045 8%, and the latter one was between 0.743 8% and 3.645 4%. As compared with Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, the ratio of specnuezhenide to salidroside was significantly decreased in the wine-steamed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus. According to the experimental results, the quality standard of Ligustri Lucidi Fructus is tentatively fixed as follows: the content of specnuezhenide shall not be less than 0.80%, and the ratio of specnuezhenide content/salidroside content (Sp/Sa) should not be smaller than 15. As for the wine-steamed ones, the content of salidroside should not be less than 0.20%, and specnuezhenide content should not be less than 0.70%; Sp/Sa should not be greater than 8. The method established in this study is simple and reliable, which could be used for the content detection of salidroside and specnuezhenide in Ligustri Lucidi Fructus samples. The characteristic quality standard established in this study could be used to distinguish the Ligustri Lucidi Fructus and wine-steamed Ligustri Lucidi Fructus.

Cytotoxic Triterpenoids from the Fruits of Ligustrum japonicum

Medicinal plants are potential sources of anticancer agents screening. A large number of phytochemicals, including triterpenoids, have been reported to have significant cytotoxic effects on cancer cells. From the fruits of Ligustrum japonicum Thunb., thirteen triterpenoids (1 – 13) were isolated and evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against Hela and HL-60 cells. As results, 8 (oleanolic acid) showed significant effects on Hela with IC50 values of 5.5 µM, and moderate effects on HL-60 cells with IC₅₀ values of 55.9 µM. Meanwhile, 10 (oleanderic acid) and 11 (3β-acetoxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid) exhibited moderate inhibitory effects on Hela with IC₅₀ value of 55.0 and 68.8 µM, respectively. Moreover, 10 showed cytotoxic effect on HL-60 cell line with IC₅₀ value of 63.9 µM. To our knowledge, this is the first report that oleanderic acid was isolated from L. japonicum and investigated in cytotoxic effects on Hela and HL-60 cells.

Sources of varieties and quality of circular Fructus Ligustri Lucidi / 中国天然药物

This study aimed to trace sources and quantitatively analyze the specnuezhenide content of circular Fructus Ligustri Lucidi for clinical use. Different specifications of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi were identified using DNA barcoding technology and the specnuezhenide content was analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The ITS sequence of circular Fructus Ligustri Lucidi was identical to that of standard privet, which was determined through botanical identification. ITS sequence similarity between circular Fructus Ligustri Lucidi and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi which was registered in NCBI ranged from 99.5% to 100%. The sequences of circular and other Fructus Ligustri Lucidi were clustered in a Neighbor-Joining tree with bootstrap value of 95, and these sequences could be distinguished from adulterants. Conforming to pharmacopoeia standard, the average specnuezhenide content of circular Fructus Ligustri Lucidi was higher than that of chicken waist Fructus Ligustri Lucidi. Circular Fructus Ligustri Lucidi derived from Ligustrum lucidum Ait. and the specnuezhenide content was higher in circular Fructus Ligustri Lucidi than that in chicken waist Fructus Ligustri Lucidi.

The mechanism of anthocyanin to anti-inflammatory and analgesic frnm Ligustrum fruit / 中国应用生理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To provide a theoretical basis for the further development of new drugs, the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects and the liver function in mice of anthocyanin from Ligustrum vicaryi were investigated.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The 240 experimental mice were splitted equally for 6 kinds of experiments and 40 rats in each kind of experiment were divided into 5 groups (n = 8): normal saline control group (NS); aspirin control group (Asp); high-concentration anthocyanin group (HA); medium-concentration anthocyanin group (MA); low-concentratior anthocyanin group (LA). The analgesia effect of anthocyanin at different concentration was detenmined by hot-plate test and acetic acid writhin test, and the anti-inflammatory effect of anthocyanin was performed by ear edema, ahdomen capillary permeability and cotton granuloma. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and the contents of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in blood serum were determined, and the activities of SOD, T-AOC and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in liver were measured, while the histological changes of liver tissue were observed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The pain threshold of mice was enhanced and the times of twist body wa decreased by medium-concentration and high-concentration anthocyanin. The activity of SOD was increased and the conentrs of NO and PGE were reduced in blood serum. High-concentration anthocyanin inhibited the ear swelling , the increase of celiac capillary permeability and th granuloma hyperplasia, and increased the activities of SOD and T-AOC while decreased the content of PGE2. The activities of SOD, T-AOC. GSH-PX were increased in liver, but the morphology of liver tissues in each group had no significant changes.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Anthocyanin Ligustrum vicaryi has definite anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, which is related to increasing the antioxidant capacity and decreasing th contents of NO and PGE2, and has not obvious damage to liver in the range of experimental concentration.</p>

Active components of Ligustrum lucidum inhibiting hepatitis C virus replicase activity / 药学学报

Based on previous report that the Chinese herb Ligustrum lucidum (LL) extract directly inhibited hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicase (NS5B) activity, the active components of LL extract to inhibit HCV NS5B activity and their inhibition mode were investigated in this study. LL extract was separated using ethyl acetate and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The inhibitory activity of separated fractions on HCV NS5B was analyzed by the inhibitory assay of NS5B activity. The results showed that only fractions 1 and 2 inhibited NS5B activity, and fraction 2 possessed higher inhibitory activity than fraction 1. HPLC analysis combined with inhibitory assays indicated that ursolic acid and oleanolic acid are the active components within fractions 1 and 2 to inhibit NS5B activity, separately. Moreover, oleanolic acid possessed higher inhibitory activity than ursolic acid. Further inhibition mode analysis found that both oleanolic acid and ursolic acid suppressed NS5B activity as noncompetitive inhibitors. The Ki values of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid were about 4.7 microg x mL(-1) (10 micromol x kg(-1)) and 2.5 microg x mL(-1) (5.5 micromol x kg(-1)), respectively. Taken together, these results demonstrated that oleanolic acid and ursolic acid suppressed NS5B activity as noncompetitive inhibitors, implying that the two natural products have potential value for HCV therapy.

Study on effect of combination of Epimedii Folium and Ligustri Lucidi Fructus on osteoporosis rats induced by retinoic acid / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effect of combination of Epimedii Folium and Ligustri Lucidi Fructus on osteoporosis rats induced by retinoic acid.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Sixty three-month-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into the normal control group, the model group, the Epimedii Folium group, the Ligustri Lucidi Fructus group, the combination group of Epimedii Folium and Ligustri Lucidi Fructus and the raloxifene group. The osteoporosis model was established through oral administration with retinoic acid for two weeks. Meanwhile, all of treatment groups were administered with corresponding drugs for three weeks. The contents of serum calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (StrACP) were detected, and the pathomorphological changes of femurs were observed.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The model control group showed much lower contents of serum Ca and P than the normal control group, but with significantly higher AKP and StrACP activity than the normal control group. The femoral head area showed reduced, narrow and sparse trabecular bones, with typical osteoporosis-like changes. Compared with the model control group, all of treated groups showed significant increase in Ca and P contents in serum, and down-regulate AKP and StrACP levels, while trabecular bones became more and wider, and densely interweaved as a reticular formation. Among them, the combination group showed the most significant effect.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Epimedii Folium and Ligustri Lucidi Fructus could effectively correct the abnormal bone metabolism and improve pathological conditions of bone tissues, so as to show the anti-osteoporosis effect. The combined application of the two drugs showed a better efficacy.</p>

Biochemical composition and germination capacity of Ligustrum lucidum ait. seeds in the process of biological invasion / Composição bioquímica e capacidade de germinação de sementes de Ligustrum lucidum ait. no processo de invasão biológica

Ligustrum lucidum ait. is an exotic species and In the present study, contents of sugars, proteins, and germination were evaluated in seeds removed from not abscisic and abscisic fruits. The seeds were stored or not under shadow or sun. The higher contents of total and reducing sugars were observed in seeds removed from not abscisic fruit while the period of storage resulted in the loss of these compounds. The same result was observed in the content of total sugars of seeds from abscisic fruits. The content of reducing sugars in seeds from abscisic fruits and submitted to storage had its content increased. The contents of total proteins in seeds from abscisic and not abscisic submitted to shadow or sun were not significantly different, but the results suggested an increase in protein synthesis during the storage period, differently from those seeds that were not submitted to storage. When seeds from abscisic and not abscisic fruits were evaluated immediately after harvest, they presented greater percentages of germination, while after 28 days, seeds submitted to the storage treatments showed lower values. The invasive potential of L. lucidum seems to be more associated to the number of seeds produced, than to their germination potential.

Ligustrum lucidum ait. é uma espécie exótica e no presente trabalho foram avaliados os teores de açúcares totais, redutores, proteínas, e germinação de sementes retiradas de frutos coletados da planta-mãe (não abscisados) e dispersos (abscisados) mantidos ou não em condições de sombra ou sol. Os maiores teores de açúcares totais e redutores foram obtidos em sementes imaturas, enquanto o armazenamento levou à perda destes composto, o que foi observado também para açúcares totais, nas mesmas condições, para sementes maduras. Verificaram-se aumentos nos teores de açúcares redutores em sementes maduras armazenadas. Apesar de não serem estatisticamente significativos, estes resultados entre sementes maduras e imaturas submetidas ao mesmo tratamento, indicam possível aumento da síntese protéica durante o período de armazenamento, sugerido pelo acréscimo no teor de proteínas totais, com pequena perda e/ou inibição em sementes de frutos submetidos ao sol. Sementes maduras e imaturas, imediatamente testadas após a coleta, apresentaram os maiores valores de porcentagem de germinação. no final de 28 dias de avaliação, enquanto aquelas submetidas aos tratamentos de armazenamento ficaram muito abaixo destes valores. Pelo presente trabalho, o potencial invasor de L. lucidum parece estar relacionado mais ao número de sementes produzidas pela espécie que o seu potencial germinativo.

Analysis on chemical components of Ligustrum lucidum by ultra performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To make a qualitative analysis on chemical components in Ligustrum lucidum by UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 (2.1 mm x 100 mm, 1.7 microm) column was adopted, with methyl cyanides-0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase for gradient elution; ESI ion source was used for mass spectra, and data were collected in positive and negative mode.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Fourteen compounds of L. lucidum were identified by analyzing positive and negative ion mass spectra information and element composition and comparing controls with data from relevant literature.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>After the separation by ultra high performance liquid chromatography, relative molecular mass was determined by mass spectra, and chemical compounds in L. lucidum were determined by information search through relevant literature data, in order to provide powerful therapeutic material basis for L. lucidum.</p>

Experimental study on effect of combination of Epimedii Folium/ Ligustri Lucidi Fructus and dexamethasone on asthmatic rats / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the anti-inflammatory effect of the combination of Epimedii Folium, Ligustri Lucidi Fructus and dexamethasone on asthma and its effect in inhibiting adverse reaction against hormone.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Dexamethasone had been injected intraperitoneally into asthmatic model rats for 2 weeks, together with the oral administration of Epimedii Folium and Ligustri Lucidi Fructus. The contents of IL-4, INF-gamma, IL-5 and GCR in BALF, serum COR, plasma ACTH and hypothalamic CRH were observed.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The combination of Epimedii Folium, Ligustri Lucidi Fructus and dexamethasone can significantly decrease the contents of IL-5 and IL-4 in BALF and ACTH and CRH content in plasma, increase the content of IFN-gamma and GCR in BALF and balance Th1/Th2.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The combination of Epimedii Folium, Ligustri Lucidi Fructus and dexamethasone has a better anti-inflammatory effect on asthmatic model rats, and play a protective role in the pathway of endogenous dexamethasone.</p>

Identification of chemical compositions in ether extracts of Ligustrum lucidum by GC-MS and chemometrics / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To identify and quantify the compound compositions of ether extracts of Ligustrum lucidum.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>After extracted 4 hour by Soxhlet extraction with ether, the extractive were analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Furthermore, heuristic evolving latent projection (HELP) was used to resolve the overlapping peaks to obtain the pure concentration profiles and mass spectra. Subsequently, mass spectral similarity search combining with the retention index was employed for the identification of each component.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Totally, 75 compounds were identified, accounting for 84.3% of that in the whole ether extracts of L. lucidum.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The main compounds of L. lucidum are oleic acid, lupeol and (Z,Z) 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, whose relative content were 9.805%, 8.848%, 8.357%, respectively.</p>

Chemical constituents from fruits of Ligustrum lucidum / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the chemical constituents from the fruits of Ligustrum lucidum.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The chemical constituents from the ethanol extract of L. lucidum were isolated and purified by silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, ODS column chromatographic methods. Their structures were identified on the basis of spectroscopic data and physico-chemical properties.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Twenty compounds were isolated and identified as oleanolic acid (1), crategolic acid (2), acetyl oleanolic acid (3), lupeol (4), betulin (5), dammarenediol-II (6), 3beta-acetyl-20, 25-epoxydammarane-24alpha-ol (7), 25-epoxydammarane-3beta, 24alpha-diol (8), dammar-24-ene-3beta-acetyl-20S-ol) (9), 20S, 24R-dammarane-25-ene-24-hydroperoxy-3beta, 20-diol (10), fouquierol (11), oliganthas A (12), dammarenediol II 3-O-palmitate (13), ocotillol II 3-O-palmitate (14), (E) -25-hydroperoxydammar-23-ene-3beta,20-diol (15), verbascoside (16), cimidahurinine (17), 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-ethyl-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (18), osmanthuside H (19), 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) ethanol (20).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compounds 4, 16,17, 19 were isolated from this plant for the first time, andcompounds 12-15 were isolated from this genus for the first time.</p>