ABSTRACT
The phenolic and antioxidant activity of ethanolic extract of two Japonica rice cultivars, Taikeng no. 16 (medium and slender grain) and Kaohsiung no. 139 (short and round grain), grown under organic and conventional farming were examined. Analyses shows that Kaohsiung no. 139 contains the highest amount of secondary metabolites and continuous farming can increase its production. Results also suggest that phenolic content under different agronomic practices, has not shown significant differences but organically grown rice has proven to be better in higher accumulation of other secondary metabolites (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), flavonoid content, and ferrous chelating capacity). In nutshell, genetic traits and environment have significant effect on phenolic compounds and the least variation reported under agronomic practices.
Subject(s)
Agriculture , Antioxidants/analysis , Oryza/chemistry , Phenols/analysis , Seeds/chemistry , Phytochemicals/analysisABSTRACT
Isatis indigotica is a biennial herbaceous cruciferous medical herb with antipyretic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-endotoxin activity. This study explored the chemotherapeutic potential of I indigotica on human hepatoma cells and investigated the mechanism by which metabolites from I indigotica inhibit hepatoma cell growth. Antitumor activity was discovered in dried I indigotica leaf chloroform extracts (CEDLI). In nude mice xenotransplanted with human hepatoma cells, CEDLI supplementation inhibited tumor growth by ~40% compared with nonsupplemented animals without affecting body weight/food intake. CEDLI induced sub-G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in hepatoma cells. Furthermore, CEDLI activates p53 and Bax, reduces Bcl-2 expression, and causes mitochondrial stress and the release of apoptosis-inducing factor into the cytosol followed by its translocation into the nucleus, resulting in hepatoma cell apoptosis. This study provides novel in vivo evidence of I indigotica's antitumor activity. The chemotherapeutic activity against human hepatoma tumorigenesis was because of a distinguished caspase-independent apoptotic pathway.
Subject(s)
Apoptosis Inducing Factor/metabolism , Apoptosis/drug effects , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/drug therapy , Caspases/metabolism , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use , Isatis/chemistry , Liver Neoplasms/drug therapy , Animals , Apoptosis/physiology , Body Weight/drug effects , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology , Caspase 3/metabolism , Caspase 9/metabolism , Caspase Inhibitors , Cell Cycle/drug effects , Cell Line, Transformed , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Nucleus/drug effects , Cell Nucleus/metabolism , Cell Survival/drug effects , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/isolation & purification , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Eating/drug effects , Female , G1 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints/drug effects , Humans , JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism , Liver Neoplasms/metabolism , Liver Neoplasms/pathology , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Mice, Nude , Organ Size/drug effects , Phosphorylation/drug effects , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/metabolism , Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays , bcl-2-Associated X Protein/metabolismABSTRACT
AIM OF THE STUDY: Isatis indigotica (I. indigotica), Cruciferae, has been used in Chinese medicine for anti-leukemia and anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of Isatis indigotica extracts on human leukemia cell line (HL-60) and the antiviral activity on swine pseudorabies virus (PrV) in in vitro assays. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Extracts and derived fractions of Isatis indigotica were prepared from root (R) and leaf (L) using methanol (M), ethyl acetate (E) and distilled water (D). The cytotoxic effect of extracts on swine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and HL-60 was assessed by MTT method. The cytopathic effect (CPE) reduction, plaque reduction and inhibition assays on viral replication, and virucidal activity were further conducted to investigate the anti-PrV activity. RESULTS: Indirubin, one of the biological active compounds of Isatis indigotica, had the most significant cytotoxicity on HL-60 cells and inhibitory effect on PrV replication. Extracts from roots and leaves of Isatis indigotica also presented CPE inhibition either before or after infection of PrV on porcine kidney (PK-15) cells. Leaf extracts had better virucidal activity than roots, and ethyl acetate extracts exhibited the highest efficacy among extracts tested. CONCLUSION: Isatis indigotica posses a valuable virucidal effect in disease control of pseudorabies virus infection in swine.
Subject(s)
Herpesvirus 1, Suid/drug effects , Isatis/chemistry , Leukemia/pathology , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Animals , Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral , Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor , HL-60 Cells , Herpesvirus 1, Suid/pathogenicity , Herpesvirus 1, Suid/physiology , Humans , Swine , Virus ReplicationABSTRACT
A rapid, selective, and sensitive LC-APCI-MS method is developed in this study for detecting and analyzing tryptanthrin, indigo, and indirubin in daqingye and banlangen, which are, respectively, the leaves and roots of Isatis indigotica and Strobilanthes cusia in traditional Chinese medicine. The detection of the three active components is linear in concentrations ranging from 100 to 1500 ng/mL, the squared correlation coefficient is higher than 0.996, the precision as measured by the relative standard deviation is no larger than 9.5%, and the recovery is greater than 86.6%. The analysis of the 21 banlangen samples led to considerably different conclusions on the contents of tryptanthrin, indigo, and indirubin in fresh leaves versus those in dried leaves. These results should shed some light on future plant selection and breeding. Compared with the traditional TLC and HPLC-UV methods, the new LC-APCI-MS approach has proven to be an optimal tool for detecting and analyzing the three marker compounds in the Chinese herbal medicines of daqingye and banlangen.
