Chemical characterization and antioxidative activity of four 3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaroyl (HMG)-substituted flavonoid glycosides from Graptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther.

BACKGROUND: Graptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther is a popular traditional Chinese herb and possesses several health benefits. In earlier studies, we demonstrated that G. paraguayense showed no genotoxicity and showed several biological activities. However, the constituents of G. paraguayense have not been studied yet. In this present study, we isolated and identified the constituents of the leaves of G. paraguayense E. Walther. RESULTS: A total of seven flavonoid compounds were isolated from the methanolic extract of G. paraguayense. The four major compounds isolated were flavonoid glucoside derivatives of quercetin (1, 3) and kampferol (2, 4), each presenting a 3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaroyl (HMG) substituent; compounds 3 and 4-the 2´´-acetyl derivatives of 1 and 2, respectively-are novel compounds isolated from nature for the first time. High-performance liquid chromatography for the quantitative analyses of the four major HMG-substituted flavonoid glycosides in G. paraguayense E. Walther were accomplished to acquire the high yields of 1-4 in the methanolic extract (4.8, 5.7, 4.3, and 2.5 mg/g, respectively). Furthermore, the antioxidant activities, including radical-scavenging, reducing power and lipid peroxidation inhibitory effects of these isolated flavonoids were also evaluated. All seven of the isolated flavonoid compounds possessed antioxdative activity. CONCLUSIONS: In this study of the constituents of the leaves of G. paraguayense E. Walther, we isolated four major components from its methanolic extract and determined their structures to be (acetylated) HMG-substituted flavonol glycosides, which are rare in nature. All seven of the isolated compounds possessed antioxdative activity, and those flavonoid compounds may be responsible for the functional ingredients in G. paraguayense. Further investigation of their bioactivities or pharmacological activities will be continued.

Anti-influenza virus activity of the ethanolic extract from Peperomia sui.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Peperomia sui Lin and Lu (Peperomia sui), a well-known Taiwanese folk medicine, has a broad range of biological effects, especially in treatment of upper respiratory tract diseases. However, no previous study has explored the activity of Peperomia sui against influenza virus infections. This study was carried out to evaluate the anti-influenza virus activity and the potential virucidal effect of the ethanolic extract of Peperomia sui (PSE). METHODS: The anti-H6N1 avian influenza viral activity of PSE against the influenza virus A/Chicken/TW/0518/2011 (H6N1) in chicken fibroblast DF-1 cells was evaluated by cell viability assay, hemagglutination assay, neuraminidase activity assay, indirect immunofluorescence assay and quantitative RT-PCR assay. RESULTS: PSE significantly increased the viability of cells that were infected by the H6N1 virus. PSE also suppressed the synthesis of viral nucleoprotein (NP), and inhibited the growth of the virus in DF-1 cells. Further, PSE inhibited the neuraminidase activity of H6N1 virus. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study provide important information for the exploitation and utilization of Peperomia sui in treatment of influenza infection.

Isatis indigotica induces hepatocellular cancer cell death via caspase-independent apoptosis-inducing factor translocation apoptotic pathway in vitro and in vivo.

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.

A novel method of ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for the determination of trace organoarsenic compounds in edible oil.

A novel approach, ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UA-DLLME with LC-MS) is demonstrated to be quite useful for the determination of trace amounts of organoarsenic compounds in edible oil. The organoarsenic compounds studied include dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and 3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenyl arsenic acid (Roxarsone). Orthogonal array experimental design (OAD) was utilized to investigate the parameter space of conditions for UA-DLLME. The optimum conditions were found to be 4 min of ultrasonic extraction using 1.25 mL of mixed solvent with 50 µL of buffer solution. Under these optimal conditions, the linear range was from 10 ng g(-1) to 500 ng g(-1) for DMA and Roxarsone, from 25 ng g(-1) to 500 ng g(-1) for MMA. Limits of detection of DMA, MMA and Roxarsone were 1.0 ng g(-1), 3.0 ng g(-1) and 5.8 ng g(-1), respectively. The precisions and recoveries also were investigated by spiking 3-level concentrations in edible oil. The recoveries obtained were over 89.9% with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 9.6%. The new approach was utilized to successfully detect trace amounts of organoarsenic compounds in various edible oil samples.

Cytotoxic lignan esters from Cinnamomum osmophloeum.

The bark and roots of Cinnamomum osmophloeum are widely used in Taiwan as spice substitutes for C. CASSIA. We have isolated three novel lignan esters, one dibenzylbutane-type ligan ester [9,9'-di-O-feruloyl-(+)-5,5'-dimethoxy secoisolariciresinol (3)] and two cyclolignan esters [(7' S,8' R,8 R) -lyoniresinol-9-O-(E)-feruloyl ester ( 5) and (7' S,8' R,8 R)-lyoniresinol-9,9'-di-O-(E)-feruloyl ester (6)], and several known lignans from the heartwood and roots of C. osmophloeum. We identified these compounds using 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Cytotoxicity assays of these novel lignan esters revealed that compound 6 has strong activities against human liver cancer (HepG2 and Hep3B) and oral cancer (Ca9-22) cells, with IC(50) values of 7.87, 4.31, and 2.51 microg/mL, respectively.

The cytotoxicity to leukemia cells and antiviral effects of Isatis indigotica extracts on pseudorabies virus.

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.

Isolation and cytotoxicity of the lignanoids from Chamaecyparis formosensis.

In this study, we assessed the antitumor activity of the methanol extract from wood chips of the heartwood of the Taiwan red cypress, Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsumura, which is a precious tree species endemic to Taiwan. A brine shrimp lethality test (BST) indicated that the ethyl acetate (EtOAc)-soluble extract from the MeOH extract was a suitable candidate (LC (50) = 15.36 microg/mL) for further studies of the antitumor activity of its components. From this EtOAc fraction, we isolated six lignans and two norlignans and tested their cytotoxic activities IN VITRO against promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) and hepatoma (Hepa-G2) cell lines. Among these compounds, 7,7'-( S)-dihydrotaiwanin C, isolated for the first time from nature, with its single crystal structure depicted in this study, exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against HL-60 cell lines IN VITRO (IC (50) = 4.03 microg/mL) after 24 hours. BST:brine shrimp lethality test Hepa-G2:human hepatoma HL-60:human leukemia IC (50):half-maximal inhibitory concentration SARs:structure-activity relationships AS:adenine sulfate.

Determination of aconitine-type alkaloids as markers in fuzi (Aconitum carmichaeli) by LC/(+)ESI/MS(3).

LC/(+)ESI/MS(3) was used to determine aconitine, mesaconitine, and hypaconitine as target markers in crude methanol extracts of (i) the raw lateral roots of Aconitum carmichaeli, (ii) roots treated by three different refining processes, and (iii) eight generally available traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparations containing fuzi (treated lateral roots of A. carmichaeli). The optimal ionization behavior resulted when using electrospray ionization (ESI) in positive-ion mode with 0.005% TFA as an additive in the mobile phase. The consecutive reaction monitoring (CRM) mode provided additional improvements in selectivity, which was exploited to minimize the noise and interference problems. Employing this approach, aconitine and mesaconitine were found to decompose readily during the refining processes, but hypaconitine remains present at the same content, presumably because of its characteristic chemical structure. Thus, treated and untreated fuzi samples can be distinguished by monitoring the ratio of aconitine and mesaconitine to hypaconitine. The limits of detection (LODs) for these three markers were 0.05, 0.08, and 0.03 ng/ml. The linearity range for the three marker compounds was 0.1-1,000 ng/ml. The analysis time was 12 min per sample.

Supercritical fluid extraction and quantification of aflatoxins in Zizyphi Fructus by liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

An integrated method combining supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/APCI-MS/MS) was developed and successfully applied to quantify aflatoxins (AFs) in Zizyphi Fructus (fruits of Zizyphus jujube), a traditional Chinese medicine. To minimize the potential interferences caused by the complex matrix in Zizyphi Fructus, a SFE pretreatment was performed. In addition, electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) spectra were also compared. The results showed that the calibration curves of AFB(1), AFB(2), AFG(1), and AFG(2) were all linear over the range of concentration from 1 to 50 ng/g, the squared correlation coefficients (r(2)) were over 0.995, and the detection limits of the method were between 0.17 and 0.32 ng/g. It showed high recovery and good precision in quantitating AFs in Zizyphi Fructus without further clean-up. Further, fragmentation pathways of protonated AFs in APCI-MS/MS were clearly proposed which could predict the existence of AFB or AFG series. To test the empirical validity of the proposed methodology in this paper, eight random samples of Zizyphi Fructus collected from supermarkets and traditional Chinese medicine stores in different geographical areas of Taiwan were analyzed. The results indicated that low levels of AFs were detected in only one of them.

LC-APCI-MS method for detection and analysis of tryptanthrin, indigo, and indirubin in daqingye and banlangen.

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.

Quality control of Chinese medicinal preparations LC/ESI(+)/MS/MS analyses of saikosaponins-a and -c as markers of Bupleuri radix samples.

We have used LC/ion trap tandem MS analysis to determine saikosaponin-a and -c as target markers in crude 70% methanol extracts from three different species of Bupleuri radix and the 10 most-popular Chinese medicinal preparations containing "Chaihu" (B. radix) without any clean-up. The optimal ionization characteristics were obtained when using positive-ion electrospray ionization (ESI) with 50 microM sodium acetate as an additive in the mobile phase. We observed good linearity over the range from 0.02 to 2 microg/ml for saikosaponin-a and from 0.02 to 1 microg/ml for saikosaponin-c. The intra-day precisions varied between 3.3 and 8.8% for saikosaponin-a and 0.3 and 11.1% for saikosaponin-c. The limits of detection were 0.01 microg/ml for both markers. The recoveries of saikosaponin-a and -c from the extract of a medicinal preparation sample (Chai-Hu-Ching-Gan-Tang, No. 13 in the table of section Analysis on actual samples) were 97 and 100%, respectively, at a 1 microg/ml spiking concentration of each marker. The highest concentrations of saikosaponin-a and -c among the three B. radixes were found in B. kaoi Liu Chao & Chuang (10.1 mg/g) and in B. falcatum (3.4 mg/g), respectively. The amounts of these saikosaponins in the 10 Chinese medicinal preparations ranged between 0.11 and 1.22 mg/g for saikosaponin-a and between 0.01 and 0.33 mg/g for saikosaponin-c.

Using LC/MS/MS to determine matrine, oxymatrine, ferulic acid, mangiferin, and glycyrrhizin in the Chinese medicinal preparations Shiau-feng-saan and Dang-guei-nian-tong-tang.

We have developed a simple, rapid, selective, and reproducible method for the quality control of traditional Chinese medicinal preparations. In this study, we used LC/MS/MS to simultaneously identify and quantify five marker compounds - matrine, oxymatrine, ferulic acid, mangiferin, and glycyrrhizin - in preparations of Shiau-feng-saan and Dang-guei-nian-tong-tang. The calibration curves for the five marker compounds were linear over the concentration range 50-2500 ng/mL (R2>0.9971). The matrix effect was minimized and the recoveries of the five marker compounds were >90% at a concentration of 1 microg/mL. Our experimental data reveal that significant differences exist between samples obtained from different sources.

Continuous hot pressurized solvent extraction of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging compounds from Taiwan yams (Dioscorea alata).

This study investigates a semicontinuous hot pressurized fluid extraction process and the scavenging activity on the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical of the extract from Taiwan yams (Dioscorea alata). Liquid-liquid extractions were preliminarily employed to generate six fractions, initially extracted by ethanol. Then, the aqueous solution of dried crude ethanol extract was sequentially fractionated by hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol. The EC50 value was defined as the UV absorption of DPPH concentrations sufficiently decreased to 50% of the original value. It was found that all peel portions have a better effect on scavenging of the DPPH free radical than meat portions, especially for the ethyl acetate partition of the peel portion of Tainung #2 yam. Its EC50 value (14.5 microg mL(-1)) was even lower than that of ascorbic acid (21.4 microg mL(-1)). Furthermore, semicontinuous hot pressurized ethanol was superior to hot pressurized water in extracting the compound scavenging the DPPH radical from the Purpurea-Roxb peel. The recovery of four unknown compounds corresponded to the scavenging ratio of DPPH free radical in the hot pressurized ethanol extract. Finally, three-level and four-factor experimental design revealed that ethanol ratio and temperature were the most effective factors in order. Conditions of 80% of aqueous ethanol, 20.0 kg/kg solid ratio, 180 psig (1.342 MPa), and 100 degrees C were preferred to extract those antioxidants from the yam peel.

Analysis of aristolochic acid in nine sources of Xixin, a traditional Chinese medicine, by liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization/tandem mass spectrometry.

Aristolochic acid I (AA-I), which is a known nephrotoxin, is found in a commonly used Chinese medicine, Xixin, that originates from nine Asarum species (Aristolochiaceae) found in China. A method has been developed using reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) tandem mass spectrometry under the positive ion detection mode [LC/(+)APCI/MS/MS] to determine the amount of AA-I in Xixin. The limit of detection of AA-I, estimated by monitoring with LC/MS/MS, was at the low microg/l level. By applying this method to methanol extracts of nine Asarum species, the concentrations of AA-I were found to range from 3.3 ng/mg (Asarum sieboldii) to 3376.9 ng/mg (Asarum crispulatum).