1H NMR spectroscopy-based metabolic profiling of Ophiocordyceps sinensis and Cordyceps militaris in water-boiled and 50% ethanol-soaked extracts.

Ophiocordyceps sinensis, a well-known Chinese complementary herb, is a rare and valuable therapeutic resource. Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) is a commonly used substitute for O. sinensis. A metabolomic-based approach for exploring the similarities and differences in the metabolites of O. sinensis and C. militaris in water-boiled and 50% ethanol-soaked extracts is of great significance. To distinguish between the global metabolite profiles of O. sinensis and C. militaris extracts obtained from either the water-boiled or 50% ethanol-soaked methods, we investigated the herb samples using 1HNMR-based metabolic fingerprints combined with multivariate statistical analysis. This study revealed that a total of 52 primary metabolites were identified and quantified from O. sinensis and C. militaris samples. Forty-three (83% of 52) metabolites were detectable in both O. sinensis and C. militaris. According to the variable importance in projection (VIP) value and p-value from the Mann-Whitney test, 7 metabolites (alanine, aspartate, glutamate, mannitol, ornithine, serine, and trehalose) differed between O. sinensis and C. militaris. Arginine, glucose, putrescine, pyroglutamate, betaine, O-phosphocholine, and xylose differed significantly between the water-boiled and 50% ethanol-soaked methods used to prepare the herb extracts. This study demonstrated that water-boiled extraction was a much faster method (30 min. vs 360 days) that resulted in a 30% higher number of extracted metabolites (compared to 50% for the ethanol-soaked method) for both O. sinensis and C. militaris.

Effects of Cistanche deserticola extract on penis erectile response in castrated rats.

Cistanche deserticola (CD) has been considered as a tonic agent on reproductive function for thousands of years. The effects of CD extract on penis erectile response were investigated in present study. After castration surgery, rats were treated intragastrically with CD extract (0.45, 0.90 and 1.8 g/kg) daily for four weeks. Penis erectile response was measured and the serum hormones were assayed at the end of the experiment. It was evaluated that the erectile latency became longer and the erectile duration shorter significantly in castrated rats compared to sham operated controls. However, CD extract shortened the erectile latency and prolonged the erectile duration to minimize the negative effects of castration. At the dosage of 0.9 g/kg, CD extract regulated the serum luteinizing hormone concentration approach to normal level in castrated rats. These findings indicated that CD facilitated the penis erectile response and modulated the serum hormone level to some extent.

Anti-hyperglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of Cistanche tubulosa in type 2 diabetic db/db mice.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The dried succulent stem of Cistanche tubulosa (Schenk) R. Wight is one component of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions for diabetes. However, there have been no modern scientific reports to confirm this traditional claim for the Cistanche species until now. Thus, we investigated the effects of Cistanche tubulosa on glucose homeostasis and serum lipids in male BKS.Cg-Dock7(m) +/+ Lepr(db)/J (db/db) mice, a model of type 2 diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The verbascoside and echinacoside contents of Cistanche tubulosa powder were evaluated using HPLC. The total phenolic content, polysaccharide content and antioxidant activity of Cistanche tubulosa powder were also evaluated. Then, different doses of Cistanche tubulosa (equivalent to 120.9, 72.6 or 24.2mg verbascoside/kg) were administered orally once daily for 45 days to male db/db mice. Age matched db/+ mice were used as normal controls. Body weight, fasting blood glucose, postprandial blood glucose and insulin tolerance test were measured during the experiment. At the time of sacrifice, blood was collected for measurement of insulin level, the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-c, LDL-c and VLDL-c levels; liver and muscle were harvested for measurement of glycogen levels. RESULTS: Cistanche tubulosa significantly suppressed the elevated fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose levels, improved insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, and suppressed body weight loss in db/db mice. However, Cistanche tubulosa did not significantly affect serum insulin levels or hepatic and muscle glycogen levels. CONCLUSION: This study provides scientific evidence for the traditional use of Cistanche tubulosa to treat diabetes, suggesting that Cistanche tubulosa has the potential for development into a functional food ingredient or drug to prevent hyperglycemia and treat hyperlipidemia.

Cistanche deserticola decoction alleviates the testicular toxicity induced by hydroxyurea in male mice.

This study aimed to evaluate testicular toxicity induced by hydroxyurea (HU) and the possible counteracting effect of an aqueous extract of Cistanche deserticola (CD). HU is an antineoplastic drug that has potential reproductive toxicity, and Herba Cistanche has been used as a tonic for the reproductive system for thousands of years. Sixty mice were randomly divided into five groups. Except mice in normal group, the rest received HU (400 mg kg(-1) body weight) intragastrically. Meanwhile, mice in normal and HU control groups received purified water, and the rest received intragastrically three doses of CD decoctions (1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 g crude drug kg(-1) body weight, respectively) daily for 4 weeks. Severe testes lesions were observed, testes weight (P<0.01) and serum luteinising hormone levels (P<0.01) were also decreased significantly, in the HU groups. Three doses of CD decoctions alleviated the spermatogenetic cell degeneration induced by HU and modulated the serum sex hormones levels to some extent.

A neurofibromatosis type 1 patient with thoracic encapsulated fluid and intracranial hypotension syndrome: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Spinal meningoceles are uncommon entities, mostly associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1). Their intrusion into the thoracic cavity, which compresses lung tissue, is quite often mistaken as a "pleural effusion." The withdrawal of a large amount of "pleural effusion" can lead to the intracranial hypotension syndrome (IHS), herniation, or even death. CASE REPORT: A 43-year-old woman, with NF-1 and a large "pleural effusion" which compressed lung tissue, was admitted to the Thoracic Department due to the patient's shortness of breath during her physical activities. The patient complained of headache shortly after withdrawal of about 250 mL of "pleural effusion." She was diagnosed with IHS according to the typical symptoms of postural headache, low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure and magnetic resonance imaging findings of diffuse pachymeningeal gadolinium enhancement. The "pleural effusion" was examined and found to be CSF. CONCLUSION: The reported case is the first 1 in the literature in which the intrusion of the NF-1 patient's spinal meningoceles into the thoracic cavity was diagnosed as a "pleural effusion" and large CSF withdrawal led to IHS. We highlight the possibility that thoracic meningoceles can coexist with a thoracic spinal deformity and the caution that needs to be taken when cases with similar symptoms are subjected to withdrawal of fluid.