Amphiphilic carboxylated cellulose-g-poly(l-lactide) copolymer nanoparticles for oleanolic acid delivery.

Carboxylated cellulose nanocrystals (CCNs), as one of nanocellulose are promising hydrophilic biomass materials for drug delivery. In this work, a series of amphiphilic carboxylated cellulose-graft-Poly(L-lactide) (CC-g-PLLA) copolymers were synthesized via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) method. The copolymers were characterized by 1H-NMR, FT-IR, WXRD and TGA, and their solubility in organic solvents was improved. Then, these amphiphilic copolymers were self-assembled into nanoparticles for delivery of anticancer drug oleanolic acid (OA). The copolymer (DSPLLA 2.03) nanoparticles displayed the smallest size (196.82 ± 9.14 nm) and the highest drug loading efficiency (24.76 ± 0.58%). The nanoparticles exhibited a spherical shape, well water solubility of OA (16.9 mg/mL) and a prolonged drug release (120 h). In vitro and In vivo study indicated that the nanoparticles maintained cytotoxicity to 4T1 cells and MCF-7 cells and displayed high antitumor efficiency. The amphiphilic CC-g-PLLA copolymer nanoparticles provide a novel platform for drug delivery.

The protective effect of Ganoderma atrum polysaccharide against anoxia/reoxygenation injury in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes.

AIMS: Oxidative stress has been largely implicated in the pathogenesis of anoxia/reoxygenation injury. Ganoderma atrum polysaccharide (PSG-1), the most abundant component extracted from the fruiting bodies of G. atrum, has been shown to possess potent antioxidant activity. In this study, we investigated whether PSG-1 attenuates oxidative stress induced by anoxia/reoxygenation injury. MAIN METHODS: Primary cultures of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes pretreated with PSG-1 were exposed to anoxia/reoxygenation and subsequently monitored for cell viability by the MTT assay. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities, and malondialdehyde contents were determined by a colorimetric method. The levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis were determined by flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was used for the determination of MnSOD, catalase and glutathione peroxidase expression. KEY FINDINGS: In the present study, PSG-1 protected the cardiomyocytes from anoxia/reoxygenation injury, as evidenced by decreased LDH release and increased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner up to 100microg/ml. This protective effect concomitantly decreased malondialdehyde contents, while significantly increased the activities and protein expressions of MnSOD, catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Furthermore, treatment with PSG-1 decreased ROS production and apoptosis in cardiomyocytes undergoing anoxia/reoxygenation. SIGNIFICANCE: The present study first demonstrates that PSG-1 protects cardiomyocytes against oxidative stress induced by anoxia/reoxygenation by attenuating ROS production, apoptosis and increasing activities and protein expressions of endogenous antioxidant enzymes.

Quality control and original discrimination of Ganoderma lucidum based on high-performance liquid chromatographic fingerprints and combined chemometrics methods.

In this paper, the feasibility and advantages of employing high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) fingerprints combined with chemometrics methods for quality control of the cultured fruiting bodies of Ganoderma lucidum were investigated and demonstrated for the first time. In order to compare the HPLC fingerprints chromatograms between G. lucidum from different origins, the similarities of all the 60 samples and relative peak areas of 19 characteristic compounds were firstly calculated respectively. Then different pattern recognition procedures, including hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares-discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) were applied to classify the G. lucidum samples according to their cultivated origins. Consistent results were obtained to show that G. lucidum samples could be successfully grouped in accordance with the province of origin. Furthermore, four marker constituents were screened out to be the most discriminant variables, which could be applied to accurate discrimination and quality control of G. lucidum by quantitative analysis. Finally, the chemical properties of those samples were also investigated to find out the differences of quality between them. Ranked in decreasing order, the quality of the G. lucidum can be arranged as Jinzhai/Huangshan, Shandong followed by Zhejiang samples. Our results revealed that the developed method has potential perspective for the original discrimination and quality control of G. lucidum.

Discrimination of Ganoderma lucidum according to geographical origin with near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and pattern recognition techniques.

A rapid and nondestructive near infrared (NIR) method combined with chemometrics was used to discriminate Ganoderma lucidum according to cultivation area. Raw, first, and second derivative NIR spectra were compared to develop a robust classification rule. The chemical properties of G. lucidum samples were also investigated to find out the difference between samples from six varied origins. It could be found that the amount of polysaccharides and triterpenoid saponins in G. lucidum samples was considerably different based on cultivation area. These differences make NIR spectroscopic method viable. Principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant partial least-squares (DPLS) and discriminant analysis (DA) were applied to classify the geographical origins of those samples. The results showed that excellent classification could be obtained after optimizing spectral pre-treatment. For the discriminating of samples from three different provinces, DPLS provided 100% correct classifications. Moreover, for samples from six different locations, the correct classifications of the calibration as well as the validation data set were 96.6% using the DA method after the SNV first derivative spectral pre-treatment. Overall, NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy using pattern recognition was shown to have significant potential as a rapid and accurate method for the identification of herbal medicines.