Anti-influenza virus effects of crude phenylethanoid glycosides isolated from ligustrum purpurascens via inducing endogenous interferon-γ.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ligustrum purpurascens Y.C. Yang (Oleaceae) is traditionally recorded as "Ku Ding Cha", a kind of functional tea in southern China for about two thousand years, which has been reported with sore throat alleviating and pathogenic heat expelling effects. However, there are no scientific studies demonstrating its antiviral activity. THE AIM OF THE STUDY: This study is aimed at investigating the anti-influenza virus effects of phenylethanoid glycosides isolated from L. purpurascens (LPG) as well as its corresponding mechanisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vitro, hemagglutination assay was employed to detect the influenza virus titer; In vivo, C57BL/6J mice were given oral administration of LPG (100mg/kg, 300mg/kg, 900mg/kg) or ribavirin (100mg/kg) once daily for 5 successive days. Meanwhile, on the second day, mice were infected intranasally (i.n.) with A/FM/1/47 H1N1 virus. Mice survival rate and other clinical index were monitored for 15 days. Infected mice were sacrificed to measure the lung lesion and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Flow cytometry analyses spleen lymphocytes and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) level. The IFN-γ knockout mice (IFN-γ(-/-) mice, C57BL/6J) which had been verified lacking IFN-γ through Western Blot, were applied in the death-protection test to identify the role of IFN-γ played in LPG antiviral effect. RESULTS: In vitro, LPG at 0.5mg/ml inhibited Influenza A Virus H1N1 type (H1N1) infection of MDCK cells. In vivo, LPG at 300 and 900mg/kg significantly decreased the mouse lung index (p<0.05), alleviated influenza-induced lethality and clinical symptoms, and therefore enhanced mouse survival (p<0.05). More detailed experiments demonstrated that antiviral cytokine IFN-γ was involved in the antiviral effect of LPG. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that LPG (900mg/kg) significantly induced secretion of IFN-γ by splenic CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells (p<0.05). Moreover, LPG (900mg/kg) protected wild-type C57BL/6J mice from H1N1 injury, whereas LPG-mediated survival protection disappeared in IFN-γ(-/-) mice. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that up-regulating endogenous IFN-γ by LPG may represent a novel therapeutic approach for H1N1 infection.

Dual-index evaluation of character changes in Panax ginseng C. A. Mey stored in different conditions.

Panax ginseng C. A. Mey has been used as a traditional medicine and functional food in Asia for thousands of years for its improvement of human immunity and metabolism and its antitumor and antifatigue activities. This study reports the impact of storage conditions and storage period on the quality of P. ginseng. The contents of four major ginsenosides in P. ginseng and phosphorylation activities of Akt of ginseng extracts were affected by both storage conditions and storage period. In contrast, the ATP generation capacity of ginseng extracts was affected by storage conditions, but not by storage period. The results showed that the quality of P. ginseng could be well maintained at a relative humidity between 70% and 90%, and dry conditions might decrease the quality of P. ginseng. Through dual-index evaluation, the present study extended our knowledge on the changes of ginsenosides and bioactivities in P. ginseng with respect to different storage conditions and storage periods.

Gene expression profile related to inflammation in rat model of traumatic deep vein thrombosis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between inflammation and traumatic deep vein thrombosis (TDVT). METHODS: A rat model of deep venous thrombosis was established by directly clamping femoral vein. Based on the different biological situations of femoral vein thrombosis and observation phases, 150 SD rats were divided into 7 groups. Inflammatory cells in vein wall of each group were counted. The fold change and cluster analysis were applied to study the change of gene expression during the development of venous thrombosis. Especially, the genes related to inflammation, fibrinolysis, coagulation of endothelium were analyzed in detail. RESULTS: The inflammation cells in femoral vein wall were mostly neutrophilic granulocytes in Groups B, C and D, while they were lymphocytes in Groups E, F and G. Compared with Groups A, B, E and G, the inflammation cell counts in Groups C, D and F were much higher (P less than 0.05). The results of fold-change analysis showed that 2 504 genes (Log 2 ratio > or = 1 or < or = 1) presented different expressions in the process of TDVT. Most of these genes'functions were not clarified so far and the genes with known functions were involved in inflammation, DNA-dependent transcription regulation, blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, etc. Among them, 23 genes related to inflammation had different expressions during TDVT. The cluster analysis showed that the expression changes of several genes, such as IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, Cinc2, corresponded with the development of femoral vein thrombosis. CONCLUSION: There is a close relationship between the genes related to inflammation and deep vein thrombosis induced by direct vascular trauma.