Discovery of New Microbial Collagenase Inhibitors.

Bacterial virulence factors are mediating bacterial pathogenesis and infectivity. Collagenases are virulence factors secreted by several bacterial stains, such as Clostridium, Bacillus, Vibrio and Pseudomonas. These enzymes are among the most efficient degraders of collagen, playing a crucial role in host colonization. Thus, they are an important target for developing new anti-infective agents because of their pivotal roles in the infection process. A primary screening using a fluorescence resonance energy-transfer assay was used to experimentally evaluate the inhibitory activity of 77 compounds on collagenase A. Based on their inhibitory activity and chemical diversity, a small number of compounds was selected to determine the corresponding half maximal inhibitory con-centration (IC50). Additionally, we used molecular docking to get a better understanding of the enzyme-compound interaction. Several natural compounds (capsaicin, 4',5-dihydroxyflavone, curcumin, dihydrorobinetin, palmatine chloride, biochanin A, 2'-hydroxychalcone, and juglone) were identified as promising candidates for further development into useful anti-infective agents against infections caused by multi-drug-resistant bacterial pathogens which include collagenase A in their enzymatic set.

Gastroprotective effects of Hwanglyeonhaedok-tang against Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric cell injury.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Helicobacter pylori, which is found in the stomachs of approximately half of the world's population, has been associated with the development of chronic gastritis and gastric cancer. Hwanglyeonhaedok-tang (HHT) is a popular traditional medicine for the therapies of gastric ulcers and gastritis. AIM OF THE STUDY: The emerging resistance of H. pylori to antibiotics arouses requirement on alternative nonantibiotic-based therapies. In the present study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory activity and anti-microbial activity of HHT against H. pylori in vitro and in an H. pylori-infected mouse model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: H. pylori were treated with various concentrations of HHT and then incubated with human gastric carcinoma AGS cells. For the in vivo study, mice were orally infected with H. pylori three times over the course of 1 week, and then subjected to daily administration of HHT (120 or 600 mg/kg) for 4 weeks or standard triple therapy for 1 week. At the scheduled termination of the experiment, all mice were killed and their stomachs were collected for histological examination, quantitative real-time PCR, and Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Our in vitro studies showed that HHT treatment inhibited the adhesion of H. pylori to AGS cells and suppressed the H. pylori-induced increases of inflammatory regulators, such as interleukin (IL)-8, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). In the mouse model, HHT treatment significantly reduced H. pylori colonization, inflammation, and the levels of IL-1ß, IL-6, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CXCL1), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), COX-2, and iNOS in gastric mucosa. Further investigation showed that HHT treatment reduced the H. pylori-induced phosphorylations of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK), and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings collectively suggest that HHT has anti-inflammatory activity and antibacterial activity against H. pylori and could be an alternative to antibiotics for preventing H. pylori infection.

Simultaneous determination of four constituents in Xiaojie'an Capsules by HPLC / 中成药

AIM To establish an HPLC method for the simultaneous content determination of four constituents in Xiaojie'an Capsules (Forsythiae Fructus,Leonuri Herba,Spatholobi Caulis,etc.).METHODS The analysis of chloroform extract of this drug was carried out on a 30 ℃ thermostatic Diamond C1scolumn(250 mm ×4.6 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile (A)-0.05 mol/L monosodium phosphate (B) flowing at 1.0 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 278 nm.RESULTS Berberine hydrochloride,palmatine chloride,phillyrin and rutin showed good linear relationships within the ranges of 0.033 7-0.337 2 μg (r =0.999 1),0.054 8-0.548 3 μg (r =0.999 0),0.025 9-0.258 8 μg (r=0.999 2) and 0.008 4-0.084 2 μg (r =0.999 6),whose average recoveries were 98.8％ (RSD =1.3％),99.8％ (RSD =0.7％),98.8％ (RSD =1.3％) and 96.8％ (RSD =1.0％),respectively.CONCLUSION This sensitive and accurate method can be used for the quality control of Xiaojie'an Capsules.

Simultaneous determination of six constituents in Jiaotai Pills by HPLC / 中成药

AIM To establish an HPLC method for the simultaneous content determination of six constituents in Jiaotai Pills (Coptidis Rhizoma and Cinnamomi Cortex).METHODS The analysis of 30％ methanol of this drug was performed on a 30 ℃ Agilent ZORBAX SB-C1s column (4.6 mm ×250 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-KH2PO4flowing at 0.8 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 276 nm.RESULTS Epiberberine,jatrorrhizine hydrochloride,coptisine hydrochloride,palmatine chloride,berberine hydrochloride and cinnamaldehyde showed good linear relationships within the ranges of 0.64-41.24 μg/mL (R2 =0.999 9),0.65-43.76 μg/mL (R2 =1.000 0),0.82-52.65 μg/mL (R2 =0.999 9),0.79-50.70 μg/mL (R2 =0.999 9),3.08-197.20 μg/mL (R2=0.999 8) and 0.65-41.65 μg/mL (R2 =0.999 9),whose average recoveries were 98.06％,102.76％,99.27％,99.75％,96.74％ and 101.33％ with the RSDs of 0.56％,0.54％,0.39％,0.55％,0.48％ and 2.14％,respectively.CONCLUSION This accurate,sensitive,stable and reproducible method can be used for the quality control of Jiaotai Pills.

The effects of essential oils of traditional Chinese medicine on the pharmaceutical properties of flexible nano-liposomes loaded with palmatine chloride / 药学学报

Flexible liposomes are an excellent drug delivery nanocarrier, however, the leakage of drugs from liposomes has become common technical obstacle in the industry and also hindered its further application seriously. It is very urgent and necessary to avoid or reduce the leakage of drugs from liposomes. In this work, five kinds of essential oils such as Folium Artemisiae Argyi oil (FA), Folium Eucalypti oil (FE), Arabian Jasmine oil (AJ), Syzygium Aromaticum oil (SA) and Fructus Forsythiae oil (FF) were encapsulated in the lipid bilayer of palmatine chloride (PC) loaded flexible nano-liposomes (PFL), then the optimal essential oil and its dosage level were determined by the external leakage curve of PC. The female Japanese white rabbits were used to evaluate the vaginal irritancy potential of liposomes samples. The pharmaceutical properties such as encapsulation efficiency, particle size, zeta potential, deformability and structure of liposomes samples were evaluated. In order to investigate the permeability of liposomes samples to deliver PC across skin and mucous membrane in vitro, the side-by-side diffusion cells were used. The results showed that the leakage of hydrosoluble PC from PFL was reduced at different degrees by the essential oils in the lipid bilayer of PFL, however, the reduction in leakage degree was obviously higher for FA than thoses of FE, AJ, SA and FF (P < 0.05), and the highest reduction in leakage degree was obtained when the FA and lipid mass ratio was 1:6. The encapsulation efficiency, particle size, zeta potential and deformability of PFL were not significantly changed after FA was encapsulated in the lipid bilayer of the PFL (P > 0.05), so did the lamellar structure of PFL. In addition, the transdermal and transmucosal permeability of PC were also enhanced obviously by encapsulating FA in the lipid bilayer of PFL, and there was no vaginal/vulvar irritation observed in the rabbits. In summary, the drug leakage was reduced by encapsulating suitable essential oil (such as FA) in the lipid bilayer of flexible liposomes, and the vaginal mucosa permeability were improved for the drug. These results provide a novel technique in the improvement of flexible nano-liposomes for drug delivery.