Analysis of Sarcandra glabra and its medicinal preparations by capillary electrophoresis

A simple, rapid, selective and reproducible capillary electrophoresis (CE) method was firstly developed for the identification and determination of isofraxidin and fumaric acid in a traditional Chinese herb Sarcandra glabra and its medicinal preparations. The buffer solution used in this method was 7.5 mM NaH₂PO₄ and 7.5 mM borax solution adjusted to pH 8.60. The linear calibration range was 1.25-800 μg ml⁻¹ (r=0.9997) for isofraxidin and 10-800 μg ml⁻¹ (r=0.9992) for fumaric acid, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) values of the migration time and the peak area were 0.47, 3.45% for isofraxidin and 0.83, 3.24% for fumaric acid, respectively. The recoveries ranged between 95.4-103.8% for isofraxidin and 97.1-104.7% for fumaric acid, respectively. The contents of isofraxidin and fumaric acid in Sarcandra glabra and two kinds of Sarcandra glabra-containing Chinese medicinal preparations were successfully determined within 8 min.     

Bioguided Isolation and Antiproliferative Activity of Constituents from Smilax korthalsii A.D.C. Leaves

Ethyl acetate extract of Smilax korthalsii A.D.C. leaves exhibited antiproliferative activity on leukaemia carcinoma K562, hepatic liver cancer cells WRL and colorectal carcinoma with IC₅₀ of 125.20, 46.10 and 160.00 μM respectively. Isolation of the bioactive ethyl acetate extract of Smilax korthalsii A.D.C. leaves gave eight compounds; 3β‐hydroxyspirost‐5‐ene (diosgenin), 1 , β‐sitosterol, 2 , lup‐5,11,20‐trien‐23‐ol, 3 , uneicos‐9‐enoic acid, 4 , ethylheptadecan‐17‐oic‐9‐enoate, 5 , cis‐octadec‐9‐enoic acid, 6 , hexadec9‐enoic acid, 7 and 11‐methyltridec‐12‐en‐1‐ol, 8 . The isolated compounds were tested against four human cancer cell lines: leukaemia carcinoma, K‐562; hepatic liver cancer cells, WRL; colorectal carcinoma, COLO; and breast carcinoma, MCF‐7 using the MTT assay. Diosgenin 1 exhibited significant antiproliferative activity against all four cell lines (IC₅₀; K562=6.25, WRL=14.34, COLO=38.00, MCF‐7=12.40 μM), while compounds 3, 6 and 7 inhibited the growth of K‐562 at 20, 50 and 100 μM concentrations with IC₅₀ of 90.20, 75.92 and 50.72 μM respectively. Other isolated compounds also showed cytotoxic properties against K‐562, WRL and COLO, but showed low inhibition of MCF‐7.     

Anti-inflammatory flavanol glycosides from Saraca asoca bark

Saraca asoca (Roxb.) de Wilde, a common tree of India, is popularly used in the Ayurvedic and modern herbal systems of medicine for genito-urinary problems of women. Considering the reported antimicrobial or anti-inflammatory effect of S. asoca bark against such infections, we studied the anti-inflammatory activity-guided isolation of active compounds from methanol extract. The methanol extract of bark has yielded 10 compounds out of which 3′-deoxyepicatechin-3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (6) and 3′-deoxycatechin-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranoside (8) have been found to be in vitro and in vivo active. 3′,5-Dimethoxy epicatechin (3), 3′-deoxyepicatechin-3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (6), 3′-deoxycatechin-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranoside (8) and epigallocatechin (9) are being reported for the first time from S. asoca.     

Two new flavans from the trunk and leaves of Horsfieldia glabra

Two new flavans, (2R, 4R)-4′-hydroxy-3′,5′-methyl-6,7-methylenedioxy-4-O-2′-cycloflavan (1), and (2R, 4R)-4′-hydroxy-3′-methyl-6,7-methylenedioxy-4-O-2′-cycloflavan (2), along with six known compounds were isolated from the trunk and leaves of Horsfieldia glabra. Their structures were elucidated by means of extensive spectroscopic analysis. Compounds 1 and 2, together with 4–7 were assessed for their cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7 and SW-480), and the result showed that they had no activity.     

Identification of Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 and α-Amylase Inhibitors from Melicope glabra (Blume) T. G. Hartley (Rutaceae) Using Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry,In Vitro and In Silico Methods

The present study investigated the antidiabetic properties of the extracts and fractions from leaves and stem bark of M. glabra based on dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) and α-Amylase inhibitory activity assays. The chloroform extract of the leaves was found to be most active towards inhibition of DPP-4 and α-Amylase with IC₅₀ of 169.40 μg/mL and 303.64 μg/mL, respectively. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the leaves’ chloroform extract revealed fraction 4 (CF4) as the most active fraction (DPP-4 IC₅₀: 128.35 μg/mL; α-Amylase IC₅₀: 170.19 μg/mL). LC-MS/MS investigation of CF4 led to the identification of trans-decursidinol (1), swermirin (2), methyl 3,4,5-trimethoxycinnamate (3), renifolin (4), 4′,5,6,7-tetramethoxy-flavone (5), isorhamnetin (6), quercetagetin-3,4′-dimethyl ether (7), 5,3′,4′-trihydroxy-6,7-dimethoxy-flavone (8), and 2-methoxy-5-acetoxy-fruranogermacr-1(10)-en-6-one (9) as the major components. The computational study suggested that (8) and (7) were the most potent DPP-4 and α-Amylase inhibitors based on their lower binding affinities and extensive interactions with critical amino acid residues of the respective enzymes. The binding affinity of (8) with DPP-4 (−8.1 kcal/mol) was comparable to that of sitagliptin (−8.6 kcal/mol) while the binding affinity of (7) with α-Amylase (−8.6 kcal/mol) was better than acarbose (−6.9 kcal/mol). These findings highlight the phytochemical profile and potential antidiabetic compounds from M. glabra that may work as an alternative treatment for diabetes.     

Three new sesquiterpenes from Ainsliaea glabra

Three new sesquiterpenes: 4-acrylic-6-methyl-α-tetralone (1), ainsliaea acid A (2) and ainsliaea acid B (3), together with 8 known compounds (4-11) were isolated from the whole herb of Ainsliaea glabra and their structures were established by means of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and HR-ESIMS. Compounds 1–6 were tested for the inhibition of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in the 293-NF-κB-luciferase reporter cell line induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and compound 2 was further tested for the production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6 and IL-10 in RAW264.7 macrophages induced by LPS. The isolated compound 2 exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity.     

铀污染下的商陆叶片反射光谱特征与铀含量关系研究

通过室内盆栽试验,利用微分技术处理叶片反射光谱数据,研究铀污染下商陆叶片中的铀含量在不同光谱波段与原始光谱反射率、一阶导数光谱的相关关系,找到商陆铀污染诊断的敏感波段范围和最优光谱特征参数,并以相关性较好的敏感波段及光谱特征参数为自变量,与商陆叶片铀含量建立对应的估测拟合模型。如果以该模型为基础创建铀含量的冠层光谱模型,则有可能实现通过遥感影像监测叶片中的铀含量。实验结果表明：当商陆叶片中的铀含量为5.94～71.74 mg·kg-1时,叶片中铀含量与一阶导数光谱数据的相关性较原始光谱数据好,在749～766 nm区间内存在较好的相关性和光谱响应;根据上述相关性分析,选择14个光谱特征参数,计算他们与商陆叶片铀含量的相关系数,其中蓝边面积、红边位置、红边面积与蓝边面积的比值及红边面积与蓝边面积的归一化值与叶片铀含量的相关系数达到了0.05显著检验水平;选取一阶导数光谱中相关系数最高的波段757,758,760和761 nm处的值和上述相关性最高的4个光谱特征参数,与叶片铀含量建立多种形式的估测拟合模型,通过对拟合模型的精度检验,发现以红边面积与蓝边面积的比值、757和760 nm处反射率的一阶导数为自变量的拟合模型的预测效果较好,其中拟合效果最优的模型是以757 nm波段处反射率的一阶导数为自变量的三次函数模型,模型预测精度达到了89.8%。     

2D NMR Spectroscopic Studies of the Toxic Alkaloid from Oxytropis Glabra D C.

The Oxytropis, legume genus, is native in the northwest of China, and some of its members have been reported to be toxic to grazing livestock. In the course of studying toxic reason of this legume, a toxic alkaloid was isolated from Oxytropis glabra D C. grown in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. The LD+(50) of (—)-thermopsine(Ⅰ) was shown to be 89.98 mg/kg(in mice). This paper reports an approach to the structure elucidation of(-)-thermopsine by combining 2D NMR[~1H-~1H and ~1H-~(13)C (one-bond and long-range) COSY] and other physicochemical methods. The stereochemistry of compound Ⅰ is also discussed.     

防己叶菝葜中的一个新甾体皂甙

防己叶菝葜为百合科菝葜属植物(SmilaxmenispermoidesD.C.),分布在我国西北,西南地区,民间用于祛风除湿代替中药土伏苓(S.ChinaRaxb)^[1,2]。迄今未见其化学成分的报道,本文报道防己叶菝葜中一个新的甾体皂甙1的结构鉴定。     

Steroidal saponins and pregnane glycosides from Smilax microphylla

Six steroidal saponins and two pregnane glycosides were isolated from the BuOH subfraction of 70% EtOH extract of Smilax microphylla C.H.Wright, among them two were new compounds (1 and 7). Pregnane glycosides were firstly isolated from the genus Smilax (Smilacaceae). Structures of the new compounds were determined on the basis of HR‐ESI‐MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analysis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.