In Vitro Anticancer Activity of Methanolic Extract of Justicia adhatoda Leaves with Special Emphasis on Human Breast Cancer Cell Line

Natural products are being targeted as alternative anticancer agents due to their non-toxic and safe nature. The present study was conducted to explore the in vitro anticancer potential of Justicia adhatoda (J. adhatoda) leaf extract. The methanolic leaf extract was prepared, and the phytochemicals and antioxidant potential were determined by LCMS analysis and DPPH radical scavenging assay, respectively. A docking study performed with five major alkaloidal phytoconstituents showed that they had a good binding affinity towards the active site of NF-κB. Cell viability assay was carried out in five different cell lines, and the extract exhibited the highest cytotoxicity in MCF-7, a breast cancer cell line. Extract-treated cells showed a significant increase in nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species production. Cell cycle analysis showed an arrest in cell growth at the Sub-G0 phase. The extract successfully inhibited cell migration and colony formation and altered mitochondrial membrane potential. The activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione were also found to decrease in a dose-dependent manner. The percentage of apoptotic cells was found to increase in a dose-dependent manner in MCF-7 cells. The expressions of caspase-3, Bax, and cleaved-PARP were increased in extract-treated cells. An increase in the expression of NF-κB was found in the cytoplasm in extract-treated cells. J. adhatoda leaf extract showed a potential anticancer effect in MCF-7 cells.     

Flavonoids from Lycium barbarum Leaves Exhibit Anti-Aging Effects through the Redox-Modulation

Lycium barbarum leaves are a kind of vegetable, and modern nutrition studies have found that they have an anti-aging function. Our study aims to investigate the anti-aging effects of Lycium barbarum leaf flavonoid (LBLF) extracts and its underlying molecular mechanism. LBLFs were purified using D101 and polyamide resin, characterized by ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and administered to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-treated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and Caenorhabditis elegans. Appropriate enrichment conditions were optimized through dynamic adsorption and desorption experiments, the content of flavonoids reached 909.84 mg/g, rutin and kaempferol being the main ones. LBLFs attenuated H₂O₂-induced HUVEC apoptosis, decreased reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde production levels, increased superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities. Furthermore, pre-treatment with LBLF increased mRNA expression of erythropoietin (EPO) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) via the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in HUVECs. Compared with 100 µM rutin monomer, LBLF prolonged the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans, enhanced their mobility in middle life stages and upregulated expression of sod-2, gcs-1 and skn-1 genes, which indicated that the anti-aging effects of LBLF were due to its redox-modulation.     

Impact of Tea Processing on Tryptophan,Melatonin, Phenolic and Flavonoid Contents in Mulberry (Morus alba L.) Leaves: Quantitative Analysis by LC-MS/MS

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaves from two cultivars, Yai-Burirum (YB) and Khunphai (KP), were prepared into green tea (GT) and black tea (BT). Compared to fresh leaf (FL) extract, GT and BT extracts were evaluated for their total phenolic and total flavonoid contents. Total phenolic content (TPCs) in all samples ranged between 129.93 and 390.89 mg GAE/g extract. The processing of tea decreased the levels of TPC when compared to FL extracts in both cultivars. The total flavonoid content (TFCs) in all samples was found in the range of 10.15–39.09 mg QE/g extract and TFCs in GT and BT extracts were higher than FL extracts. The change in tryptophan, melatonin, phenolic and flavonoid contents was investigated by liquid chromatography–mass spectroscopy (LC-MS). The results exhibited that tryptophan contents in all samples were detected in the range 29.54–673.72 µg/g extract. Both GT and BT extracts increased tryptophan content compared to FL extracts. BT extracts presented the highest amounts of tryptophan among others in both cultivars. Phenolic compounds were found in mulberry leaf extracts, including gallic acid, caffeic acid, gentisic acid, protocatechuic acid and chlorogenic acid. Chlorogenic acid presented the highest amount in all samples. Almost all phenolic acids were increased in the processed tea extracts except chlorogenic acid. Rutin was the only flavonoid that was detected in all extracts in the range 109.48–1009.75 mg/g extract. The change in phenolic and flavonoid compounds during tea processing resulted in the change in antioxidant capacities of the GT and BT extracts. All extracts presented acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ in the range 146.53–165.24 µg/mL. The processing of tea slightly increased the AChE inhibitory effect of GT and BT extracts. In conclusion, processed tea from mulberry leaves could serve as a new alternative functional food for health-concerned consumers because it could be a promising source of tryptophan, phenolics and flavonoids. Moreover, the tea extracts also had antioxidative and anti-AChE activities.     

Effect of the structure of mesophyll in a leaf on the form of the spectral curve for the first derivatives of the reflection coefficients of leaves over the range 0.68–0.75 μm

It is shown that replacement of the investigated surface of a leaf by the opposite one, as well as nonuniform content of chlorophyll over a pile of leaves, may lead to a change in the form of spectra for the first derivatives of reflection coefficients of leaves. A simplified model of the reflection of a leaf is used to explain the experimental results obtained. B. I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 68, F. Skorina Ave., Minsk, 220072, Belarus. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 921–925, November–December, 1998.     

种植青海大黄叶中矿物质元素研究

青海地道中药材“西宁大黄”，野生资源濒临枯竭，人工种植规模不断扩大。定期采集了青海西宁及邻近地区两年生种植大黄叶，分析测试了其矿物质元素，为西宁大黄资源的可持续开发和利用提供科学依据。研究表明，种植大黄叶中矿物质营养元素的协同性以及有效蓄积对大黄的生长具有重要意义。钠元素在大黄叶中的有效蓄积以及环境中水分的及时补给对种植大黄的生长具有重要作用。     

用微柱高效液相色谱法测定烟草样品中的植物色素的研究

植物色素是烟草中的重要成分,烟叶调制过程中色素降解完全和得当,会使烟叶香气增加,色泽上等,因此研究烟草调制过程中的色素变化具有重要意义。烟草色素的测定常用分光光度法和液相色谱法,光度法准确性较差,传统的液相色谱法样品前处理较麻烦且分离时间长。和常规高效液相色谱相比,由于微柱高效液相色谱具有流动相消耗小,分析时间短,可不分流直接和质谱连用等特点,近几年来得到了迅速发展。我们研究了用WatersXterraTMRP18微柱为固定相液相色谱法测定烟草中的植物色素,烟草中的主要色素在4.0min内可达到基分离,和常规液相色谱相比大大节约了分析时间,本方法标准回收率为94％～106％,RSD为1.6％～2.8％。将其用于烟草样品中植物色素的分析,取得满意结果。     

Green synthesis of Pd truncated octahedrons using of firmiana simplex leaf extract and their catalytic study for electro‐oxidation of methanol and reduction of p‐nitrophenol

A facile and eco‐friendly biosynthetic route for preparing Pd truncated octahedrons (PdTOs) using firmiana simplex leaf extract was reported without any chemical reducing agents. The information of reducing components, reduction process and time were obtained by ATR‐FTIR imaging, FTIR and UV–Vis spectroscopy, respectively. TEM image revealed that more than 75% of PdNPs were composed of PdTOs with an average diameter of 9.2 nm. HR‐TEM analysis demonstrated that a single PdTO consisted of the mix of {100} and {111} crystal planes. SAED and XRD pattern confirmed the well crystalline nature of fcc structured PdTOs. The model reactions of electro‐oxidation of methanol and reduction of p‐nitrophenol (p‐NP) were adopted to explore the effects of structure and size of PdNPs on the catalytic properties. In the electro‐oxidation of methanol, the forward‐scan peak current density (If) of PdTOs was 10.05 mA cm‐2, 6.3 times and 1.9 times of PdNPs‐0 and PdNPs‐4:1, illustrating its superior electro‐catalytic property to that of spherical PdNPs. In the p‐NP reduction reaction, the apparent rate constant (Ka) over PdTOs was 0.358 min‐1, higher than spherical PdNPs‐0 (0.08 min‐1) with the similar particle size and lower than the same spherical PdNPs‐4:1 (0.562 min‐1) and commercial Pd/C (0.415 min‐1), which all about half the size of PdTOs. It has been demonstrated that electro‐chemical oxidation of methanol was a structure‐sensitive reaction, while the reduction of p‐NP was mainly dependent on the particle size of PdNPs.