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Heliyon Apr 2023Loquat is a high-value fruit tree with medicine and fruit homology. Loquat flowers with special fragrance, strong cold resistance and rich in various bioactive...
Loquat is a high-value fruit tree with medicine and fruit homology. Loquat flowers with special fragrance, strong cold resistance and rich in various bioactive components, are valuable agricultural auxiliary products and have been widely used for making floral teas and beverages in recent years. In this study, we found the concentration of active components increased from the floral buds to initial flowers along with flower development, the bioactives of initial flowers were the richest in four flowering stages, and loquat flowers contained major volatile components such as alcohols, aldehydes and esters, which are the source of fragrance. When extract with hot water, the most efficient method was 80 °C for 30 min or boiling water within 2 h. For Baijiu (56% Vol), the best solid-to-liquid ratio was 3:100 (Dry flower: Baijiu) in 6-12 h. Baijiu achieved higher bioactive content than water extraction, the amygdalin concentration in Baijiu reached 0.3 mg/mL.
PubMed: 37012910
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14701 -
Foods (Basel, Switzerland) Aug 2019The study describes and compares bio-functional properties and thein vitrodigestibility of protein isolates from apricot oil cakes obtained by supercritical fluid...
The study describes and compares bio-functional properties and thein vitrodigestibility of protein isolates from apricot oil cakes obtained by supercritical fluid extraction and cold pressing, as control. Protein isolates have the potential to be food ingredients with amygdalin contents in an amount considerably lower than regulatory. Isolates showed hypoglycemic activity, studied by the inhibition of -glucosidase, also functional properties were determined.Good digestibility of proteins, which were done using gastrointestinal proteases (pepsin and pancreatin) were proven by Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis SDS-PAGE analysis. Moreover, it was evident that the protein isolates were completely digested. The biologically active potential of the digests was evaluated measuring in vitro antioxidant capacity by three complementary methods and enzyme inhibitory effects towards Angiotensin-I Converting Enzyme (ACE) related with the onset of hypertension. All hydrolysates act as a DPPH and ABTS scavenger, as a reducing agents and an ACE enzyme inhibitor. In conclusion, protein isolates obtained from apricot kernel cake showed to be a promising source of natural products for food applications, with good functional and bioactive properties and easy digestibility.
PubMed: 31390766
DOI: 10.3390/foods8080318 -
Microorganisms Jun 2020Dietary plant glucosides are phytochemicals whose bioactivity and bioavailability can be modified by glucoside hydrolase activity of intestinal microbiota through the...
Dietary plant glucosides are phytochemicals whose bioactivity and bioavailability can be modified by glucoside hydrolase activity of intestinal microbiota through the release of acylglycones. Bifidobacteria are gut commensals whose genomic potential indicates host-adaption as they possess a diverse set of glycosyl hydrolases giving access to a variety of dietary glycans. We hypothesized bifidobacteria with β-glucosidase activity could use plant glucosides as fermentation substrate and tested 115 strains assigned to eight different species and from different hosts for their potential to express β-glucosidases and ability to grow in the presence of esculin, amygdalin, and arbutin. Concurrently, the antibacterial activity of arbutin and its acylglycone hydroquinone was investigated. Beta-glucosidase activity of bifidobacteria was species specific and most prevalent in species occurring in human adults and animal hosts. Utilization and fermentation profiles of plant glucosides differed between strains and might provide a competitive benefit enabling the intestinal use of dietary plant glucosides as energy sources. Bifidobacterial β-glucosidase activity can increase the bioactivity of plant glucosides through the release of acylglycone.
PubMed: 32503148
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms8060839 -
Brazilian Journal of Medical and... 2023Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a major public health issue with limited treatment options. As the active ingredient of the n-butanol extract of Amygdalus mongolica (BUT),...
Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a major public health issue with limited treatment options. As the active ingredient of the n-butanol extract of Amygdalus mongolica (BUT), amygdalin inhibits PF. However, its mechanisms of action are unclear and need further verification. Therefore, the purpose of the present studies was to investigate the anti-fibrotic effects of BUT on PF by serum metabolomics and the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) pathway. Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control, untreated PF, prednisone-treated (5 mg/kg), and BUT-treated (1.75, 1.25, 0.75 g/kg) groups, and the respective drugs were administered intragastrically for 21 days. The serum metabolomics profiles were determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS) and metabolism network analysis. The expression of TGF-β1, Smad-3, Smad-7, and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was measured using a real-time polymerase chain reaction in the lung tissue. BUT significantly alleviated fibrosis by reducing the mRNA expressions of TGF-β1 (from 1.73 to 1.13), Smad-3 (from 2.01 to 1.19), and α-SMA (from 2.14 to 1.19) and increasing that of Smad7 (from 0.17 to 0.62). Twenty-eight potential biomarkers associated with PF were identified. In addition, four key biomarkers were restored to baseline levels following BUT treatment, with the lowest dose showing optimal effect. Furthermore, A. mongolica BUT was found to improve PF by the pentose phosphate pathway and by taurine, hypotaurine, and arachidonic acid metabolism. These findings revealed the mechanism of A. mongolica BUT antifibrotic effects and metabolic activity in PF rats and provided the experimental basis for its clinical application.
Topics: Rats; Male; Animals; Pulmonary Fibrosis; Transforming Growth Factor beta1; Bleomycin; 1-Butanol; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Signal Transduction; Biomarkers
PubMed: 37937603
DOI: 10.1590/1414-431X2023e13045 -
Food Science and Biotechnology Aug 2022Amygdalin content in apricot kernels is an essential factor in the rapid and nondestructive identification of sweet or bitter apricot kernels through spectroscopy. Now,...
UNLABELLED
Amygdalin content in apricot kernels is an essential factor in the rapid and nondestructive identification of sweet or bitter apricot kernels through spectroscopy. Now, amygdalin content has been determined by high-performance liquid chromatography and near-infrared spectral database to construct a model so that the sweet or bitter apricot kernels could be identified and classified. Principal component analysis-K-nearest neighbor classification algorithm combined with multivariate scattering correction pretreatment method could distinguish sweet and bitter apricot kernels in the wavelength range of 1650-1740 nm with 98.3% accuracy and apricot kernel species with 96.3% recognition rate in the full wavelength spectrum. Furthermore, prediction of amygdalin content in bitter and sweet apricot kernels by partial least squares model was superior to that by back-propagation neural network model. This study provides a theoretical basis for quality identification of apricot kernel quality, as well as a method for nondestructive and rapid detection of sweet and bitter apricot kernels.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-022-01095-y.
PubMed: 35919360
DOI: 10.1007/s10068-022-01095-y -
Journal of Ethnopharmacology May 2021Since the occurrence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China in December 2019, COVID-19 has been quickly spreading out to other provinces and countries....
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE
Since the occurrence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China in December 2019, COVID-19 has been quickly spreading out to other provinces and countries. Considering that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) played an important role during outbreak of SARS and H1N1, finding potential alternative approaches for COVID-19 treatment is necessary before vaccines are developed. According to previous studies, Maxing Shigan decoction (MXSGD) present a prominent antivirus effect and is often used to treat pulmonary diseases. Furthermore, we collected 115 open prescriptions for COVID-19 therapy from the National Health Commission, State Administration of TCM and other organizations, MXSGD was identified as the key formula. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of MXSGD against COVID-19 is still unknown.
AIM OF THE STUDY
The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic mechanism of MXSGD against COVID-19 by network pharmacology and in vitro experiment verification, and screen the potential components which could bind to key targets of COVID-19 via molecular docking method.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Multiple open-source databases related to TCM or compounds were employed to screen active ingredients and potential targets of MXSGD. Network pharmacology analysis methods were used to initially predict the antivirus and anti-inflammatory effects of MXSGD against COVID-19. IL-6 induced rat lung epithelial type Ⅱ cells (RLE-6TN) damage was established to explore the anti-inflammatory damage activity of MXSGD. After MXSGD intervention, the expression level of related proteins and their phosphorylation in the IL-6 mediated JAK-STAT signaling pathway were detected by Western blot. Molecular docking technique was used to further identify the potential substances which could bind to three key targets (ACE2, Mpro and RdRp) of COVID-19.
RESULTS
In this study, 105 active ingredients and 1025 candidate targets were selected for MXSGD, 83 overlapping targets related to MXSGD and COVID-19 were identified, and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of MXSGD against COVID-19 was constructed. According to the results of biological enrichment analysis, 63 significant KEGG pathways were enriched, and most of them were related to signal transduction, immune system and virus infection. Furthermore, according the relationship between signal pathways, we confirmed MXSGD could effectively inhibit IL-6 mediated JAK-STAT signal pathway related protein expression level, decreased the protein expression levels of p-JAK2, p-STAT3, Bax and Caspase 3, and increased the protein expression level of Bcl-2, thereby inhibiting RLE-6TN cells damage. In addition, according to the LibDock scores screening results, the components with strong potential affinity (Top 10) with ACE2, Mpro and RdRp are mainly from glycyrrhiza uralensis (Chinese name: Gancao) and semen armeniacae amarum (Chinese name: Kuxingren). Among them, amygdalin was selected as the optimal candidate component bind to all three key targets, and euchrenone, glycyrrhizin, and glycyrol also exhibited superior affinity interactions with ACE2, Mpro and RdRp, respectively.
CONCLUSION
This work explained the positive characteristics of multi-component, multi-target, and multi-approach intervention with MXSGD in combating COVID-19, and preliminary revealed the antiviral and anti-inflammatory pharmacodynamic substances and mechanism of MXSGD, which might provide insights into the vital role of TCM in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Topics: Alveolar Epithelial Cells; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2; Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Antiviral Agents; COVID-19; Cell Line; Computational Biology; Coronavirus 3C Proteases; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Humans; Interleukin-6; Janus Kinases; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Molecular Docking Simulation; Phosphorylation; Protein Interaction Maps; RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase; Rats; SARS-CoV-2; STAT Transcription Factors; Signal Transduction; COVID-19 Drug Treatment
PubMed: 33513419
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.113854 -
Frontiers in Plant Science 2022This study was conducted to develop a protocol for shoot multiplication and callus induction of various mung bean varieties to obtain enhanced phytochemical content...
This study was conducted to develop a protocol for shoot multiplication and callus induction of various mung bean varieties to obtain enhanced phytochemical content with the help of elicitors. For shoot multiplication, two types of explants (shoot tips and nodal tips) of three varieties of mung bean (Mung NCM-13, MgAT-7, and MgAT-4) were used. Both types of explants from and sources were cultured on the MS medium supplemented with different concentrations (0.25-3.0 mg/L, increment of 0.5 mg/L) and combinations of BAP and IBA as independent treatments. For callus induction, leaf explants ( source) were cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D (1-3 mg/L) alone or in combination with BAP or NAA (0.5 and 1.0 mg/L). For the enhanced production of phenolics and glycosides, calli were cultured on MS media supplemented with zinc oxide (0.5 mg/L) and copper oxide nanoparticles (0.5 mg/L) as nano-elicitors. Results showed that explants responded better in terms of shoot length, number of shoots, and number of leaves per explant when compared to explants. Moreover, shoot tips were better than nodal explants to culturing parameters. All three varieties showed the optimized results in the MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L BAP, while roots were produced only in cultures fortified with 1 mg/L IBA. The leaf explants of and soil-grown plantlets showed a maximum callogenic response of 90 and 80%, respectively, on MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D (3 mg/ml). Maximum phenolic content (101.4 μg of gallic acid equivalent/g) and glycoside content (34 mg of amygdalin equivalent/g of plant material) was observed in the calli cultured on MS medium supplemented with 3 mg/L of 2,4-D. Furthermore, the addition of zinc oxide (0.5 mg/L) and copper oxide (0.5 mg/L) nanoparticles to the callus culture medium significantly enhanced the phenolic content of Mung NCM-13 (26%), MgAT-7 (25.6%), and MgAT-4 (22.7%). Glycosidic content was also found to be increased in Mung NCM-13 (50%), MgAT-7 (37.5%), and MgAT-4 (25%) varieties when compared to the control. It is suggested that elicitation of cultures of mung beans with nanoparticles could be an effective strategy for the enhanced production of secondary metabolites.
PubMed: 35958222
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.908532 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2023[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1030516.].
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1030516.].
PubMed: 38029160
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1303273 -
Microbial Genomics Jun 2021The vaginal microbiota, normally characterized by lactobacilli presence, is crucial for vaginal health. Members belonging to and species exert crucial protective...
The vaginal microbiota, normally characterized by lactobacilli presence, is crucial for vaginal health. Members belonging to and species exert crucial protective functions against pathogens, although a total comprehension of factors that influence their dominance in healthy women is still lacking. Here we investigated the complete genome sequence and comprehensive phenotypic profile of strain BC5 and strain BC12, two vaginal strains featured by anti-bacterial and anti-viral activities. Phenotype microarray (PM) results revealed an improved capacity of BC5 to utilize different carbon sources as compared to BC12, although some specific carbon sources that can be associated to the human diet were only metabolized by BC12, i.e. uridine, amygdalin, tagatose. Additionally, the two strains were mostly distinct in the capacity to utilize the nitrogen sources under analysis. On the other hand, BC12 showed tolerance/resistance towards twice the number of stressors (i.e. antibiotics, toxic metals etc.) with respect to BC5. The divergent phenotypes observed in PM were supported by the identification in either BC5 or BC12 of specific genetic determinants that were found to be part of the core genome of each species. The PM results in combination with comparative genome data provide insights into the possible environmental factors and genetic traits supporting the predominance of either BC5 or BC12 in the vaginal niche, giving also indications for metabolic predictions at the species level.
Topics: Diet; Female; Genome, Bacterial; Genomics; Genotype; Humans; Lactobacillus; Lactobacillus crispatus; Lactobacillus gasseri; Microbiota; Phenotype; Stress, Psychological; Vagina
PubMed: 34096840
DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000575 -
Pharmacological Research Jul 2020The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a huge threaten to global health, which raise urgent demand of developing efficient therapeutic strategy. The...
Chemical composition and pharmacological mechanism of Qingfei Paidu Decoction and Ma Xing Shi Gan Decoction against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): In silico and experimental study.
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a huge threaten to global health, which raise urgent demand of developing efficient therapeutic strategy. The aim of the present study is to dissect the chemical composition and the pharmacological mechanism of Qingfei Paidu Decoction (QFPD), a clinically used Chinese medicine for treating COVID-19 patients in China. Through comprehensive analysis by liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (MS), a total of 129 compounds of QFPD were putatively identified. We also constructed molecular networking of mass spectrometry data to classify these compounds into 14 main clusters, in which exhibited specific patterns of flavonoids (45 %), glycosides (15 %), carboxylic acids (10 %), and saponins (5 %). The target network model of QFPD, established by predicting and collecting the targets of identified compounds, indicated a pivotal role of Ma Xing Shi Gan Decoction (MXSG) in the therapeutic efficacy of QFPD. Supportively, through transcriptomic analysis of gene expression after MXSG administration in rat model of LPS-induced pneumonia, the thrombin and Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathway were suggested to be essential pathways for MXSG mediated anti-inflammatory effects. Besides, changes in content of major compounds in MXSG during decoction were found by the chemical analysis. We also validate that one major compound in MXSG, i.e. glycyrrhizic acid, inhibited TLR agonists induced IL-6 production in macrophage. In conclusion, the integration of in silico and experimental results indicated that the therapeutic effects of QFPD against COVID-19 may be attributed to the anti-inflammatory effects of MXSG, which supports the rationality of the compatibility of TCM.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Betacoronavirus; COVID-19; Cells, Cultured; Computer Simulation; Coronavirus Infections; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Gene Expression; Glycyrrhizic Acid; Humans; Interleukin-6; Lipopeptides; Lipopolysaccharides; Male; Pandemics; Pneumonia; Pneumonia, Viral; Rats; SARS-CoV-2; Signal Transduction; Thrombin; Toll-Like Receptors
PubMed: 32360484
DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104820