Adsorption kinetics, isotherm, and thermodynamics studies of acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acids (AKBA) from Boswellia serrata extract using macroporous resin

Recovery and separation of glycyrrhizic acid from Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent (NADES) extract by macroporous resin: adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies

Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADESs) have emerged as a green and sustainable alternative to conventional organic solvents to extract bioactive compounds. However, the recovery of bioactive compounds from the NADES extracts is challenging, restricting their large-scale applications. The present work investigated the recovery of glycyrrhizic acid (GA) from choline-chloride/lactic acid NADES extract using macroporous resins. GA possesses a wide spectrum of biological activities, and it is extracted from the well-known herb Glycyrrhiza glabra. During resin screening, DIAIONTM SP700 showed high adsorption and desorption capacities. The adsorption kinetics study demonstrated that the adsorption of GA on SP700 followed Pseudo First-order kinetic model. Moreover, the adsorption behaviors were elucidated by the Freundlich isotherm using a correlation coefficient based on a static adsorption study at different temperatures and pH. Furthermore, the thermodynamic parameters, for instance, the change of Gibbs free energy (ΔG*), entropy (ΔS*), and enthalpy (ΔH*), showed that the adsorption process was spontaneous, favorable and exothermic. In addition, the sample after macroporous resin treatment, which is enriched with GA exhibited good anticancer potential analyzed by SRB assay. The regenerated NADES solvent was recycled twice, keeping more than 90% extraction efficiency, indicating good reusability of NADES in the GA extraction process by using macroporous resin.

The Biological Activity of 3-O-Acetyl-11-keto-β-Boswellic Acid in Nervous System Diseases

Frankincense is a hard gelatinous resin exuded by Boswellia serrata. It contains a complex array of components, of which acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid (AKBA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid of the resin class, is the main active component. AKBA has a variety of physiological actions, including anti-infection, anti-tumor, and antioxidant effects. The use of AKBA for the treatment of mental diseases has been documented as early as ancient Greece. Recent studies have found that AKBA has anti-aging and other neurological effects, suggesting its potential for the treatment of neurological diseases. This review focuses on nervous system-related diseases, summarizes the functions and mechanisms of AKBA in promoting nerve repair and regeneration after injury, protecting against ischemic brain injury and aging, inhibiting neuroinflammation, ameliorating memory deficits, and alleviating neurotoxicity, as well as having anti-glioma effects and relieving brain edema. The mechanisms by which AKBA functions in different diseases and the relationships between dosage and biological effects are discussed in depth with the aim of increasing understanding of AKBA and guiding its use for the treatment of nervous system diseases.

Novel application of isolated Micrococcus luteus and Bacillus pumilus for Li+ ion biosorption: a comparative study

In this study, Li⁺ biosorption profiles of Micrococcus luteus and Bacillus pumilus bacterial strains were investigated. Comparative surface characterization of the biomasses revealed that B. pumilus had a significantly greater surface negativity than the other, which had a direct positive effect on the ability to attract the Li⁺ ions. Biosorption experiments showed that B. pumilus cell had more efficient performance at all pH and initial Li⁺ concentration values in the ranges of 3.0-10.0 and 2.5-20.0 mg/L, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacities obtained at initial Li⁺ concentration of 20.0 mg/L and pH 9.0 were 1.160 mg Li⁺/g (167.1 µmol/g) and 2.280 mg Li⁺/g (328.5 µmol/g) for M. luteus and B. pumilus, respectively. For all the cases studied, the biosorption equilibrium was reached very quickly, suggesting that physical interaction dominated this process. Experimental data were found to be compatible with both Langmuir and Freundlich models under the studied experimental conditions. This study highlights the idea that B. pumilus bacterial strain will be a new and preferred biosorbent for Li⁺ ions by providing a low cost, rapid and quite efficient process.

Supramolecular structure, in vivo biological activities and molecular-docking-based potential cardiotoxic exploration of aconine hydrochloride monohydrate as a novel salt form

Despite the high profile of aconine in WuTou injection, there has been no preparative technology or structural studies of its salt as the pharmaceutical product. The lack of any halide salt forms is surprising as aconine contains a tertiary nitrogen atom. In this work, aconine was prepared from the degradation of aconitine in Aconiti kusnezoffii radix (CaoWu). A green chemistry technique was applied to enrich the lipophilic-poor aconine. Reaction of aconine with hydrochloride acid resulted in protonation of the nitrogen atom and gave a novel salt form (C₂₅H₄₂NO₉⁺·Cl^-·H₂O; aconine hydrochloride monohydrate, AHM), whose cation in the crystal structure was elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analyses. The AHM crystal had a Z' = 3 structure with three independent cation-anion pairs, with profound conformational differences among the aconine cations. The central framework of each aconine cation was compared with that of previously reported aconitine, proving that protonation of the nitrogen atom induced the structure rearrangement. In the crystal of AHM, aconine cations, chloride anions and water molecules interacted through inter-species O-H...Cl and O-H...O hydrogen bonds; this complex hydrogen-bonding network stabilizes the supramolecular structure. The seriously disordered solvent molecules were treated using the PLATON SQUEEZE procedure [Spek (2015). Acta Cryst. C71, 9-18] and their atoms were therefore omitted from the refinement. Bioactivity studies indicated that AHM promoted in vitro proliferative activities of RAW264.7 cells. Molecular docking suggested AHM could target cardiotoxic protein through the hydrogen-bonding interactions. The structural confirmation of AHM offers a rational approach for improving the pharmaceutical technology of WuTou injection.

Purification of spinosin from Ziziphi Spinosae Semen using macroporous resins followed by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography

As a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, Ziziphi Spinosae Semen has been used for treating anxiety and insomnia for a long time. Spinosin, the main active C-glycoside flavonoid in Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, has attracted much attention because of its many pharmacological activities including strong hypnotic effects, anxiolytic-like effects, and so on. In the present work, high-purity spinosin was separated from Ziziphi Spinosae Semen using the HPD-300 resin followed by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography. The adsorption kinetics curve of spinosin on the HPD-300 resin was studied and fitted well by the pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption isotherms were also constructed and low temperature favored the adsorption reaction. The separation parameters were optimized using dynamic adsorption and desorption tests. After a one-run treatment with HPD-300 resin, the concentration of spinosin increased 11.8-fold from 0.99 to 11.7% with a recovery yield of 80.4%. Furthermore, the purity of spinosin could surpass above 98% after separation by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography and recrystallization with a recovery yield of 72.6%. The developed method was effective and suitable for the large-scale preparation of spinosin. Moreover, it was confirmed that HPD-300 resin could enable good selection for the enrichment of flavonoids from different plants.