Natural drug sources for respiratory diseases from Fritillaria: chemical and biological analyses

Effects of long-term continuous cultivation on the structure and function of soil bacterial and fungal communities of Fritillaria Cirrhosa on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Fritillaria cirrhosa, an endangered medicinal plant in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is facing resource scarcity. Artificial cultivation has been employed to address this issue, but problems related to continuous cultivation hinder successful transplantation. Imbalanced microbial communities are considered a potential cause, yet the overall changes in the microbial community under continuous cropping systems remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effects of varying durations of continuous cropping on the bacterial and fungal communities, as well as enzymatic activities, in the rhizospheric soil of F. cirrhosa. Our findings revealed that continuous cropping of F. cirrhosa resulted in soil acidification, nutrient imbalances, and increased enzyme activity. Specifically, after 10 years of continuous cropping, there was a notable shift in the abundance and diversity (e.g., Chao1 index) of soil bacteria and fungi. Moreover, microbial composition analyses revealed a significant accumulation of harmful microorganisms associated with soil-borne diseases (e.g., Luteimonas, Parastagonospora, Pseudogymnoascus) in successively cropped soils, in contrast to the significant reduction of beneficial microorganisms (e.g., Sphingomonas, Lysobacter, Cladosporium) that promote plant growth and development and protect against diseases such as Fusarium sp.These changes led to decreased connectivity and stability within the soil microbial community. Structural equation modeling and redundancy analysis revealed that alkaline hydrolytic nitrogen and available phosphorus directly influenced soil pH, which was identified as the primary driver of soil microbial community changes and subsequently contributed to soil health deterioration. Overall, our results highlight that soil acidification and imbalanced rhizosphere microbial communities are the primary challenges associated with continuous cropping of F. cirrhosa. These findings establish a theoretical foundation for standardized cultivation practices of F. cirrhosa and the bioremediation of continuously cultivated soils.

Physiological, cytological and multi-omics analysis revealed the molecular response of Fritillaria cirrhosa to Cd toxicity in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Fritillaria cirrhosa, an endangered plant endemic to plateau regions, faces escalating cadmium (Cd) stress due to pollution in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This study employed physiological, cytological, and multi-omics techniques to investigate the toxic effects of Cd stress and detoxification mechanisms of F. cirrhosa. The results demonstrated that Cd caused severe damage to cell membranes and organelles, leading to significant oxidative damage and reducing photosynthesis, alkaloid and nucleoside contents, and biomass. Cd application increased cell wall thickness by 167.89% in leaves and 445.78% in bulbs, leading to weight percentage of Cd increases of 76.00% and 257.14%, respectively. PER, CESA, PME, and SUS, genes responsible for cell wall thickening, were significantly upregulated. Additionally, the levels of metabolites participating in the scavenging of reactive oxygen species, including oxidized glutathione, D-proline, L-citrulline, and putrescine, were significantly increased under Cd stress. Combined multi-omics analyses revealed that glutathione metabolism and cell wall biosynthesis pathways jointly constituted the detoxification mechanism of F. cirrhosa in response to Cd stress. This study provides a theoretical basis for further screening of new cultivars for Cd tolerance and developing appropriate cultivation strategies to alleviate Cd toxicity.

Discovery of potential quality markers of Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus in pneumonia by combining UPLC-QTOF-MS, network pharmacology, and molecular docking

Fritillariae thunbergii bulbus (FTB) is a popular Chinese herbal medicine with various applications in respiratory diseases. The quality evaluation of FTB has been insufficient to date, as the active ingredients and mechanisms of action of FTB remain unclear. This study proposes a novel strategy for exploring the quality markers (Q-markers) of FTB based on UPLC-QTOF-MS analysis, network pharmacology, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. A total of 26 compounds in FTB were identified by UPLC-QTOF-MS. Ten of these compounds were screened as Q-markers based on network pharmacology for their anti-pneumonia effects, including imperialine, peimisine, peiminine, ebeiedinone, zhebeirine, puqiedine, 9-hydroxy-10,12-octadecadienoic acid, (9Z,12Z,15Z)-13-hydroxy-9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid, 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid, and (2E,4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z,19Z)-2,4,7,10,13,16,19-docosaheptaenoic acid methyl ester (DAME). These Q-markers were predicted to act on multiple targets and pathways associated with pneumonia. Molecular docking results revealed that most of the Q-markers showed high affinity with at least one of the main targets of pneumonia, and the top ten complexes were confirmed with MD simulation. Network pharmacology indicated that FTB may act on the TNF signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, etc. The results demonstrated that imperialine (P8), peimisine (P9), peiminine (P11), ebeiedine (P15), zhebeirine (P16), and puqiedine (P18) may be potential Q-markers of FTB, and AKT1, IL-6, VEGFA, TP53, EGFR, STAT3, PPARG, MMP9, and CASP3 may be promising therapeutic targets for pneumonia treatment that are worthy of further research.

Determination of ITS1 haplotypes of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus by amplicon sequencing

BACKGROUND

Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus is an antitussive and expectorant Chinese medicinal material derived from the dried bulbs of six Fritillaria species. In the 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) is the officially listed method for their authenfication. Specifically, the ~ 300-bp ITS1 amplicon of only Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus but not other Fritillaria species can be cleaved into two smaller fragments with restriction enzyme SmaI. Considering repeated reported cases of incomplete digestion of ITS1 amplicon, this study aims to investigate the possibility of heterogeneous ITS1 sequences contained in the Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus.

METHODS

In this study, ITS1 amplicons of Fritillaria Cirrhosae Bulbus and four other Fritillaria species were sequenced on Illumina platform. We utilised high-throughout amplicon sequencing to determine ITS1 haplotypes and their frequencies in Fritillaria genomes.

RESULTS

Our results showed that all six botanical sources of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus indeed possess ITS1 haplotypes with no SmaI restriction site, and the average percentages of ITS1 reads containing SmaI restriction site ranged from 63.60% to 91.81%.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that the incomplete digestion in PCR-RFLP analysis of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus is caused by the presence of ITS1 haplotypes without SmaI restriction site due to intragenomic heterogeneity.

Isolation and identification of two pathogens causing leaf spot of Fritillaria taipaiensis P. Y. Li. in China

Fritillaria taipaiensis P. Y. Li is one of the biological sources for Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus. Its bulbs are widely used for treating respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza. Cultivated F. taipaiensis suffers from many diseases during its growing season. Leaf spot is a destructive disease that is increasingly affecting F. taipaiensis and can cause an incidence of up to 30% in severe cases. Leaf spot inhibits the growth of F. taipaiensis by causing disease spots on the surface of leaves. In severe cases, these spots can result in leaf desiccation and blackspot formation at the lesion site, leading to a decrease in photosynthesis. Leaf spot has shown little benefit, and it can even result in a reduced yield of bulbs and the death of plants. According to previous studies, Alternaria alternata has been identified as the pathogen of leaf spot in many medicinal plants, but the main pathogens of the leaf spot of F. taipeiensis remains uncertain. In this paper, five isolates from diseased leaves of F. taipaiensis were isolated and purified and the pathogenicity test showed that isolates B-5 and B-7 induced leaf spot symptoms on healthy F. taipaiensis leaves. Integrating multiple phylogenetic analyses of rDNA using Internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), Beta-tubulin (TUB2), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2) and Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1-a) primers, strain B-5 and strain B-7 were eventually identified as Didymella segeticola and A. alternata. This is also the first report on the pathogens that cause leaf spot in F. taipaiensis in China.

The Identification of Fritillaria Species Using Hyperspectral Imaging with Enhanced One-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks via Attention Mechanism

Combining deep learning and hyperspectral imaging (HSI) has proven to be an effective approach in the quality control of medicinal and edible plants. Nonetheless, hyperspectral data contains redundant information and highly correlated characteristic bands, which can adversely impact sample identification. To address this issue, we proposed an enhanced one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1DCNN) with an attention mechanism. Given an intermediate feature map, two attention modules are constructed along two separate dimensions, channel and spectral, and then combined to enhance relevant features and to suppress irrelevant ones. Validated by Fritillaria datasets, the results demonstrate that an attention-enhanced 1DCNN model outperforms several machine learning algorithms and shows consistent improvements over a vanilla 1DCNN. Notably under VNIR and SWIR lenses, the model obtained 98.97% and 99.35% for binary classification between Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus (FCB) and other non-FCB species, respectively. Additionally, it still achieved an extraordinary accuracy of 97.64% and 98.39% for eight-category classification among Fritillaria species. This study demonstrated the application of HSI with artificial intelligence can serve as a reliable, efficient, and non-destructive quality control method for authenticating Fritillaria species. Moreover, our findings also illustrated the great potential of the attention mechanism in enhancing the performance of the vanilla 1DCNN method, providing reference for other HSI-related quality controls of plants with medicinal and edible uses.

Metabolite profiling and transcriptomic analyses demonstrate the effects of biocontrol agents on alkaloid accumulation in Fritillaria thunbergii

BACKGROUND

During Fritillaria thunbergii planting, pests and diseases usually invade the plant, resulting in reduced yield and quality. Previous studies have demonstrated that using biocontrol agents can effectively control grubs and affect the steroid alkaloids content in F. thunbergii. However, the molecular regulatory mechanisms underlying the differences in the accumulation of steroid alkaloids in response to biocontrol agents remain unclear.

RESULTS

Combined transcriptomic and metabolic analyses were performed by treating the bulbs of F. thunbergii treated with biocontrol agents during planting. Otherwise, 48 alkaloids including 32 steroid alkaloids, 6 indole alkaloids, 2 scopolamine-type alkaloids, 1 isoquinoline alkaloid, 1 furoquinoline alkaloid, and 6 other alkaloids were identified. The content of steroidal alkaloids particularly peimine, peiminine, and veratramine, increased significantly in the group treated with the biocontrol agents. Transcriptome sequencing identified 929 differential genes using biocontrol agents, including 589 upregulated and 340 downregulated genes. Putative biosynthesis networks of steroid alkaloids have been established and combined with differentially expressed structural unigenes, such as acetyl-CoA C-acetyl-transferase, acelyl-CoAC-acetyltransferase3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductor-isomerase, 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate cytidylyltransferase and 4-hydroxy-3-methylbut-2-enyl diphosphate reductase. In addition, biological processes such as amino acid accumulation and oxidative phosphorylation were predicted to be related to the synthesis of steroid alkaloids. Cytochrome P450 enzymes also play crucial roles in the steroid alkaloid synthesis. The transcription factor families MYB and bHLH were significantly upregulated after using biocontrol agents.

CONCLUSIONS

Biocontrol agents increased the steroid alkaloids accumulation of steroid alkaloids by affecting key enzymes in the steroid alkaloid synthesis pathway, biological processes of oxidative phosphorylation and amino acid synthesis, cytochrome P450 enzymes, and transcription factors. This study revealed the mechanism underlying the difference in steroidal alkaloids in F. thunbergii after using biocontrol agents, laying the groundwork for future industrial production of steroid alkaloids and ecological planting of medicinal materials in the future.

Fascinating Furanosteroids and Their Pharmacological Profile

This review article delves into the realm of furanosteroids and related isoprenoid lipids derived from diverse terrestrial and marine sources, exploring their wide array of biological activities and potential pharmacological applications. Fungi, fungal endophytes, plants, and various marine organisms, including sponges, corals, molluscs, and other invertebrates, have proven to be abundant reservoirs of these compounds. The biological activities exhibited by furanosteroids and related lipids encompass anticancer, cytotoxic effects against various cancer cell lines, antiviral, and antifungal effects. Notably, the discovery of exceptional compounds such as nakiterpiosin, malabaricol, dysideasterols, and cortistatins has revealed their potent anti-tuberculosis, antibacterial, and anti-hepatitis C attributes. These compounds also exhibit activity in inhibiting protein kinase C, phospholipase A2, and eliciting cytotoxicity against cancer cells. This comprehensive study emphasizes the significance of furanosteroids and related lipids as valuable natural products with promising therapeutic potential. The remarkable biodiversity found in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems offers an extensive resource for unearthing novel biologically active compounds, paving the way for future drug development and advancements in biomedical research. This review presents a compilation of data obtained from various studies conducted by different authors who employed the PASS software 9.1 to evaluate the biological activity of natural furanosteroids and compounds closely related to them. The utilization of the PASS software in this context offers valuable advantages, such as screening large chemical libraries, identifying compounds for subsequent experimental investigations, and gaining insights into potential biological activities based on their structural features. Nevertheless, it is crucial to emphasize that experimental validation remains indispensable for confirming the predicted activities.

Undescribed steroidal alkaloids from the bulbs of Fritillaria sinica

Eight undescribed steroidal alkaloid derivatives, including three cevanine-type isosteroidal alkaloids (two N-oxide glycosides and one D-ring aromatization) (1-3), one verazine-type steroidal alkaloid derivative (4), three solanidine-type steroidal alkaloid glycosides (5-7), and one veratramine-type analogue (8), along with three known compounds (9-11) were isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria sinica. Their structures were elucidated by comprehensive analysis of spectroscopic data, acidic hydrolysis, and X-ray crystal diffractions. In the in vitro bioassay, the anti-cancer effect, anti-oxidation and anti-inflammatory activities for the isolates were evaluated at a concentration of 10 μM.

Fingerprint profiling and gut microbiota regulation of polysaccharides from Fritillaria species

Few studies reported the quality evaluation and gut microbiota regulation effect of polysaccharides from Fritillaria species. In this study, polysaccharides extracted from ten Fritillaria species were compared and distinguished through multi-levels evaluation strategy and data fusion. Furthermore, the gut microbiota regulation effect of polysaccharides among different species was analyzed and evaluated. The fingerprint profiling of IR, molecular weight distribution of polysaccharides, chromatogram of partially hydrolyzed polysaccharides (oligosaccharides) and completely hydrolyzed polysaccharides (monosaccharides) were similar, and no exclusive signals were observed. However, the signal strength of functional group, oligosaccharides abundance and monosaccharides proportion showed obvious differences in inter- and intra-species. Glucan may be the main component of polysaccharides in Fritillaria species, CIRR derived from CIR, PRZ, DEL, TAI, UNI possessed higher total polysaccharides content, polymerization degree, oligosaccharides abundance (DP 2-4), and glucose content than the others. Meanwhile, data fusion model was established for identification of affinis and multi-original species, the accuracy of which proved to be 100 %. In addition, Fritillaria polysaccharides could increase the bacterial community richness and diversity, regulate the gut microbiota composition and possessed potential therapeutic effects on gastrointestinal diseases and nervous system diseases.

Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses provide new insights into the appropriate harvest period in regenerated bulbs of Fritillaria hupehensis

Introduction

The bulb of Fritillaria hupehensis, a traditional cough and expectorant medicine, is usually harvested from June to September according to traditional cultivation experience, without practical scientific guidance. Although steroidal alkaloid metabolites have been identified in F. hupehensis, the dynamic changes in their levels during bulb development and their molecular regulatory mechanisms are poorly understood.

Methods

In this study, integrative analyses of the bulbus phenotype, bioactive chemical investigations, and metabolome and transcriptome profiles were performed to systematically explore the variations in steroidal alkaloid metabolite levels and identify the genes modulating their accumulation and the corresponding regulatory mechanisms.

Results

The results showed that weight, size, and total alkaloid content of the regenerated bulbs reached a maximum at IM03 (post-withering stage, early July), whereas peiminine content reached a maximum at IM02 (withering stage, early June). There were no significant differences between IM02 and IM03, indicating that regenerated bulbs could be harvested appropriately in early June or July. Peiminine, peimine, tortifoline, hupehenine, korseveramine, delafrine, hericenone N-oxide, korseveridine, puqiedinone, pingbeinone, puqienine B, puqienine E, pingbeimine A, jervine, and ussuriedine levels were upregulated in IM02 and IM03, compared with IM01 (vigorous growth stage, early April). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis indicated that the accumulation of steroidal alkaloid metabolites mainly occurred prior to IM02. HMGR1, DXR, CAS1, CYP 90A1, and DET2 may play a positive role in peiminine, peimine, hupehenine, korseveramine, korseveridine, hericenone N-oxide, puqiedinone, delafrine, tortifoline, pingbeinone, puqienine B, puqienine E, pingbeimine A, jervine, and ussuriedine biosynthesis, whereas the downregulation of FPS1, SQE and 17-DHCR may lead to a reduction in peimisine levels. Weighted gene correlation network analysis showed that CYP 74A2-1, CYP 74A2-2, CYP 71A26-1, CYP 71A26-2, and CYP74A were negatively correlated with peiminine and pingbeimine A, whereas CYP R and CYP707A1 were positively correlated. . CYP 74A2-1 and CYP 74A2-2 may play a negative role in peimine and korseveridine biosynthesis, whereas CYP R plays a positive role. In addition, the highly expressed C2H2, HSF, AP2/ERF, HB, GRAS, C3H, NAC, MYB-related transcription factors (TFs), GARP-G2-like TFs, and WRKY may play positive roles in the accumulation of peiminine, peimine, korseveridine, and pingbeimine A.

Discussion

These results provide new insights into scientific harvesting of F. hupehensis.

Revealing active components and action mechanism of Fritillariae Bulbus against non-small cell lung cancer through spectrum-effect relationship and proteomics

BACKGROUND

Fritillariae Bulbus (FB) is widely used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of lung meridian diseases. It has been proved that FB has good anti-non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) activity. However, the active components and potential mechanism are still not clear.

PURPOSE

To reveal the bioactive components of FB against NSCLC and potential mechanism through spectrum-effect relationship and proteomics.

METHOD

First, the FB extract was chemically profiled by UHPLC-QTOF-MS and the inhibitory effect of FB extract on A549 cell viability was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Second, orthogonal-partial least squares-regression analysis was applied to screen potential active compounds through correlating the chemical profile with corresponding inhibitory effect. Third, the anti-NSCLC activities of potential active components were further investigated in terms of cell proliferation, cell cycle and cell apoptosis in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Finally, proteomics was utilized to reveal the underlying anti-NSCLC mechanism.

RESULTS

Six potential active components including verticine, verticinone, zhebeirine, ebeiedinone, yibeissine and peimisine were screened out by spectrum-effect relationship. Among them, zhebeirine showed higher inhibitory effect on A549 cell viability with IC₅₀ value of 36.93 μM and dosage-dependent inhibition of A549 xenograft tumor growth in nude mice. Proteomics and western blotting assays indicated that zhebeirine could arrest cell cycle by down-regulating the expressions of CDK1, CDK2, Cyclin A2, Cyclin B2 and inhibiting the phosphorylation of p53. Moreover, the proteins participating in p53 signaling pathway including PCNA, 14-3-3σ, CHEK1 were significantly decreased, which suggested that zhebeirine affected cell cycle progression through p53 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

This study not only provides scientific evidence to support the clinical application of FB against NSCLC, but also demonstrates that zhebeirine is a promising anti-NSCLC lead compound deserving further studies.

Transcriptome Analysis of CYP450 Family Members in Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don and Profiling of Key CYP450s Related to Isosteroidal Alkaloid Biosynthesis

Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (known as Chuan-Bei-Mu in Chinese) can synthesize isosteroidal alkaloids (ISA) with excellent medicinal value, and its bulb has become an indispensable ingredient in many patented drugs. Members of the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) gene superfamily have been shown to play essential roles in regulating steroidal alkaloids biosynthesis. However, little information is available on the P450s in F. cirrhosa. Here, we performed full-length transcriptome analysis and discovered 48 CYP450 genes belonging to 10 clans, 25 families, and 46 subfamilies. By combining phylogenetic trees, gene expression, and key F. cirrhosa ISA content analysis, we presumably identify seven FcCYP candidate genes, which may be hydroxylases active at the C-22, C-23, or C-26 positions in the late stages of ISA biosynthesis. The transcript expression levels of seven FcCYP candidate genes were positively correlated with the accumulation of three major alkaloids in bulbs of different ages. These data suggest that the candidate genes are most likely to be associated with ISA biosynthesis. Finally, the subcellular localization prediction of FcCYPs and transient expression analysis within Nicotiana benthamiana showed that the FcCYPs were mainly localized in the chloroplast. This study presents a systematic analysis of the CYP450 gene family in F. cirrhosa and provides a foundation for further functional characterization of the CYPs involved in ISA biosynthesis.

Structural characteristics and diversity of the rhizosphere bacterial communities of wild Fritillaria przewalskii Maxim. in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Introduction

Fritillaria przewalskii Maxim. is a Chinese endemic species with high medicinal value distributed in the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. F. przewalskii root-associated rhizosphere bacterial communities shaped by soil properties may maintain the stability of soil structure and regulate F. przewalskii growth, but the rhizosphere bacterial community structure of wild F. przewalskii from natural populations is not clear.

Methods

In the current study, soil samples from 12 sites within the natural range of wild F. przewalskii were collected to investigate the compositions of bacterial communities via high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and multivariate statistical analysis combined with soil properties and plant phenotypic characteristics.

Results

Bacterial communities varied between rhizosphere and bulk soil, and also between sites. Co-occurrence networks were more complex in rhizosphere soil (1,169 edges) than in bulk soil (676 edges). There were differences in bacterial communities between regions, including diversity and composition. Proteobacteria (26.47-37.61%), Bacteroidetes (10.53-25.22%), and Acidobacteria (10.45-23.54%) were the dominant bacteria, and all are associated with nutrient cycling. In multivariate statistical analysis, both soil properties and plant phenotypic characteristics were significantly associated with the bacterial community (p < 0.05). Soil physicochemical properties accounted for most community differences, and pH was a key factor (p < 0.01). Interestingly, when the rhizosphere soil environment remained alkaline, the C and N contents were lowest, as was the biomass of the medicinal part bulb. This might relate to the specific distribution of genera, such as Pseudonocardia, Ohtaekwangia, Flavobacterium (relative abundance >0.01), which all have significantly correlated with the biomass of F. przewalskii (p < 0.05).

Discussion

F. przewalskii is evidently averse to alkaline soil with high potassium contents, but this requires future verification. The results of the present study may provide theoretical guidance and new insights for the cultivation and domestication of F. przewalskii.

Primary Investigation of Phenotypic Plasticity in Fritillaria cirrhosa Based on Metabolome and Transcriptome Analyses

Phenotypic plasticity refers to the adaptability of an organism to a heterogeneous environment. In this study, the differential gene expression and compositional changes in Fritillaria cirrhosa during phenotypic plasticity were evaluated using transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. The annotation profiles of 1696 differentially expressed genes from the transcriptome between abnormal and normal phenotypes revealed that the main annotation pathways were related to the biosynthesis of amino acids, ABC transporters, and plant-pathogen interactions. According to the metabolome, the abnormal phenotype had 36 upregulated amino acids, including tryptophan, proline, and valine, which had a 3.77-fold higher relative content than the normal phenotype. However, saccharides and vitamins were found to be deficient in the abnormal phenotypes. The combination profiles demonstrated that phenotypic plasticity may be an effective strategy for overcoming potential stress via the accumulation of amino acids and regulation of the corresponding genes and transcription factors. In conclusion, a pathogen attack on F. cirrhosa may promote the synthesis of numerous amino acids and transport them into the bulbs through ABC transporters, which may further result in phenotypic variation. Our results provide new insights into the potential mechanism of phenotypic changes.

Efficacy, chemical composition, and pharmacological effects of herbal drugs derived from Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don and Fritillaria thunbergii Miq

Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don and F. thunbergii Miq. belong to the genus Fritillaria within the Liliaceae family. They are used in traditional Chinese medicines that are often administered in clinical settings as they have notable effects on cough, bronchitis, pneumonia, lung injury, cancer, and other diseases. In this review, we focus on the history, origin, similarities, and differences in efficacy, chemical composition, and pharmacological outcomes of the drugs obtained from F. cirrhosa (FRC) and F. thunbergii (FRT). We list various valuable pharmacological effects of FRC and FRT, including antitussive, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects. Thus, this review offers a basis for the medical application of and further research into the pharmacological impacts of these two drugs. We believe that new drugs derived from the phytoconstituents of F. cirrhosa and F. thunbergii that have specific therapeutic properties can be developed in the future.

UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS/MS-Based Untargeted Metabolomics and Molecular Networking Reveal the Differential Chemical Constituents of the Bulbs and Flowers of Fritillaria thunbergii

Both the bulbs and flowers of Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. (BFT and FFT) are widely applied as expectorants and antitussives in traditional Chinese medicine, but few studies have been conducted to compare the chemical compositions of these plant parts. In this study, 50% methanol extracts of BFT and FFT were analyzed via UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS/MS, and the feasibility of using non-targeted UHPLC-HRMS metabolomics and molecular networking to address the authentication of bulb and flower samples was evaluated. Principal component analysis (PCA), Orthogonal Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA), and heat map analysis showed there were dissimilar metabolites in BFT and FFT. As a result, 252 and 107 peaks in positive ion mode and negative mode, respectively, were considered to represent significant difference variables between BFT and FFT. Then, MS/MS-based molecular networking of BFT and FFT was constructed to perform an in-depth characterization of the peaks using different variables. A total of 31 alkaloids with significant differences were annotated in this paper, including seven cis-D/E-vevanine without C20-OH and one trans-D/E-cevanine with C20-OH, thirteen trans-D/E-cevanine without C20-OH, five cevanine N-oxide, and five veratramine. Among the 31 alkaloids, eight alkaloids had higher FFT than BFT contents, while all the flavonoids identified in our work had greater FFT than BFT contents. The influence of different ingredients on the pharmacological activities of BFT and FFT should be investigated in future studies.

Transcriptomic and metabolic analyses reveal the potential mechanism of increasing steroidal alkaloids in Fritillaria hupehensis through intercropping with Magnolia officinalis

Fritillaria hupehensis, a well-known medicinal perennial herb, is used as an antitussive and an expectorant. Continuous cropping and monoculture cultivation usually negativly affect the growth of F. hupehensis. Compared with the monoculture system, the F. hupehensis-Magnolia officinalis intercropping system significantly increases the yield of F. hupehensis. However, changes in steroidal alkaloid metabolites (the most important bioactive components) and their molecular regulatory mechanisms in F. hupehensis intercropping system remain unclear. We performed comparative transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses of F. hupehensis bulbs grown in monocropping and intercropping systems. A total of 40 alkaloids were identified, including 26 steroidal alkaloids, 4 plumeranes, 3 phenolamines, 1 pyridine alkaloid, and 6 other alkaloids. The results showed that intercropping significantly increased the levels of peimine, peiminine, hupehenine, korseveridine, verticinone N-oxide, delafrine, tortifoline, pingbeinone, puqienine B, puqienine E, jervine, ussuriedine, hydroxymandelonitrile, N-feruloylputrescine, and N-benzylmethylene isomethylamine in F. hupehensis, but decreased the levels of indole, p-coumaroylputrescine, and N-benzylformamide. Transcriptome sequencing identified 11,466 differentially expressed unigenes in F. hupehensis under the intercropping system, of which 5,656 genes were up-regulated and 5,810 genes were down-regulated. We proposed a possible steroidal alkaloid biosynthesis pathway, in which 12 differentially expressed genes were identified. The higher expressions of these genes in the intercropping system positively correlated with the high accumulation of peimine, peiminine, and hupehenine, further validating our proposal. Moreover, the biological processes of oxidative phosphorylation and plant hormone signal transduction, cytochrome P450 enzymes, ATP-binding cassette transporters, and transcription factors may play pivotal roles in the regulation of steroidal alkaloid biosynthesis. This study revealed the underlying molecular mechanisms of intercropping in improving steroidal alkaloids in F. hupehensis at the transcriptome and metabolome levels. These findings provided a theoretical foundation for sustainable development of this ecological planting method.

Isosteroidal alkaloids of Fritillaria taipaiensis and their implication to Alzheimer's disease: Isolation, structural elucidation and biological activity

Four undescribed and five known isosteroidal alkaloids were isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria taipaiensis and their structures were elucidated on the basis of HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data analyses. The undescribed compounds were designated taipainines A-D. Of these, taipainine D presented a unique structure having the D/E trans (H-13α/H-17β) and E/F cis (β-axial lone pair of the N atom/H-22β) ring junctions. Possible biosynthetic pathway to taipainine D is proposed. Four compounds showed significant BChE inhibitory activities similar or better than the positive control galantamine. In addition, the preliminary structure-activity relationships (SARs) of these isosteroidal alkaloids were also investigated.

Dissipation and dietary exposure risk assessment of pyraclostrobin, fluxapyroxad, difenoconazole, and azoxystrobin in the Fritillaria field ecosystem

Fritillaria (Beimu in Chinese) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal herbal and valuable health food, which has attracted more and more attention. In this study, an efficient method was developed to determine pyraclostrobin, fluxapyroxad, difenoconazole, and azoxystrobin in plants, fresh Fritillaria, dry Fritillaria, and soil via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The average recoveries of the method were 78.9-109.7% with relative standard deviations of 0.94-11.1%. The dissipation half-lives of the four fungicides were 4.4-7.7 days in the Fritillaria plant and 11.6-18.2 days in the soil. The terminal residues of four fungicides were 0.033-0.13 mg/kg in fresh Fritillaria, 0.096-0.42 mg/kg in dry Fritillaria, and 0.12-0.74 mg/kg in soil. In the risk assessment of dietary exposure, all the chronic hazard quotient and acute hazard quotient index values were far below 100%, which were both acceptable to consumers. Accordingly, 7 days was recommended as the pre-harvest interval for the four fungicides in Fritillaria. This work could guide the safe use of these fungicides in Fritillaria and also give a reference for the Chinese government to establish the maximum residue limits (MRLs).

Ethnopharmacological study of medicinal plants in Sarvabad, Kurdistan province, Iran

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Traditional medicine has a long history and plays an important role in the Kurdish community in Sarvabad county, Kurdistan province, Iran. Despite the great diversity of medicinal plants, cultural history, and variety of herbal medicine uses among Kurdish tribes, very few cohesive ethnopharmacological studies of this unique region are available in the scientific literature. Our study tried to gather medicinal plant species and document the associated indigenous knowledge of the ethnic groups in the Sarvabad district for the first time.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ethnobotanical data were collected from 92 local informants through semi-structured questionnaires, open interviews, and field surveys during a period of two years (2018-2020). The statistical analysis included use reports (UR) for each species, and informant consensus factor (FIC) to evaluate the data.

RESULTS

In the present study a total of 156 plant species belonging to 58 botanical families, were recorded for the treatment of 16 diseases categories. The most represented families were Lamiaceae, followed by Asteraceae, and Apiaceae. The most frequently cited plant species with the highest use report (UR) were Pistacia atlantica (161), Hymenocrater longiflorus (128), Melissa officinalis (124), Cyperus rotundus (114), Thymus transcaspicus (112), and Quercus brantii (109). Psychological (ICF = 0.96), musculoskeletal (ICF = 0.94), and digestive (ICF = 0.93), followed by respiratory problems (ICF = 0.92) showed the highest informant consensus factors among all ailment categories. Most herbal remedies were consumed as decoction. Leaves (28.5%) were the most widely used plant parts, followed by flowers (18.7%), aerial parts (14.5%), seeds (13.2%), and terrestrial parts (8.41%). Some interesting new medicinal uses for native and common species were reported. Species such as Cyperus rotundus, Hymenocrater longiflorus, Anthriscus nemorosa, Pistacia atlantica and Quercus brantii would be interesting targets for drug discovery and are suggested for further investigations.

CONCLUSION

The plant use reports, and quantitative data analyzed demonstrate that the relative importance of plant species and shared knowledge of herbal therapies among Kurdish communities of the Sarvabad county is still rich. A systematic study and evaluation of the biological activity of highly consumed plants, could identify the possible mechanism of action.

Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae as a Respiratory Medicine: Is There a Potential Drug in the Treatment of COVID-19?

Bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae (BFC) is one of the most used Chinese medicines for lung disease, and exerts antitussive, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic, and antioxidant effects, which is an ideal therapeutic drug for respiratory diseases such as ARDS, COPD, asthma, lung cancer, and pulmonary tuberculosis. Through this review, it is found that the therapeutic mechanism of BFC on respiratory diseases exhibits the characteristics of multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-signaling pathways. In particular, the therapeutic potential of BFC in terms of intervention of “cytokine storm”, STAT, NF-κB, and MAPK signaling pathways, as well as the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) that ACE is involved in. In the “cytokine storm” of SARS-CoV-2 infection there is an intense inflammatory response. ACE2 regulates the RAS by degradation of Ang II produced by ACE, which is associated with SARS-CoV-2. For COVID-19, may it be a potential drug? This review summarized the research progress of BFC in the respiratory diseases, discussed the development potentiality of BFC for the treatment of COVID-19, explained the chemical diversity and biological significance of the alkaloids in BFC, and clarified the material basis, molecular targets, and signaling pathways of BFC for the respiratory diseases. We hope this review can provide insights on the drug discovery of anti-COVID-19.

Drug repurposing against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): A review

Since December 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has been found to be the culprit in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), causing a global pandemic. Despite the existence of many vaccine programs, the number of confirmed cases and fatalities due to COVID-19 is still increasing. Furthermore, a number of variants have been reported. Because of the absence of approved anti-coronavirus drugs, the treatment and management of COVID-19 has become a global challenge. Under these circumstances, drug repurposing is an effective method to identify candidate drugs with a shorter cycle of clinical trials. Here, we summarize the current status of the application of drug repurposing in COVID-19, including drug repurposing based on virtual computer screening, network pharmacology, and bioactivity, which may be a beneficial COVID-19 treatment.

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Mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 infection and drug targets were reviewed.

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Drug repurposing against COVID-19 based on computer virtual screening, network pharmacology, bioactivity were summarized.

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The use of drug repurposing in COVID-19 was addressed.