Complexity of active medicinal ingredients in radix scutellariae with sodium hydrosulfite exposure

Surviving a Double-Edged Sword: Response of Horticultural Crops to Multiple Abiotic Stressors

Climate change-induced weather events, such as extreme temperatures, prolonged drought spells, or flooding, pose an enormous risk to crop productivity. Studies on the implications of multiple stresses may vary from those on a single stress. Usually, these stresses coincide, amplifying the extent of collateral damage and contributing to significant financial losses. The breadth of investigations focusing on the response of horticultural crops to a single abiotic stress is immense. However, the tolerance mechanisms of horticultural crops to multiple abiotic stresses remain poorly understood. In this review, we described the most prevalent types of abiotic stresses that occur simultaneously and discussed them in in-depth detail regarding the physiological and molecular responses of horticultural crops. In particular, we discussed the transcriptional, posttranscriptional, and metabolic responses of horticultural crops to multiple abiotic stresses. Strategies to breed multi-stress-resilient lines have been presented. Our manuscript presents an interesting amount of proposed knowledge that could be valuable in generating resilient genotypes for multiple stressors.

Chai-Gui Decoction and its representative components ameliorate spontaneous hypertension rats by modulating lipid metabolism and gut microbiota

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Hypertension coincides with the category of "vertigo" and/or "headache" on the basis clinical manifestations and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory. Chai-Gui Decoction (CGD), which is in usage for relieving "vertigo" and/or "headache", had been demonstrated to be useful in ameliorating hypertension.

AIM OF STUDY

This study was planned to investigate the mechanism of CGD and its components in hypertension by using spontaneous hypertension rat (SHR).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

CGD extract and its classification component samples (compounds in plasma, CP; compounds in gut, CG; compounds in plasma and gut, CPG) were prepared for animal experiment. SHR rats were induced with CGD extract (3 g/kg/d BW, 5 g/kg/d BW, 15 g/kg/d BW) and CGD-component classes (CP = 19.501 mg/kg/d, CG = 5.240 mg/kg/d, CPG = 24.741 mg/kg/d) for 4 weeks. Blood pressure (BP) and indexes of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS system) were measured. Histopathology was carried out to assess the efficacy of CGD and its components on aorta tissues. Untargeted metabolomics of lipid from rat serum samples were applied by Ultra-High performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and chemometric analysis to explore the relationship between metabolic pathways and hypertension. 16S rRNA gene sequencing of rat colon content and bioinformatics analysis were used to characterize the effects of CGD and its components on the gut microbiota composition of SHR rats.

RESULTS

CGD and its component mixtures showed antihypertensive effect on SHR rats, decreased the blood pressure and reduced the aortic wall thickness in SHR rats. CGD and its component mixtures could improve the RAAS in SHR rats, including increase the percentage of angiotensin 1-7 (Ang 1-7), decrease the percentage of angiotensin II (Ang II), and decrease the Ang Ⅱ/Ang 1-7 ratio. CGD and its component mixtures could regulate the metabolome in SHR rats, mainly as decreasing the higher serum levels of Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) 16: 0, LPC 20: 4, and LPC 22: 6. In addition, bacteria from family S24-7 were negatively correlated with levels of LPE 16:0, LPE 18:0, LPE 18:1, and LPE 18:2.

CONCLUSION

CGD and its component mixtures exhibited antihypertensive effect on SHR rats. The underlying mechanism could be related to modulation on RAAS, LPC metabolism and the bacterial abundance of family S24-7 in gut.

Ecological roles of secondary metabolites of Saposhnikovia divaricata in adaptation to drought stress

Saposhnikovia divaricata is a traditional Chinese herb that mainly grows in arid grasslands and strongly adapts to various stresses. Drought is not only a major abiotic stress factor but also a typical feature conducive to producing high-quality medicinal material. The present study investigated by treating S. divaricata plants with polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000). Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) identified 146 compounds from the roots of S. divaricata, among which seven primary metabolites and 28 secondary metabolites showed significant changes after drought treatment. UV-Vis spectrophotometer detected the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the content of superoxide anion (O2 -.) and malondialdehyde (MDA). The differential primary metabolites revealed that drought promotes glycolysis, reducing primary metabolism and enhancing secondary metabolism. Meanwhile, the differential secondary metabolites showed an increase in the content of compounds upstream of the secondary metabolic pathway, and other glycosides and increased that of the corresponding aglycones. The activities of antioxidant enzymes and the content of O2 -. and MDA shown different changes duing the drought treatment. These observations indicate that drought promotes the biosynthesis and transformation of the secondary metabolites and activity of antioxidant enzymes, improving plant adaptability. The present study also analyzed a few primary and secondary metabolites of S. divaricata under different degrees and durations of drought and speculated on the metabolic pathways in an arid environment. The findings indicate the biological nature, diversity, and complexity of secondary metabolites and the mechanisms of plant adaptation to ecological stress.

Chemical profiling of Justicia vahlii Roth. (Acanthaceae) using UPLC-QTOF-MS and GC-MS analysis and evaluation of acute oral toxicity, antineuropathic and antioxidant activities

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Justicia vahlii Roth. (Acanthaceae), also called as kodasoori and bhekkar is an annual therophyte erect or decumbent herb used traditionally in toothache, skin diseases (itching, topical inflammation) and for the treatment of various respiratory disorders.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The current study aimed at exploring pain cessation potential of J. vahlii Roth. via murine model of neuropathic pain and its phytochemical, toxicological and antioxidant profiles.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The hydro-alcoholic extract of J. vahlii (HAEJv) prepared by maceration technique was subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening, total bioactive content determination, UPLC-QTOF-MS and GC-MS analysis. Toxicity assessment was carried out by using brine shrimp lethality assay and acute oral toxicity test. Murine model of neuropathic pain was applied to assess the antineuropathic potential of the species. Furthermore effect of the extract on catalase, superoxide oxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione (GSH), interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) and total necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) was also studied. In vitro antioxidant profile was explored by using four methods; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azinobis(3-ethylbenothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), CUPric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) and Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay.

RESULTS

The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, coumarins, alkaloids and lignans as the major classes of secondary metabolites. The extract was found rich in total phenolics content (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC) with identification of total 59 bioactives in UPLC-QTOF-MS and 40 compounds in GC-MS analysis. The extract was found nontoxic up to 4000 mg/kg (p.o.) in mice and no mortality observed in brine shrimp lethality assay. The HAEJv significantly reduced number of acetic acid induced abdominal constrictions at 100 mg/kg (p < 0.01) and 200 mg/kg (p < 0.001) and increased paw withdrawal threshold p < 0.05 at 100 mg/kg and p < 0.001 at 200 mg/kg, and an increase in tail withdrawal latency time p < 0.001 at 200 mg/kg was observed. The extract significantly increased levels of catalase, SOD and GSH while decreased IL-1β and TNF-α levels in sciatic nerve tissue of mice. HAEJv showed highest antioxidant activity through CUPRAC method 121.32 ± 1.22 mg trolox equivalent per gram of dry extract (mg TE/g DE) followed by DPPH 81.334 ± 4.35 mg TE/g DE, FRAP 69.89 ± 3.05 mg TE/g DE and ABTS 38.17 ± 2.12 mg TE/g DE.

CONCLUSION

The current study back the traditional use of J. vahlii in pain cessation through antioxidant based antineuropathic pain activity and revealed the extract non-toxic with number of functional phytoconstituents and warrants further research on isolation of the compounds and sub-acute toxicity studies.

Fractional analysis of dichloromethane extract of Scutellaria araxensis Grossh root and shoot by HPLC-PDA-ESI-MSn

Scutellaria araxensis is a well-known ethnobotanical herb for the treatment of various diseases in Iranian traditional medicine. In this study, dichloromethanolic fraction of partitioned methanol root and shoot extract was analysed by silica gel column chromatography, thin layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography combined with photodiode-array detector, and coupled to electrospray ionization with Q-Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry (HPLC-PDA-ESI-MSⁿ) in positive ion mode. Metabolites were tentatively characterized by comparing their mass spectrometry spectra with those of bibliographic data. A total of 11 flavonoids were identified from different fractions. Results showed that root and shoot produced very similar flavone patterns characterized by the presence of baicalein, tricin, tenaxin I, tenaxin II, skullcapflavon II, chrysin, wogonin and isorhamnetin. Norwogonin and apigenin-7-glucoside were identified only from shoot. Remarkably, Tenaxin I, II, tricin, apigenin-7-glucoside and norwogonin were tentatively profiled as new compounds for the first time from S. araxensis formula.

Scutellaria orientalis subsp. Bornmuelleri: phytochemical composition and biological activities

The medicinal plant, Scutellaria orientalis, is used for the treatment of several diseases in North-western of Iran. The purpose of this study was to investigate the phytochemical content, cytotoxicity assay against SW-480 and HCT-116 cells and anti-haemolytic activities using HPLC-PDA, GC/MS, MTT and spectrophotometry methods, respectively. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of different terpenoids and flavonoids such as baicalin, tricin and wogonin and also some of the other medicinally active compounds such as conhydrine and cannabidiol. MTT results revealed that HCT-116 cells were more sensitive to examined extracts compared with SW-480 cells. Methanol extract had the most anti-proliferative activity against HCT-116 and SW-480 cells at 48 h with IC50 values of 614.5 and 592.3 µg/mL, respectively. Also, all samples had no significant haemolytic effect on human erythrocytes. Our results revealed that S. orientalis root extract has a promising anticancer activity, indicating the presence of major anti-cancer agents on human colon cell lines.