Structural Characterization and Anti-inflammatory Activity of a Galactorhamnan Polysaccharide From Citrus medica L. var. sarcodactylis

Coumarins from Jinhua Finger Citron: Separation by Liquid-Liquid Chromatography and Potential Antitumor Activity

In this paper, liquid-liquid chromatography was introduced for the first time for the separation of fingered citron (Citrus medica L. var. sarcodactylis Swingle). The fingered citron cultivated in Jinhua is of significant industrial and medicinal value, with several major coumarin compounds detected in its extract. Therefore, further separation for higher purity was of necessity. A preparative liquid-liquid chromatographic method was developed by combining two elution modes (isocratic and step-gradient) with selection according to different polarities of the target sample. Five coumarin derivatives-5,7-dimethoxycoumarin (52.6 mg, 99.6%), phellopterin (4.9 mg, 97.1%), 5-prenyloxy-7-methoxycoumarin (6.7 mg, 98.7%), 6-hydroxy-7-methoxycoumarin (7.1 mg, 82.2%), and byakangelicol (10.5 mg, 90.1%)-with similar structures and properties were isolated on a large scale from 100 mg of petroleum ether (PE) extract and 100 mg of ethyl acetate (EA) extract in Jinhua fingered citron. The productivity was much improved. The anti-growth activity of the isolated coumarins was evaluated against three cancer cell lines (HeLa, A549, and MCF7) with an MTT assay. The coumarins demonstrated potential anti-tumor activity on the HeLa cell line, with 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin in particular exhibiting the best anti-growth activity (IC50 = 10.57 ± 0.24 μM) by inhibiting proliferation. It inhibited colony formation and reduced the size of the tumor sphere in a concentration-dependent manner. The main mechanism was confirmed as inducing apoptosis. This work was informative for further studies aimed at exploring new natural-product-based antitumor agents.

A Novel Polysaccharide Separated from Panax Notoginseng Residue Ameliorates Restraint Stress- and Lipopolysaccharide-induced Enteritis in Mice

Polysaccharides are rich in Panax notoginseng residue after extraction. This study aims to explore the structural characteristics of PNP-20, which is a homogeneous polysaccharide, separated from P. notoginseng residue by fractional precipitation and evaluate the anti-enteritis effect of PNP-20. The structure of PNP-20 was determined by spectroscopic analyses. A mouse model with enteritis induced by restraint stress (RS) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to evaluate the pharmacological effect of PNP-20. The results indicated that PNP-20 consisted of glucose (Glc), galactose (Gal), Mannose (Man) and Rhamnose (Rha). PNP-20 was composed of Glcp-(1→, →4)-α-Glcp-(1→, →4)-α-Galp-(1→, →4,6)-α-Glcp-(1→, →4)-Manp-(1→ and →3)-Rhap-(1→, and contained two backbone fragments of →4)-α-Glcp-(1→4)- α-Glcp-(1→ and →4)-α-Galp-(1→4)-α-Glcp-(1→. PNP-20 reduced intestinal injury and inflammatory cell infiltration in RS- and LPS-induced enteritis in mice. PNP-20 decreased the expression of intestinal tumor necrosis factor-α, NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3, and nuclear factor-κB and increased the expression of intestinal superoxide dismutase 2. In conclusion, PNP-20 may be a promising material basis of P. Notoginseng for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

An Insight into Citrus medica Linn.: A Systematic Review on Phytochemical Profile and Biological Activities

Plant species are a reservoir of natural compounds that can potentially be used to treat different diseases. Citrus medica Linn. belonging to the Rutaceae family, has been used for centuries in medicine for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, and antihyperglycemic properties. These activities are ascribable not only to the presence of health-promoting macronutrients and micronutrients, such as carbohydrates, minerals, amino acids, and vitamins, but also to specialized metabolites, such as flavonoids (apigenin, hesperetin, hesperidin, naringin, naringenin, rutin, quercetin, and diosmin), coumarins (citropten, scoparone, and bergapten), terpenes (limonene, γ-terpinene, limonin, and nomilin), and phenolic acids (p-coumaric acid, trans-ferulic acid, and chlorogenic acid). In recent years, particular attention has been focused on the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial activity, antidiabetic, anticancer, and neuroprotective activity of C. medica. However, although many studies have reported this species' chemical and biological properties, the literature has never been analyzed via a systematic approach. For this reason, using PubMed and Scopus as databases, we performed a systematic review of C. medica's chemical composition and biological properties to inspire new research approaches and increase its curative application.

Chromatographic-Based Platforms as New Avenues for Scientific Progress and Sustainability

Chromatography was born approximately one century ago and has undergone outstanding technological improvements in innovation, research, and development since then that has made it fundamental to advances in knowledge at different levels, with a relevant impact on the well-being and health of individuals. Chromatography boosted a comprehensive and deeper understanding of the complexity and diversity of human–environment interactions and systems, how these interactions affect our life, and the several societal challenges we are currently facing, namely those related to the sustainability of our planet and the future generations. From the life sciences, which allowed us to identify endogenous metabolites relevant to disease mechanisms, to the OMICS field, nanotechnology, clinical and forensic analysis, drug discovery, environment, and “foodprint”, among others, the wide range of applications of today’s chromatographic techniques is impressive. This is fueled by a great variability of powerful chromatographic instruments currently available, with very high sensitivity, resolution, and identification capacity, that provide a strong basis for an analytical platform able to support the challenging demands of the postgenomic and post COVID-19 eras. Within this context, this review aims to address the great utility of chromatography in helping to cope with several societal-based challenges, such as the characterization of disease and/or physiological status, and the response to current agri-food industry challenges of food safety and sustainability, or the monitoring of environmental contamination. These are increasingly important challenges considering the climate changes, the tons of food waste produced every day, and the exponential growth of the human population. In this context, the principles governing the separation mechanisms in chromatography as well the different types and chromatographic techniques will be described. In addition, the major achievements and the most important technological advances will be also highlighted. Finally, a set of studies was selected in order to evince the importance of different chromatographic analyses to understand processes or create fundamental information in the response to current societal challenges.