Removal of Cd from contaminated farmland soil by washing with residues of traditional Chinese herbal medicine extracts.

Picroside II, separated from Chinese herbal medicine, is an active compound with neroprotective activity. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have high affinity toward template molecules synthesized by molecularly imprinted technology for its specific combined sites, which can overcome the shortcomings of traditional separation methods, such as complex operation and low efficiency. In this paper, MIPs were prepared by precipitation polymerization with picroside II as the template molecule, 1-vinylimidazole (1-Vinyl) as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) as cross-linker. The morphology of MIPs was characterized by scanning electronmicroscope (SEM) and its static adsorption capacity was measured by the scatchard equation. The results showed that picroside II MIPs have spherical shape, and most of them are uniform in size. Furthermore, the maximum binding capacity (Q(max)) of MIPs is 3.02 mg x g(-1), higher than that of non-imprinted polymers (NIPs). This result indicated that picroside II MIPs with good morphology and high targeted affinity toward the template molecules can be prepared by precipitation polymerization, which can be used to separate picroside II and its analogies from extract of Chinese herbal medicine. In addition, this method has the advantages of good environment and simple operation, which might offer a novel method for the efficient separation of picroside II in the traditional herbal medicines.

Synthesis of α-glucosidase-immobilized nanoparticles and their application in screening for α-glucosidase inhibitors.

Objective To investigate the regulatory effects of stachyose through oral administration on the facilitating feces excretion function and its relationship to the intestinal flora in stomach irritation with cool water-induced functional bowel disorder rats. Methodes Stomach irritation with cool water -induced constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome model rats were administrated by i.g. with stachyose at intestine were determined within 12 hours on the 7th and 14th day after stachyose administration, and intestine flora was measured on the 14th day after Stachyose administration. Results The feces granules and the moisture contests of feces and the efficiency of the small intestine were increased in stachyose treated C-IBS rats, and the number of intestinal flora was significantly higher than that in the control C-IBS rats [ (38.43±4.57) grain VS (32. 21 ± 3.43) grain, F = 3.892, P ＜ 0.05; (47. 88 ± 3.43)% VS (43. 18 ±6.85)%, F =6.724, P ＜0.01;(1.04±0. 11)radian VS (0. 88 ±0.08)radian, F =4.965, P ＜0.05;(10.77 ±0.44)1g(CFU/g) VS (9.85 ±0.43)1g(CFU/g), F =7.613, P ＜0.01;(10.96±0.35)lg(CFU/g) VS (9. 84 ±0. 35)1g(CFU/g), F = 10. 413, P ＜0. 01 ]. Conclusion The results indicated that the stachyose,an extract of Chinese herbal medicine, had the facilitating feces excretion function and modulation functionon intestinal flora in stomach irritation with cool water-induced functional bowel disorder rats. Key words: Lactulose/PD; Plant extracts/PD; Irritable bowel syndrome/DT/ET; Ice/AE; Constipation/DT; Intestines/MI

Background: Drug-induced renal injury is a serious toxic side effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment. Bu-zhong-yi-qi decoction (BZYQD), a water extract of Chinese traditional herbal medicine, is widely used in Asia as an alternative treatment to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and also improve cancer survival. However, the mechanism is unknown. This study is designed to investigate the protective effect of BZYQD on 5-FU-induced renal injury in mice.Methods: Mice were divided into four groups: the control, 5-FU, 5-FU + low, and high BZYQD group. Mice in the three latter groups were administered 5-FU (100 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally) for six days, and in the 5-FU + low and high BZYQD groups were given BZYQD (1 or 2 g raw herb/kg/day, intragastrically) beginning four days before 5-FU and continuing until the termination of the experiment. The right kidney fixed in formalin for histological examination and the left was homogenized to measure the levels of apoptosis-related proteins and activities of oxidative stress-related biomarkers. Blood samples were collected for measuring renal function-related biochemical indices.Results: Renal morphology injury, increased urea nitrogen and creatinine concentration, and decreased SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px were all observed in 5-FU-administrated mice. However, BZYQD almost reversed the morphological injury as well as renal function-related indices and antioxidant enzyme activity.Conclusion: These results suggest that BZYQD inhibits 5-FU-induced renal injury, possibly through the reduction of apoptosis and necrosis in renal tubular epithelial cells via the antioxidant mechanism. Henceforth, BZYQD may be a potential antioxidant against drug-induced oxidative stress.

Intestinal mucositis is a serious toxic side effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment. Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi decoction (BZYQD), a water extract of Chinese traditional herbal medicine, is widely used in chemotherapy in Asia as an alternative treatment to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. However, the mechanism is unknown. To evaluate its mechanism, we investigated the effect of BZYQD on 5-FU-induced intestinal mucositis in mice, especially with regard to apoptosis in the intestinal mucosal epithelia. In the present study, mice were divided into three groups: control, 5-FU, and 5-FU + BZYQD. Mice in the 5-FU and 5-FU + BZYQD groups were administered 5-FU (100 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally) for 6 days, and the mice in the latter group were given BZYQD (8 g/kg/day, intragastrically) beginning 4 days before 5-FU and continuing until the termination of the experiment. Loss in body weight and diarrhea during the 5-FU treatment were significantly attenuated by administration of BZYQD. The morphological signs of intestinal damage, including shortened villi height, crypt destruction, apoptosis, and necrosis, in intestinal mucosal epithelia were also reversed, accompanied by reduced neutrophil infiltration, nitrite levels, and inflammatory factors (tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 1β) and increased levels of reduced glutathione. These results suggest that BZYQD inhibits 5-FU-induced intestinal mucositis, and this effect may be due to the reduction in apoptosis and necrosis in intestinal mucosal epithelia via the suppression of inflammatory cytokine upregulation. In conclusion, inhibiting cytokine-mediated apoptosis or necrosis can be the molecular mechanism by which BZYQD reduces the gastrointestinal side effects of cancer chemotherapy.

Extract of Naotaifang, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, protects neuron ferroptosis induced by acute cerebral ischemia in rats

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is the current treatment for HIV/AIDS and contains a combination of anti-HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors. It is effective in suppressing HIV replication and subsequently improving the patients’ survival. However, the issues associated with use of HARRT such as the high cost, severe side effects, and drug resistance has called for development of alternative anti-HIV therapeutic strategies. In this study, we screened several traditional Chinese medicinal herbal extracts for their anti- HIV activities and determined their anti-HIV mechanisms. Materials and Methods: Nine traditional Chinese medicinal (TCM) herbal plants and their respective parts derived from Hainan Island, China were extracted using a series of organic solvents, vacuum dried, and dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide. Initial anti-HIV activity and cytotoxicity of these extracts were evaluated in HIV-infected human CD4+ T lymphocytes Jurkat. Extracts of higher anti-HIV activities and lower cytotoxicity were selected from the initial screening, and further examined for their effects on HIV-1 entry, post-entry, reverse transcriptase, gene transcription and expression using a series of virology and biochemistry strategies. Results: Four extracts derived from two different herbal plants completely blocked HIV-1 replication and showed little cytotoxicity at a concentration of 10 μg/ml. None of these four extracts had any inhibitory effects on HIV-1 long terminal repeat promoter. Two of them exhibited direct inhibitory activity against HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). All four extracts showed significant blocking of HIV-1 entry into target cells. Conclusions: These results demonstrated that four TCM extracts were capable of preventing HIV-1 infection and replication by blocking viral entry and/or directly inhibiting the RT activity. These results suggest the possibility of developing these extracts as potential anti-HIV therapeutic agents.

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of isomalto-oligosaccharide (IMO), Chinese herbal medicine extract (CHE) or their combination on the growth performance, diarrhoea incidence, serum biochemical profiles, inflammatory cytokine expression, intestinal morphology and microflora of weaned piglets. Thirty-two ([Landrace×Yorkshire]×Duroc) piglets, weaned at 25days of age, were randomly assigned into four groups. Group I was fed the basal diet. Group II were fed a basal diet supplemented with 2g/kg IMO for 14 consecutive days and then 4g/kg IMO for another 14days. Group III were fed diet with 0.5g/kg CHE for 14days and 1g/kg CHE for another 14days. Group IV were fed diet with (2g/kg IMO+0.5g/kg CHE) for 14days and (4g/kg IMO+1g/kg CHE) for another 14days. Results showed that diets supplemented with IMO, CHE or their combination did not influence the diarrhoea rate and intestinal morphology, while co-administration of IMO with CHE tended to have higher average daily gain. Serum biochemical analysis showed that dietary CHE decreased aspartate aminotransferase levels, while inclusion of IMO led to a decrease in high-density lipoprotein. Moreover, co-administration of IMO with CHE significantly upregulated the expression of TGF-β, a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine, in jejunal mucosa of piglets. Further, CHE significantly increased the abundance of Bifidobacterium in ileal digesta. Meanwhile, the combination of IMO and CHE significantly increased Bifidobacterium in the caecum of piglets. Additionally, dietary IMO, CHE or their combination significantly reduced the number of potential entero-pathogen Escherichia coli in ileal contents and Clostridium species in caecal digesta. These results indicated that application of IMO or CHE could favourably modulate the intestinal microbial composition of piglets, while their beneficial impact and molecular mechanism on intestinal health warrants further investigation.

Afforestation of former agricultural land changes soil characteristics such as pH and organic matter content, which may affect heavy metal solubility in the soil. In this study the effects of different tree species on heavy metal solubility were investigated at four 34 years old adjacent stands of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), grand fir (Abies grandis Lindl.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and oak (Quercus robur L.) planted on former agricultural land at four different sites in Denmark. The sites differ in soil characteristics and represent two texture classes (loamy sand and sandy loam). Soil pH and soil organic matter content was measured in the 16 stands and soil solution was isolated by centrifugation from three depths at four different occasions. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), pH in the soil solution and the soil solution concentrations (availability) of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were determined. Analysis of variance showed that the tree species affects soil pH and organic matter content in the topsoil, but not in the lower horizons. Norway spruce and grand fir acidify more than beech and oak, and the highest amount of accumulated soil organic matter is in the topsoil under Norway spruce. The effects of tree species on soil solution pH and DOC resemble the effect on soil pH and organic matter content. Grand fir enhances the solubility of Cd and Zn in the topsoil with the lower solubility found under beech and oak and Norway spruce enhances the solubility of Cu, Ni and Pb in the top horizons. The lowest solubility of Ni and Pb is found under beech and oak, whereas the lowest Cu concentrations in the soil solution are found under grand fir. After 34 years of afforestation no effects of tree species on the concentrations of heavy metals in the soil solution from the C-horizons were found. The tree species effect on the concentration of Cd, Cu and Ni in the soil solution depends on the soil characteristics with the higher concentrations found in sandy loam soils, whereas no effect of site on the solution concentration was found for Pb and Zn. It was not possible to find a clear correlation between the soil solution concentrations of heavy metals, pH and DOC concentration.

Physicochemical properties of environmental media can affect the adsorption of arsenic (As) by microplastics

Objective To investigate the regulative effect of the extract of Radix Ranunculi Ternati, Radix Sophorae Flavescenti, Prunella vulgaris L. and Stellera chamaejasme L. on cellular immunity induced by multiple drugs resistant bacillus tuberculosis（MDR-TB） from pneumoconiosis patients complicated with tuberculosis in rats. Methods MDR-TB model in rats was induced by MDR-TB. Normal control group were feed by standard feed, model group were irrigated by normal saline, and the other groups were respectively feed by the extract of Chinese herbal medicines. The content of IFN-y, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-12 were examined by ELISA. RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA levels of them. Results The content of IFN-y of the four extracts of Chinese herbal medicines were （2.01±0.73）, （1.92±0.56） , （1.98±0.67） and （1.94±0.59） pg/ml, IL-4 were （6.01±1.46）, （6.12±1.35）, （6.47±1.46） and （6.15±1.44） pg/ml, IL-10were （12.09±3.07）, （12.45±4.01）, （12.13±3.43） and （12.54±3.78） pg/ml, IL-12 were （2.99±0.89）, （2.75±0.84）, （ 3.02±0.86） and （ 2.89±0.75 ） pg/ml. Compared to the model group, they resulted in significant in serum IFN-y, IL-12, IL-4 and IL-10 （P〈0.05 or P〈0.01 ） , the mRNA levels of them were significantly （P〈0.05 or P〈0.01 ）. Conclusion The four extracts of Chinese herbal medicines can enhance the cellar immunological function in rats from up-regulation of the level of genetic transcription,accrdingly provide the theory base of healing of pneumociosis patients complicaled with tuberculosis with them. Key words: Radix Ranunculi Ternati; Radix Sophorae Flavescentis; Prunella vulgaris L. ; Stellerachamaejasme L. ; Cytokine

Cell-based high-throughput proliferation and cytotoxicity assays for screening traditional Chinese herbal medicines

Potential of dissolved organic matter (DOM) to extract As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn from polluted soils: A review

Tropical lowland rainforests (TLRFs) of Sri Lanka are considered as diverse ecosystems which play a vital role in climate change mitigation. In recent years, increasing deforestation leads to diminishing their potential ecosystem roles. For efficient forest conservation, knowledge of both above- and below-ground characteristics of TLRFs is required. Currently, above-ground information on TLRFs is sufficiently available but the details on the below-ground characteristics are limited. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate pedo-geochemical properties of lowland rain forests of Kanneliya (KDN) and Pitadeniya, (PTD) in Sri Lanka. Four sampling plots with 1 ha in size (KDN1, KDN2, PTD1 and PTD2) were established, selecting altitudes of 117, 174, 509, and 618 m asl, respectively. Five representative near-surface (up to 25 cm) samples were collected from each plot for the investigation. Soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were measured while soil organic matter (SOM) content was determined by (i) Walkey-Black (WB) and (ii) Loss on ignition (LI) methods. Data were analysed by ANOVA and means were compared using Duncan‘s test. All measured parameters were significantly different (P<0.05) among the sampling plots. Soil pH and EC values were ranged between 3.43– 3.78 and 0.28–0.44 dS m-1, respectively. The highest CEC was recorded in PTD2 (11.09±3.44 cmol(+)/kg) whereas the lowest was in PTD1 (5.31±1.26 cmol(+)/kg). The highest SOM was recorded in PTD1 (17.71±4.42% in WB, 18.04±3.98% in LI) whereas the lowest was noted in PTD2 (5.81±3.07% in WB, 8.21±2.13% in LI). According to the comparison made between WB and LI methods, LI method recorded higher SOM content. The actual SOM and volatilizable water in hygroscopic mineral fractions might be the reason for the higher values in LI method. All acquired data were compared with standard interpretation data and accordingly, soils of the measured TLRFs are acidic, non-saline and non-reduced with sufficient soil aeration. Even though, TLRF vegetation produce high amount of biomass, soil CEC and SOM contents are low in the study area due to rapid microbial decomposition and absorption of dense vegetation. There was no linear relationship between measured parameters and altitude. Overall, measured soil chemical properties can be considered as ideal indicators of TLRFs conservation and therefore, it needs to be correlated with above-ground properties for understanding the behaviour of TLRFs responding to conservation strategies. 
 Keywords: Forest conservation, Soil chemical properties, Soil organic matter content, Tropical lowland rainforest

Dissolved organic matter mediates the interactions between bacterial community and heavy metal fractionation in contaminated coal mine soils.