Records of Natural Products

A new alkaloid glycoside (1) and six known alkaloids (2–7) were isolated from the stems of Zanthoxylum dissitum Hemsl.. The structure of compound 1 was resolved by spectrum data, including MS, IR, UV, and MS. All compounds obtained in this research were evaluated for their inhibitions against NO release from LPS-activated RAW264.7 macrophages. Compounds 1-3, 6 and 7 showed significant inhibition activities with IC50 values of 26.12±0.81, 8.41±0.23, 13.75±0.54, 6.97±0.77, and 5.78±0.42 μM, respectively.

The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves of Lindera fragrans Oliv. was determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Sixty two compounds accounting 76.45% of the essential oil were identified.  The main constituents found to be spathulenol (27.63%), ledol (6.81%), β-caryophyllene (4.01%), (+)-cis-limonene oxide (3.69%), α-cadinol (3.24%). The disc diffusion method on antimicrobial activities revealed that it has remarkable inhibition effect against Escherichia coli (CP009072.1), Staphylococcus aureus (CP009361.1), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CP015117.1) and Candida albicans (FJ159643.1). Antioxidant capacity of the essential oil was evaluated by 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and β- carotene bleaching assay, and it did not show effective antioxidant activity.

In this study two different extraction techniques namely, conventional hydrodistillation (HD) and micro-steam distillation-solid-phase microextraction (MSD-SPME), were used to analyze the volatile constituents from the leaves and the galls of Salvia fruticosa Mill. by gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The oxygenated monoterpenes (62.4-69.3%) were found to be predominating compound group with 1,8-cineole and camphor as the main constituents in all the tested samples with the exception of the gall oil in which oxygenated sesquiterpenes (25.6%) and diterpenes (17.3%) were detected in high percentages. Qualitative differences of the volatiles obtained by HD and MSD-SPME techniques from the leaf and the galls are discussed. The resulting leaf essential oils were evaluated for their in vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition potential. In vitro DPPH scavenging, and Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Capacity (CUPRAC) assays were used to evaluate the leaf essential oils. AChE inhibition 41.2% and antioxidant 36.8% assays results showed moderate levels of activity. In this present study, to the best of our knowledge comparative leaf and gall volatiles of S. fruticosa was reported for first time.

Salvianolic acid B (SAB) is one of main components of the dried roots and rhizomes of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (RSM), which is widely used as a medicinal herb in East-Asia. According to traditional Korean medicine, RSM promotes blood flow, and thus, we investigated the effects of administering SAB after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced brain injury in a mouse model. I/R-induced brain injury was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 2 h. SAB was orally administered to mice twice after 3 and 6 h of occlusion at 5, 15, or 45 mg/kg body weight. Administration of SAB at 45 mg/kg significantly reduced infarct volumes and edema indices and suppressed interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in brain ipsilateral hemispheres. SAB also down-regulated Mn-SOD protein expression in affected brain tissues after I/R-induced brain injury. Our results indicate the neuro-protective effects of salvianolic acid B are due to its anti-inflammatory effect mediated by intra-cellular superoxide scavenging..