The effect of turmeric extracts on inflammatory mediator production.

Major compounds of several commonly used botanicals, including turmeric, have been purported to have anti-inflammatory actions. In order to test the anti-inflammatory activity of compounds isolated from rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae), we have established an in vitro test system. HL-60 cells were differentiated and exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Escherichia coli (1 microg/ml) in the presence or absence of botanical compounds for 24 h. Supernatants were collected and analyzed for the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) using standard ELISA assays. Water-soluble extracts were not cytotoxic and did not exhibit biological activity. Organic extracts of turmeric were cytotoxic only at concentrations above 50 microg/ml. Crude organic extracts of turmeric were capable of inhibiting LPS-induced TNF-alpha (IC50 value = 15.2 microg/ml) and PGE2 (IC50 value = 0.92 microg/ml) production. Purified curcumin was more active than either demethoxy- or bisdemethoxycurcumin. Fractions and subfractions of turmeric extracts collected via preparative HPLC had differing biological activity, ranging from no activity to IC50 values of < 1 microg/ml. For some fractions, subfractionation resulted in a loss of activity, indicating interaction of the compounds within the fraction to produce an anti-inflammatory effect. A combination of several of the fractions that contain the turmeric oils was more effective than the curcuminoids at inhibiting PGE2. While curcumin inhibited COX-2 expression, turmeric oils had no effect on levels of COX-2 mRNA.     

西芹种子子浸提液对黄瓜枯萎病菌的化感作用

为探讨西芹种子浸提液对黄瓜枯萎病菌是否有化感作用及其化感作用强度的大小,采用蒸馏水、乙醇、丙酮作为浸提剂,获得西芹种子的浸提液.用生长速率法研究其对黄瓜枯萎病菌的化感作用.结果表明:西芹种子的水、乙醇、丙酮浸提液都对黄瓜枯萎病菌有化感作用,浓度越大化感作用越强;50 mg·ml-1浓度的3种浸提液处理后144 h时与对照相比抑制黄瓜枯萎病菌蒸馏水浸提液为31.1%,乙醇浸提液为49.6%,丙酮浸提液为57.5%;乙醇、丙酮浸提液的化感作用强度大于蒸馏水浸提液.     

Sedating effects of Humulus lupulus L. extracts.

It was the aim of the study to check ethanolic and CO2 extracts from Humulus lupulus for sedating activity. Both preparations reduced the spontaneous locomotor activity, increased the ketamine-induced sleeping time and reduced body temperature, confirming a central sedating effect. No indications of anxiolytic activity were found in the elevated plus maze test for any of the test preparations. This sedating activity could be attributed to three categories of constituents of lipophilic hops extracts. Though the alpha-bitter acids proved to the be most active constituents, the beta-bitter acids and the hop oil clearly contributed to the sedating activity of lipophilic Humulus extracts.     

Purification of soluble hepatocellular carcinoma extracts.

When soluble hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) extract prepared by 3 M KCl solution was passed through a column of Sephadex G-200, four fractions (designated as I, II, III, IV) could be obtained from the elution profile. By leukocyte migration inhibition assay, the active component of soluble HCC extract which represented tumor-associated antigen was shown to be contained in fractions I and II.     

Antifilarial activity of Centratherum anthelminticum seed extracts on Setaria cervi.

Effect of aqueous and alcoholic extract of C. anthelminticum was studied on the spontaneous movements of the whole worm and nerve-muscle preparation of S. cervi. Ethylacetate, acetone and methanol extract showed similar effect, of causing inhibition of spontaneous motility of the nerve-muscle preparation of S. cervi characterized by decreased amplitude and frequency of contractions. The inhibitory effect on the motility was reversible. Further, the extracts did not involve the blockade of cholinergic receptors as evidenced by the presence of unaltered stimulant response of acetylcholine in the presence of drug in bathing fluid.     

Effects of extracts of rat tissues on the action of bleomycin.

The cell sap (105 000 times g supernatant) of various tissues of rats caused DNA degradation in the presence of bleomycin. The activity was fractionated into two peaks by column chromatography on Sephadex G-25. The activity in Peak A (excluded fraction) appeared to be due to some proteinaceous entity, while that recovered in Peak B (retarded fraction), constituting about 90% of the total activity, seemed to be due to ascorbic acid, judging by results of further gel filtration and the effect of treatment with ascorbate oxidase. Incubation of bleomycin with Peak A or B caused loss of the ability of the antibiotic to degrade DNA. It is proposed that the action of bleomycin on DNA, and its inactivation by tissue extracts, depend, at least in part, on the presence of ascorbic acid.     

Mechanism of antimutagenicity of wheat sprout extracts.

In this paper we have demonstrated that wheat sprout extract, which has been shown to be antimutagenic towards benzo[a]pyrene (BP), reduced formation of BP metabolites by hepatic microsomes of either benzo[a]pyrene- or phenobarbital-treated rats as analyzed in high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Comparing the time dependence of profiles and values of BP metabolites, formed in experiments in which the same dose of wheat sprout extract was added to the incubation medium, it has been observed that the later this extract was added the higher the percent of BP that was metabolized. In a bacterial test (cytochrome P450 induction assay) high inhibition of mutagenic activity of cyclophosphamide and ethidium bromide, in the presence of wheat sprout extract, reflected decreased levels of cytochromes P4502B1 and P4501A1 respectively. Decreased levels of both cytochromes P4501A1 and P4502B1 were also observed in either wheat sprout extract- or wheat sprout extract plus benzo[a]pyrene-treated rats. In all of these studies it has been observed that wheat sprout extract displays much more affinity for cytochrome P4501A1 than for the P4502B1 form. On the other hand the wheat sprout extract had higher affinity for carcinogen binding protein (4S protein) than for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor. The strong inhibition of BP mutagenicity and BP metabolism with non-chlorophyllic wheat sprout extract suggests that chlorophyll is not the main compound responsible for the antimutagenic activity of wheat sprout extract. The similar chromatographic behavior of both the main inhibitory fraction, obtained from wheat sprout extract, and two pure glycosides of apigenin--shaftoside, purified from wheat sprout extract and synthetic swertisine--suggests that antimutagenic compound(s) contained in the wheat sprout extract belong(s) to this family of flavonoids.