Comprehensive separation and identification of chemical constituents from Apocynum venetum leaves by high-performance counter-current chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry

High-performance counter-current chromatography (HPCCC) and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was efficiently utilized for the separation and identification of the chemical components with a wide range of polarity from the mixed extract of Chinese medicinal herb Apocynum venetum. For HPCCC separation, four sets of solvent systems, n-hexane-ethyl acetate-acetonitrile-water (1.5:3.5:2:4.5, v:v:v:v), ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:2:5, v:v:v) and n-butanol-methanol-water (5:1:5, v:v:v) were used for the one-step separation by four stages. The HPCCC separation was initiated by filling the column with the lower phase of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-acetonitrile-water (1.5:3.5:2:5, v:v:v:v) as a stationary phase followed by elution with the upper phase of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-acetonitrile-water (1.5:3.5:2:5, v:v:v:v) to separate the hydrophobic compounds (tail to head). Then the mobile phase was switched to the upper phase of ethyl acetate-acetonitrile-water (5:3:7, v:v:v) to eluted the moderate hydrophobic compounds, then the mobile phase was switched to the upper phase of ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:2:5, v:v:v) to eluted the moderate hydrophilic compounds, and finally the hydrophilic compounds still retained in the column was eluted by the upper phase of n-butanol-methanol-water (5:1:5, v:v:v). A total of 16 named compounds including adhyperforin, hyperforin, amentoflavone, biapigenin, quercetin, avicularin, acetylated isoquercetin, acetylated hyperoside, astragalin, trifolin, isoquercetin, hyperoside, querciturone, rutin, chlorogenic acid and quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucosyl-β-D-glucopyranoside were successfully separated via the four sets of solvent systems in one step operation for 130 min. The compounds separated by HPCCC were identified by comparing with mixed standards data of HPLC-MS as well as NMR data.     

Activation of caspase 3 in HepG2 cells by elaidic acid (t18:1)

In order to examine the effects of trans-unsaturated fatty acids (TFAs) on HepG2 cells, cells were grown in serum-free media supplemented with elaidic acid (t18:1); t18:1 is the trans-isomer of oleic acid and is the major component of TFAs in foods. Both t18:1 and palmitic acids (16:0) at concentrations higher than 100 microM inhibited growth and decreased the rate of protein synthesis. The presence of phosphatidylserine in the outer leaflet of the lipid bilayer, indicative of apoptosis, occurred 1 h after the addition of both t18:1 and 16:0 to the media. Caspase 3 was found to be activated by these fatty acids: caspase 8 was activated by 16:0 and only moderately by t18:1. Activation of caspase 3 by these fatty acids was fully inhibited by a caspase 8 inhibitor. However, growth inhibition by t18:1 was partially prevented by the caspase 8 inhibitor. These results suggest that cell death caused by t18:1 may proceed by both caspase-dependent and -independent pathways.     

Book Review Section: Reviewer's Choice

Art and the Seafarer: The Viking Press, 625 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10022: List Price $28.00. Reviewed by Hans Jurgen Hansen.

Sculpture with a Torch: University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis 14, Minnesota: List Price $2.95. Reviewed by John Rood.

Contemporary Art with Wood: Crown Publishers, Inc.: 419 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10016: List Price $6.95. Reviewed by Dona 2. Meilach.

All Around-the-House Art and Craft Book: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2 Park Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02107: List Price $5.00. Reviewed by Patricia Z. Wirtenberg.

Creative Ink Drawings: Watson-Guptill Publications 165 West 46th Street, New York, New York 10036: List Price $10.50. Reviewed by Paul Hogarth.

Lithography for Artists: Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016: List Price $1.75. Reviewed by Stanley Jones.

Graphic Arts Encyclopedia: McGraw-Hill Book Company 330 West 42nd Street, New York, New York 10036: List Price $16.50. Reviewed by George A. Stevenson.

100 Watercolor Techniques: Watson-Guptill Publications 165 West 46rh Street, New York, New York 10036: List Price $15.00. Reviewed by Norman Kent.     

Sex attractants for six clearwing and tineid species (Lepidoptera, Sesiidae and Tineidae) from Kazakhstan and Lithuania

Sex attractants for 3 Sesiidae and 3 Tineidae moth species in West-Kazakhstan and Lithuania were discovered by field screening tests of (3Z,13Z)-, (3E,13Z)- and (2E,13Z)-octadecadien-1-ols and their acetates as well as of some binary mixtures of these compounds. Total amount of chemicals was 0.3 mg/dispenser. Males of Synanthedon serica were attracted by a 5:5 mixture of 3E,13Z-18:OAc and 2E,13Z-18:OAc, Chamaesphecia bibioniformis by a 9:1 mixture of 3Z,13Z-18:OAc and 3E,13Z-18:OAc, Paranthrene tabaniformis by a 1:9 mixture of 3Z,13Z-18:OH and 3E,13Z-18:OH, Tinea nonimella by a 1:9 mixture of 3E,13Z-18:OH and 2E,13Z-18:OH, Monopis monachella by a 1:9 mixture of 3Z,13Z-18:OH and 2E,13Z-18:OH, and Nemaxera betulinella by a 9:1 mixture of 2E,13Z-18:OAc and the corresponding alcohol. The periods of attraction to the traps were registered for males of S. serica and Ch. bibioniformis and were found to occur at 15-18 and 15-17 o'clock, local time, respectively.     

Existence of endogenous inhibitors of platelet-activating factor (PAF) with PAF in rat uterus

Two kinds of phospholipids in normal rat uterus were found to inhibit the aggregation of washed rabbit platelets induced by 1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (alkylacetyl-GPC) and were named Inhibitor I and Inhibitor II and identified by mass spectrometry. Inhibitor I was a mixture of 1-acyl (16:0, 18:0, 18:1, 18:2, and 20:4)-2-lyso-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (acyllyso-GPC) and 1-alkyl (16:0, 18:0, and 18:1)-2-lyso-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (alkyllyso-GPC). 16:0 acyllyso-GPC was the most inhibitory, followed by 18:1, 18:2, 20:4, and 18:0 acyllyso-GPCs and 16:0 alkyllyso-GPC. Their IC50 values were in the range of 1-4 X 10(-5) M against the platelet aggregation induced by 1 X 10(-10) M 16:0 alkylacetyl-GPC, indicating that they were about 100 times weaker inhibitors than CV-3988. Inhibitor II was a mixture of N-acyl sphing-4-enyl phosphocholine (18:1/18:0, 18:1/20:0, 18:1/24:0, and 18:1/24:2). The most inhibitory of these components were 18:1/20:0 and 18:1/24:0, followed by 18:1/24:2 and 18:1/18:0, and their IC50 values were in the range of 4-5 X 10(-5) M against platelet aggregation induced by the alkylacetyl-GPC. Quantitatively, about 10(5) times higher concentrations of these inhibitors should be necessary to inhibit platelet aggregation induced by 1 X 10(-10) M 16:0 alkylacetyl-GPC. In fact, the contents of Inhibitors I and II, respectively, were approximately 10(5) times (4.7 X 10(-2) and 7.1 X 10(-2) mol/mol lipid-phosphorus of the original uterine phospholipids) than that of 16:0 alkylacetyl-GPC (1.4 X 10(-6) mol/mol lipid-phosphorus). The role of alkylacetyl-GPC in normal rat uterus is uncertain, but it coexists in situ with two kinds of endogenous inhibitors, choline containing lysoglycerophospholipids and sphingophospholipids.     

Reviewer's Choice: Book Review Section

Sculpture in Plastics: Watson-Guptill Publications: List Price $1 1.95. Revewed by Nicholas Roukes.

Pastel Painting Step-By-Step: Watson-Guptill Publications: List Price $12.50. Revewed by Elinor Lathrop Sears.

Taste: Exposition Press Inc.: List Price $4.00. Revewed by Chridopher Browne Gamert, Jr.

Experiments in Modern Art: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.: List Price $5.95. Revewed by Roy Barrio.

Complete Guide to Flower Painting: Watson-Guptill Publications: List Price $12.50. Revewed by Ralph Fabri.

The Art of Papier Mache: Chilton Book Compmny: List Price $12.50. Revewed by Carla and John B. Kepny.     

Reviewer's Choice: Coming Soon … Art Exhibits

Photography As A Tool: Time-Life Books: List Price $9.95. Reviewed by the Editors of Time-Life.

Macrame: Creative Design in Knotting: Crown Publishers, Inc.: List Price: $7.95. Reviewed by Dona Z. MeilliCh.

Introducing Seed Collage: Watson-Guptill: List Price &7.95. Reviewed by Caryl and Gordon Simms.

Visual Education in the Primary School: Watson-Guptill: List Price $7.97. Reviewed by John M. Pickering.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Gays/Justice by Richard Mohr.
Death:Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria , edited by Richard M. Zaner.
The Contraceptive Ethos:Reproductive Rights and Responsibilities Edited by S.F. Spicker, W.B. Bondeson, H.T. Englehardt, Jr., Dordrecht, Holland:D. Reidel.
Made to Order:The Myth of Reproductive and Genetic Progress Edited by Patricial Spallone and Deborah Lynn Steinberg.
Reproductive Technologies:Gender, Motherhood and Medicine Edited by Michele Stanworth.
For the Patient's Good:The Restoration of Beneficence in Health Care by Edmund D. Pellegrino and David C. Thomasma.
'The Physician as Captain of the Ship:A Critical Reappraisal', Philosophy and Medicine , vol. 29. Edited by Nancy M.P. King, Larry R. Churchill, and Alan W. Cross.     

Reviewer's Choice: Book Review Section

Sculpture in America: Thomas Y. Crowell Co.: 201 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003: List Price $1 7.50. Revewed by Wayne Craven.

Buttons: Walker and Company 720 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10019: List Price $3.50. Revewed by Diana Epstein.

Art Lessons on a Shoestring: Parker Publishing Ca.: 1 Village Square, 10 Nyack, New York 10994: List Price $8.95. Revewed by Ruth 1. Peck, Robert 5. Aniello.

Introduction to the Visual Arts: Tudor Publishing Company, 221 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003: List Price $4.95. Revewed by S. Ralph Maurello.

Creating From Clay: Reinhold Book Corporation, 430 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022: List Price $7.50. Revewed by Henry Petterson.

Design by Accident: Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, New York 10014: List Price $3.00. Revewed by James F. O'Brien.

Simple Stage Costumes and How to Make Them: Watson-Guptill Publications 165 West 46th Street, New York, New York 10036

Basic, Typography: Watson-Guptill Publications, 165 West 46th Street, New York, New York 10036: List Price $8.50. Revewed by John R. Biggs.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviws in this Article
The Misfortunes of Others: End-Stage Renal Disease in the United Kingdom, by Thomas Halper.
Centre for Early Human Development, Monash University
The Caring Imperative in Education, edited by Madeleine Leininger and Jean Watson, New York: National League for Nursing, 1990
Toward a Caring Curriculum: A New Pedagogy for Nursing, by Em Olivia Bevis and Jean Watson, New York: National League for Nursing, 1989
The Ethics of Care and the Ethics of Cure: Synthesis in Chronicity, edited by Jean Watson and Marilyn A.
Human Life and Medical Practice, by J.K. Mason, Edinburgh University Press
Preventing Birth: Contemporary Methods and Related Moral Controversies, by James W. Knight and Joan C. Callahan, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989
Social Science Perspectives on Medical Ethics, edited by George Weisz, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviws in this Article
The Human Body and the Law, 2nd edition by D.W. Meyers, Edinburgh University Press, 1990
Classic Cases in Medical Ethics by Gregory E. Pence. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. 1990
Changing Values in Medical and Health Care Decision Making, edited by Uffejuul Jensen and Gavin Mooney. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1990
IVF and Justice by Teresa Iglesias, London: The Linacre Centre For Health Care Ethics, 1990
The Practical, Moral and Personal Sense of Nursing: A Phenomenon-ological Philosophy of Practice by Anne H. Bishop and John R. Scudder, Jr. New York: State University of New York Press, 1990
A Companion to Ethics, edited by Peter Singer. Oxford and Cambridge, Mass: Basil Blackwell, 1991.
Ethics and Law in Health Care and Research edited by Peter Byrne, Chichester, UK: 1990
The Human Embryo edited by G.R. Dunstan, Exeter: Exeter University Press, 1990
Everyday Ethics: Resolving Dilemmas in Nursing Home Life by Rosalie A. Kane and Arthur L. Caplan. N.Y.: Springer Publishing Company, 1990
Psychiatric Ethics, 2nd edition, edited by S. Bloch and P. Chodoff. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1991
Health Care and Gender by Charlotte Muller. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1990     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
The Ethics of Reproductive Technology edited by Kenneth D. Alpern. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992
Medical Confidentiality and Legal Privilege by Jean V. McHale. London and New York: Routledge, 1993
The Codes of Codes , edited by Daniel J. Kevles and Leroy Hood. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992
The Troubled Dream of Life: Living with Mortality by Daniel Callahan. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1993
International Directory of Bioethics Organizations. Anita L. Nolen and Mary Carrington Coutts, editors. Bioethics Resource Series, Volume 1. Washington, DC: Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, 1993
The Codification of Medical Morality, Volume One: Medical Ethics and Etiquette in the Eighteenth Century , edited by Robert Baker, Dorothy Porter and Roy Porter. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1993
Pursuing Parenthood: Ethical Issues in Assisted Reproduction by Paul Lauritzen. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993     

Full Cycle

Making Things: The Handbook of Creative Discovery: Little, Brown and Co. List Price $6.95. Reviewed by Ann Wiseman

Selling your Art Work: A. S. Barnes &; Co., Inc. List Price $8.95. Reviewed by Milton K. Berlye

American Pieced Quilts: The Viking Press, Inc. List Price $5.95. Reviewed by Jonathan Holstein

The Art Crowd: David McKay Co., Inc. List Price $8.95. Reviewed by Sophy Burnham

Off the Loom: Creating with Fibre: The Viking Press, Inc. List Price $8.95. Reviewed by Shirley Marein

Grammar of Ornament: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company List Price $35.00. Reviewed by Owen Jones

Few Comforts or Surprises: The Arkansas Delta: The MIT Press List Price $9.95. Reviewed by Eugene Richards

Clay and Glazes For the Potter (revised edition): Chilton Book Co. List Price $1 2.50. Reviewed by Daniel Rhodes

The Inspector: The Viking Press, Inc. List Price $10.00. Reviewed by Saul Steinberg     

一种简便的肌醇磷脂微量分析方法

分析磷脂酰肌醇循环(PI cycle)的磷脂组分常采用双向薄层层析法．建立了一个简单快速的单向薄层层析分离肌醇磷脂方法．首先采用不同的有机溶剂体系分别提取非多磷酸肌醇磷脂和多磷酸肌醇磷脂,然后用不同的层析展开体系,对两部分磷脂进行单向薄层层析分离．采用无载体 ³²P标记实验对该方法分离效果进行了观察．此法适用于同位素标记和非标记样品中肌醇磷脂组分的比较分析及多磷酸肌醇磷脂的提取、纯化和定量．     

THE GROWTH OF BOTRYTIS CINEREA PERS., FUSARIUM CAERULEUM (LIB.) SACC., AND PHOMA FOVEATA FOISTER IN THE PRESENCE OF TETRACHLORONITROBENZENE ISOMERS

The linear growth of Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium caeruleum and Phoma foveata in culture was reduced in the presence of vapour from any of the three isomers of tetrachloronitrobenzene. The isomers were fungistatic but not fungicidal.
Differences in activity were observed amongst the isomers. The 2:3:4:6 isomer was the most active against all three test fungi. 2:3:5:6-TCNB (tecnazene) was more active than 2:3:4:5-TCNB against Botrytis cinerea , but less active against Fusarium caeruleum and Phoma foveata . Two strains of Fusarium caeruleum resistant to the 2:3:5:6 isomer were not resistant to the other two isomers, although they were more resistant than their 2:3:5:6-TCNB sensitive parent strains.
Sporulation and sclerotial production by Botrytis cinerea were completely suppressed by 2:3:5:6-TCNB and 2:3:4:6-TCNB but not by the 2:3:4:5: isomer.     

Preparative separation of four triterpene saponins from radix astragali by high-speed counter-current chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection

Four triterpene saponins, including astragaloside IV, astragaloside II, astragaloside I and acetylastragaloside I, were successfully isolated and separated by high-speed counter-current chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection from Radix Astragali using stepwise elution with a pair of solvent systems composed of n-hexane:ethyl acetate:ethanol:water in volume ratios of 1:0.6:0.6:1 and 1:1:1:1 (by volume). The isolation produced 26.5 mg astragaloside IV, 28.2 mg astragaloside II, 48.7 mg astragaloside I and 17.6 mg acetylastragaloside I with purities of 97.6, 96.4, 98.8 and 96.8%, respectively, determined by high-performance liquid chromatography from 250 mg crude extract. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were identified by UV, NMR and MS, and confirmed by authentic standards.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviws in this Article Medicine, Medical Ethics and the Value of Life, edited by Peter Byrne. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 1990 Life, Death, Genes and Ethics, by Max Charlesworth. Sydney: ABC Books, 1989 Euthanasia: the Moral Issues, edited by Robert M. Baird and Stuart E. Rosenbaum. New York: Prometheus Books, 1989 Aids: testing and privacy by Martin Gunderson, David J. Mayo and Frank S. Rhame. Salt Lake City, University of Utah Press, 1989 Birth Power: the Case for Surrogacy, by Carmel Shalev. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989 AIDS and Professional Secrecy, International Centre of Study and Research on the Ethical, Juridical and Medical-Legal Problems relative to AIDS, Scientific Institute of the Hospital S. Raffaele of Milan, edited by Paolo Cattorini. Padova: Liviana Edit rice, 1989 Clinical Ethics: Theory and Practice, edited by Barry Hoffmaster, Benjamin Freedman and Gwen Fraser. Humana Press, Clifton, New Jersey, 1989 WHO AM I? Identity, adoption and human fertilisation, by Christine Walby and Barbara Symons. London: British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, 1990     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviws in this Article Meta-Medical Ethics: The Philosophical Foundations of Bioethics, edited by Michael A. Grodin. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995 Autonoaty and Intervention: Parentalism in the Caring Life, by Job Kultgen. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995 Long-Term Care Decisions, Ethical and Conceptual Dimensions, edited by Laurence McCullough and Nancy Wilson. Baltimore; The John Hopkins University Press, 1995 Contemplating Suicide: The Language and Ethics of Self Harm by Gavin Fairbairn. Landon and New York: Routledge, 1995     

Fatty acids and the selective alteration of in vitro proliferation in human fibroblast and guinea-pig smooth-muscle cells

Summary Human-foreskin fibroblast (HF) and guinea-pig aorta smooth-muscle (SM) cultures were treated with several saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Relative plating efficiencies were used to determine the proliferative response to each treatment. At low concentrations (16 to 18 μm), proliferation in HF cultures was inhibited by 8,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid (20:3), and stimulated by both 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (20:4) and 9-octadecenoic acid (18:1). At these levels, proliferation in SM cultures was unchanged by 20:3, inhibited by 20:4, and enhanced by 18:1. At higher concentrations (80 to 90 μm), HF cultures were inhibited by all three unsaturated fatty acids. At these same concentrations, proliferation in SM cultures was inhibited by 20:3 and 20:4, whereas 18:1 continued to stimulate proliferation. Thus proliferative response was a specific effect of the fatty acid used, its concentration, and the cell line involved. Further treatment of SM cultures by tetradecanoic acid (14:0), hexadecanoic acid (16:0), and octadecanoic acid (18:0) showed that their relative abilities to inhibit cell proliferation increased with increasing chain length. Concentrations required for the effective inhibition of proliferation in SM cultures by 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0 were 220 μm, 95μm and 18μm, respectively. The fatty acids used in these studies are all endogenous components of sera used as growth supplements in in vitro systems. Their roles as prostaglandin and hydroperoxy fatty-acid precursors (20:3 and 20:4), inhibitors of prostaglandin biosynthesis (18:1), or as calcium ionophores (14:0, 16:0, and 18:0) may allow them to function as endogenous controls of cell proliferation. This work was supported in part by National Heart and Lung Institute Grant HL-11897.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Standard of Care by George J. Annas. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993
Medicine, Money and Morals by Marc A. Rodwin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993
Medical Ethics Today: Its Practice and Philosophy , British Medical Association. London: BMJ Publishers, 1993
Biomedical Ethics Reviews: 1992 edited by James M. Huber and Robert F. Almeder. Totawa, New Jersey: Humana Press, 1993