Sesquiterpenoids from the Florets of Carthamus tinctorius (Safflower) and Their Anti-Atherosclerotic Activity

(1) Background: The florets of Carthamus tinctorius L. are traditionally used as a blood-activating drug and can be used for the treatment of atherosclerosis, but no compounds with anti-atherosclerotic activity have been reported. (2) Methods: This study investigated the chemical compounds from the florets of C. tinctorius. Comprehensive spectroscopic techniques revealed their structures, and ECD calculations established their absolute configurations. Nile Red staining, Oil Red O staining, and cholesterol assessment were performed on these compounds and their aglycones for the inhibitory activity against the formation of foam cells induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) in RAW264.7 macrophages. In addition, RAW264.7 macrophages were tested for their anti-inflammatory activity by measuring the inhibition of NO production caused by LPS. (3) Results: Five new sesquiterpenoids (1–5) isolated from the florets of C. tinctorius were identified as (–)-(1R,4S,9S,11R)-caryophyll-8(13)-en-14-ol-5-one (1), (+)-(1R,4R,9S,11R)-caryophyll-8(13)-en-14-ol-5-one (2), (–)-(3Z,1R,5S,8S,9S,11R)-5,8-epoxycaryophyll-3-en-14-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), (+)-(1S,7R,10S)-guai-4-en-3-one-11-O-β-D-fucopyranoside (4), and (–)-(2R,5R,10R)-vetispir-6-en-8-one-11-O-β-D-fucopyranoside (5). All compounds except for compound 3 reduced the lipid content in ox-LDL-treated RAW264.7 cells. Compounds 3 and 4 and their aglycones were found to reduce the level of total cholesterol (TC) and free cholesterol (FC) in ox-LDL-treated RAW264.7 cells. However, no compounds showed anti-inflammatory activity. (4) Conclusion: Sesquiterpenoids from C. tinctorius help to decrease the content of lipids, TC and FC in RAW264.7 cells, but they cannot inhibit NO production, which implies that their anti-atherogenic effects do not involve the inhibition of inflammation

Serum NCAM levels and cognitive deficits in first episode schizophrenia patients versus health controls

Background: Neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is a glycoprotein and plays an important role in cell-cell adhesion, neural migration, neurite outgrowth, synaptic plasticity and brain development. We investigated the relationship between the serum NCAM concentration and cognitive deficit in first episode drug naïve schizophrenia (FES) patients. Methods: Thirty FES patients and thirty healthy controls were recruited for this study. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). Cognitive functions were assessed by measurement and treatment research to improve cognition in schizophrenia (MATRICS) and consensus cognitive battery (MCCB). Serum levels of NCAM were determined by ELISA. Results: Schizophrenia patients had decreased serum NCAM concentrations than controls (−30%, p Conclusions: There were a close relationship between the serum NCAM concentrations and cognitive deficits in FES patients. Since NCAM has an important role in neurodevelopmental processes, these results support the neurodevelopmental dysfunction hypothesis of schizophrenia and suggest that an altered NCAM may be one of the risk factors for schizophrenia including cognitive deficits

Effects of substrate temperature on the uniformity of InGaAs epilayers using a dual-zone manipulator

Three-inch InGaAs epilayers are grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy using the manipulator equipped with dual-zone heaters. The effects of the substrate temperature on the uniformity of material surface morphology, indium composition, photoluminescence, electronic mobility, and background doping are investigated. As the temperature of the outer heater in the range of 625 \ub0C to 655 \ub0C, no dim area is observed on the edge of the material surface. At the same time, the indium composition fluctuation of the high-resolution X-ray diffraction and the photoluminescence wavelength fluctuation are less than \ub10.1% for the epilayers grown at the optimum substrate temperatures