Differential effects of quercetin and its two derivatives (isorhamnetin and isorhamnetin-3- glucuronide) in inhibiting proliferation of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells

Quercetin (Que) has consistently been reported to be useful cytotoxic compound in vivo and in vitro, but little is known on its metabolites. Here we examined and compared cytotoxic effect of Que and its water-soluble metabolites, isorhamnetin (IS) and isorhamnetin-3-glucuronide (I3G) in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells, and explain their tumor-inhibitory mechanism and structure-function relationship. The results showed that Que, IS and I3G could dose-dependently inhibit the growth of MCF-7 cells, and the cytotoxic effect was ranked as Que > IS > I3G. Furthermore, Que, IS and I3G mediated the cell-cycle arrest principally in S phase, followed by the decrease in the number of G0/G1 and G2/M, and 70.8%, 68.9% and 49.8% MCF-7 tumor cells entered early phase apotosis when treated with 100 µM Que, IS and I3G for 48 h, respectively. Moreover, induction of apoptosis by Que, IS and I3G were accompanied with the marginal generation of intracellular ROS. Given these results, Que, IS and I3G possess strong cytotoxic effect through a ROS-dependent apoptosis pathway in MCF-7 cells

Simultaneous separation and purification of chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, hyperoside and phlorizin from thinned young Qinguan apples by successive use of polyethylene and polyamide resins

The method for separating and purifying chlorogenic acid (CA), epicatechin (EC), hyperoside (HY) and phlorizin (PH) simutaneously from young Qinguan apples by successive use of X-5 and polyamide resins has been developed in this study. The order of adsorption capacities of X-5 for the four phenolics was PH\ua0>\ua0HY\ua0>\ua0EC\ua0>\ua0CA, and the adsorption equilibriums of the four phenolics onto X-5 resin conformed to Langmuir isotherms preferentially. The adsorption kinetics of EC and CA onto X-5 conformed to the pseudo-first-order model, while that of HY and PH accorded with the pseudo-second-order model. Interestingly, the values of equilibrium adsorption capacities (Q) calculated in the preferential kinetics models were closer to that of theoretical maximum adsorption capacities (Q) calculated by Langmuir isotherms. Through dynamic adsorption and desorption using X-5 and polyamide resins with ethanol solution as strippant, CA, EC, HY and PH were obtained with purities of 96.21%, 95.34%, 95.36% and 97.36%, respectively

Preparation and characterization of chitosan film incorporated with thinned young apple polyphenols as an active packaging material

The objective of this study was to characterize the physical, mechanical and bioactive properties of chitosan film incorporated with thinned young apple polyphenols (YAP). The results indicated that the addition of YAP resulted in a significant increase in the thickness, density, swelling degree, solubility and opacity of chitosan film, but the water content, water vapor permeability and mechanical properties of the film were decreased. Besides, the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of chitosan film were significantly enhanced by YAP. Both the NMR and FTIR spectra indicated the interactions between YAP and chitosan were likely to be non-covalent. Furthermore, the thermal stability of the film was decreased by YAP addition, suggested by DSC. Interestingly, the changing tendency of crystalline degree indicated by X-ray kept pace with that of thermal stability for YAP-chitosan films. Overall, YAP-chitosan film was shown a potential as a bioactive packaging material to extend food shelf-life

Assessment of absorption of four lignan constituents of JingNing particles in rat gut using in situ single-pass intestinal perfusion

Purpose: To study small intestinal absorption of schisadrol A, schisandrol B, schizandrin A and schisandrin B in JingNing particles using in situ single-pass intestinal perfusion (SPIP).Methods: Absorption rate constant (Ka) and apparent permeability (Papp) of the drugs at different concentrations in various parts of rat small intestine (duodenum, jejunum and ileum) were determined using SPIP. JingNing particles were also perfused in situ at different pH in the entire rat intestine. Ethanol extract of Schisandra chinensis (standard) at low concentration was perfused in the duodenum for comparison with extract of JingNing particles.Results: The order of apparent permeability of the four lignans was schisandrol A < schisandrol B < schizandrin A < schisandrin B. Ka and Papp values of the four lignans in JingNing particles were concentration-dependent. Absorption increased in the rank order: ileum > duodenum > jejunum. Optimum absorption pH was 6.50. Polygala tenuifolia extract and volatile oil of Rhizoma acori tatarinowii significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the absorption of the four lignans.Conclusion: The four lignans were well absorbed in the intestinal tract, particularly the ileum, probably through carrier-mediated transport. The alcohol extract of Polygala tenuifolia and volatile oil of Rhizoma acori graminei enhanced the absorption of the four lignans.Keywords: JingNing, Intestinal absorption, Polygala tenuifolia, Rhizoma acori graminei, Lignans, Schisandrol, Schisandrin, Single-pass intestinal perfusio

Composition and Systemic Immune Activity of the Polysaccharides from an Herbal Tea (Lycopus lucidus Turcz)

This study was undertaken to characterize the water-soluble polysaccharides isolated from an herbal tea, the leaves of L. lucidus Turcz. HPLC analysis showed that L. lucidus polysaccharides (LLPs) were mainly composed of galactose (50.1 mol %), followed by galacturonic acid (14.2 mol %), accounting for 64.3 mol % of all quantitative nine monosaccharides. Furthermore, we evaluated the systemic immunological efficacy of LLPs in mice. Mice were intragastrically administered once daily with low-dose (50 mg/kg), intermediate-dose (100 mg/kg), and high-dose (300 mg/kg) of LLPs, respectively, for 30 consecutive days. In comparison with vehicle, LLPs significantly enhanced the plaque-forming cells (PFCs), and serum hemolysin level, and delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) in response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.01). In LLPs-treated mice, phagocytosis capacity and concanavalin A-induced spleenocyte proliferation were remarkably increased (p < 0.05). The intermediate- and high-dose of LLPs also caused a significant increase in the indices of thymus and spleen organs of mice (p < 0.05). This suggests that the polysaccharides derived from the tea leaves of L. lucidus improves the immune system and might be regarded as a biological response modifier

Emulsions stabilized by nanofibers from bacterial cellulose: New potential food-grade Pickering emulsions

In the present work, we investigated the formation and stability of Pickering emulsions stabilized by nanoparticles generated from bacterial cellulose (BC) by hydrochloric acid hydrolysis. The resulting particles, called nanofibers, presented a ribbonlike shape with diameters of 30–80 nm and range in length from 100 nm to several micrometers. The obtained nanofibers showed good hydrophilic and lipophilic properties and had significant ability to reduce the surface tension of oil/water droplets from 48.55 ± 0.03 to 34.52 ± 0.05 mN/m. The oil-in-water Pickering emulsions with a peanut oil concentration of 15% (v/v) were stabilized by only 0.05% (w/v) nanofibers and displayed a narrow droplet size distribution and high intensity with an average droplet size of 15.00 ± 0.82 nm. The morphological studies confirmed the nano-scaled droplets of emulsions. The effects of pH values and temperatures on the creaming ability and physical stability were also evaluated by zeta-potential and droplet sizes. Results showed that emulsions displayed relatively lower creaming ability at pH < 7, while displayed optimal physical stability and dispersibility at pH ≥ 7. The temperature (20–100 °C) and time-dependent test (0–4 weeks) indicated that the Pickering emulsions stabilized by only 0.05% (w/v) nanofibers displayed excellent stability. Due to the sustainability and good bio-compatibility of nanofibers from BC, the developed emulsions stabilized by low concentration of nanofibers can be used as new food-grade Pickering emulsions and have great potential to deliver lipophilic bioactive substances in food industry

Performance analysis of joint relay selection and transmission schemes in multiple-antenna two-way relay systems

In this paper, we consider a two-way relay system with two multi-antenna sources and multiple single-antenna relays and study the performances for various transmission schemes with the assumption that perfect channel state information (CSI) is available at both the sources and the relays. Although a transmission scheme that combines source beamforming and relay selection (BF-RS) is known to improve a system performance, its performance has not been theoretically analyzed yet. In the paper, we focus on the performance analysis in terms of the symbol error probability (SEP) for the BF-RS scheme. The analytical upper and lower bounds of the end-to-end system SEP are derived in the closed form, and the asymptotic SEP expression is given in high SNR regime. By both analytical and simulation results, it is clearly shown that a full transmit and relay selection diversity gain can be achieved without code rate loss. The SEP curves from simulations show that our derived bounds can predict the performance accurately. Based on the derived analytical results, we propose an individual power allocation (IPA) scheme to save the total transmit power. We show that the IPA scheme can result in considerable energy saving with a comparable SEP performance.National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [61471008]; Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of the Ministry of Education of China [20120001120125]; National Natural Science Foundation of Beijing [4144075]SCI(E)[email protected]

Digital Surface Model Generation for High Resolution Satellite Stereo Image Based on Modified Semi-global Matching

A method is proposed for generating digital surface model (DSM) of high resolution satellite imagery (HRSI) based on modified semi-global matching (SGM) algorithm.Firstly,the system error of the rational function model is compensated by using the geometric constraint relation between the image connection points.Based on the compensation model,the image is divided into blocks.The projection trajectory method is used to obtain the image pairs of the images.In the dense matching stage,the disparity map is computed using semi-global matching by layer after building the pyramids images,and an expansion corrosion algorithm for disparity graphs,which takes into account the image texture information,is introduced to constrain the range of parallax search,increase the number of effective pixels at the edge of the parallax map and reduce the memory overhead and computation time required for the algorithm.In the post processing stage of disparity image,the edge information of disparity image is protected by weighted median filtering algorithm.Finally,the DSM is acquired based on the forward intersection.The stereo images of World View 3 and ZY-3 to experiment are selected.The experimental results show that the DSM accuracy obtained by this method is nearly 1.5 times higher than that of GSD in elevation direction,and the edge characteristics of the object are maintained well.The algorithm is computationally efficient and has relatively low memory overhead

Effects of spinach nitrate on insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction markers and inflammation in mice with high-fat and high-fructose consumption

Background: Insulin resistance, which is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, has become a leading nutrition problem. Inorganic nitrate enriched in spinach has been demonstrated to reverse the pathological features of insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction. However, the effects of a direct intake of nitrate-enriched spinach on insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction have not been studied. Objective: To investigate the effects of spinach nitrate on insulin resistance, lipid metabolism, endothelial function, and inflammation in mice fed with a high-fat and high-fructose diet. Design: A diet intervention of spinach with or without nitrate was performed in mice. A high-fat and high-fructose diet was used to cause insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation in mice. The impacts of spinach nitrate on lipid profile, insulin resistance, markers of endothelial function, and inflammation were determined in mice. Results: Spinach nitrate improved the vascular endothelial function of the mice with high-fat and high-fructose consumption, as evidenced by the elevated plasma nitrite level, increased serum nitric oxide (NO) level and decreased serum ET-1 level after spinach nitrate intervention. Spinach nitrate also reduced serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels and elevated serum high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels in the mice fed with a high-fat and high-fructose diet. Mice receiving spinach with 60 mg/kg of nitrate (1.02±0.34) showed a significantly low homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance index as compared with the model mice (2.05±0.58), which is indicating that spinach nitrate could effectively improve the insulin resistance. In addition, spinach nitrate remarkably decreased the elevated serum C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor α, and interleukin-6 levels induced by a high-fat and high-fructose diet. Conclusions: The intake of spinach nitrate can augment NO status, improve lipid homeostasis, relieve inflammation, and enhance endothelial function, suggesting that spinach is promising dietary supplements for insulin resistance prevention