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Baicalin is a flavonoid compound purified from the medicinal plant Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi and has been reported to stimulate surfactant protein (SP)-A gene expression in human lung epithelial cell lines (H441). The aims of this study were to determine whether maternal baicalin treatment could increase lung surfactant production and induce lung maturation in fetal rats. This study was performed with timed pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats. One-day baicalin group mothers were injected intraperitoneally with baicalin (5 mg/kg/day) on Day 18 of gestation. Two-day baicalin group mothers were injected intraperitoneally with baicalin (5 mg/kg/day) on Days 17 and 18 of gestation. Control group mothers were injected with vehicle alone on Day 18 of gestation. On Day 19 of gestation, fetuses were delivered by cesarean section. Maternal treatment with 2-day baicalin significantly increased saturated phospholipid when compared with control group and total phospholipid in fetal lung tissue when compared with control and 1-day baicalin groups. Antenatal treatment with 2-day baicalin significantly increased maternal growth hormone when compared with control group. Fetal lung SP-A mRNA expression and maternal serum corticosterone levels were comparable among the three experimental groups. Maternal baicalin treatment increases pulmonary surfactant phospholipids of fetal rat lungs and the improvement was associated with increased maternal serum growth hormone. These results suggest that antenatal baicalin treatment might accelerate fetal rat lung maturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indomethacin (IN) is a widely used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. In this study, four photoproducts of IN (IN1eIN4) were produced and isolated from photoirradiated IN. This study investigated the abilities of IN and its photoproducts to scavenge hydroxyl radicals and inhibit xanthine oxidase (XO). The hydroxyl radical-scavenging activity was measured in vitro by electron spin resonance spectrometry using 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide as a spin trapping agent. Enzyme activity was measured by continuous monitoring of uric acid formation, using xanthine as a substrate. The results showed that, among all the related products, IN has the strongest hydroxyl radical-scavenging (IC50 ¼ 65 mM) and XO inhibitory (IC50 ¼ 86 mM) effects. To further understand the stereochemistry of the reactions between these IN derivatives and XO, we performed computer-aided molecular modeling. IN was the most potent inhibitor with the most favorable interaction in the reactive site. Various photoproducts exhibited affinity toward XO as a result of the absence of hydrogen bonding with molybdopterin domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antioxidant activity assays were conducted using water (H) and methanolic (M) extracts of sixteen cultivars from indigenous wild bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L. var. abbreviata Seringe, MCA) in Taiwan. The scavenging activities against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radicals were different among MCA cultivars and the concentrations of 50% scavenging activity (IC50) for the effective cultivar was 181 μg/mL (H) and 246 μg/mL (M) in the former extract and 148 μg/mL (H) and 37 μg/mL (M) in the latter. For inhibitory activities against Cu2+-induced low-density-lipoprotein peroxidation, most MCA cultivars at 4000 μg/mL (especially for M extracts) showed protective activities and were equivalent to 0.8 mM Trolox by thiobarbituric acid reactive substance assays. These useful data may help promote the use and further research of MCA as an antioxidant in the health food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L. var. abbreviata Seringe, MCA), which is normally smaller than cultivated bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L., MC), both belong to the family Cucurbitaceae. The fresh fruits of MC and MCA are frequently used as vegetables in Taiwan. Water (H) and methanolic (M) extracts of sixteen cultivars from Taiwanese indigenous MCA (10 mg/mL) were tested for their antibacterial activities toward the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus (ATCC 33591), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Escherichia coli (ATCC 10536), and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica (ATCC 19126), and for their cytotoxic activities toward human fibrosarcoma HT 1080 cells. None of the extracts showed inhibitory activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa, however, several H and M extracts (even H extracts that were heated at 100°C for 5 min) showed inhibitory activity against the growth of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica. For cytotoxic activities toward human fibrosarcoma HT 1080 cells, H extracts (1 mg/mL) from mature D, E, and F cultivars, and M extracts (1 mg/mL) from mature D and E cultivars showed similar cytotoxic activities compared to that of 10 μg/mL of doxorubicin. The use of MCA extracts as natural food additives to control food-borne pathogens and/or their development as health foods for chemoprevention in the future is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicinal plants have long been used as a source of therapeutic agents. They are thought to be important anti-aging ingredients in prophylactic medicines. The aim of this study was to screen extracts from Taiwanese plant materials for phenolic contents and measure the corresponding matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity. We extracted biological ingredients from eight plants native to Taiwan (Alnus formosana, Diospyros discolor, Eriobotrya deflex, Machilus japonica, Pyrrosia polydactylis, Pyrus taiwanensis, Vitis adstricta, Vitis thunbergii). Total phenolic content was measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. MMP-9 activities were measured by gelatin zymography. The extracted yields of plants ranged from 3.7 % to 16.9 %. The total phenolic contents ranged from 25.4 to 36.8 mg GAE/g dry material. All of these extracts (except Vitis adstricta Hance) were shown to inhibit MMP-9 activity of WS-1 cell after ultraviolet B irradiation. These findings suggest that total phenolic content may influence MMP-9 activity and that some of the plants with higher phenolic content exhibited various biological activities that could serve as potent inhibitors of the ageing process in the skin. This property might be useful in the production of cosmetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]