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Quantitative analysis of Rumex nepalensis var. remotiflorus revealed that its roots contain rich anthraquinones, which has emodin, chrysophanol, and physcion contents of up to 0.30, 0.67, and 0.98 mg/g, respectively. Further phytochemical study led to the isolation and purification of seven undescribed phenolic constituents, including one flavan derivative with a 13-membered ring, polygorumin A (1), two dianthrone glucosides, polygonumnolides F and G (2, 3), two diphenylmethanones, rumepalens A and B (4, 5), and a pair of epimeric oxanthrone C-glucosides, rumejaposides K and L (6a, 6b) from the roots of R. nepalensis var. remotiflorus. Furthermore, 1 undescribed natural product, 1-β-D-glucoside-6'-[(2E)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-propenoate]-3-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl (19), and 21 known phenolic compounds were obtained from the aforementioned plant for the first time. Their structures were elucidated through extensive spectroscopic data analysis. Notably, compounds 1, 4-5, and 7-9 exhibited inhibitory activity on α-glucosidase with IC 50 values ranging from 1.61 ± 0.17 to 32.41 ± 0.87 μM. In addition, the isolated dianthrone, chrysophanol bianthrone (14), showed obvious cytotoxicity against four human cancer cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, and MDA-MB-231) with IC 50 values ranging from 3.81 ± 0.17 to 35.15 ± 2.24 μM. In silico target prediction and molecular docking studies demonstrated that the mechanism of the anticancer activity of 14 may be related to the interaction with protein kinase CK2., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Ying-Jun Zhang reports financial support was provided by Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Four new phenolic compounds, including two naphthalenes, musizin-8-O-β-D-(6'-O-malonyl-3''-methoxy)glucopyranoside (1) and 2-acetyl-3-methyl-1,4-naphtho-quinone-8-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), one chromone, (2'R)-7-hydroxy-2-(2'-hydroxypropyl)-5-methyl acetate chromone (3), and one xanthone, 2,8-dimethyl-3,6-dihydroxyxanthone (4) were isolated from the roots of Rumex dentatus L. (Polygonaceae). In addition, five known including four naphthalenes (5-8) and one chromone (9) were also obtained. Their structures were determined by means of extensive spectroscopic analysis and acidic hydrolysis. Compound 1 showed moderate antifungal activity against Epidermophyton floccosum, with inhibitory rate of 39.539 ± 0.412% at a concentration of 100 μM., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors of the present manuscript have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Camellia taliensis (W. W. Smith) Melchior, belonging to the genus Camellia sect. Thea ., is mainly distributed from northern Myanmar to western and southwestern Yunnan province of China, and its leaves have been used to make various teas by the locals of its growing regions. The chemical constituents of C. taliensis are significantly related to those of cultivated tea plants, C. sinensis and C. sinensis var. assamica . The HPLC-ESI-MS analysis of black tea prepared from the leaves of C. taliensis showed a rich existence of polyphenols. Further comprehensive chemical study led to the separation and recognition of 32 compounds ( 1 - 32 ), including one new hydrolyzable tannin, 1- O -galloyl-4,6-tetrahydroxydibenzofurandicarboxyl- β -D-glucopyranose ( 1 ), and one new natural product ( 24 ). The known compounds referred to seven hydrolyzable tannins ( 2 - 8 ), 10 flavonols and glycosides ( 9 - 18 ), and 14 simple phenolics ( 19 - 32 ). Their structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. Among them, 20 compounds ( 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 20 - 22 , 24 - 32 ) were isolated from black tea for the first time. Most isolates displayed obvious antioxidant activities on DPPH and ABTS + assays, and the hydrolyzable tannins 1 , 3 - 5 , 7, and 8 exhibited stronger inhibitory activities on α -glycosidase than quercetin and acarbose (IC 50 = 5.75 and 223.30 μM, respectively), with IC 50 values ranging from 0.67 to 2.01 μM.

Eleven flavonoids including one new flavonol glycoside, quercetin-3- O -(2- α -L-rhamnopyranosyl)- β -D-glucuronopyranosyl methyl ester (1), were isolated for the first time from the fruits of Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels (Phyllanthaceae). Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic data. The known flavonoids, quercetin-3- O - β -D-glucuronide methyl ester (3), quercetin-3- O -(2''- α -L-rhamnopyranosyl-6''- O - α -L-rhamno pyranosyl)- β -D-glucopyranoside ( 5 ), myricetin ( 9 ), and 6-methoxy-naringenin ( 11 ) were isolated for the first time from the genus Phyllanthus . Flavonoids 4 , 6 and 9 (IC 50 = 6.01, 6.32, and 7.84 μM, respectively) showed stronger α -glucosidase inhibitory activities than the positive control, acarbose (IC 50 = 306.45 μM). The fruits of P. acidus might be further developed as an anti-diabetic food supplement.

Panax notoginseng ( PN ) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, with dammarane-type triterpenoid saponins characterized as major component and active ingredients, together with amino acids, flavonoids, polysaccharides, and polyacetylenes. The roots of PN are susceptible to root rot disease, which causes a huge loss and changes in the chemical components of this precious resource. In this study, sub-fractions of rot PN root extracts were preliminarily found to have admirable cytotoxicity on two human cancer cells. Further bioassay-guided isolation discovered nine new non-triterpenoids, including two novel N -methylacetamido-1-oxotetrahydropyrimidine alkaloids (1, 2), five 2 H -furanones or 2 H -pyranones (3-7), and two polyacetylenic alcohols (8, 9). Their structures were illuminated by extensive spectroscopic data, calculated ECD, and X-ray diffraction analysis. Among them, 3-7 were considered to be transformed from panaxatriol through the intermediates (8, 9). The new alkaloids (1, 2) displayed noteworthy cytotoxicity against five human cancer cells with IC 50 values ranging from 14 to 24 μM. In silico target prediction and molecular docking studies showed that 1 and 2 may interact with EGFR, and were verified by the experimental inhibitory effect on EGFR tyrosine kinase., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Deep neural networks have achieved breakthrough improvement in various application fields. Nevertheless, they usually suffer from a time-consuming training process because of the complicated structures of neural networks with a huge number of parameters. As an alternative, a fast and efficient discriminative broad learning system (BLS) is proposed, which takes the advantages of flat structure and incremental learning. The BLS has achieved outstanding performance in classification and regression problems. However, the previous studies ignored the reason why the BLS can generalize well. In this article, we focus on the interpretation from the viewpoint of the frequency domain. We discover the existence of the frequency principle in BLS, i.e., the BLS preferentially captures low-frequency components quickly and then fits the high frequencies during the incremental process of adding feature nodes and enhancement nodes. The frequency principle may be of great inspiration for expanding the application of BLS.

Phyllaciduloids E ( 1 ) and F ( 2 ), two new cleistanthane diterpenoids, were isolated from the leaves of Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels (Phyllanthaceae). Their planar structures were established by spectroscopic analysis and comparison with literature values. The relative configurations of phyllaciduloids E and F were confirmed by DFT-NMR chemical shift calculations and subsequent CP3 probability methods. Phyllaciduloids E and F were evaluated for their cytotoxicity. However, no significant activities were detected at concentrations up to 40 μM.[Formula: see text].

A new seco-anthraquinone, crispuside A (1), and three new 3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-ones, napthalenones A-C (2-4), were isolated from the roots of Rumex crispus L., along with 10 known anthraquinones (6-14) and naphthalenone (5). Their structures were fully determined by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including ECD, and X-ray crystallography in case of compound 5, whose absolute configuration was determined for the first time. The isolates 1, 6-14 were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal activity against three skin fungi, e.g., Epidermophyton floccosum, Trichophyton rubrum, and Microsporum gypseum. Most of the isolates showed weak anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory activity. Only compound 9 exhibited obvious anti-fungal activity against E. floccosum (MIC 50  = 2.467 ± 0.03 μM) and M. gypseum (MIC 50  = 4.673 ± 0.077 μM), while the MIC 50 values of the positive control terbinafine were 1.287 ± 0.012 and 0.077 ± 0.00258 μM, respectively. The results indicated that simple emodin type anthraquinone is more potential against skin fungi than its oxyglucosyl, C-glucosyl and glycosylated seco analogues., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Rumex L., a genus in Polygonaceae family with about 200 species, is growing widely around the world. Some Rumex species, called "sorrel" or "dock", have been used as food application and treatment of skin diseases and hemostasis after trauma by the local people of its growing areas for centuries. To date, 29 Rumex species have been studied to contain about 268 substances, including anthraquinones, flavonoids, naphthalenes, stilbenes, diterpene alkaloids, terpenes, lignans, and tannins. Crude extract of Rumex spp. and the pure isolates displayed various bioactivities, such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antioxidant, cardiovascular protection and antiaging activities. Rumex species have important potential to become a clinical medicinal source in future. This review covers research articles from 1900 to 2022, fetched from SciFinder, Web of Science, ResearchGate, CNKI and Google Scholar, using "Rumex" as a search term ("all fields") with no specific time frame set for the search. Thirty-five Rumex species were selected and summarized on their geographical distribution, edible parts, traditional uses, chemical research and pharmacological properties., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The broad learning system (BLS) is an emerging flat network, which has demonstrated its outstanding performance in classification and regression problems. The regularization plays an important role in the performance of the BLS. In real applications, since the BLS network is usually expanded dynamically, a predetermined regularization parameter may reduce the performance of the network. Using a fixed regularization in some cases, the classification accuracy of the BLS decreases dramatically when we expand the network. To alleviate this problem, we propose a method that automatically finds appropriate regularization parameters for different datasets, which is based on the weighted generalized cross-validation (WGCV). The experimental results indicate that the WGCV method improves the performance of the BLS, and alleviates the accuracy decrease of the incremental learning algorithm.

Six diterpenoids including three ent-kauranes (1-2, 4) and three cleistanthanes (3, 5-6) were isolated from the roots and stems of Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels. Of them, (16S)-ent-16,17,18-tri-hydroxy-19-nor-kaur-4-en-3-one (1), phyllanthone A (2), and 6-hydroxycleistanthol (3) are new compounds, while the ent-kaurane diterpenoids were reported from the titled plant for the first time. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of the extensive spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 2 and 4-6 displayed cytotoxic potential with IC 50 values ranging from 1.96 to 29.15 μM. They also showed moderate anti-inflammatory activities (IC 50  = 6.30-12.05 μM). Particularly, the new ent-kaurane 2 displayed cytotoxic potential against HL-60 (IC 50  = 2.00 μM) and MCF-7 (IC 50  = 3.55 μM) cells, and anti-inflammatory activity (IC 50  = 6.47 μM)., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Theanaphthoquinone (TNQ) is the initial and main oxidation product of theaflavin, a representative black tea pigment. Nevertheless, TNQ is virtually undetected in the high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of black tea leaves using photodiode array detection. To elucidate the degradation mechanism of theaflavin in the black tea production process, this study investigated the reaction of TNQ with epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCg), which is the most abundant polyphenol in tea leaves. In citrate-phosphate buffer solution at pH 6 and room temperature, TNQ reacted nonenzymatically with EGCg to afford three products, whose structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data. The results indicated that the double bond of the ortho-naphthoquinone moiety in TNQ reacted with the autoxidation product of EGCg. This study demonstrates novel reactions occurring in the process of theaflavin degradation, which might be involved in the formation of thearubigins, the major black tea pigments composing oligomeric catechin oxidation products., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A novel highly oxygenated norbisabolane sesquiterpene, namely phyllanthacidoid U (1), along with nine known sesquiterpenes (2-10) was isolated from the roots and stems of Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels (Phyllanthaceae), collected from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, China. Their structures were elucidated by means of extensive spectroscopic analysis and by comparison of their data with reported values in literatures. Instead of the C-13 ester O -glycosyl found mostly in the titled plant growing in Thailand, compound 1 possessed a rare N - β -glucosamine-2- N -acetate moiety linked directly to the carbonyl at C-13 through an amido bond. Moreover, the acyl group at C-10 in 1 was ( Z )-2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-pent-2-enedioyl group, instead of benzoic or p -hydroxybenzoic moieties found commonly in the reported norbisabolane sesquiterpenes. The known sesquiterpene 5 displayed stronger anti hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity with IC 50 values of 1.69 ± 0.22 and 2.79 ± 0.69 μM towards HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV excreted antigen (HBeAg) secretion, respectively.

The extensive chemical investigation on the branches and leaves of Terminalia chebula var. tomentella (Combretaceae) led to the isolation of two new lignan glucosides with a furofuran skeleton, termitomenins F (1) and G (2). In addition, 19 known compounds including five lignan glucosides (3-7), six hydrolyzable tannins (8-13) and eight simple phenolics (14-21) were also identified. Their structures were determined by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. It is noted that 8 and 9 were C-glycosidic hydrolyzable tannins with one hexahydroxydiphenoyl and one gallagyl group linked to an open-chain glucosyl C-1/O-2/O-3 and O-4/O-6, respectively, which were rarely found in plants. Nine known compounds, 6-9, 13, and 18-21, were procured from the titled plant for the first time, while 3-5, 10-12 and 14-17 were also found in the fruits. Notably, the known hydrolyzable tannins 8-13 exhibited stronger α-glucosidase inhibitory activities with IC 50 values ranging from 0.10 to 3.12 μM, than the positive control, quercetin (IC 50  = 9.38 ± 0.33 μM)., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The young leaves of Phyllanthus acidus (Euphorbiaceae) are commonly used as edible vegetables in Indonesia, Thailand, and India, and their water infusions as dieting aids for people trying to remain slim. However, it is regarded as a poisonous plant in Malaya, and current researches are insufficient to provide a conclusion on its toxicity and safety under large doses. In this study, we firstly found that the refined nonpolar extracts of P. acidus leaves showed significant cytotoxic effect against BEAS-2B and L02 normal cell lines with IC 50 values of 2.15 and 1.64 mg/mL, respectively. Further bioactivity-guided isolation produced four new rare dichapetalins (pacidusins A-D) from the most active fraction. Their structures including absolute configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic data and X-ray diffraction analysis. All the isolated dichapetalins exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against, BEAS-2B and L02 normal cell lines with IC 50 values ranging from 12.44 to 22.55 μM, as well as five human cancer cell lines with IC 50 values ranging from 3.38 to 22.38 μM. Furthermore, the content of the main dichapetalins in the leaves were determined by analytical HPLC, which showed that the leaves contained a very high amount of the four isolated dichapetalins with a total yield of 0.488 mg/g of dry plant material. These toxic dichapetalins may lead to adverse health effects in higher doses. Our findings indicate that the dichapetalin containing leaves may not be suitable for consumption in large quantities as food, but demonstrate their potency as anti-cancer agents for new drug discovery., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Terminalia chebula (TC), a well-known Indian Ayurvedic medicine introduced into China in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, has been recorded and used medicinally as Fructus Chebulae, together with its variety tomentella (TCT) in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. They have been also used commonly for the treatment of diabetes mellitus by Tibetan medicine., Aim of the Study: To investigate the main bioactive and therapeutic principles in the fruits of TCT, based on the extensive evaluation of their anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic activities., Materials and Methods: The TCT fresh fruits were analyzed by HPLC and separated further by column chromatography and preparative HPLC. The isolated compounds were identified by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D/2D NMR, MS, UV, IR and ECD. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by inhibition of NO production in RAW264.7 cells. The specific iNOS (PDB ID: 3E7G) structure was prepared by Discovery Studio 4.0, and the molecular docking simulation was performed on GOLD (version 5.2.2). Hypoglycemic activity was measured using the substrate solution of 4-nitrophenyl-α-d-glucopyranoside enzyme and buffer solution., Results: The HPLC analysis method of polyphenols in the fruits of TCT was established, and 13 main chromatographic peaks were identified, including six hydrolyzable tannins (2, 4-7, 10-11), three simple phenols (12-14), and one oleanane pentacyclic triterpene, arjungenin. Extensive chromatographic separation of TCT fresh fruits yielded 14 compounds, including one new natural hydrolyzable tannin, 2,3-(S)-HHDP-6-O-galloyl-d-glucose (1). The known compounds were identified as 10 hydrolyzable tannins (2-11) and three simple phenols (12-14). Compounds 10 (IC 50  = 36.43 ± 0.21 μM), 11 (IC 50  = 42.28 ± 0.09 μM) displayed stronger NO inhibitory activity than the positive control L-NMMA (IC 50  = 42.34 ± 0.66 μM), while 2, 4, and 9 showed moderate inhibitory activity against NO production. Further molecular docking simulation of specific iNOS on 10 and 11, as well as five previously isolated lignans 15-19 showed that there were no obvious rules between docking results and the in vitro NO inhibitory activity for hydrolyzable tannins (10 and 11), while the mechanism of anti-inflammatory activity for lignans was related to the substitution of conjugated aldehyde groups. Moreover, most of the hydrolyzable tannins (1-2, 4-5, 9-11) and simple phenol (12) displayed stronger inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase than the positive control, quercetin (IC 50  = 6.118 ± 0.071 μM), with IC 50 values ranging from 0.079 to 16.494 μM. Among these bioactive isolates, the hydrolyzable tannins 2, 4-5, and 9-11, and simple phenol 12 are major chemical components in TCT fruit., Conclusions: The results showed that lignans and hydrolyzed tannins are the main active ingredients of TCT fruits, responsible for the traditional treatment of sore throat and cough. Moreover, hydrolyzed tannins and simple phenolic compounds with potential hypoglycemic activity are closely related to the ethno-pharmacological uses of TCT fruits on diabetes in Tibetan medicine., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Three previously undescribed pyridyl-steroidal glycoalkaloids, solanindiosides A‒C, one rare 23S,26R-hydroxylated spirostanoid saponin, and two steroidal alkaloid aglycones, solanindins A and B, derived from the acid hydrolysis of solanindiosides A‒C, were isolated from the fruits of Solanum violaceum, together with five known analogues, including two rare steroidal glycosides, two lignans and a diterpene. Structurally, they comprise a 16β-methoxy-23-deoxy-22,26-epimino-cholest-type skeleton moiety, and a 16β-methoxy-3,23-dideoxy-22,26-epimino-cholest-3,5-dien derivative. The hitherto undescribed structures were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses. Configurations of sugar moieties were resolved by chemical derivations. Solanindiosides A‒C, (22R,23S,25R,26R)-spirost-5-ene-3β,23,26-triol3-O-β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1→3)-β-d-glucopyranoside, solanindins A and B, and (1S,2S)-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-[(2S,3R,4R)-tetrahydro-4-[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-3-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furanyl]phenoxy]-1,3-propanediol were evaluated for their cytotoxic and antibacterial activities. (1S,2S)-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-[(2S,3R,4R)-tetrahydro-4-[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-3-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furanyl]phenoxy]-1,3-propanediol showed the most potent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 cells (IC 50  = 4.386 ± 0.098 μM), while solanindin B displayed some inhibitory effects against Staphylococcus aureus Rosenbach with MIC 50 value of 37.32 ± 0.793 μM. In addition, (1S,2S)-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-[(2S,3R,4R)-tetrahydro-4-[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-3-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furanyl]phenoxy]-1,3-propanediol induced dose dependent apoptosis effect in MCF-7 cells., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Phytochemical investigation on the nonpolar extracts of P. acidus leaves afforded three new cleistanthane diterpenoids, named phyllanacidins A-C (1-3), in addition to three known ones (4-6). Among them, compounds 2 and 3 represent the first examples of 17-nor cleistanthane diterpenoids. Their structures including absolute configurations were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. All the isolated cleistanthane diterpenoids were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against five human cancer cell lines. Compounds 4-6 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity with IC 50 values ranging from 16.11 to 30.82 μM., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As one of the most extensively studied glycosaminoglycan lyases, heparinase I has been used in producing low or ultra-low molecular weight heparin. Its' important applications are to neutralize the heparin in human blood and analyze heparin structure in the clinic. However, the low productivity and activity of the enzyme have greatly hindered its applications. In this study, a novel Hep-I from Bacteroides cellulosilyticus (BcHep-I) was successfully cloned and heterologously expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) as a soluble protein. The molecular mass and isoelectric point (pI) of the enzyme are 44.42 kDa and 9.02, respectively. And the characterization of BcHep-I after purified with Ni-NTA affinity chromatography suggested that it is a mesophilic enzyme. BcHep-I can be activated by 1 mM Ca2+, Mg2+, and Mn2+, while severely inhibited by Zn2+, Co2+, and EDTA. The specific activity of the enzyme was 738.3 U·mg-1 which is the highest activity ever reported. The Km and Vmax were calculated as 0.17 mg·mL-1 and 740.58 U·mg-1, respectively. Besides, the half-life of 300 min at 30°C showed BcHep-I has practical applications. Homology modeling and substrate docking revealed that Gln15, Lys74, Arg76, Lys104, Arg149, Gln208, Tyr336, Tyr342, and Lys338 were mainly involved in the substrate binding of Hep-I, and 11 hydrogen bonds were formed between heparin and the enzyme. These results indicated that BcHep-I with high activity has great potential applications in the industrial production of heparin, especially in the clinic to neutralize heparin., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Ten previously undescribed glycosides, carissaedulosides A-J (1-10) referring to six apiosylated phenylpropanoids (1-6), one coumarin-secoiridoid hybrid (7), and three furofuran lignans (8-10) were isolated from the root barks of Carissa edulis, together with 13 known analogues (11-23). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, ECD computational methods, and chemical derivations for configurations of sugar moieties. The new lignan bisdesmoside, 10, exhibited significant cytotoxicity against A549 (IC 50  = 3.87 ± 0.03 μM) and MCF-7 (IC 50  = 9.231 ± 0.290 μM) cell lines, while the known lignan monodesmoside, 12, showed impressive cytotoxic efficacy (IC 50  = 5.68 ± 0.180 μM) against only MCF-7 cell line. It is noted that a known cardenolide, 11, displayed strong cytotoxic potency against HL-60, A549, MCF-7 and SW480 cell lines with IC 50 values ranging from 0.023 to 0.137 μM. Moreover, compound 11 induced dose-dependent apoptosis on SW480 cell, but not explicit dose-dependent apoptosis on HL-60 cells., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

As a subgroup of flavoalkaloids, N -ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone substituted flavan-3-ols are reported to possess various biological activities that may play important roles in the beneficial healthcare functions of tea. The HPLC and LC-MS analyses showed the existence of N -ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone substituted flavan-3-ols in 'Jin-Ya', which is a Yunnan black tea produced only from the buds of the tea plant Camellia sinensis var. assamica . Further phytochemical study on this precious black tea led to the identification of 8 flavoalkaloids, 1 - 8 , along with 11 known flavan-3-ols ( 9 - 14 ) and flavonol glycosides ( 15 - 19 ). The new compounds, (-)-6-(5″ S )- N -ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-epiafzelechin ( 1 ), (-)-8-(5″ R )- N -ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-epiafzelechin-3- O -gallate ( 2a ), and (-)-8-(5″ S )- N -ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-epiafzelechin-3- O -gallate ( 2b ), were identified based on extensive spectroscopic analysis. Flavoalkaloids 2 - 6 showed inhibitory activity on α-glucosidase with IC 50 values ranging from 2.09 to 8.47 μM, compared to those of quercetin and acarbose (IC 50 = 6.87 and 228.9 μM, respectively). Moreover, compounds 2 , 3 , and 6 displayed an inhibitory effect on acetyl-cholinesterase with IC 50 values of 14.23, 33.79, and 34.82 μM, respectively, compared to tacrine (IC 50 = 0.223 μM).

Background: Management errors during pre-hospital care, triage process and resuscitation have been widely reported as the major source of preventable and potentially preventable deaths in multiple trauma patients. Common tools for defining whether it is a preventable, potentially preventable or non-preventable death include the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS ® ) clinical guideline, the Injury Severity Score (ISS) and the Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS). Therefore, these surrogated scores were utilized in reviewing the study's trauma services., Methods: Trauma data were prospectively collected and retrospectively reviewed from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018. All cases of trauma death were discussed and audited by the Hospital Trauma Committee on a regular basis. Standardized form was used to document the patient's management flow and details in every case during the meeting, and the final verdict (whether death was preventable or not) was agreed and signed by every member of the team. The reasons for the death of the patients were further classified into severe injuries, inappropriate/delayed examination, inappropriate/delayed treatment, wrong decision, insufficient supervision/guidance or lack of appropriate guidance., Results: A total of 1913 trauma patients were admitted during the study period, 82 of whom were identified as major trauma (either ISS > 15 or trauma team was activated). Among the 82 patients with major trauma, eight were trauma-related deaths, one of which was considered a preventable death and the other 7 were considered unpreventable. The decision from the hospital's performance improvement and patient safety program indicates that for every trauma patient, basic life support principles must be followed in the course of primary investigations for bedside trauma series X-ray (chest and pelvis) and FAST scan in the resuscitation room by a person who meets the criteria for trauma team activation recommended by ATLS ® ., Conclusion: Mechanisms to rectify errors in the management of multiple trauma patients are essential for improving the quality of trauma care. Regular auditing in the trauma service is one of the most important parts of performance improvement and patient safety program, and it should be well established by every major trauma center in Mainland China. It can enhance the trauma management processes, decision-making skills and practical skills, thereby continuously improving quality and reducing mortality of this group of patients.

An elaborated phytochemical study on the fresh fruits of Terminalia chebula var. tomentella (Combretaceae) led to the isolation of five new lignans, including three tetrahydrofuran (1-3) and two furofuran (4 and 5) derivatives, namely termitomenins A-E (1-5), along with 10 known ones. All of them were obtained from the titled plant for the first time. Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D/2D NMR, MS, UV, IR, electronic circular dichroism (ECD), time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculation of ECD spectra, and single crystal X-ray diffraction in case of 3. Compounds 1-15 exhibited certain anti-inflammatory activities. Interestingly, compounds 6 (IC 50  = 18.17 ± 0.57  μM) and 7 (IC 50 = 13.66 ± 0.38 μM) which contain an aldehyde group displayed stronger NO inhibitory activity than the positive control L-NMMA (IC 50  = 42.34 ± 0.66 μM)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Panax notoginseng (Araliaceae) is an important ginseng herb with various health benefits and a history of cultivation in southwestern China over 400 years. In recent years P. notoginseng has faced serious continuous-cropping obstacles due to its large-scale cultivation. In this study, we aim to explore the allelochemicals of P. notoginseng and their interactions with various plants and rhizosphere microorganisms. The chemical constituents of the soil cultivated with 3-year-old P. notoginseng were studied by column chromatography, spectroscopic and GC-MS analyses. We identified 13 volatile components and isolated six triterpenes ( 1 - 4 , 6 - 7 ) and one anthraquinone ( 5 ). Compounds 1 - 7 were tested for their effects on seed germination and root elongation in P. notoginseng , corn, wheat, turnip, water spinach and Arabidopsis thaliana . We also examined the effect of compounds 1 - 7 on the growth of ten rhizosphere microorganisms of P. notoginseng . At a concentration of 1.0 μg mL -1 , compounds 3 and 5 - 7 caused the death of P. notoginseng root cells and compounds 2 , 6 and 7 induced the death of root cells of A. thaliana . Compounds 1 - 5 and 7 inhibited elongation of A. thaliana root tip cells at a concentration of 10.0 μg mL -1 . Moreover, at a concentration of 0.1 mg mL -1 , compounds 3 , 4 , 6 and 7 inhibited the growth of probiotics and promoted the growth of pathogens of P. notoginseng . These results suggest that these isolated ursane-type triterpenoid acids and anthraquinone are potential allelochemicals that contribute to continuous-cropping obstacles of P. notoginseng ., (© 2020 Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.)

Background: Root rot is a serious destructive disease of Panax notoginseng , a famous cultivated araliaceous herb called Sanqi or Tianqi in Southwest China., Methods: The chemical substances of Sanqi rot roots were explored by chromatographic techniques. MS, 1D/2D-NMR, and single crystal X-ray diffraction were applied to determine the structures. Murine macrophage RAW264.7 and five human cancer cell lines were used separately for evaluating the antiinflammatory and cytotoxic activities., Results and Conclusion: Thirty dammarane-type triterpenes and saponins were isolated from the rot roots of P. notoginseng . Among them, seven triterpenes, namely, 20( S )-dammar-25-ene-24( S )-hydroperoxyl-3 β ,6 α ,12 β ,20-tetrol ( 1 ), 20( S )-dammar-3-oxo-23-ene-25-hydroperoxyl-6 α ,12 β ,20-triol ( 2 ), 20( S )-dammar-12-oxo-23-ene-25-hydroperoxyl-3 β ,6 α ,20-triol ( 3 ), 20( S )-dammar-3-oxo-23-ene-25-hydroperoxyl-12 β ,20-diol ( 4 ), 20( S ),24( R )-epoxy-3,4- seco -dammar-25-hydroxy-12-one-3-oic acid ( 5 ), 20( S ),24( R )-epoxy-3,4- seco -dammar-25-hydroxy-12-one-3-oic acid methyl ester ( 6 ), and 6 α -hydroxy-22,23,24,25,26,27-hexanordammar-3,12,20-trione ( 7 ), are new compounds. In addition, 12 known ones ( 12 - 16 and 19 - 25 ) were reported in Sanqi for the first time. The new Compound 1 showed comparable antiinflammatory activity on inhibition of NO production to the positive control, whereas the known compounds 9 , 12 , 13 , and 16 displayed moderate cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines. The results will provide scientific basis for understanding the chemical constituents of Sanqi rot roots and new candidates for searching antiinflammatory and antitumor agents., (© 2019 The Korean Society of Ginseng, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC.)

The fresh leaves of Metapanax delavayi (Araliaceae) have been used as a common wild vegetable for salad and soup, and also herbal tea by the local people living in its growing areas of Yunnan province, China. Detailed chemical investigation led to the identification of a new triterpenoid saponin, 3- O - α -L-arabinopyranosyl-28- O - β -D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)- O - β -D-glucopyranosyl-3 β -hydroxyolean-12-ene-28,29-dioic acid ( 1 ) from the fresh leaves, together with 11 known compounds, including six triterpenoid saponins ( 2 - 7 ), two caffeoylquinic acid derivatives ( 8 - 9 ), and three flavonoid glycosides ( 10 - 12 ). Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and acidic hydrolysis. Compounds 3 - 5 and 8 - 12 were isolated from M. delavayi for the first time. Moreover, the known saponins 3- O - β -D-xylopyranosyl-3 β -hydroxyolean-12-ene-28,29-dioic acid ( 3 ) and yiyeliangwanoside IV ( 5 ) exhibited protective effects on HepG2 cells damaged by the alcohol intakes, at a concentration of 1.0 µg/mL. The results indicated M. delavayi is an ideal dietary vegetable and herbal tea with potential hepatoprotective activity.[Formula: see text].

Dasiphora fruticosa L. (Rosaceae), also known as Potentilla fruticosa L. (syn.), is a hardy deciduous shrub widely distributed in the north temperate regions of the world. Three methylene bisflavan-3-ols ( 1 - 3 ), together with a procyanidin dimer, (-)-afzelechin-(4α→8)-(-)-afzelechin ( 4 ) were isolated for the first time from the branches and leaves of the titled plant, in addition to 11 known compounds ( 5 - 15 ). Their structures were elucidated by means of extensive spectroscopic analysis and by comparison with data reported in the literatures. Methylene 6,8-bis(7- O -glucosyl) catechin ( 1 ) was determined to be a new dimeric flavan-3-ol glycoside through a methylene linkage between C-8 and C-8 of two units. At a concentration of 128 μg/mL, the known compounds 9 - 13 exhibited antibacterial activities on Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus , Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica , and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Compound 12 also showed certain glucose uptake stimulating activity.

Terminalia Linn, a genus of mostly medium or large trees in the family Combretaceae with about 250 species in the world, is distributed mainly in southern Asia, Himalayas, Madagascar, Australia, and the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa. Many species are used widely in many traditional medicinal systems, e.g., traditional Chinese medicine, Tibetan medicine, and Indian Ayurvedic medicine practices. So far, about 39 species have been phytochemically studied, which led to the identification of 368 compounds, including terpenoids, tannins, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, simple phenolics and so on. Some of the isolates showed various bioactivities, in vitro or in vivo, such as antitumor, anti HIV-1, antifungal, antimicrobial, antimalarial, antioxidant, diarrhea and analgesic. This review covers research articles from 1934 to 2018, retrieved from SciFinder, Wikipedia, Google Scholar, Chinese Knowledge Network and Baidu Scholar by using "Terminalia" as the search term ("all fields") with no specific time frame setting for the search. Thirty-nine important medicinal and edible Terminalia species were selected and summarized on their geographical distribution, traditional uses, phytochemistry and related pharmacological activities.

The sequential extraction method was used to determine the fraction of arsenic (As) in different-sized particulate matters (PMs) (i.e., PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and total suspended particles (TSP)). Samples were collected from Baoding, a typical medium-sized city with the serious haze pollution in China. The bioavailabilities of As in the samples were estimated based on the fraction results. A large percentage of fine particles were detected in TSP, with the average PM 2.5 /PM 10 and PM 10 /TSP ratios all above 0.69. The total concentrations of As in PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and TSP samples were in the range of 4.5-296.4, 14.1-708.0, and 32.8-798.0 ng m -3 , respectively. The mass percentages of As in PM 2.5 , PM 2.5-10 , and PM 10-100 were calculated; the results indicated that As tended to concentrate in fine particles. PM-bound As mainly presented in the nonspecifically sorbed fraction (F1) during all of the sampling periods. The percentages of F1-As and bioavailability of As were higher in PM 2.5 , followed by PM 10 and TSP. By contrast, the residual fraction (F5-As) contents declined in the order of TSP > PM 10 > PM 2.5 . Significant differences in the speciation and bioavailability of As in different-sized PMs were found, and the influence of particle size on the speciation and bioavailability of As in PMs was verified. Fine particles adsorbed more As with higher bioavailability, and potentially led to more serious adverse effects on human health than the larger ones.

Four new protopanaxatriol-type triterpenes (1-2) and glucosides (3-4), were isolated from the rot roots of Panax notoginseng (Burk.) Chen, along with four known ones (5-8). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis (HRESIMS, NMR, UV, IR, and OR) and acidic hydrolysis. The possible transformation pathway of these compounds were also speculated from ginsenoside Rg 1 . Compound 1, with a unique α,β-unsaturated ketene in its side chain, showed significant inhibitory effects against NO production on Murine macrophage cells (IC 50  = 4.12 ± 0.20 μM) and comparable cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines (myeloid leukemia HL-60, lung cancer A-549 cells, hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC7721, breast cancer MCF-7, and colon cancer SW480) to positive control, cisplatin (DDP).

Continuous cropping obstacle, mainly caused by microorganisms and organic components in soil, has become a serious problem for the plantation of Panax notoginseng (Araliaceae) due to the rapidly increased demands of this famous herbal medicine in recent decades. The rhizosphere soils cultivated with 3-year-old healthy and ill notoginseng were chemically investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and compared with the corresponding soils without the plantation of notoginseng. Totally 47 liposoluble components were identified. Furthermore, the multiple statistical analysis showed that these constituents were qualitatively and quantitatively associated with the differences between the cultivated soil with P. notoginseng and the uncultivated soil. Among them, neophytadiene (4), d-α-tocopherol (38), (3β,22 E ,24 S )-ergosta-5,22-dien-3-ol (39), (3β,24 R )-ergost-5-en-3-ol (40), stigmasta-5,22-dien-3-ol (41), stigmast-4-en-3-one (44) and (5α)-stigmastane-3,6-dione (47) contributed most to the significant differences between the cultivated and uncultivated soils, whereas cyclopentadecane (3), octadecanoic acid methyl ester (16), docosanoic acid ethyl ester (31), nonacosane (34), 38 and 39 were found in much higher amount in the soils with ill P. notoginseng as compared to the case of those with the healthy P. notoginseng . On the other hand, liposoluble components in different cultivation areas were of great diversity; however, they were able to remain relatively consistent across the overall trend of differential substances., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Tea, as one of the most popular beverages with various bioactivities, is commonly produced from the fresh leaves of two widely cultivated tea plants, Camellia sinensis and C. sinensis var. assamica. Both plants belong to the genus Camellia section Thea, which was considered to have 12 species and 6 varieties according to Min's taxonomic system. Most species, except the cultivated species, are known as wild tea plants and have been exploited and utilized to produce tea by the local people of its growing areas. Thus far, six species and varieties have been phytochemically studied, leading to the identification of 398 compounds, including hydrolyzable tannins, flavan-3-ols, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, and other phenolic and related compounds. Various beneficial health effects were reported for tea and its components, involving antioxidant, antitumor, antimutagenic, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, etc. In this review, the geographical distribution of tea plants and the chemical constituents (1-398) reported from the genus Camellia section Thea and some tea products (green, black, oolong, and pu-erh tea) that have ever been studied between 1970 and 2018 have been summarized, taking species as the main hint, and the main biological activities are also discussed.

Two new sphingofungins G (1) and H (2) with a five-membered lactone ring were identified from the solid-state fermentation of Aspergillus penicilliodes Speg., a dominant microorganism isolated previously from the post-fermentation of ripe Pu-er tea, together with six known metabolites. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods. All of them were isolated from the mycelia culture of A. penicilliodes for the first time. The known compound, trypacidin, exhibited potent cytotoxities against five human cancer cell lines, e.g. myeloid leukemia HL-60, lung cancer A-549, hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC7721, breast cancer MCF-7, and colon cancer SW480, with IC 50 values of 0.55, 11.45, 10.95, 3.58, and 3.49 μM, resp., while cisplatin as the positive control, with IC 50 values of 8.63, 24.15, 21.99, 27.29, and 23.61 μM, resp.

Arsenic (As) can be easily enriched in atmospheric particulate matters (PMs), especially in fine particulate matters (PM 2.5 ). In this study, thirty two PM 2.5 samples were collected in four seasons in Baoding, China, where the haze pollution was very serious in recent years. The total contents, species and bioavailability of arsenic in PM 2.5 samples were investigated. Species of arsenic in the PM 2.5 samples were discriminated as five fractions using a sequential extraction method: non-specifically sorbed fraction (F1), specifically-sorbed fraction (F2), amorphous and poorly-crystalline hydrous oxides of Fe and Al fraction (F3), well-crystallized hydrous oxides of Fe and Al fraction (F4) and residual fraction (F5). Bioavailabilities of arsenic in the PM 2.5 samples were evaluated by in vitro tests using both solubility bioavailability research consortium (SBRC) and Gamble's solution extraction methods. The total volume concentrations of As in PM 2.5 were significantly higher in winter than the other seasons. However, the highest mass concentration of As was found in spring. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization indicated that the physical morphology of the particles varied in different seasons. Significant differences of fraction distribution and BFs were found between different seasons. Arsenic in PM 2.5 samples mainly presented in F1 with high bioavailability factor (BF), especially for the samples in summer. In vitro tests indicated that arsenic in PM 2.5 could be dissolved more easily in gastric phase rather than intestinal and lung phases. There was a significant correlation between species and in vitro tests. Interestingly, a synergy effect was found between F2 and F3. Health risk assessment indicated that arsenic in PM 2.5 via inhalation exposure for both children and adults could cause adverse effects. Principal component analysis suggested that the arsenic in PM 2.5 was from the similar sources between summer and autumn, winter and spring, respectively., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Choledocholithiasis during pregnancy is relatively uncommon but it can be life-threatening. Therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) poses the risk of ionizing radiation exposure to the developing fetus. Other strategies are thus needed to tackle this problem., Presentation of Case: A 38-year-old 8 weeks' pregnant lady presented with acute onset of right upper quadrant pain. Ultrasonography showed features of acute cholecystitis and choledocholithiasis, which was later confirmed by magnetic resonance cholangiogram. Emergency combined laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and laparoscopic exploration of common bile duct (Lap ECBD) were performed. Lap ECBD through trans-cystic duct approach was adopted. The patient recovered uneventfully and was discharged on postoperative day 4. A healthy baby boy was delivered at 40 weeks' gestation without developmental problem., Conclusion: Lap ECBD avoided ionizing radiation for choledocholithiasis during pregnancy, and can combined with LC as an effective minimally invasive procedure for complicated gallstone disease., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Panax notoginseng (Araliaceae) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine mainly cultivated in Yunnan and Guangxi provinces of China. Two new alkaloids, rigidiusculamide E (1) and [-(α-oxyisohexanoyl-N-methyl-leucyl) 2 -] (2), together with two known ones, (-)-oxysporidinone (3) and (-)-4,6'-anhydrooxysporidinone (4) were isolated from the mycelia culture of Fusarium tricinctum SYPF 7082, an endophytic fungus obtained from the healthy root of P. notoginseng. Their structures were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 1-4 were tested for their inhibitory effects against NO production on Murine macrophage cell line, and the new compound 2 showed significant inhibitory activity on NO production with the IC 50 value of 18.10 ± 0.16 μM.

Panax, a genus of the Araliaceae family, is an important herbal group in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Nine species and three varieties are included in the genus of Panax, in which nearly all species have been used for medicinal purposes. Among them, Panax notoginseng (Burk) F. H. Chen, Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer and Panax quinquefolius L. are the most representative and valuable herbs world-wide, with a long history of cultivation. As the main bioactive chemical constituents, saponins with different aglycones are the major components in various Panax spp., and their pharmacological activities are mainly reflected in the effects on blood system, cardio- and cerebro-vascular systems, nervous system, metabolism, and immune regulation. Researchers of Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), have put many efforts into conducting the investigations on Panax species. Herein, we reviewed the research progress on Panax spp. in KIB, CAS, over the past few decades, from the aspects of history and origin, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities.

Camellia sinensis var. pubilimba, one variety of the genus Camellia sect. Thea (Theaceae), has been used for producing green tea mainly by the local people of its growing areas of Guangxi province, China. Forty compounds, including eight C-8 N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-substituted flavan-3-ols (1-8) and their substituted unit N-ethyl-5-hydroxy-2-pyrrolidinone (9), four flavan-3-ol monomers (10-13) and one dimer (14), nine flavonoids (15-23), three hydrolyzable tannins (24-26), two lignans (27-28), 11 simple phenolics (29-39), and caffeine (40), were first isolated and identified from the leaves. Their structures were determined by detailed spectroscopic analysis and comparison with the literature data and authentic samples. Both 1 and 4 were obtained as a mixture of the N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone C-5 enantiomers (1a and 1b and 4a and 4b), respectively, while the resolution of another three pairs of enantiomers (2 and 3, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8) was achieved. Among them, 1b is a new compound whose NMR data together with its enantiomer (1a) were reported for the first time, while 2 and 3 are two new natural products. Most of the isolates exhibited significant antioxidant activities, stronger than ascorbic acid and trolox, while parts of the isolates, particularly C-8 N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidinone-substituted flavan-3-ols, showed obvious inhibitory effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The results indicated that C. sinensis var. pubilimba is a valuable plant resource for tea production.

Twelve indolyl diketopiperazines 1-12 were isolated from the mycelia culture of Aspergillus penicilliodes Speg., a dominant microorganism from the post fermentation process of ripe Pu-er tea. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods. Among them, trypostatins C (1) and D (2) featuring with a rare methyl vinyl ketone side chain at C-2 are new compounds, while 3 and 4 were obtained for the first time from nature source. The isolates 3-12 did not show obvious cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines at a concentration of 40 μM.

Four new cleistanthane diterpenoids, phyllaciduloids A-D (1-4), were isolated from the roots and stems of Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels (Phyllanthaceae). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis. Phyllaciduloids B-D (2-4) present in their structures with ether bond between C-7 and C-16, which were rarely reported. All the isolates were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against five human cancer cell lines., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Further phytochemical investigation of the steaming treated roots of Panax notoginseng (Araliaceae) led to the identification of two new dammarane-type triterpenoid saponins, notoginsenoside SP20 (1) and SP21 (2). In addition, a pair of new phenolic glycosides (3a and 3b) was also isolated together with two known compounds. Their structures were elucidated by HRESIMS, 1D- and 2D-NMR spectra. Compounds 1 and 2 showed no in vitro cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7712, A-549, MCF-9 and SW480).

Camellia fangchengensis Liang et Zhong, belonging to the genus Camellia sect. Thea (Theaceae), is an endemic tea species to the south and southwest areas of Guangxi province, People's Republic of China. Known as a wild tea plant, the leaves have been used for producing green tea or black tea by the local people of its growing area. HPLC and LC-MS analysis showed the leaves contain oligomeric catechins as major phenolic components. Further detailed phytochemical study led to the identification of five flavan-3-ol dimers (1-5) including two new ones, fangchengbisflavans A (1) and B (2) from the leaves of C. fangchengensis, together with six known monomers (6-11) and one glucoside (12), in addition to gallic acid (13). Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis. Most of the isolates displayed significant antioxidant activities in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS + ) radical scavenging assays. The results suggested that the leaves of C. fangchengensis, rich in flavan-3-ol oligomers and monomers as potent antioxidants, could be a valuable plant resource for the production of tea and natural beverages.

Sixty-three amide alkaloids, including three new, piperflaviflorine A ( 1 ), piperflaviflorine B ( 2 ), and sarmentamide D ( 4 ), and two previously synthesized ones, (1 E ,3 S )-1-cinnamoyl-3- hydroxypyrrolidine ( 3 ) and N -[7'-(4'-methoxyphenyl)ethyl]-2-methoxybenzamide ( 5 ), were isolated from the aerial parts of Piper flaviflorum and Piper sarmentosum. Their structures were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis and, in case of 3 , by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Most of the isolates were tested for their antifungal and antibacterial activities. Ten amides ( 6 - 15 ) showed antifungal activity against Cryptococcus neoformans ATCC 90 113 with IC 50 values in the range between 4.7 and 20.0 µg/mL., (Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Fifty-eight phenolic compounds isolated from Phyllanthus emblica were screened and compared for their in vitro and in vivo antioxidant properties, as well as hyaluronidase (HAase) inhibitory activities. Among them, 20 compounds showed to be promising antioxidants due to the stronger scavenging activity in both DPPH radical and Danio rerio reactive oxygen species assays, while nine compounds were potential HAase inhibitors with 100-fold stronger activities than that of the positive control, DSCG. The structure activity relationship was discussed.

Two new compounds, (Z,R)-1-phenylethylcinnamate (1) and (1R,2R,3R,6S)-pipoxide (2) were isolated from the aerial part of Piper hainanense, along with 12 known compounds, including nine benzene derivatives (4-11), one isobutylamide (12), and two polyoxygenated cyclohexene derivatives (13-14). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of the HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analyses, and ECD in cases of 2 and 3. The absolute configuration of ellipeiopsol B (3) was determined for the first time. All these compounds 1-14 were reported from the titled plant for the first time. Most of the isolates were tested for their cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines. Four of which, 2, 3, 9, 14 showed moderate bioactivities. Among them, the new compound 2 showed potential cytotoxicity against SMMC-7721, MCF-7, and SW-480 with IC50 values of 9.7, 15.0, and 13.2 μM, respectively.

Two new oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins (1 and 2) were isolated from the methanolyzed total saponins of the seeds of Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng, together with 16 known compounds (3-18). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic, including 1D and 2D NMR, mass spectrometric, methanolysis and LC-MS analysis. All the isolates were tested for their cytotoxic activities against five human cancer cell lines (HL-60, SMMC-7721, PANC-1, A-549, and SW-480) and the glucose uptake activity. The known compound 6 exhibited toxic effects against HL-60 with an IC50 value of 18.1 μM, while 10 showed cytotoxicity against SMMC-7721 and A-549 cell lines, with IC50 values of 34.4 and 32.8 μM, respectively. In addition, the new compound 2 showed glucose uptake activity with a glucose consumption value of 0.29 μM at 10 μM concentration.

A new methylene-bridged dimeric flavonol glycoside, methylenebisnicotiflorin (1), was isolated from ripe Pu-er tea, along with 10 known flavonoids (2-11) and seven known phenolic compounds (12-18). The structure elucidation was based on spectroscopic analysis. Among them, 1,3-dihydroxyphenyl-2-O-sulfate (13), 2,3,4-trihydroxybenzoic acid (16) and 3,3',4,4'-tetrahydroxybiphenyl (18) are reported from tea plants for the first time.

In an effort to identify anti-viral and cytotoxic compounds from Phyllanthus spp., 14 highly oxygenated norbisabolane sesquiterpenoids, phyllaemblicins H1-H14, were isolated from the roots of Phyllanthus emblica Linn, along with phyllaemblicins B and C and glochicoccinoside D. Their structures were determined on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. Determination of absolute configurations of these compounds was facilitated by theoretical calculations of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) for the aglycone components, and pre-column derivative/chiral HPLC analysis for the monosaccharides. The known glochicoccinoside D displayed potent activity against influenza A virus strain H3N2 and hand, foot and mouth virus EV71, with IC50 values of 4.5±0.6 and 2.6±0.7 μg/ml, respectively. Phyllaemblicin H1 showed moderate cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines A-549 and SMMC-7721, with IC50 values of 4.7±0.7 and 9.9±1.3 μM, respectively., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The roots of Panax notoginseng, an important Chinese medicinal plant, have been used traditionally in both the raw and processed forms, due to the different chemical constituents and bioactivities found. Thirty-eight dammarane-type triterpenoid saponins were isolated from the steam-processed roots of P. notoginseng, including 18 new substances, namely, notoginsenosides SP1-SP18 (1-18). The structures of 1-18 were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and acidic hydrolysis. The absolute configuration of the hydroxy group at C-24 in 1-4, 19, and 20 was determined in each case by Mo2(AcO)4-induced circular dichroism. The new compounds were found to feature a diversity of highly oxygenated side chains, formed by hydrolysis of the C-20 sugar moiety followed by dehydration, dehydrogenation, epoxidation, hydroxylation, or methoxylation of the main saponins in the raw roots. The new saponins 1, 2, 6-8, 14, and 17 and the known compounds 20-27 showed promoting effects on the differentiation of PC12 cells, at a concentration of 10 μM.