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To find the polysaccharide with hepatoprotective activity from Poria cocos and clarify its structure, a galactoglucan (PCP-1C) with a molecular weight of 17 kDa was purified from the Poria cocos sclerotium by column chromatography and activity evaluation in the present work. It was composed of galactose, glucose, mannose, and fucose in a molar percentage of 43.5: 24.4: 17.4: 14.6. Structural characterization showed that PCP-1C has a backbone consisted of 1,6-α-D-Galp, which branches composed of 1,3-β-D-Glcp, 1,4-β-D-Glcp, 1,6-β-D-Glcp, T-β-D-Glcp, T-α-D-Manp, T-α-L-Fucp and 1,3-α-L-Fucp. In vivo experiments found that PCP-1C can apparently improve the damage of liver tissue in CCl 4 -treated mice and relieve oxidative stress and inflammation. PCP-1C also reduced the expression of CAR and CYP2E1 in the liver. These findings indicated strong hepatoprotective effect of PCP-1C, which was attributed to the reduction of CCl 4 metabolism via inhibiting the CAR/CYP2E1 signal pathway., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The present study explored the beneficial effect of Dendrobium huoshanense stem polysaccharide (cDHPS) after oral administration on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using type Ⅱ collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mouse model. It was found that cDHPS effectively alleviated joint swelling, synovial hyperplasia, pannus formation, cartilage erosion and bone destruction in CIA mice. Concurrently, cDHPS remodeled the balance of Th17 and regulatory T cells, reduced the secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators related to fibroblast-like synoviocyte activation, angiogenesis, articular cartilage degradation and osteoclast differentiation, inhibited HIF-1α expression and promoted anti-inflammatory mediator release in the joint tissues and serum of CIA mice. Western blot of joint tissues showed that cDHPS significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of IκB, p65, JNK, p38, ERK1/2, AKT, PI3K, JAK1 and STAT3 in CIA mice. These results suggest that cDHPS possesses the potential of ameliorating RA and its anti-RA effect may be attributed to the inhibition of inflammatory signaling pathways., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The present work investigated the inhibitory activity of the polysaccharide from cultivated Dendrobium huoshanense (cDHP) on lung inflammation in cigarette smoke (CS)-induced mouse model. cDHP was mainly composed of mannose and glucose in a molar ratio of 1.89: 1.00, and had a backbone with linkages of 1,4-Manp, 1,4-Glcp, 1,4,6-Manp and 1-Glcp. Hematoxylin and Eosin (HE) staining and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that cDHP can increase alveolar number, thicken alveolar wall, inhibit pulmonary bulla formation and decrease inflammatory cell infiltration as compared to the model group. ELISA determination revealed that cDHP can inhibit CS-induced enhancement in TNF-α and IL-1β secretion in serum and lung. These results suggested that cDHP can resist CS-induced lung inflammation. Further, the phosphorylation analysis of p65, IκB, p38 and JNK as well as the DNA binding activity analysis of NF-κB and AP-1 implied that the anti-inflammation function of cDHP is mediated via regulating NF-κB and MAPK signaling., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Paclitaxel (PTX) loaded multilayered liposomes were prepared using layer-by-layer assembly in an effort to improve the stabilization of the liposomal compositions for PTX delivery. Stearyl amine was used to provide positive charge to the PTX-liposomes, and subsequently coated with anionic polyacrylic acid (PAA) followed by cationic chitosan. Various process variables were optimized and the optimum formulation was found to have particle size of 215 ± 17 nm, zeta potential of +27.9 ± 3.4 mV and encapsulation efficiency of 70.93 ± 2.39%. The lyophilized chitosan-PAA-PTX-liposomes formulation was stable in simulated gastrointestinal fluids and at different environmental conditions (4 °C and 25 °C). In vitro drug release experiments demonstrated that chitosan-PAA-PTX-liposomes formulation exhibited obvious sustained release behaviors compared to PTX-liposomes. Furthermore, chitosan-PAA-PTX-liposomes formulation revealed enhanced PTX induced cytotoxicity in human cervical cancer cell culture experiments compared to PTX-liposomes. In conclusion, the approach presented herein will provide a promising solution for PTX delivery., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)