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Cyclophosphamide (CTX), used in cancer chemotherapy, a high dose of which would cause immunosuppressive effect and intestinal mucosa damage. American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) has a long history of functional food use for immunological disorder, colitis, cancer, and so on. This study aimed to illustrate the underlying mechanism of American ginseng’s immunomodulatory effect in CTX-induced mice. In this study, all groups of American ginseng (American ginseng polysaccharide [AGP], American ginseng ginsenoside [AGG], co-treated with American ginseng polysaccharide and ginsenoside [AGP_AGG]) have relieve the immune disorder by reversing the lymphocyte subsets ratio in spleen and peripheral blood, as well as stimulating CD4+T cells and IgA-secreting cells in small intestine. These three treatment groups, especially AGP_AGG co-treated group recovered the intestine morphology that up-regulated villus height (VH)/crypt depth (CD) ratio, areas of mucins expression, quantity of goblet cells, and expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, occludin). Importantly, the microbiome-metabolomics analysis was applied in this study to illustrate the possible immuno-modulating mechanism. The synergistic effect of polysaccharides and ginsenosides (AGP_AGG group) restored the gut microbiota composition and increased various beneficial mucosa-associated bacterial taxa Clostridiales, Bifidobacterium, and Lachnospiraceae, while decreased harmful bacteria Escherichia-Shigella and Peptococcaceae. Also, AGP_AGG group altered various fecal metabolites such as uric acid, xanthurenic acid, acylcarnitine, 9,10-DHOME, 13-HDoHE, LysoPE15:0, LysoPC 16:0, LysoPI 18:0, and so on, that associated with immunometabolism or protective effect of gut barrier. These results suggest AG, particularly co-treated of polysaccharide and ginsenoside may be used as immunostimulants targeting microbiome-metabolomics axis to prevent CTX-induced side effects in cancer patients.

Cyclophosphamide (CTX), used in cancer chemotherapy, a high dose of which would cause immunosuppressive effect and intestinal mucosa damage. American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) has a long history of functional food use for immunological disorder, colitis, cancer, and so on. This study aimed to illustrate the underlying mechanism of American ginseng’s immunomodulatory effect in CTX-induced mice. In this study, all groups of American ginseng (American ginseng polysaccharide [AGP], American ginseng ginsenoside [AGG], co-treated with American ginseng polysaccharide and ginsenoside [AGP_AGG]) have relieve the immune disorder by reversing the lymphocyte subsets ratio in spleen and peripheral blood, as well as stimulating CD4+T cells and IgA-secreting cells in small intestine. These three treatment groups, especially AGP_AGG co-treated group recovered the intestine morphology that up-regulated villus height (VH)/crypt depth (CD) ratio, areas of mucins expression, quantity of goblet cells, and expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, occludin). Importantly, the microbiome-metabolomics analysis was applied in this study to illustrate the possible immuno-modulating mechanism. The synergistic effect of polysaccharides and ginsenosides (AGP_AGG group) restored the gut microbiota composition and increased various beneficial mucosa-associated bacterial taxa Clostridiales, Bifidobacterium, and Lachnospiraceae, while decreased harmful bacteria Escherichia-Shigella and Peptococcaceae. Also, AGP_AGG group altered various fecal metabolites such as uric acid, xanthurenic acid, acylcarnitine, 9,10-DHOME, 13-HDoHE, LysoPE15:0, LysoPC 16:0, LysoPI 18:0, and so on, that associated with immunometabolism or protective effect of gut barrier. These results suggest AG, particularly co-treated of polysaccharide and ginsenoside may be used as immunostimulants targeting microbiome-metabolomics axis to prevent CTX-induced side effects in cancer patients.

Ophiocordyceps xuefengensis has recently been identified as a sister taxon of O. sinensis and has long been recognized as a folk tonic, food, or invigorant in South China. This study had 3 aims: First, we analyzed the antioxidant activities of 3 kinds of caterpillar fungi; the antioxidative ability of the various caterpillar fungi were in the order of O. xuefengensis > Cordyceps militaris > O. sinensis. Second, we further identified the antioxidant compounds in O. xuefengensis by using various methods: multiwavelength DPPH high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In this way, we found and identified 30 compounds that possessed potential antioxidant activity. Among these compounds, 23 compounds were determined to be composed of nucleosides, nucleotides, and amino acids. To our knowledge, several compounds in O. xuefengensis are reported here for the first time. Third, we compared the antioxidant markers in 3 caterpillar fungi. Results showed that the caterpillar fungi share some common antioxidants, while each also had its own characteristic compounds that correspond to its antioxidant capacity. This is to our knowledge the first report of the screening and identification of antioxidants in O. xuefengensis, and these results might provide beneficial contributions to understandings of O. xuefengensis on the basis of its chemical compounds and antioxidant activity.

Traditional Chinese medicine formula granules (TCMFGs), an advanced dosage form of traditional Chinese medicine, are entering the market on a large scale. However, little attention has been paid to the simultaneous efficacy assessment and quality control of this advanced dosage form. In this study, a comprehensive comparison of the pharmacological activity and chemical consistency of TCMFGs from different manufacturers was performed. Ge-Gen decoction (GGD) samples were used as the target TCMFG. The in vitro anti-inflammatory effects among different types of GGDs indicate that all of them showed different abilities to reduce the lipopolysaccharide-activated production of nitric oxide, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α. The results from a dimethylbenzene-induced inflammation model in mice indicated that the nine samples in this study showed significant in vivo anti-inflammatory effects. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed by multiwavelength ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and electrospray ionization with quadrupole time-of-flight-tandem mass spectrometry. To visually interpret the differences in the chemical materials, a scatter plot analysis was performed. According to the scatter plot analysis, nine compounds were evaluated as important contributors to the differences. This is the first report of TCMFGs on the basis of the spectrum-effect consistency.

BACKGROUND Lonicera macranthoides is a Chinese herb that contains a large number of bioactive spanions possessing important pharmacological activities, such as anti-tumour activity. However, detailed information about their anti-tumor activity and bioactive compounds is limited. METHODS In order to evaluate the scientific basis, the method of high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) combined with high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS) has been developed to separate, purify and analyze saponins from Lonicera macranthoides. Four main saponins, Macranthoidin B (I), Macranthoidin A (II), Macranthoides B (III) and Akebia saponin D (IV) were separated by HSCCC with the solvent systems of ethyl acetate-nbutanol- water (3:2:5) and n-butanol-water-methanol-ethyl acetate (1:6:0.5:4). The purities of these four bioactive ingredients (I-IV) identified and detected by HPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS were 95.1%, 92.7%, 91.8% and 96.3%, respectively. The separated saponins were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against six tumor cell lines (MCF-7, Hela, A549, HepG2, HT29 and Eca109). RESULTS Results show that compounds I-IV exhibited particular significant anti-tumor activities against human mammary adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cell with IC50 values ranging from 12.7 to 30.8 µM. CONCLUSION It was demonstrated that the combinative method using HPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS and HSCCC was suitable for rapid screening and isolating saponins of Lonicera macranthoides and the isolated compounds have great potential for the development of new antitumor drugs.