A new lignan glycoside from the leaves of Sambucus sieboldiana (Miq.) Blume ex. Graebn.
(1/28)
A new lignan glycoside, (-)-massoniresinol 4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (4), was isolated, together with six known ones (1-3, 5-7), from the leaves of Sambucus sieboldiana. Their structures were established on the basis of chemical and spectral data. (+info)
Absorption and metabolism of anthocyanins in elderly women after consumption of elderberry or blueberry.
(2/28)
The absorption and metabolism of anthocyanins (ACN) in humans was studied in four elderly women given 12 g elderberry extract (EBX) (720 mg total ACN), and six elderly women given 189 g lowbush blueberry (BB) (690 mg total ACN). The two major ACN in EBX, cyanidin-3-glucoside and cyanidin-3-sambubioside, as well as four metabolites: 1) peonidin 3-glucoside, 2) peonidin 3-sambubioside, 3) peonidin monoglucuronide, and 4) cyanidin-3-glucoside monoglucuronide were identified in urine within 4 h of consumption using HPLC-MS/MS with diode-array detector detection and retention time. Total EBX ACN excretion was 554 +/- 90 microg (mean +/- SD, n = 4) (0.077% of intake/4 h, wt/wt). In 5 of 6 women fed BB, urine samples contained ACN, which were identified as the original forms based upon comparisons to the BB food sample, which contained 24 ACN, 22 of which were identified by HPLC-MS/MS. Reasonable correlations between BB and urine proportions of the different ACN were obtained except for ACN arabinosides. Total urinary excretion during the first 6 h was 23.2 +/- 10.9 microg (mean +/- SD, n = 5) (0.004% of intake/6 h, wt/wt). Plasma ACN levels were below detection limits using 2 mL plasma in women that consumed BB. This study demonstrates for the first time that in vivo methylation of cyanidin to peonidin and glucuronide conjugate formation occurs after people consume ACN and demonstrates the low absorption and excretion of ACN compared with other flavonoids. (+info)
Scanning transmission X-ray, laser scanning, and transmission electron microscopy mapping of the exopolymeric matrix of microbial biofilms.
(3/28)
Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and soft X-ray scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) were used to map the distribution of macromolecular subcomponents (e.g., polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids) of biofilm cells and matrix. The biofilms were developed from river water supplemented with methanol, and although they comprised a complex microbial community, the biofilms were dominated by heterotrophic bacteria. TEM provided the highest-resolution structural imaging, CLSM provided detailed compositional information when used in conjunction with molecular probes, and STXM provided compositional mapping of macromolecule distributions without the addition of probes. By examining exactly the same region of a sample with combinations of these techniques (STXM with CLSM and STXM with TEM), we demonstrate that this combination of multimicroscopy analysis can be used to create a detailed correlative map of biofilm structure and composition. We are using these correlative techniques to improve our understanding of the biochemical basis for biofilm organization and to assist studies intended to investigate and optimize biofilms for environmental remediation applications. (+info)
Characterization and cDNA cloning of monomeric lectins that correspond to the B-Chain of a type 2 ribosome-inactivating protein from the bark of Japanese elderberry (Sambucus sieboldiana).
(4/28)
Two monomeric lectins, SSA-b-3 and SSA-b-4, were purified from the bark tissue of Japanese elderberry, Sambucus sieboldiana. SDS-PAGE of the purified lectins showed the presence of single bands of 35 and 33 kDa for SSA-b-3 and SSA-b-4, respectively, irrespective of the presence of reducing agent. MS analysis as well as gel filtration of these lectins indicated that they exist mostly as monomeric lectins. Analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequences of SSA-b-3 and SSA-b-4 yielded an identical sequence, indicating their close structural relationship. Four cDNA clones with extensive homology were obtained from the bark cDNA library and indicated to encode SSA-b-3 or SSA-b-4 from the comparison with the N-terminal sequences of these lectins. These clones were classified into two groups, three for SSA-b-3 and one for SSA-b-4, based on the predicted isoelectric points. The amino acid sequences of the encoded polypeptides were almost identical with the B-chain of a type 2 ribosome-inactivating protein from the same bark tissue, sieboldin-b, except for the absence of a small peptide containing a cystein residue, which is critical for the heteromeric dimerization with an A-subunit. Carbohydrate binding specificity and biological activity of these lectins are also reported. (+info)
Aglycones and sugar moieties alter anthocyanin absorption and metabolism after berry consumption in weanling pigs.
(5/28)
To investigate the absorption and metabolism of anthocyanins (ACNs) with different aglycones and sugar moieties, weanling pigs (11.4 +/- 3.8 kg) were fed, in a single meal, a freeze-dried powder of chokeberry, black currant, or elderberry at a single dose of 229, 140, or 228 mumol total ACN/kg body weight (BW), respectively. These berries provided ACNs with differences in aglycone as well as some unique differences in the sugar moieties. The relative proportions of the different metabolites depended upon concentrations, quantities consumed, and types of glycoside of ACNs in the berry. Delphinidin ACNs were not metabolized to any measurable extent. Cyanidin ACNs were metabolized via methylation and glucuronidation as well as by formation of both derivatives on the same ACN molecule. ACNs with either a di- or trisaccharide attached to them were excreted in the urine primarily as the intact form. Over 80% of the ACN compounds containing rutinose or sambubiose, which were excreted in the urine from black currant, elderberry, or Marion blackberry, were excreted as the intact molecule. The limited metabolism of these ACNs that did occur was via methylation. ACN monoglycosides other than the glucoside were metabolized via methylation and/or glucuronide formation. The monoglucuronide that formed represented a small proportion of the metabolites relative to the methylated or the mixed methylated and glucuronide forms of ACNs. The data clearly demonstrate that the aglycone and the sugar moieties can alter the apparent absorption and metabolism of ACNs. (+info)
Direct vasoactive and vasoprotective properties of anthocyanin-rich extracts.
(6/28)
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a critical role in the impairment of nitric oxide-mediated vascular functions and overall pathogenesis associated with cardiovascular disease. Plant pigment anthocyanins are exceptionally potent oxygen radical scavengers that produce beneficial effects in diseases outside the cardiovascular system. We examined for the first time the potential coronary vasoactive and vasoprotective properties of three anthocyanin enhanced extracts prepared from chokeberry (Ck), bilberry (B), or elderberry (E). Coronary arterial rings were isolated from 64 pigs and incubated in sterile tissue culture media overnight for use in one of four separate in vitro isometric force recording studies. Ck and B, but not E, produced dose- and endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. (%maximal relaxation at 5 mg total anthocyanins per liter: Ck = 68 +/- 11, B = 59 +/- 10). Coronary vascular tone, endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation to A23187, and vasorelaxation to DEA NONOate were not affected by exposure of rings to any extract at 0.05 mg total anthocyanins per liter for 5 or 30 min. Ck extract at 0.05 mg total anthocyanins per liter showed the greatest protection against loss of A23187 relaxation following exposure to ROS from pyrogallol (Ck, % maximal relaxation and -logED50 to A23187, respectively, means +/- SE: Ck alone, 93 +/- 5%, 7.91 +/- 0.1; pyrogallol alone, 76 +/- 7%, 7.46 +/- 0.06; pyrogallol + Ck, 98 +/- 1%, 7.82 +/- 0.06; control: 99 +/- 1%, 7.86 +/- 0.07; P < 0.05 control vs. pyrogallol alone). Neither the extracts nor pyrogallol affected responses to DEA NONOate. Thus anthocyanin-enhanced extracts produce endothelium-dependent relaxation in porcine coronary arteries. Extract concentrations too low to directly alter coronary vascular tone protect coronary arteries from ROS without altering vasorelaxation to endogenous or exogenous NO. These results suggest that such extracts could have significant beneficial effects in vascular disease. (+info)
A new eudesmane derivative and a new fatty acid ester from Sambucus williamsii.
(7/28)
1,4,13-Trihydroxy-eudesm-11(12)-ene, a new eudesmane derivative (3), (9E)-8,11,12-trihydroxyoctadecenoic acid methyl ester, a new fatty acid ester (2) and tianshic acid (1) were obtained from the stems of Sambucus williamsii. Their structures were elucidated by physiochemical properties and spectroscopic analysis. Both compounds 1 and 2 showed stimulating effects on alkaline phosphatase activity of the osteoblastic UMR106 cell about 1.5 fold at 30 mumol/l while they had no effects on cell proliferation. (+info)
Gitksan medicinal plants--cultural choice and efficacy.
(8/28)
BACKGROUND: The use of plants for healing by any cultural group is integrally related to local concepts of the nature of disease, the nature of plants, and the world view of the culture. The physical and chemical properties of the plants themselves also bear on their selection by people for medicines, as does the array of plants available for people to choose from. I examine use of medicinal plants from a "biobehavioral" perspective to illuminate cultural selection of plants used for medicine by the Gitksan of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. METHODS: Consultant consensus, "intercultural consensus", independent use of the same plants by other cultural groups, and phytochemistry and bioassay results from the literature, were employed in analysis of probable empirical efficacy of plant uses. RESULTS: 70% of 37 Gitksan medicinal plants were used similarly by other cultures where direct diffusion is not known to have occurred; eleven plants, including the eight most frequently mentioned medicinal plants, also show active phytochemicals or bioassays indicating probable physiologically based therapeutic effects. CONCLUSION: Analysis of intercultural consensus revealed that the majority of cultures in the British Columbia region within the plant ranges use the same plants, or closely related species, in similar ways. The rigor of this analysis is effected by the lack of consistent data on all taxa of interest for all cultures within the region. (+info)