Polygonum cuspidatum (Hu Zhang) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has been revealed to exert anticancer, anti-angiogenesis, anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), anti-hepatitis B virus, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and neuro-protective bio-activities. However, the effect of P. cuspidatum extract (PCE) on drug-resistant human oral cancer cells regarding cell death is not fully understood yet. The present study was undertaken to explore the induction of autophagic and apoptotic cell death and to investigate their underlying molecular mechanisms in PCE-treated cisplatin-resistant human oral cancer CAR cells. Our results revealed that PCE was determined via HPLC analytic method, and it was revealed that resveratrol may be a major compound in PCE. The data also demonstrated that PCE reduced CAR cell viability in a concentration-and time-dependent response via an MTT assay. PCE had an extremely low toxicity in human normal gingival fibroblasts (HGF). Autophagic and apoptotic cell death was found after PCE treatment by morphological determination. PCE was revealed to induce autophagy as determined using acridine orange (AO), LC3-GFP, monodansylcadaverine (MDC) and LysoTracker Red staining in CAR cells. In addition, PCE was revealed to induce apoptosis in CAR cells via 4' ,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)/terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) double staining. PCE significantly stimulated caspase-9 and -3 activities as revealed using caspase activity assays. PCE markedly increased the protein levels of Atg5, Atg7, Atg12, Beclin-1, LC3, Bax and cleaved caspase-3, while it decreased the protein expression of Bcl-2 in CAR cells as determined by western blotting. In conclusion, our findings are the first to suggest that PCE may be potentially efficacious for the treatment of cisplatin-resistant human oral cancer.

Kalimeris indica (L.) Sch. Bip. is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and a portion of food used for cooking in China. It has been demonstrated that an ethanol extract of K. indica has an anti‐inflammatory effect by inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production on murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction. In this study, the hepatoprotective effects of the total phenolics of K. indica (TPK), the total triterpenes of K. indica (TTK), and the total flavones of K. indica (TFK) from ethanol extracts of K. indica were evaluated in Bacille Calmette–Guerin (BCG)/LPS‐induced liver injury in vivo. The treatments of TPK, TTK, and TFK improved liver injury in mice. Additionally, all treatments significantly not only reduced the hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) content and hepatic total nitric oxide synthase (tNOS) but also induced the hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px) activity. The treatments of TPK and TTK significantly reduced the hepatic inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). The treatments of TPK, TTK, and TFK reduced the serum total bilirubin (T‐Bil), and only TFK treatment reduced the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Our results suggest that TPK, TTK, and TFK from ethanol extracts of K. indica might play an essential protective role against BCG/LPS‐induced liver injury in vivo.

Terpenes U 0200 Two New Furanoid Norditerpenes from Dioscorea bulbifera -[structure determination of diosbulbin I (I) and diosbulbin J (II)]. -(WANG, G.; LIU, J.-S.; LIN, B.-B.; WANG, G.-K.; LIU*, J.-K.; Chem.