Celastrol, a triterpenoid isolated from stem (caulis) of Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. (Celastraceae), has been known to have various pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antioxidant activities. However, the mechanism of the intestinal absorption of celastrol is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the intestinal absorption of celastrol using the Cac...

A total of 115 different plant extracts from our collection, representing 96 plant species, have been evaluated for in vitro antileishmanial activity against L. amazonensis promastigotes. In addition, the extracts were screened for cytotoxic activity against BALB/c mouse macrophages in order to assess a selectivity index. Crude extracts that showed a selectivity index (CC50 for macrophage / IC5...

The purpose Celastrol, the main active compound of the Celastrus genus plants, belonging to Celastraceae, has recently marked antitumour potency on solid tumours of various derivations, Methods: We demonstrate here that Celastrol also present powerful antileukaemic potency through both growth arrest and apoptosis induction in K562 cells, which was accompanied by typical apoptotic morphological ...

Celangulin V (CV), one of dihydroagarofuran sesquiterpene polyesters isolated from Chinese bittersweet (Celastrus angulatus Maxim), is famous natural botanical insecticide. Decades of research suggests that is displays excellent insecticidal activity against some insects, such as Mythimna separata Walker. Recently, it has been validated that the H subunit of V-ATPase is one of the target protei...

A NUMBERof drugs have been employed in an attempt to increase the mental capacity of oligophrenics. The effect of thiamine on learning demonstrated by Harrell (1943, 1946) led Rudolf (1949, 1950) to use this vitamin in the treatment of oligophrenia. Similarly, the early studies of Zimmermann and Ross (1944) on glutamic acid resulted in a large number of papers on its debatable effect in feeblem...

Celangulin V (CV) is the main insecticidal constituent of Celastrus angulatus. The V-ATPase H subunit of the midgut cells of lepidopteran larvae is the putative target protein of CV. Here, we compared the effects of CV on the midgut membrane potentials of Mythimna separata and Agrotis ipsilon larvae with those of the Cry1Ab toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis and with those of inactive CV-MIA, a ...

BACKGROUND Invasion of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) is critical in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The metalloproteinases (MMPs) and activator of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway play a critical role in RA-FLS invasion induced by interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). The present study aimed to explore the anti-invasive activity and mech...

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to investigate knowledge and use of wild food plants in two mountain valleys separated by Mount Taibai--the highest peak of northern China and one of its biodiversity hotspots, each adjacent to species-rich temperate forest vegetation. METHODS Seventy two free lists were collected among the inhabitants of two mountain valleys (36 in each). All the studied h...