Integrative analysis of hepatic microRNA and mRNA to identify potential biological pathways associated with monocrotaline-induced liver injury in mice.[Pubmed: 28818515]

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are a type of natural hepatotoxic compounds. Monocrotaline (MCT), belongs to PAs, is a main compound distributed in medicinal herb Crotalaria ferruginea Grah. ex Benth. This study aims to identify the potential biological signaling pathway associated with MCT-induced liver injury by analyzing the integrative altered hepatic microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA expression profile. C57BL/6 mice were orally given with MCT (270, 330mg/kg). Serum alanine/aspartate aminotransferase (ALT/AST) activity, total bilirubin (TBil) amount and liver histological evaluation showed the liver injury induced by MCT. Results of miRNA chip analysis showed that the hepatic expression of 15 miRNAs (whose signal intensity>200) was significantly altered in MCT-treated mice, and among them total 11 miRNAs passed further validation by using Real-time PCR assay. Results of mRNA chip analysis demonstrated that the hepatic expression of 569 genes was up-regulated and of other 417 genes was down-regulated in MCT-treated mice. There are total 426 predicted target genes of those above altered 11 miRNAs, and among them total 10 genes were also altered in mice treated with both MCT (270mg/kg) and MCT (330mg/kg) from the results of mRNA chip. Among these above 10 genes, total 8 genes passed further validation by using Real-time PCR assay. Only 1 biological signaling pathway was annotated by using those above 8 genes, which is phagosome. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the integrative altered expression profile of liver miRNA and mRNA, and identified that innate immunity may be critically involved in MCT-induced liver injury in mice.

A Novel Heterodimer from Crotalaria ferruginea.[Pubmed: 27534118]

A new compound was isolated from the traditional Chinese folk herb Crotalaria ferruginea. The structure of the new compound was identified as (±)-crotaferruphenol (1) based on analyses of its spectroscopic data including NMR, MS, and specific rotation values. (±)-Crotaferruphenol was a novel heterodimer characteristic of a unique spiroketal moiety, which was produced by the condensation reaction of a chromanone and a 2-isopropenybenzofuran. (±)-Crotaferruphenol exhibited inhibitory activity (IC50 = 6.57 μM.) against phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4), a drug target for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.

Natural phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitors from Crotalaria ferruginea.[Pubmed: 24594242]

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethanol extract of the Chinese folk medicine Crotalaria ferruginea led to the isolation of a new isoflavonoid, 4'-hydroxy-2'-methylalpinum-isoflavone (1), and eight known analogs (2-9). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. Compounds 1, 2, 5, and 8 showed inhibitory activities against phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4), a therapeutic target of asthma, with IC50 values ranging from 2.57 to 8.94 μM. The possible action mechanism and the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the active isoflavonoids were explored by using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods. Our study herein may explain the anti-inflammatory function of this plant in Chinese folk medicine.

[Character and microscopical identification of Xianglingcao (Crotalaria ferruginea Grah.), the herbal of Bai Nationality].[Pubmed: 16514883]

From its sources, shapes, microscopic characteristics of Xianglingcao (Crotalaria ferruginea Grah.), the herbal of Bai Nationality was studied. These studies provide reference formation for further development and identification of this crude drug.