Essential oil of Curcuma wenyujin induces apoptosis in human hepatoma cells

AIM: To investigate the effects of the essential oil of Curcuma wenyujin (CWO) on growth inhibition and on the induction of apoptosis in human HepG2 cancer cells. METHODS: The cytotoxic effect of drugs on HepG2 cells was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2- yl)-2,5-diphenyltetra-zolium bromide (MTT) assay. DNA fragmentation was visualized by agarose gel electrophoresis. Cell cycle and mitochondrial transmembrane potential (△Ψm) were determined by flow cytometry (FCM). Cytochrome C immunostaining was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy. Caspase-3 enzymatic activity was assayed by the cleavage of Ac-DEVD-R110. Cleaved PARP and active caspase-3 protein levels were measured by FCM using BD? CBA Human Apoptosis Kit. RESULTS: Treatment with CWO inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and the IC50 of CWO was approximately 70 μg/mL. CWO was found to inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells by inducing a cell cycle arrest at S/G2. DNA fragmentation was evidentlyobserved at 70 μg/mL after 72 h of treatment. During the process, cytosolic HepG2 cytochrome C staining showed a markedly stronger green fluorescence than in control cells in a dose-dependent fashion, and CWO also caused mitochondrial transmembrane depolarization. Furthermore, the results clearly demonstrated that both, activity of caspase-3 enzyme and protein levels of cleaved PARP, significantly increased in a dose- dependent manner after treatment with CWO. CONCLUSION: CWO exhibits an antiproliferative effect in HepG2 cells by inducing apoptosis. This growth inhibition is associated with cell cycle arrest, cytochrome C translocation, caspase 3 activation, Poly- ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) degradation, and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. This process involves a mitochondria-caspase dependent apoptosis pathway. As apoptosis is an important anti-cancer therapeutic target, these results suggest a potential of CWO as a chemotherapeutic agent.

Quantitative determination of polysaccharide in Curcuma wenyujin, a traditional Chinese medicine, by a phenol-sulfuric acid method

Curcuma wenyujin has been widely used as a traditional medicine in China. In this paper a strategy for the quantitative determination of the polysaccharide by a phenol-sulfuric acid method was described. Involved in three factors, 5% phenol volume, H2SO4 volume, and temperature of water bath, we adopted the L9（3）3 orthogonal array design to gain the optimal colorimetric method. 3.0 ml of polysaccharide solution, 1.0 ml, 5% phenol and 7.0 ml H2SO4 were mixed with constant stirring in a glass vessel, and then kept in a water bath at 40 ℃. After cooling to room temperature for 20 min, the absorbance values were recorded by the UV-2501 PC spectrometer at the wavelength range of 485 nm. The polysaccharide content in Curcuma wenyujin were 3.21%, 3.23%, 3.20%, 3.18~/0, 3.22% and 2.38%, respectively. All results showed that this method was adequate, valid and applicable, may be applied to the determination of other bacterial polysaccharide as well.

Comparative Analysis of the Volatile Components in the Fresh Roots and Rhizomes of Curcuma wenyujin by Static Headspace Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Static headspace GC-MS method coupled with H/D exchange was firstly developed to determine and identify the volatile components in the fresh root and rhizome of Curcuma wenyujin. The TIC chromatograms of 3 batches of fresh roots harvested at different time showed significant difference in the volatile components： the constitution was the same but the content of them was different. More than 60 volatile components in fresh roots （Root of C. wenyujin） and rhizomes （Rhizome of C. wenyujin） of C. wenyujin were detected, of which 51 and 48 volatile components were identified respectively. The fresh roots and rhizomes of C. wenyujin were found to have the similar volatile components. The contents of these components were calibrated by the response of β-elemene. In addition, the principal active component, β-elemene, was further confirmed and relatively quantified by its standard. γ-terpinene showed obvious allylic hydrogen/deuterium exchange using deuterium oxide which gave a new method to identify some compounds containing allylic hydrogen. At the same time, the active hydrogen compounds were also further confirmed. The results show that HS-GC-MS of volatile components from medical plants. method is a fast, simple and efficient way for the analysis

Sesquiterpenoids from Curcuma wenyujin dreg and their biological activities

Four new sesquiterpenoids, 4,8-dioxo-6βhydroxyl-7β,l 1-epoxycarabrane （1）, 4,8-dioxo-6βhydroxyl- 7β,11-epoxycarabrane （2）, wenyujinins Q and R （3-4）, and nine known sesquiterpenoids （5-13） were isolated from the Curcuma wenyujin （C wenyujin） dreg. Their structures and relative configurations wereelucidated using 1D, 2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS data. All the compounds were isolated for the first time from the C wenyujin dreg and evaluated for their antibacterial and antifungal activities. Compounds 3, 5- 8 exhibited strong broad-spectrum antifungal activities against tested nine pathogenic fungi.

Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry for Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Essential Oil from Curcuma wenyujin Rhizomes

Objectives:A rapid and sensitive gas chromatography–mass spectrometry(GC–MS)method for quantitative and qualitative analysis of essential oil from Curcuma wenyujin rhizomes was established.Methods:The essential oil of C.wenyujin rhizomes was extracted by supercritical CO2 extraction(SFE).Six main bioactive compounds(eucalyptol,β-elemene,curzerene,germacrone,curdione,and curcumol)were analyzed in selected ion monitoring mode(SIM).Results:Curzerene is not originally present in C.wenyujin rhizomes,but is a product of the transformation of furanodiene at high temperature.The six target components demonstrated good linearity(R2>0.9979)over a relatively wide concentration range.The interday and intraday variations had relative standard deviation values less than 5%and the average recovery ranged from 96.95%to 100.04%.The limit of quantitation ranged from 0.032 to 0.235μg/mL.The developed method was successfully used to analyze the six compounds in 17 samples collected from different origins.Significant variation was observed for the concentrations of the six compounds.In addition,51 constituents were identified in C.wenyujin rhizome essential oil,consisting of 87.66%of the total essential oil,including curdione,curzerene,dehydrocurdione,germacrone,1,4-bis(2-benzimidazoyl)benzene,neocurdione,curcumenone,andβ-elemene.Conclusions:The proposed method will be useful in the quality control of C.wenyujin rhizome essential oil production.

Ultra-performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole/Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Based Bile and Urine Metabonomics Study on the Ameliorative Effects of Curcuma wenyujin Rhizoma on Acute Blood Stasis in Rats

Background: Curcuma wenyujin rhizome(CWR) is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine for treating blood stasis in China for 1000 of years. However, the underlying mechanism of CWR remains unclear. Aims and Objectives: The purpose of this study is to clarify the bioactive mechanism of CWR in treating blood stasis. Materials and Methods: In this study, pharmacological indexes, including hemorheology and four blood coagulation indexes were tested. Bile and urine metabolomics were engaged by UPLC-Q/TOF-MS. Multivariate statistical analysis were used to screen out differential endogenous metabolites. Results: The results indicated that CWR significantly ameliorated the hemorheology and coagulation functions of acute blood stasis(ABS) model rats. Moreover, 27 endogenous metabolites between the CWR group and the ABS group were screened, and the levels were all improved to certain degrees by CWR preadministration. Metabonomics results indicated that ABS was mainly related to linoleic acid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, pentose and glucuronate intercereasonversions, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and primary bile acid biosynthesis. Conclusion: In a word, the metabolomics method is consistent with the holistic view of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) that can be a powerful means to illustrate the biological activity mechanism of CWR in treating blood stasis and to offer research demonstration for further study on the effector mechanism of TCM.