Indication of nerve growth factor binding components from herbal extracts by HerboChip: a platform for drug screening on a chip.

Background: HerboChip is an array of different fractions deriving from herbal extracts. This study aimed to identify effective components from Chinese medicine (CM) that interact with nerve growth factor (NGF) as a target using HerboChip.

Methods: Fifty types of CM that are traditionally used as remedies for emotion imbalance were selected and extracted with 50 % ethanol.

Chemical and biological assessment of Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba)-containing herbal decoctions: Induction of erythropoietin expression in cultures.

Jujubae Fructus, known as jujube or Chinese date, is the fruit of Ziziphus jujuba (Mill.), which not only serves as daily food, but acts as tonic medicine and health supplement for blood nourishment and sedation. According to Chinese medicine, jujube is commonly included in herbal mixtures, as to prolong, enhance and harmonize the efficiency of herbal decoction, as well as to minimize the toxicity.

The volatile oil of Nardostachyos Radix et Rhizoma induces endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity in HUVEC cells.

Nardostahyos Radix et Rhizoma (NRR; the root and rhizome of Nardostachys jatamansi DC.) is a widely used medicinal herb. Historically, NRR is being used for the treatment of cardiovascular and neurological diseases.

The volatile oil of Nardostachyos Radix et Rhizoma inhibits the oxidative stress-induced cell injury via reactive oxygen species scavenging and Akt activation in H9c2 cardiomyocyte.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Nardostachyos Radix et Rhizoma (NRR; the root and rhizome of Nardostachys jatamansi DC.) is a well-known medicinal herb widely used in Chinese, Uyghur and Ayurvedic medicines for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. The oxidative stress-induced cardiomyocyte loss is the major pathogenesis of heart disorders.

Synergistic Action of Flavonoids, Baicalein, and Daidzein in Estrogenic and Neuroprotective Effects: A Development of Potential Health Products and Therapeutic Drugs against Alzheimer's Disease.

Despite the classical hormonal effect, estrogen has been reported to mediate neuroprotection in the brain, which leads to the searching of estrogen-like substances for treating neurodegenerative diseases. Flavonoids, a group of natural compounds, are well known to possess estrogenic effects and used to substitute estrogen, that is, phytoestrogen. Flavonoid serves as one of the potential targets for the development of natural supplements and therapeutic drugs against different diseases.

Activation of UTP-sensitive P2Y2 receptor induces the expression of cholinergic genes in cultured cortical neurons: a signaling cascade triggered by Ca2+ mobilization and extracellular regulated kinase phosphorylation.

ATP functions as an extracellular signaling molecule that is costored and coreleased with neurotransmitters at central and peripheral neuronal synapses. Stimulation by ATP upregulates the expression of synaptic genes in muscle-including the genes for nicotine acetylcholine receptor (α-, δ-, and ε-subunits) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-via the P2Y receptor (P2YR), but the trophic response of neurons to the activation of P2YRs is less well understood. We reported that cultured cortical neurons and the developing rat brain expressed different types of P2YRs, and among these the UTP-sensitive P2Y2R was the most abundant.