Huirong Zhang,Xuan Li,Xianyao Meng,Xiao Ling,Shuowen Li,Guanjie Song,Li Li
The snow lotus is an endangered traditional Chinese medicinal herb. Saussurea involucrata , Saussurea laniceps , and Saussurea medusa , the three main snow lotus species (five herbs and two S. involucrata cell cultures), were selected for this study. Snow lotus (XLs) was extracted using 75 % (v/v) ethanol. Two reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector methods were developed and validated for the determination of 10 representative components in XLs. The antioxidant efficacy of XLs and their components was investigated using DPPH, ABTS free radical scavenging, and ROS inhibition experiments. The results showed that the IC 50 for DPPH scavenging ranged from 0.06–0.29 mg/mL for XLs and from 0.13–0.63 mg/mL for ABTS, and could downregulate ROS to varying degrees. The results of the antioxidant activity showed that rutin, quercetin, and isochlorogenic acid A contributed to the antioxidant capacity of XLs. The high content and activity of the cell cultures indicate that they can serve as an effective alternative to snow lotus, thus providing a theoretical basis for the selection of herbs and cell cultures to fulfil various needs.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) has a wide range of nutraceutical functions and therapeutic values, nevertheless, its biomedical application as a health product or drug is hampered by the low absorption efficiency and bioavailability. In the present study, the hybrid mesoporous silica nanoparticle-supported lipid bilayers (LMSNs) as nanocarriers for CoQ10 are prepared by fusing the phospholipid membrane onto MSNs cores. Further, LMSNs are functionalized with d -α-tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS), deoxycholic acid (Doca) and chitosan (CS) sequentially, to obtain the TPGS-LMSNs and DCs-TPGS-LMSNs samples, respectively. MSNs, liposomes , and unmodified LMSNs are also prepared as controls. The results reveal that various nanocarriers have a high loading capacity for CoQ10, low cytotoxicity towards Caco-2 cells, and sustained release property in different pH mediums. In contrast to other nano-formulations, [email protected] show the higher cellular uptake efficiency and the resulting ROS inhibition effect, which can be taken up by cells via caveolae-mediated route, macropinocytosis, and unique bile acid uptake pathway mediated by ASBT. Efficient delivery of DC-TPGS-LMSNs is further illustrated by in vivo intestinal uptake and pharmacokinetics study, in which [email protected] exhibit higher absorption efficiency, longer circulation time, and more enhanced bioavailability than other formulations after oral administration. The results suggest that multifunctional LMSNs might be the potent candidate for CoQ10 delivery, and the findings will contribute to the rational design of novel drug delivery vehicles .