Species identification of five Dendrobium plants was conducted using phylogenetic analysis and the validity of the method was verified. Some Dendrobium plants (Orchidaceae) have been used as herbal medicines but the difficulty in identifying their botanical origin by traditional methods prevented their full modern utilization. Based on the emerging field of molecular systematics as a powerful classification tool, a phylogenetic analysis was conducted using sequences of two plastid genes, the maturase-coding gene (matK) and the large subunit of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-coding gene (rbcL), as DNA barcodes for species identification of Dendrobium plants. We investigated five medicinal Dendrobium species, Dendrobium fimbriatum, D. moniliforme, D. nobile, D. pulchellum, and D. tosaense. The phylogenetic trees constructed from matK data successfully distinguished each species from each other. On the other hand, rbcL, as a single-locus barcode, offered less species discriminating power than matK, possibly due to its being present with little variation. When results using matK sequences of D. officinale that was deposited in the DNA database were combined, D. officinale and D. tosaense showed a close genetic relationship, which brought us closer to resolving the question of their taxonomic identity. Identification of the plant source as well as the uniformity of the chemical components is critical for the quality control of herbal medicines and it is important that the processed materials be validated. The methods presented here could be applied to the analysis of processed Dendrobium plants and be a promising tool for the identification of botanical origins of crude drugs.
Ferns are the most primitive vascular plants. The phytosterols of ferns are the same as those of higher plants, but they produce characteristic triterpenes. The most distinct feature is the lack of oxygen functionality at C-3, suggesting that the triterpenes of ferns may be biosynthesized by direct cyclization of squalene. To obtain some insights into the molecular bases for the biosynthesis of triterpenes in ferns, we cloned ACX, an oxidosqualene cyclase homologue, encoding a cycloartenol synthase (CAS) and ACH, a squalene cyclase homologue, encoding a 22-hydroxyhopane synthase from Adiantum capillus-veneris. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that ACH is located in the cluster of bacterial SCs, while ACX is in the cluster of higher plant CASs.
Earlier studies have reported the efficacy of type II collagen (C II) in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, a few studies have investigated the ability of the antigenic collagen to induce oral tolerance, which is defined as active nonresponse to an orally administered antigen. We hypothesized that water-soluble undenatured C II had a similar effect as C II in RA. The present study was designed to examine the oral administration of a novel, water-soluble, undenatured C II (commercially known as NEXT-II) on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. In addition, the underlying mechanism of NEXT-II was also identified. After a booster dose (collagen-Freund's complete adjuvant), mice were assigned to control CIA group, or NEXT-II treatment group, to which saline and NEXT-II were administered, respectively. The arthritis index in the NEXT-II group was significantly lower compared with the CIA group. Serum IL-6 levels in the NEXT-II group were significantly lower compared with the CIA group, while serum IL-2 level was higher. Furthermore, oral administration of NEXT-II enhanced the proportion of CD4+CD25+T (Treg) cells, and gene expressions of stimulated dendritic cells induced markers for regulatory T cells such as forkhead box p3 (Foxp3), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, and CD25. These results demonstrated that orally administered water-soluble undenatured C II (NEXT-II) is highly efficacious in the suppression of CIA by inducing CD4+CD25+ Treg cells.
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