The potential of phenolic compounds of medicinal plants including Astragalus danicus L is determined by but not limited to their antioxidant activity. Their anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and other useful properties are known, which allows using these phytochemicals within preventive activities to reduce the risk of many serious diseases. Chromatographic analysis of the Astragalus danicus L. biomaterial from the plant samples collected in three regions of the Kemerovo region (Western Siberia, Russia) established the presence of compounds of flavonols (isorhamnetin glucoside, kaempferol glucoside), flavones (apigenin 7-glucoside), phenylpropanoids (chlorogenic acid) in the aerial part of plants. The total content of phenolic compounds in plant samples ranged from 100.75 ± 3.87 mg/g (Yashkinsky district) to 190.95 ± 7.34 mg/g (Belovsky district). The content of chlorogenic acid in the studied samples was from 0.14 ± 0.01 mg/g to 1.16 ± 0.04 mg/g. Isorhamnetin glucoside was found only in samples of plants from two districts - Prokopievsky (41.39 ± 1.58 mg/g) and Belovsky (95.0 ± 3.66 mg/g). The content of glucosides of kaempferol ranged from 0.38 ± 0.01 mg/g to 0.55 ± 0.02 mg/g. Its content is almost twice as high as the content in the well-known analogues of Astragalus. Apigenin-7-glucoside was isolated in Astragalus samples for the first time, in a small amount (3.34 ± 0.13 mg/g) in a sample of plants of one growing zone. Studies have confirmed that the content of flavonoids in plants significantly depends not only on the genetic characteristics of plants, but also on the hydrothermal regime, the climatic conditions of different botanical and geographical areas of the habitat. This work shows that Astragalus danicus L. growing in Kemerovo region is a promising raw material for pharmacological preparations.

The increasing volume of consumption of probiotics and functional food products requires determination of standardized criteria for cultures and their exometabolites used in functional products manufacturing. The study was aimed at developing criteria for the estimation and standardization of exometabolites and the colony-forming ability of probiotic strains for functional food production. The work included such microbiological and physicochemical methods as GC-MS, GPC, UV, and FT-IR-spectroscopy. Based on the results of the study, the comparative analysis of the microbiological properties of probiotic Bifidobacterium strains was provided, the fatty acid composition of the cell wall was described, and the physical and chemical study of the exopolymers produced by them was carried out. According to the data of FT-IR- spectroscopy, the characteristic features of the components of the cell wall of Bifidobacterium strains were established. Bifidobacteria form the unique composition of organophosphorus structures of lipoteichoic acids, which determines the adhesive ability of strains. The authors studied the molecular weight distribution of the samples of exometabolites isolated from the nutrient medium after the cultivation of bifidobacteria, under conditions of gel-permeation chromatography. The spectral (UV, FT-IR) characteristics of the produced metabolites and their chromatographic fractions were compared. The fatty acids of the Bifidobacterium cell membrane were analyzed using the GC/MS method. The fatty acids were extracted from bacterial cells with different hydrophobicity with a mixture of chloroform and hexane. It has been established that the hydrophobicity is determined by different contents of unsaturated and branched fatty acids in the bacterial membrane. Hydrophobic bifidobacteria are the only that contain the isopentadecane (isoC15:0) and methyl-tetradecanoic (13Me-C14:0) acids. With the mean hydrophobicity, a high content of the isopalmitic (isoC16:0) and stearic (C18:0) acids was established. Low-hydrophobic strains are characterized by a low content of monounsaturated fatty acids.

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Hyperammonemia is a metabolic disorder, which is caused as a result of high levels of ammonia present in the blood. Hyperammonemia is related to severe liver diseases, primarily to cirrhosis in 90% of cases. Non-cirrhotic causes should be considered in the remaining 10%. The article describes various causes and clinical features of hyperammonemia related to the pre-cirrhotic stages of liver disease, especially to non-alcoholic fatty dystrophy. The authors also provide other etiologies that cause hyperammonemia of varying severity, from minimal to very severe, leading to fatal outcome. The paper provides an analysis of the efficacy of L-ornithine-L-aspartate in hyperammonemia, and the results of own original author’s pharmaceutical equivalence study of the original and generic drug L-ornithine-L-aspartate.

Medicinal plants are sources of natural antioxidants. Acting as reducing agents, these substances protect the human body against oxidative stress and slow down the aging process. We aimed to study the effects of bioactive substances isolated from medicinal plants on the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans L. used as a model organism. High-performance liquid chromatography was applied to isolate bioactive substances from the extracts of callus, suspension, and root cultures of meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria L.), ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.), Baikal skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis L.), red clover (Trifolium pretense L.), alfalfa (Medicágo sativa L.), and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.). Their effect on the lifespan of C. elegans nematodes was determined by counting live nematodes treated with their concentrations of 10, 50, 100, and 200 µmol/L after 61 days of the experiment. The results were recorded using IR spectrometry. The isolated bioactive substances were at least 95% pure. We found that the studied concentrations of trans-cinnamic acid, baicalin, rutin, ursolic acid, and magniferin did not significantly increase the lifespan of the nematodes. Naringenin increased their lifespan by an average of 27.3% during days 8–26. Chlorogenic acid at a concentration of 100 µmol/L increased the lifespan of C. elegans by 27.7%. Ginkgo-based kaempferol and quercetin, as well as red clover-based biochanin A at the concentrations of 200, 10, and 100 µmol/L, respectively, increased the lifespan of the nematodes by 30.6, 41.9, and 45.2%, respectively. The bioactive substances produced from callus, root, and suspension cultures of the above medicinal plants had a positive effect on the lifespan of C. elegans nematodes. This confirms their geroprotective properties and allows them to be used as anti-aging agents.

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) root preparations are known for their analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, the phenolic profile of extract samples of Symphytum officinale callus root cultures (up to 70% of ethanol) was determined using various approaches. For the first time, a unique polymer of two types was isolated from samples of comfrey root cultures (the caffeic acid derivative is a new class of natural polyether with 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) glyceric acid as a repeating unit). M-methoxybenzoic acid (30.05 μg/mL extract) or rosmarinic acid (45.70 μL/mL extract) were identified as the main phenolic component. Rosmarinic, chlorogenic, and caffeic acids have anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, antitumor, neuroprotective, antioxidant, and other properties, which also determine the characteristics of comfrey and preparations made from it. The studied phenolic profile and the analysis of published data showed that the extract samples of comfrey callus cultures had similar characteristics, which makes them an important source of phenolic compounds with pronounced antioxidant activity.

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