Evaluation of the Anticonvulsant Activities of Gastrodia Elata Bl.- Acorus Tatarinowii Decoction on Experimentally Induced Seizures in Mice

Epilepsy is a serious public health problem in the world. At present, the effect of drug treatment of epilepsy is are not satisfactory. Medicinal plants as pharmaceuticals and for healthcare treatments in the management of epilepsy in China for many centuries. Especially, Gastrodia elata Bl.-Acorus tatarinowii, as a classic and important herb pairs in folk medicine, has been used in folk medicine to control seizures. However, the animal experiment data of its anticonvulsant effect is limited in the literature. The objective of this study was to mainly analyze the anticonvulsant activity of Gastrodia elata-Acorus tatarinowii (GEAT) decoction in maximal electroshock (MES), pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) and trimercaptopropionic acid (3-MP) induced seizures in mice, providing scientific basis for the treatment of convulsive disorders in traditional medicine. In addition, the improvement effect were examined on seizure severity, anxiety, cognitive dysfunction, inflammation and oxidative stress in PTZ kindled mice. The results showed that GEAT decoction dose-dependently protected mice against MES, 3-MP and PTZ induced acute seizures. Meanwhile, GEAT decoction ameliorated seizure severity, decreased the accumulation of inflammatory mediators TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, mitigated oxidative stress, as well as alleviated anxious-like behavior and cognitive deficits in PTZ-kindled mice. Our data evidenced that the anticonvulsant properties attributed to GEAT decoction as adjunctive therapy for epileptic patients in folk medicine.

Glial Nrf2 signaling mediates the neuroprotection exerted by Gastrodia elata Blume in Lrrk2-G2019S Parkinson's disease

The most frequent missense mutations in familial Parkinson's disease (PD) occur in the highly conserved LRRK2/PARK8 gene with G2019S mutation. We previously established a fly model of PD carrying the LRRK2-G2019S mutation that exhibited the parkinsonism-like phenotypes. An herbal medicine-Gastrodia elata Blume (GE), has been reported to have neuroprotective effects in toxin-induced PD models. However, the underpinning molecular mechanisms of GE beneficiary to G2019S-induced PD remain unclear. Here, we show that these G2019S flies treated with water extracts of GE (WGE) and its bioactive compounds, gastrodin and 4-HBA, displayed locomotion improvement and dopaminergic neuron protection. WGE suppressed the accumulation and hyperactivation of G2019S proteins in dopaminergic neurons, and activated the antioxidation and detoxification factor Nrf2 mostly in the astrocyte-like and ensheathing glia. Glial activation of Nrf2 antagonizes G2019S-induced Mad/Smad signaling. Moreover, we treated LRRK2-G2019S transgenic mice with WGE and found the locomotion declines, the loss of dopaminergic neurons, and the number of hyperactive microglia were restored. WGE also suppressed the hyperactivation of G2019S proteins and regulated the Smad2/3 pathways in the mice brains. We conclude that WGE prevents locomotion defects and the neuronal loss induced by G2019S mutation via glial Nrf2/Mad signaling, unveiling a potential therapeutic avenue for PD.

Effects of different years of natural recovery of Gastrodia elata on the community structure of bacteria and fungi in rhizosphere soil

Background: There are serious obstacles to continuous cropping of Gastrodia elata. After continuous cropping of Gastrodia elata, the yield will be greatly reduced, or even no harvest. Soil nutrients and microorganisms play an important role in it. There are few related studies on the effects of natural restoration of the rhizosphere soil of Gastrodia elata on the structure of soil bacteria and fungi for different years.Results: In this study, a combination of Illumina Miseq library preparation and high-throughput sequencing technology was used. The soil that had not been planted with Gastrodia elata was used as a control to study the characteristics of soil microbial communities in the rhizosphere of Gastrodia elata from 0 to 5 years of natural restoration, and Correlation between soil characteristics and fungal and bacterial communities. The results showed that (1) The dominant bacteria in the rhizosphere soil of Gastrodia elata are roteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria, and the most important bacterial genera are norank_f_Xanthobacteraceae and Bradyrhizobium. The dominant fungal phyla are Basidiomycota and Ascomycota, and the main fungal genera are Mortierella and Trichoderma. The bacterial and fungal community composition in the rhizosphere soil of Gastrodia elata and the soil without Gastrodia elata planted are not much different, but the community structure and relative abundance are quite different. (2) The Chao index, Shannon index and Invsimpson index of Gastrodia elata rhizosphere soil show an increasing trend with the increase of the natural restoration period, indicating that natural restoration for a certain period of time will increase the diversity and abundance of bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere soil of Gastrodia elata Increase. (3) With the increase of the natural restoration period, the total nitrogen and pH content of the rhizosphere soil of Gastrodia elata showed an increasing trend. total nitrogen has the greatest influence on the bacterial community structure, and the influence of pH on the fungal community structure ranks No. Second, in the top three phyla with relative content, total nitrogen is positively correlated with Actinobacteria, and pH is positively correlated with Mortierellomycota.Conclusion: After 3 years of natural restoration, the soil environment gradually returns to normal, and the microbial community tends to balance; in addition, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient analysis shows that total nitrogen has the greatest impact on the bacterial community structure in the rhizosphere soil of Gastrodia elata, and total phosphorus has the greatest impact on the fungal community structure. The results provide a theoretical basis for the development of new type microbial fertilizers and soil amendments for Gastrodia elata to alleviate continuous cropping obstacles.

Gastrodia elata Blume and Zanthoxylum schinifolium Siebold & Zucc Mixed Extract Suppress Platelet Aggregation and Thrombosis

Background and objectives: Blood vessel thrombosis causes blood circulation disorders, leading to various diseases. Currently, various antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs, such as aspirin, warfarin, heparin, and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs), are used as the major drugs for the treatment of a wide range of thrombosis. However, these drugs have a side effect of possibly causing internal bleeding due to poor hemostasis when taken for a long period of time. Materials and Methods: Gastrodia elata Blume (GE) and Zanthoxylum schinifolium Siebold & Zucc (ZS) are known to exhibit hemostatic and antiplatelet effects as traditional medicines that have been used for a long time. In this study, we investigated the effect of a mixed extract of GE and ZS (MJGE09) on platelet aggregation and plasma coagulation. Results: We found that MJGE09 inhibited collagen-and ADP-induced platelet aggregation in vitro. In addition, collagen- and ADP-induced platelet aggregation were also inhibited in a dose-dependent manner on the platelets of mice that were orally administered MJGE09 ex vivo. However, compared with aspirin, MJGE09 did not prolong the rat tail vein bleeding time in vivo and did not show a significant effect on the increase in the prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Conclusions: These results suggest that MJGE09 can be used as a potential anticoagulant with improved antithrombotic efficacy.

Characterization by HPLC of p-Hydroxybenzyl Alcohol Biotransformation to Gastrodin In Vivo

Gastrodin (GAS) and its aglycone, p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol (HBA), are both bioactive compounds extracted from Gastrodia elata Blume (GEB). In the current Chinese pharmacopoeia, they are regarded as quality control markers for GEB. In this study, we developed a high-performance liquid chromatography method coupled with a diode array detector to quantify GAS and HBA concentrations in plasma following oral ingestion by rats. For the first time, GAS was detected in vivo after HBA administration. GAS and HBA both had similar pharmacological effects, but the influence of the glucose moiety resulted in different pharmacokinetic characteristics. In this study, the effects of GAS and HBA at different administration durations were investigated in zebrafish larvae. These compounds were found to induce a sedative effect but had different onset times. In conclusion, a biotransformation of HBA to GAS could be observed in the rats. This may be a new insight into the pharmacokinetic characteristics of these bioactive compounds and also relates to the different ways in which they take effect.