Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong

Anti-inflammatory activity of methyl ferulate isolated from Stemona tuberosa Lour.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of methyl ferulate (MF) isolated from the roots of Stemona tuberosa (S. tuberosa) Lour (Stemonaceae) in lipopolysaccharide activated macrophage cells. METHODS Methanol extracts of a root powder of S. tuberosa were prepared for isolation of a potential anti-inflammatory agent using ultrasound extraction combined with repeated chromatography on silica gel. After the quantitative analyses, anti-inflammatory activity of the isolated compound was evaluated by measurement of cytokine release, NO generation, expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and phosphorylation of mitogen activated protein kinases including p38 and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase using quantitative kits and Western blotting with specific antibodies. RESULTS The isolation process yielded a potential anti-inflammatory compound with a purity level of 99% determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The compound was identified as MF by using nuclear magnetic resonance. MF strongly inhibited the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines from macrophages, including IL-6, TNFα, IFNγ, yet it did not affect the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Phosphorylation of p38 and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase were clearly reduced in MF-treated macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. cyclooxygenase-2 expression and NO generation by macrophages were also suppressed when the cells were treated with MF. CONCLUSIONS The data suggested that MF is a possible inhibitor of the mitogen activated phosphor kinase pathway and could be a potential anti-inflammatory agent isolated for the first time in medicinal plant S. tuberosa.

Morphology and kinematics of the gas envelope of protostar L1527 as obtained from ALMA observations of the C18O(2–1) line emission

Using ALMA observations of the C

12CO emission from the Red Rectangle

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Space reconstruction of the morphology and kinematics of axisymmetric radio sources

O(2-1) line emission of the gas envelope of protostar L1527, we have reconstructed its morphology and kinematics under the assumption of axisymmetry about the west-east axis. The main original contribution to our understanding of the formation process of L1527 is the presentation of a simple 3D parameterisation based solely on regions that are not dominated by absorption. In the explored range (

Morphology and kinematics of the gas envelope of the Mira binary W Aquilae

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The Vatly Radio Telescope: Performance Study

0.7 to 5 arcsec from the star) the model reproduces observations better than earlier attempts. The main results include: a measurement of the rotation velocity that confirms its evolution to Keplerian toward short distances; a measurement of the mean in-fall velocity, 0.43

Morphology of the

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0.10 kms

CO(3-2) millimeter emission across the gas disc surrounding the triple protostar GG Tau A using ALMA observations

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De-projection of radio observations of axisymmetric expanding circumstellar envelopes

, lower than free fall velocity, with no evidence for the significant