title: Identification of the protective effects of traditional medicinal plants against SDS-inducedDrosophilagut damage.
abstract: Traditional medicinal plants are widely used as immunomodulatory medicines that help improve health. A total of 50 different plants used for the treatment of toxicity were screened for theirin vivoprotective effects. Flies were fed a standard cornmeal-yeast medium (control group) or the standard medium containing medicinal plant extracts (experimental groups). Assessment of the survival rate was performed by feeding flies with toxic compounds. Gut epithelial cells were analyzed for cell proliferation and death by green fluorescent protein antibodies and 7-aminoactinomycin D staining under the microscope. The expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) was evaluated by the quantitative polymerase chain reaction and the results revealed that after feeding the flies with toxic compounds, aqueous extracts fromCodonopsis pilosula(Franch.) Nannf (C. pilosula),Saussurea lappa(Decne.) C.B.Clarke (S. lappa),Imperata cylindricaBeauv.var.major(Nees) C.E. Hubb. (I. cylindricalvar.major) andMelia toosendanSied. Et Zucc. (M.toosendan) increased the fly survival rate, reduced epithelial cell death and improved gut morphology. In addition,C. pilosulaextracts induced the antimicrobial peptide levels (Dpt and Mtk) following treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). However, these extracts were not observed to increase SDS-induced cell proliferationin vivo. These results indicate that there are strong protective effects in extracts ofC. pilosula,S. lappa,I. cylindricalvar.majorandM. toosendanonDrosophilaintestinal cells among 50 medicinal plants.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zonglin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yuchen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150040, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Li Hua
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Jin
keywords: Drosophila melanogaster cell death; gut immunity; survival; traditional medicinal plant