Amitriptyline hydrochloride (AMT), a tricyclic antidepressant, is known to exhibit antimicrobial effects against a wide range of bacterial species. This study aims to evaluate the effect of AMT on Brucella (B.) abortus infection in RAW 264.7 cells and ICR mice, which has not yet been clearly characterized. The results showed that all tested concentrations of AMT had no direct bactericidal effect on B. abortus survival at any incubation time point. Interestingly, RAW 264.7 cells pre-treated with a non-toxic high concentration of AMT before B. abortus infection showed a significant reduction in the phagocytosis of B. abortus at 20 min post-infection, compared to untreated cells. However, AMT treatment did not affect the intracellular replication of B. abortus compared to the control cells. Based on the reduced bacterial uptake observed in-vitro, an in-vivo experiment was conducted to assess whether daily oral administration of AMT at a dose of 20 mg/kg could inhibit B. abortus growth in ICR mice. The results showed that AMT treatment slightly increased both organ weights and bacterial loads, suggesting possible systemic effects of prolonged AMT exposure. In summary, these preliminary results provide initial insight into the potential effects of AMT on B. abortus infection both in-vitro and in-vivo. Therefore, further study should focus on dose optimization in-vivo and exploration of the underlying cellular mechanisms involved in AMT-mediated inhibition of phagocytosis during Brucella infection.

The aim of this study was to investigate the method validation for the determination of loganin content in Cornus officinalis (CO). This medicinal plant reportedly mainly included loganin. The specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD), and quantification (LOQ) were measured by HPLC/DAD. Our results showed that high linearity in the coefficient of calibration correlation (R2) for loganin standard was 1. LOD and LOQ for loganin were 0.007 and 0.026 mg/mL, respectively. The recovery rate of loganin was revealed to be in the high range of 95.14-105.45%. The relative standard deviation of intra- and inter-day precision of loganin in CO was 1.8% and 2.3%, respectively. The loganin content of CO from Gurye, Uiseng, Ichoen, and China were 7.81, 3.41, 7.42, and 6.52 mg/g, respectively. In conclusion, these methods were validated for the detection of loganin in CO.

This study was performed to investigate the content of carotenoid (α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, capxanthin, lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin) and physicochemical characteristics (size, color, dietary fiber, total tannin content) of unripen and ripen persimmons (Diospyros kaki) by seven cultivars. The length of the unripen and ripen persimmons ranged from 40.87-64.75 and 48.80-80.29 cm, the width were from 44.03 to 66.73 and 57.65 to 91.53 cm, respectively. Ripen persimmons were showed in the highest Hunter’s L, a and b values. Total tannin content were resulted of unripen- and ripen persimmons ranged from 7.58 to 19.80 and 2.36 to 5.85 mg/g. Total carotenoid content were from 1.09 to 6.45 and 7.46 to 29.46 μg/g, respectively. From the above results, unripen- and ripen persimmon fruit could be useful for the health functional food.