Improvement of Presbyopia Using a Mixture of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicines, Including Cassiae Semen, Wolfberry, and Dendrobium huoshanense

Background. Presbyopia is a primary cause of a decline in near vision. In this study, we developed a new mixed herbal medicine to retard presbyopic progression and increase the amplitude of accommodation (AA), which is beneficial for near vision. Methods. A total of 400 participants between the ages of 45 and 70 years were recruited. We designed the mixed herbal drug to include Cassiae Semen (200 mg), wolfberry (200 mg), and Dendrobium huoshanense (DD) (40 mg) in one capsule. In experiment 1, the recruited subjects were directed to perform a push-up test to measure their AA; this was then converted to the additional diopters of reading glasses. In experiment 2, 240 subjects took three capsules daily for six months and then stopped medical therapy for a six-month follow-up. In experiment 3, 160 subjects were randomly categorized into four groups: a placebo group, low-dose group (LDG) (1 capsule daily), middle-dose group (MDG) (two capsules daily), and high-dose group (HDG) (three capsules daily). The 160 volunteers took different doses for six months and then stopped treatment, accompanied by another six-month follow-up. In experiments 2 and 3, the change in AA, uncorrected far visual acuity (UFVA), and uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA) were recorded each month for one year. Results. In experiment 1, AA was found to decrease with age and a great deal of additional power was needed in older individuals. In experiment 2, the mean AA reached a maximum value of 2.1D ( P < 0.05) after six months, while the UNVA improved by about two to three lines of a Jaeger chart in most of the subjects. At nine months, all the means decreased slightly to 2.0 D ( P < 0.05). This meant that the mixed herbal medicine could still maintain AA for another three months because the herbal therapy was stopped at the seventh month. In experiment 3, the maximal AA was 2.8D, 2.9D, and 3.2D ( P < 0.05) in the LDG, MDG, and HDG after six-month treatments, respectively. Experiment 3 showed that AA gain occurred in a dose-dependent manner; the higher the dose, the greater the AA value. Conclusion. Only two studies on the use of herbal drugs for presbyopia have been reported in PubMed. In our study, we found that taking a mixed herbal drug caused an excellent gain in AA. This is the first study to report that the characteristics of the new herbal regimen could retard and even ameliorate presbyopia.

Genome-Wide Analysis of PEBP Genes in Dendrobium huoshanense: Unveiling the Antagonistic Functions of FT/TFL1 in Flowering Time

Dendrobium is a semi-shade epiphytic Orchidaceae herb with important ornamental and medicinal value. Parts of the cultivation of Dendrobium germplasm resources, as well as the identification of medicinal components, are more studied, but the functional characterization of the flowering regulation in Dendrobium plants is less reported. Here, six PEBP family genes (DhFT3, DhFT1, DhMFT, DhTFL1b, DhFT2, and DhTFL1a) were identified from the Dendrobium huoshanense genome. The chromosome-level mapping showed that these genes were sequentially distributed on chromosomes 6, 9, 15, and 17. The paralogous gene DhTFL1b corresponded to DhTFL1a, which was determined through tandem duplication. The gene structure and conserved motif of DhPEBP indicated five PEBP genes apart from DhMFT contained four exons and three introns entirely. The phylogeny analysis showed that the PEBP gene family in A. thaliana, O. sativa, Z. mays, S. lycopersicum, and P. equestris were classified into three subclades, FT, TFL, and MFT, which maintained a high homology with D. huoshanense. The conserved domain of the amino acid demonstrated that two highly conserved short motifs (DPDXP and GXHR) embed in DhPEBPs, which may contribute to the conformation of the ligand binding bag. The 86th position of DhFTs was tyrosine (Y), while the 83th and 87th of DhTFL1s belonged to histidine (H), suggesting they should have distinct functions in flowering regulation. The promoter of six DhPEBPs contained several cis-elements related to hormone induction, light response, and abiotic stress, which indicated they could be regulated by the environmental stress and endogenous signaling pathways. The qRT-PCR analysis of DhPEBPs in short-term days induced by GA indicated the gene expressions of all DhFTs were gradually increased, whereas the expression of DhTFL1 was decreased. The results implied that DhPEBPs have various regulatory functions in modulating flowering, which will provide a scientific reference for the flowering regulation of Dendrobium plants.

Biological Activity Test of Dendrobium Huoshanense and Its Application in the Detection of Environmental Pollutant Phenols

ABSTRACTIn this research, a new type of carbon quantum dot was prepared from Dendrobium huoshanense via one-step hydrothermal reaction at 200 °C for 6 h. The as-derived carbon quantum dots exhibited good fluorescence properties, with quantum yield of 23.57%. The extraction and determination of Dendrobium huoshanense enzymes activity were performed for different incubation times to study the theoretical reference for the dynamic changes of the main enzyme activity in the process of Dendrobium huoshanense growth and the solid processing industry. The results demonstrated that Dendrobium huoshanense was a low toxic carbon source material. Moreover, the prepared carbon quantum dots exhibited high sensitivity for the detection of nonylphenol, allowing a range of linear response of 0.5–50 µM (R2 = 0.9997). The detection limit was a slow as 95.32 nM. These results indicated that fluorescence internal filtration effect influenced nonylphenol-induced quenching of the Dendrobium huoshanense-carbon quantum dots fluorescence. The Dendrobium huoshanense-carbon quantum dots were successfully used to track nonylphenol in environmental samples. Therefore, their exploitation offers a promising approach for environmental pollutant detection.

Low-specific Symbiotic Germination of Dendrobium Huoshanense in Vitro, an Endangered Epiphytic Orchid Endemic From South China

Background: Dendrobium huoshanense is an endangered epiphytic orchid and is endemic to Anhui province of China with a narrow distribution. In nature, orchid seed germination depends on specific mycorrhizal fungi and it is generally assumed that there is a high specific symbiotic germination in narrow distribution orchid. To evaluate the mycorrhizal compatibility and germination-promoting activity of mycorrhizal fungi of D. huoshanense in vitro, we isolated and identified cultured mycorrhizal fungi from the roots of D. huoshanense and D. officinale. A total of 20 mycorrhizal fungal strains (D. huoshanense (n = 6), D. officinale (n = 12), D. nobile (n = 1), D. moniliforme (n = 1)) were used to test the germination-promoting activity of D. huoshanense. Results: In symbiotic germination tests, the mycorrhizal fungi displayed different efficiency in stimulating D. huoshanense seed germination, nine strains stimulated seed development to an advanced seedling stage, while the rest promoted only initial seed germination to stage 2 or stage 3, and the most effective in promoting rapid seed germination was strain 12825(seb) isolated from D. moniliforme, besides, the second most effective fungus was strain WX-7(seb) isolated from D. officinale, both of them belong to Sebacina isolated from non-D. huoshanense. In this study, all twenty fungal strains formed pelotons inside seeds of D. huoshanense based on the trypan blue staining results. Conclusions: Despite its narrow specific habitat preference, D. huoshanense was found to be a mycorrhizal generalist during symbiotic seed germination in vitro. The study is the first to demonstrate the different abilities of orchid mycorrhizal fungi to promote seed germination, protocorm formation and seedling development of D. huoshanense in vitro, providing important microbiological resources for its conservation and reintroduction in nature.