Modern China, similar to most developing nations, has seen a rise in the prevalence of both obesity and diesel exhaust based air pollution. The cause of obesity is multi-factorial encompassing diet, lifestyle and social factors. Also there has been a reduction in the consumption of fruit, vegetables, and traditional medicinal foods such as polyphenol containing green tea. Replacing these, are high fat and carbohydrate based processed foods which are quickly displacing these wholefoods in the diet. This review paper proposes evidence that a potential cause of obesity is also linked to environmental stress stimuli such as air pollutants, particularly diesel exhaust fumes (DEF) of > 2.5 μm particulate matter, and discusses a role for a green tea catechin (EGCG) for use as a dietary defence against diet and environmentally induced obesity. China is now at a critical point of a public health pandemic with rising air-borne pollution (via car exhaust fumes DEF), industry pollution such as heavy metals, and the benzene hydrocarbon based ‘2PM’ particulate matter, now accepted as a major environmental issue for public health. Relevant data published in MEDLINE since 1995 has been gathered to formulate the following review.

A new trijugin-type limonoid, cipatrijugin G (1), together with the related known cipatrijugin A (2), were isolated from the aerial parts of Cipadessa cinerascens. The structure of the new compound was determined by extensive analysis of its spectroscopic data and by comparison of its NMR data with those reported in the literature. Compound 1 showed cytotoxicity against tumor cell line A549 with an IC₅₀ value of 9.78 μM. This is the first report of a trijugin-type limonoid bearing a γ-hydroxybutenolide unit, in comparison to the common furan unit as ring E.

Four new bisabolane sesquiterpenoids daedatrins A-D (1-4), a cadinane sesquiterpene 12-hydroxy-α-cadinol (5), a heptanorergosterane derivative daedatrin G (6) were isolated from cultures of the basidiomycete Daedaleopsis tricolor. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods including extensive 2D NMR techniques, X-ray crystallography. All the compounds showed no significant activity against five human cancer cell lines.

Three new amide alkaloids piperlongumamides A-C (1-3), together with 12 known ones (4-15), were isolated from the fruits of Piper longum. The structures of the new isolates were determined using spectroscopic data analyses. Cytotoxic activity of these amides against HL-60 (human leukemia), A-549 (human lung cancer), MCF-7 (human breast cancer), SMMC-7721 (human liver cancer) and SW480 (human rectal cancer) cell lines were evaluated. Piperchabamide B (11) exhibited weak inhibitory activity against HL-60 (IC₅₀=21.32 μM), A-549 (IC₅₀=23.82 μM) and MCF-7 (IC₅₀=16.58 μM) cell lines.

The effect of Lentinula edodes water extract (LE) on two osteoblastic cell cultures (HOS 58 and Saos-2) was investigated to determine if this edible medicinal mushroom has osteoinductive properties. Activity of alkaline phosphatase and mineralization were used as indicators for the vitality and maturation of the bone cells. Cultivation of human osteosarcoma cells HOS 58 for five days in presence of a serial dilution of the aqueous extract of L. edodes (0.8 μg/mL-125 μg/mL) resulted in a significant elevation of alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) of the cells in comparison to untreated cells. Saos-2 cells, incubated with LE (20 μg/mL) and β-glycerol phosphate (2 mM) for 21 days, displayed a 2 fold level of mineralization than cells cultured soley with the positive control, β-glycerophosphate. The obtained results clearly indicate the activity of LE as a bone inducing agent in vitro. Therefore, the shiitake mushroom (L. edodes) deserves attention as a supportive dietary treatment or nutraceutical in the case of diseases accompanied with bone disorder, such as osteoporosis, osteopenia, and late complication of diabetes.

We report the first total synthesis of four possible absolute configurations and four other regional isomers of a naturally occurring alkaloid crotonine, which was isolated from Croton tiglium L. (Euphoriaceae) without elucidation of its absolute configuration. The concise five-step route with a chirally poor and regioselective strategy starting from monosaccharides was established, and the absolute structure of the natural crotonine was determined by comparison of the NMR spectra and optical rotations of the synthetic products.