Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 8 Articles
We have investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of Cinnamomum cassia constituents (cinnamic aldehyde, cinnamic alcohol,\r\ncinnamic acid, and coumarin) using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mouse macrophage (RAW264.7) and carrageenan\r\n(Carr)-induced mouse paw edema model. When RAW264.7 macrophages were treated with cinnamic aldehyde together with\r\nLPS, a significant concentration-dependent inhibition of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-a), and prostaglandin E2\r\n(PGE2) levels productions were detected.Western blotting revealed that cinnamic aldehyde blocked protein expression of inducible\r\nnitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-?B), and I?Ba, significantly. In\r\nthe anti-inflammatory test, cinnamic aldehyde decreased the paw edema after Carr administration, and increased the activities\r\nof catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in the paw tissue. We also demonstrated\r\ncinnamic aldehyde attenuated the malondialdehyde (MDA) level and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in the edema paw after\r\nCarr injection. Cinnamic aldehyde decreased the NO, TNF-a, and PGE2 levels on the serum level after Carr injection. Western\r\nblotting revealed that cinnamic aldehyde decreased Carr-induced iNOS, COX-2, and NF-?B expressions in the edema paw. These\r\nfindings demonstrated that cinnamic aldehyde has excellent anti-inflammatory activities and thus has great potential to be used as\r\na source for natural health products....
Recent understanding of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease has shifted the focus from lumen stenosis to vulnerable plaque,\r\nfrom lipid deposit to inflammatory reaction, and from vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient. This has led to a new direction\r\nof treatment consisting of intervening the inflammatory reaction, stabilizing the vulnerable plaque, inhibiting thrombosis after\r\nplaque rupture, and treating the vulnerable patient instead of treating lumen stenosis. This seems to mirror the traditional Chinese\r\nmedicine (TCM) focus on prevention and on the vulnerable patient with treatment matched to the pattern dysfunction and\r\ndysregulation using the Chinese herbal medicine multitargeted approach. Given the convergence of both the East and the West\r\nconceptualization of atherosclerosis, it is hopeful that the integrative East-West approach will facilitate early detection and more\r\neffective treatment of the vulnerable patients with coronary heart disease....
Phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic Jasmine flower extract of Jasminum sambac (L.) Ait. ââ?¬Å?G. Duke of Tuscanyââ?¬Â revealed\r\nthe mixtures of coumarins, cardiac glycosides, essential oils, flavonoids, phenolics, saponins, and steroids. However, alkaloids,\r\nanthraquinones, and tannins were not detected. By intravenous injection at a single dose of 0.5 mL/mouse (15 mg) of the flower\r\nextract, no systemic biological toxicity demonstrated in ICR mice was observed. In Wistar rats, the LD50 of the extract was higher\r\nthan 5,000 mg/kg BW by oral administration. Vasodilatation effect of the 95% ethanolic extract on isolated aortic rats was also\r\ninvestigated. Compared with the control group, the Jasmine flowers extract in 0.05% DMSO clearly reduced tonus of isolated\r\nendothelium thoracic aortic rings preconstricted with phenylephrine (10-6 M), as a dose-dependent manner. Nevertheless, this\r\npharmacological effect disappeared after the preincubation of the rings with atropine (10-6 M) or with N?-nitro-L-arginine\r\n(10-4 M). These are possibly due to the actions of the active components on the vessel muscarinic receptors or by causing the\r\nrelease of nitric oxide....
Acupuncture was used to treat symptoms of pain in the ancient orient. The present study was conducted to determine the effects\r\nof electroacupuncture (EA) at the BL60 acupoint on male Sprague-Dawley rats. Each rat received EA at BL60 acupoint before\r\nformalin injection. Behavioral responses were recorded using a video camera and c-Fos immunohistochemistry was performed\r\nthereafter. Treatment of EA at BL60 significantly inhibited flinching behavior and c-fos expression induced by formalin injection\r\ninto the paw, compared to a control group. These results suggest that electroacupuncture at BL60 acupoint may be effective in\r\nrelieving inflammatory pain....
Vitis thunbergii (VT) is a wild grape that has been shown to provide various cardioprotective effects. The present study was designed\r\nto examine whether a VT extract could reduce serum lipid levels and prevent atherogenesis in a hypercholesterolemic rabbit model.\r\nAt the end of an 8-week study, our results showed that a VT extract supplement markedly suppressed the serum levels of cholesterol\r\nand low-density lipoprotein, reduced lipid accumulation in liver tissues, and limited aortic fatty streaks. Our findings suggest\r\nthat the VT extract activated AMPK (5-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase) with subsequent inhibition of the\r\nactivation of ACC (acetyl-CoA carboxylase). Our results suggest that this VT extract could be further developed as a potential\r\nlipid-lowering agent and as a natural health food to prevent atherogenesis....
Cordyceps taii, an edible medicinal mushroom native to south China, is recognized as an unparalleled resource of healthy foods\r\nand drug discovery. In the present study, the antioxidant pharmacological properties of C. taii were systematically investigated. In\r\nvitro assays revealed the scavenging activities of the aqueous extract and polysaccharides of C. taii against various free radicals, that\r\nis, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical, hydroxyl radical, and superoxide anion radical. The EC50 values for superoxide anionfree\r\nradical ranged from 2.04 mg/mL to 2.49 mg/mL, which was at least 2.6-fold stronger than that of antioxidant thiourea. The\r\npolysaccharides also significantly enhanced the antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione\r\nperoxidase) and markedly decreased the malondialdehyde production of lipid peroxidation in a D-galactose-induced aging mouse\r\nmodel. Interestingly, the immune function of the administration group was significantly boosted compared with the D-galactoseinduced\r\naging model group. Therefore, the C. taii polysaccharides possessed potent antioxidant activity closely associated with\r\nimmune function enhancement and free radical scavenging. These findings suggest that the polysaccharides are a promising\r\nsource of natural antioxidants and antiaging drugs. Consequently, a preliminary chemical investigation was performed using gas\r\nchromatography-mass spectroscopy and revealed that the polysaccharides studied were mainly composed of glucose, mannose,\r\nand galactose. Fourier-transform infrared spectra also showed characteristic polysaccharide absorption bands....
Androgens have been linked to the onset, severity, and progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In traditional Chinese medicine\r\n(TCM), the most common pattern in RA is kidney deficiency, which partly corresponds to a low sex hormone state. In this study,\r\nTCM kidney deficiency was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats with castration surgery, and a TCM preparation, Yi Shen Juan\r\nBi Pill (YJB), was used to treat collagen induced arthritis (CIA) rats with castration. Metabolomic technique was used to evaluate\r\nthe pharmacological mechanism in castrated CIA rats treated by YJB. The results showed that castration significantly increased\r\nthe severity of the arthritis in rats but was ameliorated by YJB. Its pharmacological mechanism was partially associated with lipid\r\nmetabolites involving free fatty acid (FFA) and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). In conclusion, the experimental results demonstrate\r\nthe protective effect of YJB on the TCM kidney deficiency pattern induced by androgen deficiency in CIA rats and support that\r\nYJB should be used for the clinical treatment of RA with TCM kidney deficiency pattern....
Objective. The aim of this overview was to evaluate and summarize Cochrane reviews of traditional Chinese herbal products\r\n(TCHPs) as the treatment for coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods. We searched the Cochrane Database that was concerned\r\nwith the effectiveness of TCHPs for CHD. We also searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Reviews and\r\nprimary studies of TCHP as the treatment of any type of CHDwere included. Data were extracted according to predefined inclusion\r\ncriteria by two independent reviewers. Results. Six Cochrane reviews were included. They related to a wide range of TCHPs for\r\ndifferent types of CHD. Four reviews were concerned with angina pectoris (unstable or stable), one review was concerned with\r\nheart failure, and for acute myocardial infarction. No reviews concluded that TCHPs were definitely effective for CHD because of\r\nthe weak evidence. Eight primary studies were TCHPs from CHD. These studies also maybe result in bias, but better than before.\r\nConclusion. Several Cochrane reviews of TCHPs for the treatment of different types of CHD have recently been published. None\r\nof these reviews got definite conclusion favoring the effectiveness of TCHPs due to the weak evidence. With the improved quality\r\nof the new registered RCTs. The potential role of TCHPs in treating CHD is anticipated to be detected....
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