Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 6 Articles
The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the anti-stress and hepato-protective effects of Schisandra\r\nLignans Extract (SLE) on stress-induced liver damage. Seven weeks old male mice were fixed in a restraint tube for 18 h to\r\ninduce liver damage. SLE was orally administered to animals for 5 days at dosages of 100 and 200 mg/kg/day before exposed\r\nto restraint stress. Oral administration of SLE significantly reduced restraint-induced liver damage in experimental animal. SLE\r\nwas further found to significantly alleviate the provocation of corticosterone in stressed mice. SLE also significantly decreased\r\noxidative damage and increased anti-oxidative capability of liver cells by preventing the over production and accumulation of free\r\nradicals. In conclusion, the protective effects of SLE on stress-induced liver damage were confirmed, and the correlation between\r\nhepatoprotective and anti-stress effects of schisandra lignans was possible related to its alleviation on the malignant effects of\r\nstressors for bio-homeostasis, such as balance of oxidation and reduction in cells....
Moxibustion therapy has been used in East Asian medicine for more than a thousand years. However, there are some problems\r\nassociated with this therapy in clinical practice. These problems include lack of control over the treatment temperature, emission of\r\nsmoke, and uneven temperature distribution over the treatment region. In order to resolve these problems, we developed a precise\r\ntemperature-control device for use as an alternate for conventional moxibustion therapy. In this paper, we describe the treatment of\r\na single patient with paralytic ileus that was treated with moxibustion.We also describe an evaluation of temperature distribution\r\non the skin surface after moxibustion therapy, the development of a heat-transfer control device (HTCD), an evaluation of the\r\nHTCD, and the clinical effects of treatment using the HTCD. The HTCD we developed can heat the skin of the treatment region\r\nuniformly, and its effect may be equivalent to conventional moxibustion, without the emission of smoke and smell. This device\r\ncan be used to treat ileus, abdominal pain, and coldness of abdomen in place of conventional moxibustion in modern hospitals....
Honey and cancer has a sustainable inverse relationship. Carcinogenesis is amultistep process and hasmultifactorial causes. Among\r\nthese are low immune status, chronic infection, chronic inflammation, chronic non healing ulcers, obesity, and so forth. There is\r\nnow a sizeable evidence that honey is a natural immune booster, natural anti-inflammatory agent, natural antimicrobial agent,\r\nnatural cancer ââ?¬Å?vaccine,ââ?¬Â and natural promoter for healing chronic ulcers and wounds. Though honey has substances of which the\r\nmost predominant is a mixture of sugars, which itself is thought to be carcinogenic, it is understandable that its beneficial effect as\r\nanticancer agent raises skeptics. The positive scientific evidence for anticancer properties of honey is growing. The mechanism on\r\nhow honey has anticancer effect is an area of great interest. Among the mechanisms suggested are inhibition of cell proliferation,\r\ninduction of apoptosis, and cell-cycle arrest. Honey and cancer has sustainable inverse relationship in the setting of developing\r\nnations where resources for cancer prevention and treatment are limited....
Anti-inflammatory effects of the aqueous extract of Hibiscus taiwanensis (AHT) were used in lipopolysaccharide (LPS-)stimulated\r\nmouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells and carrageenan (Carr-)induced mouse paw edema model. When RAW264.7 macrophages\r\nwere treated with AHT together with LPS, a concentration-dependent inhibition of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-\r\na), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels productions were detected.Western blotting revealed that AHT blocked protein expression\r\nof inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and elevated heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), significantly.\r\nIn the animal test, AHT decreased the paw edema at the 4th and the 5th h after Carr administration, and it increased the activities\r\nof catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in the paw tissue. We also demonstrated AHT\r\ndecreased the NO, TNF-a, and PGE2 levels on the serum level at the 5th h after the Carr injection. Western blotting revealed that\r\nAHT decreased Carr-induced iNOS, and COX-2, and increased HO-1 expressions at the 5th h in the edema paw. These findings\r\ndemonstrated that AHT has excellent anti-inflammatory activities in vitro and in vivo and thus it has great potential to be used as\r\na source for natural health products...
Flavonoids, a group of compounds mainly derived from vegetables and herbal medicines, share a chemical resemblance to\nestrogen, and indeed some of which have been used as estrogen substitutes. In searching for possible functions of flavonoids,\nthe neuroprotective effect in brain could lead to novel treatment, or prevention, for neurodegenerative diseases. Here, different\nsubclasses of flavonoids were analyzed for its inductive role in neurite outgrowth of cultured PC12 cells. Amongst the tested\nflavonoids, a flavonol aglycone, isorhamnetin that was isolated mainly from the leaves of Ginkgo biloba L. showed robust induction\nin the expression of neurofilament, a protein marker for neurite outgrowth, of cultured PC12 cells. Although isorhamnetin by itself\ndid not show significant inductive effect on neurite outgrowth of cultured PC12 cells, the application of isorhamnetin potentiated\nthe nerve growth factor- (NGF-)induced neurite outgrowth. In parallel, the expression of neurofilaments was markedly increased\nin the cotreatment of NGF and isorhamnetin in the cultures. The identification of these neurite-promoting flavonoids could be\nvery useful in finding potential drugs, or food supplements, for treating various neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer�s\ndisease and depression....
Norcantharidin (NCTD) is the demethylated form of cantharidin, which is the active substance of mylabris, and is known to\r\nhave anticancer potentials. The aim of this paper was to assess the apoptosis-inducing effect of NCTD on HL-60 cells. Methods.\r\nThe effects of NCTD were detected by flow cytometer on the cell toxicity, cell cycle, and apoptosis of HL-60 cells cultured in\r\nvitro. Results. After 48-hour treatment with NCTD, the growth of HL-60 cells was inhibited significantly. The summit of apoptosis\r\nappeared after 24 hours. The percentage of the cells in G1 phase decreased and then increased in S and G2 M phase, while the S\r\nand G2 M phases were blocked after treatment with 5, 10, and 50 �µmol/L NCTD for 24 hours. Conclusions. NCTD can induce\r\nthe apoptosis of HL-60 cells and inhibit the fissiparism, and the domino effect was obviously correlated with the time and dosage....
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