Codonopsis lanceolata Extract Prevents Diet-Induced Obesity in C57BL/6 Mice

Codonopsis lanceolata extract (CLE) has been used in traditional medicine in the Asian-Pacific region for the treatment of bronchitis, cough, and inflammation. However, it is still unclear whether obesity in mice can be altered by diet supplementation with CLE. To investigate whether CLE could have preventative effects on high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, male C57BL/6 mice were placed on either a normal chow diet, 60% HFD, or a HFD supplemented with CLE (60, 180, and 360 mg/kg/day) for 12 weeks. CLE decreased body weight and subcutaneous and visceral fat weights in HFD-induced obese mice. CLE group mice showed lower fat accumulation and a smaller adipocyte area in the adipose tissue compared with the HFD group mice. CLE group mice exhibited lower serum levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), glucose, and insulin compared with the HFD group mice. In addition, CLE decreased liver weight and lowered the increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in HFD-induced obese mice. These results indicate that CLE can inhibit the development of diet-induced obesity and hyperlipidemia in C57BL/6 mice.     

A Novel Approach for Predicting Disordered Regions in A Protein Sequence

Objectives

A number of published predictors are based on various algorithms and disordered protein sequence properties. Although many predictors have been published, the study of protein disordered region prediction is ongoing because different prediction methods can find different disordered regions in a protein sequence.

Methods

Therefore we have used a new approach to find the more varying disordered regions for more efficient and accurate prediction of protein structures. In this study, we propose a novel approach called “emerging subsequence (ES) mining” without using the characteristics of the disordered protein. We first adapted the approach to generate emerging protein subsequences on public protein sequence data. Second, the disordered and ordered regions in a protein sequence were predicted by searching the generated emerging protein subsequence with a sliding window, which tends to overlap. Third, the scores of the overlapping regions were calculated based on support and growthrate values in both classes. Finally, the score of predicted regions in the target class were compared with the score of the source class, and the class having a higher score was selected.

Results

In this experiment, disordered sequence data and ordered sequence data was extracted from DisProt 6.02 and PDB respectively and used as training data. The test data come from CASP 9 and CASP 10 where disordered and ordered regions are known.

Conclusion

Comparing with several published predictors, the results of the experiment show higher accuracy rates than with other existing methods.     

In Vitro Anti-Osteoporosis Properties of Diverse Korean Drynariae rhizoma Phenolic Extracts

Drynariae rhizoma has been used to prevent bone loss that occurs with increasing age. However, the chemical compounds in extracts that act on bone metabolism in herbal medicine are poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate and compare the extraction efficacy of polyphenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and in vitro anti-osteoporosis properties of water extract (DR-DW) and ethanol extract (DR-EtOH) from D. rhizoma. Total phenolics and flavonoids were better extracted with 70% EtOH, and this extraction method also resulted in higher antioxidant activity and in vitro anti-osteoporosis properties in these extracts. In particular, the contents of phloroglucinol, protocatechuic acid ethyl ester, 2-amino-3,4-dimethyl-benzoic acid, 3-(3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-1-yl)-benzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, syringic acid, trans-ferulic acid, (−)-epigallocatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, quercetin dehydrate, luteolin and emodin in DR-EtOH were higher than those in DR-DW. These results indicated that DR-EtOH could be a good source of natural herbs with anti-osteoporosis properties.     

Suicidal Ideation and its Correlates among Juvenile Delinquents in South Korea

Objectives

This study investigated suicidal ideation and its correlates among juvenile delinquents in South Korea.

Methods

Suicidal ideation, psychological health status, and health-related behaviors were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire in 1682 juvenile offenders aged between 15 and 18 years in 2012.

Results

The prevalence of suicidal ideation in juvenile delinquents was 15.2%. Girls were more likely to report suicidal thoughts than boys (30.3% vs. 12.7%). Suicidal ideation was more common among adolescents who were not living with their family prior to entering detention centers (22.6% vs. 13.2%) than their counterparts. The likelihood of suicidal ideation was significantly associated with problem drinking [odds ratio (OR) = 1.84], psychedelic drug use (OR = 2.04), feeling unhappy (OR = 3.05), feeling sad or depressed (OR = 13.37) after controlling for sociodemographic factors, other health behaviors and perceptions.

Conclusion

The present study provides evidence for an association between suicidal ideation and psychological health and health risk behaviors among juvenile delinquents. It also highlights the importance of mental health and behavioral interventions for this population to prevent suicidality.     

Quercetin-3-O-β-d-glucuronide isolated from Polygonum aviculare inhibits cellular senescence in human primary cells

Cellular senescence is known to contribute to tissue aging, a variety of age-related diseases, tissue regeneration, and cancer. Therefore, aging intervention might be useful for prevention of aging as well as age-related disease. In this study, we investigated compounds from Polygonum aviculare to determine if they inhibited cellular senescence in human primary cells, human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Ten compounds from P. aviculare were purified and their inhibitory effects on adriamycin-induced cellular senescence were measured by observing senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity and reactive oxygen species. Among them, compound 9 (quercetin-3-O-β-d-glucuronide) showed inhibitory effects against cellular senescence in HDFs and HUVECs treated with adriamycin. Additionally, compound 9 rescued replicative senescence in HDFs and HUVECs. These data imply that compound 9 represses cellular senescence in human primary cells and might be useful for the development of dietary supplements or cosmetics that ameliorate tissue aging or aging-associated diseases.     

Comparison of toxicity of different nanorod‐type TiO2 polymorphs in vivo and in vitro

It is predicted that the toxicity of nanoparticles may be different depending on the properties of the nanoparticles and biological system being tested. However, the factors that influence the toxicity of nanoparticles have not been adequately investigated. In this study, we characterized two types of TiO₂ nanorods, anatase (ATO) and brookite (BTO), and compared their toxicity in vivo and in vitro. ATO and BTO differed from each other most notably in their surface areas. Treatment with the two TiO₂ nanorods (10 µg ml^–1) produced similar effects on the cell cycle in eight cell lines which are derived from potential target organs of nanoparticles, with the BTO eliciting stronger responses than ATO in all cell lines, among the cell lines, H9C2 showed the maximal change. Similarly, when mice were exposed to two TiO₂ nanorods (1 mg kg^–1), BTO induced clearer histopathological lesions and triggered a more robust secretion of inflammatory cytokines than ATO. Furthermore, we compared the cellular response of both TiO₂ nanorods using BEAS‐2B cells, the human bronchial epithelial cell line. Both nanorods induced cell death by increasing the formation of autophagosome‐like vacuoles. The mitochondrial calcium concentration decreased by exposure of both types, but the distribution of lysosome and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) showed a clear difference between the two nanorods. Thus, we conclude that the surface area acts as an important factor which depends on toxicity of nanorod type‐TiO₂ nanoparticles. Furthermore, the toxicity of nanoparticles varies according to the type of cells tested, and that the assembly of autophagosome‐like vacuoles is a critical part of the cellular response to nanoparticle exposure. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chitosan-Based Hybrid Nanocomplex for siRNA Delivery and Its Application for Cancer Therapy

Purpose

Chitosan, a natural and biocompatible cationic polymer, is an attractive carrier for small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery. The purpose of this study was to develop a chitosan-based hybrid nanocomplex that exhibits enhanced physical stability in the bloodstream compared with conventional chitosan complexes. Hybrid nanocomplexes composed of chitosan, protamine, lecithin, and thiamine pyrophosphate were prepared for systemic delivery of survivin (SVN) siRNA.

Methods

Physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles including mean diameters and zeta potentials were characterized, and target gene silencing and cellular uptake efficiencies of the siRNA nanocomplexes in prostate cancer cells (PC-3 cells) were measured. In vivo tumor targetability and anti-tumor efficacy by systemic administration were assessed in a PC-3 tumor xenograft mouse model by near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging and tumor growth monitoring, respectively.

Results

Mean diameters of the SVN siRNA-loaded hybrid nanocomplex (GP-L-CT) were less than 200 nm with a positive zeta potential value in water and were maintained without aggregation in culture media and 50% fetal bovine serum. SVN expression in PC-3 cells was reduced to 21.9% after treating with GP-L-CT. The tumor targetability and growth inhibitory efficacies of GP-L-CT supported the use of this novel hybrid nanocomplex as a cancer therapeutic and as a theranostic system for systemic administration.

Conclusions

A chitosan-based hybrid nanocomplex was successfully developed for the systemic delivery of SVN siRNA, which could serve as an alternative to cationic polymeric nanoparticles that are unstable in serum.     

Method for detecting the reactivity of chemicals towards peptides as an alternative test method for assessing skin sensitization potential

Cosmetics are normally composed of various ingredients. Some cosmetic ingredients can act as chemical haptens reacting toward proteins or peptides of human skin and they can provoke an immunologic reaction, called as skin sensitization. This haptenation process is very important step of inducing skin sensitization and evaluating the sensitizing potentials of cosmetic ingredients is very important for consumer safety. Therefore, animal alternative methods focusing on monitoring haptenation potential are undergoing vigorous research. To examine the further usefulness of spectrophotometric methods to monitor reactivity of chemicals toward peptides for cosmetic ingredients. Forty chemicals (25 sensitizers and 15 non-sensitizers) were reacted with 2 synthetic peptides, e.g., the cysteine peptides (Ac-RFAACAA-COOH) with free thiol group and the lysine peptides (Ac-RFAAKAA-COOH) with free amine group. Unreacted peptides can be detected after incubating with 5,5′-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid or fluorescamine™ as detection reagents for free thiol and amine group, respectively. Chemicals were categorized as sensitizers when they induced more than 10% depletion of cysteine peptides or more than 30% depletion of lysine peptides. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 80.0%, 86.7% and 82.5%, respectively. These results demonstrate that spectrophotometric methods can be an easy, fast, and high-throughput screening tools predicting the skin sensitization potential of chemical including cosmetic ingredient.     

Bioavailability of plant pigment phytochemicals in Angelica keiskei in older adults: A pilot absorption kinetic study

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Angelica keiskei is a green leafy vegetable rich in plant pigment phytochemicals such as flavonoids and carotenoids. This study examined bioavailability of flavonoids and carotenoids in Angelica keiskei and the alteration of the antioxidant performance in vivo.

SUBJECTS AND MATERIALS

Absorption kinetics of phytochemicals in Angelica keiskei were determined in healthy older adults (> 60 y, n = 5) and subjects with metabolic syndrome (n = 5). Subjects consumed 5 g dry Angelica keiskei powder encapsulated in gelatin capsules with a low flavonoid and carotenoid liquid meal. Plasma samples were collected at baseline, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 h. Samples were analyzed for flavonoids and carotenoids using HPLC systems with electrochemical and UV detection, respectively, and for total antioxidant performance by fluorometry.

RESULTS

After ingestion of Angelica keiskei increases in plasma quercetin concentrations were observed at 1-3 and 6-8 hr in the healthy group and at all time points in the metabolic syndrome group compared to baseline (P < 0.05). Plasma lutein concentrations were significantly elevated in both the healthy and metabolic syndrome groups at 8 hr (P < 0.05). Significant increases in total antioxidant performance were also observed in both the healthy and the metabolic syndrome groups compared to baseline (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings of this study clearly demonstrate the bioavailability of phytonutrients of Angelica keiskei and their ability to increase antioxidant status in humans.