Antiallergic effects of ethanol extract of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss. on DNCB-induced atopic dermatitis in mice

Purpose: To study the anti-allergic effects of ethanol extract of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss. on 2, 4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-induced atopic dermatitis in mice.Method: Atopic dermatitis (AD) was induced by DNCB in Balb/c mice, and the mice randomly divided into normal group, negative control group, hydrocortisone group, and ethanol extract of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss. (EECM) group. Ear swelling was determined by measuring the thicknesses of the left and right ears of each mouse. Spleen and thymus indices were calculated from spleen, thymus and body weight values. The levels of TNF-α and IgE in serum were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Hematoxylin-eosin (H & E) staining and toluidine blue staining were used to evaluate pathological changes in ear tissue, while high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed to ascertain the bioactive compounds in EECM.Results: Compared with the negative control group, EECM significantly alleviated skin lesions, reduced thickness of ear swelling, and decreased spleen and thymus indexes of mice (p < 0.05). Moreover, EECM significantly reduced epidermal thickness (p < 0.01). However, EECM did not significantly alter the number of mast cells (p > 0.05). The expressions of TNF-α and IgE in serum were also significantly down-regulated (p < 0.01, p < 0.05). Results from HPLC revealed that the contents of bergapten, imperatorin and osthole in EECM were 0.73, 3.69 and 9.40 mg/g, respectively.Conclusion: EECM ameliorates AD in mice via inhibition of inflammation and by a mechanism that might be related to the regulation of TNF-α and IgE levels. The major bioactive constituents of EECM are osthole, imperatorin and bergapten. Thus, this plant extract has a potential to be developed for the treatment of of atopic dermatitis

Cyclodextrin-based biological stimuli-responsive carriers for smart and precision medicine

Spurred on by recent progress in nanotechnology and precision medicine, smart drug carriers are entering an entirely new era. Smart drug carriers have been widely studied in recent years as a result of their ability to control drug release under different microenvironments (such as pH, redox, and enzyme) in vivo. Host-guest interactions based on cyclodextrins have proven to be an efficient tool for fabricating smart drug carriers. Because of the application of host-guest interactions, many kinds of biological molecules or supramolecular building blocks can combine into an organic whole at the molecular level. In this review, the features, mechanisms of action, and potent applications of biological stimuli-responsive drug carriers based on cyclodextrins are discussed. In addition, some personal perspectives on this field are presented

The Effects of Transportation Modes on the Survival, Growth, Digestion and Antioxidant Capacity of Pteria penguin Juveniles

At present, the research on the physiological effects of transportation activities on aquatic organisms mainly focuses on fish, crustaceans and echinoderms. There are lacking details for transportation effect on Pteria penguin. In order to explore the effects of transportation modes on the survival, growth, digestion and antioxidant properties of P. penguin juveniles, this study was carried out under the conditions of transportation with water and without water, respectively. The experiments were carried out under the conditions of two modes of transportation with water and without water for 8 hour, respectively. The water temperature was controlled at (20.0±2.0) ℃ for transportation with water, while the temperature in the waterless styrofoam box was controlled at (15.0±3.0) ℃. The culture was temporarily maintained for 14 days after transportation. The breeding conditions and management methods were basically the same before and after transportation. The water temperature was (27.5±1.0) ℃, and the salinity was (31.5±0.5). Every day change 2/3 of the water and feed the mixed algae liquid of Isochrysis zhanjiangensis, Chaetoceros muelleri and Platymonas subcordiformis. The survival rates and growth parameters were estimated after 8 h transportation, 7 days and 14 days temporarily maintained, respectively. The P. penguin juveniles were sampled before transportation and used as control group, then juveniles were divided into two experimental groups for transportation with and without water respectively. The juveniles from different experimental groups were randomly sampled after transportation. Then, the juveniles were sampled on the 7th day and 14th day of the recovery period. The activity of amylase (AMS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), acid phosphatase (ACP), glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT), and the content of cortisol were used as biochemical indicators. The frozen soft tissues were dissected on the ice surface and homogenized on ice in 0.2 mol/L (w/v) ice-cold physiological saline, and the homogenates were centrifuged at 2 500 r/min for 10 min. Take the supernatant for enzyme activity determination, and repeat the determination 3 times for each sample. The results showed that the survival rates with water transport and waterless transport were (98.00±0.57)% and (97.00±1.00)%, respectively. On the 14th day of the recovery period, the survival rates with water transport and waterless transport reached (97.00±1.00)% and (82.00±0.71)%, respectively. Furthermore, after 14 days recovery, the shell length, shell height and body weight of P. penguin in water transport were significantly higher than those in waterless transport (P < 0.05), while the content of cortisol level was (1 999.50±10.18) µg/L in the P. penguin transported with water, which was significantly higher than those transported without water [(1 668.46±20.36) µg/L]. The amylase activity after both transports increased, and on the 14th day of the recovery period, the amylase activity after transport with water increased to (1.56±0.08) U/mg prot, which was significantly higher than (1.06±0.04) U/mg prot with transport without water (P < 0.05). The activities of GOT and GPT were increased in water transportation, while decreasing in waterless transportation. During the recovery stage, the ACP activity was decreased to (79.56±1.04) U/mg prot at 14th day in water transportation group, while increased to (168.24±3.46) U/mg prot in waterless transportation group. Furthermore, the GOT and GPT activities were trends to increase both in water and waterless transportation, while SOD activity was trend to decrease. The research results show that under certain conditions, water transport and waterless transport can significantly affect the growth, digestion and antioxidant properties of juveniles. Under these two transport modes, the water transport effect and the later physiological recovery are relatively better, with higher survival rate and better growth. After transportation, the body of the P. penguin needs a certain period of time to recover to a normal state, and then can be more adaptive to other adverse environmental factors