Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Phenolic-Enriched Extracts of Smilax glabra

Smilax glabra Roxb. has been used for a long time as both food and folk medicine. In the present study, phenolic-enriched extract of S. glabra (PEESG) was extracted with 70% ethanol and purified by HP-20 column chromatography. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated by radical scavenging assay, reducing power determination, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells assays, respectively. PEESG exhibited obviously scavenging capacity for DPPH and ABTS radicals, as well as significant reducing power for ferric ion. Particularly, PEESG (12.5–50 μg/mL) showed a significantly higher efficiency for scavenging ABTS than that of ascorbic acid and no significant difference with ascorbic acid for DPPH scavenging. PEESG also possessed a significant suppression effect on proinflammatory mediators production, such as nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. In addition, the main ingredients of PEESG were identified using ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray mass spectrometry (U-HPLC-ESI-MS). Seventeen components, including 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid, neoastilbin, astilbin, neoisoastilbin, isoastilbin, engetin and isoengeletin were identified. These findings strongly suggest the potential of PEESG as a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent

Morphological stability in epitaxially strained films on a substrate with finite thickness

Abstract This paper investigates the morphological stability of epitaxial films growing heteroepitaxially on ultra-thin substrates. The misfitting strain model is incorporated into the quasi-static mechanical equilibrium system. The interfacial evolution equation between the vapour and film phases is used to solve the film evolution. The perturbation method of normal modes is used to derive the analytical form of the normal-mode growth rate. Additionally, this paper investigates the dynamic behaviour of the vapour-film interface. The results of the study show that a decrease in substrate thickness tends to stabilize the system regardless of whether the stiffness ratio, ρ (i.e. the ratio of film stiffness to substrate stiffness) is less than, equal to or greater than unity. Furthermore, it is found that the effects of a finite substrate thickness on the stability behaviour of the system are quite profound, and that this is particularly true when the film thickness is close to h c with values of stiffness ratio greater than unity

Inhibitory Effects of Chemical Compounds Isolated from the Rhizome of Smilax glabra on Nitric Oxide and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Production in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced RAW264.7 Cell

The rhizome of Smilax glabra has been used for a long time as both food and folk medicine in many countries. The present study focused on the active constituents from the rhizome of S. glabra, which possess potential anti-inflammatory activities. As a result, nine known compounds were isolated from the rhizome of S. glabra with the bioassay-guiding, and were identified as syringaresinol (1), lasiodiplodin (2), de-O-methyllasiodiplodin (3), syringic acid (4), 1,4-bis(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,3-bis(hydroxymethyl)-1,4-butanediol (5), lyoniresinol (6), trans-resveratrol (7), trans-caffeic acid methyl ester (8), and dihydrokaempferol (9). Among these compounds, 2 and 3 were isolated for the first time from S. glabra. In addition, the potential anti-inflammatory activities of the isolated compounds were evaluated in vitro in lipopolysaccharide-(LPS-) induced RAW264.7 cells. Results indicated that 4 and 7 showed significant inhibitory effects on NO production of RAW264.7 cells, and 1, 2, 3, and 5 showed moderate suppression effects on induced NO production. 1, 7, and 5 exhibited high inhibitory effects on TNFproduction, with the IC 50 values less than 2.3, 4.4, and 16.6 M, respectively. These findings strongly suggest that compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 were the potential anti-inflammatory active compositions of S. glabra

Inhibitory Effects of Chemical Compounds Isolated from the Rhizome of Smilax glabra

The rhizome of Smilax glabra has been used for a long time as both food and folk medicine in many countries. The present study focused on the active constituents from the rhizome of S. glabra, which possess potential anti-inflammatory activities. As a result, nine known compounds were isolated from the rhizome of S. glabra with the bioassay-guiding, and were identified as syringaresinol (1), lasiodiplodin (2), de-O-methyllasiodiplodin (3), syringic acid (4), 1,4-bis(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,3-bis(hydroxymethyl)-1,4-butanediol (5), lyoniresinol (6), trans-resveratrol (7), trans-caffeic acid methyl ester (8), and dihydrokaempferol (9). Among these compounds, 2 and 3 were isolated for the first time from S. glabra. In addition, the potential anti-inflammatory activities of the isolated compounds were evaluated in vitro in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced RAW264.7 cells. Results indicated that 4 and 7 showed significant inhibitory effects on NO production of RAW264.7 cells, and 1, 2, 3, and 5 showed moderate suppression effects on induced NO production. 1, 7, and 5 exhibited high inhibitory effects on TNF-α production, with the IC50 values less than 2.3, 4.4, and 16.6 μM, respectively. These findings strongly suggest that compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 were the potential anti-inflammatory active compositions of S. glabra

A multi-module artificial neural network approach to pattern recognition with optimized nanostructured sensor array

Abstract The selection of appropriate sensing array nanomaterials and the pattern recognition of sensing signals are two challenges for the development of sensitive, selective, and cost-effective sensor array systems. To tackle both challenges, the work described in this paper focuses on the development of a new hybrid method which couples multi-module method with artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the optimization-optimized multi-module ANN classifier (OMAC) to enhance the correct detection rate for multiple volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this OMAC method, each module is dedicated to a group of VOCs with specific inputs. Each sensor element's selectivity is quantitatively evaluated to assist the selection of sensing array materials, which also facilitates the selection of inputs to each dedicated neural network module. This OMAC method is shown to be useful for achieving a high overall recognition rate for a selected set of vapor analytes. The results are discussed, along with the implications to the better design of ANN pattern classifiers in chemical sensor applications

Tacrolimus (Tacro) strongly inhibits intestinal UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A8

Tacrolimus (Brand name: Prograf), a kind of immunosuppressants, has been reported to induce drug-drug interaction with many clinical drugs. Tacrolimus-mycophenolic acid (MPA) interaction has been widely and frequently reported. Intestinal UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A8-mediated metabolism plays a key role in the elimination of MPA, and alteration of the activity of UGT1A8 resulting from gene polymorphisms could significantly influence the catalyzing activity of MPA glucuronidation. The aim of the present study is to investigate the inhibitory potential of tacrolimus towards UGT1A8, which was speculated to be a potential cause for tacrolimus-MPA interaction. The recombinant UGT1A8 was used as enzyme source, and a nonspecific substrate 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) was utilized as substrate. The results showed that 100 μM of tacrolimus inhibited UGT1A8-mediated 4-MU glucuronidation activity by 82.3%. Further inhibition kinetic investigation showed that the inhibition of UGT1A8 by tacrolimus was best fit to competitive inhibition type, and the inhibition kinetic parameter (Ki) was determined to be 6.1 μM. All these results indicated that tacrolimus could exhibit strong inhibition towards UGT1A8, which should be paid more attention when explaining clinical tacrolimus-MPA interaction.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Deep Sequencing of Plasma Exosomal microRNA Level in Psoriasis Vulgaris Patients

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease affecting 1% to 3% of the world population. Psoriasis vulgaris (PV) is the most common form of psoriasis. PV patients suffer from inflamed, pruritic and painful lesions for years (even a lifetime). However, conventional drugs for PV are costly. Considering the need for long-term treatment of PV, it is urgent to discover novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Plasma exosomal miRNAs have been identified as the reliable biomarkers and therapy targets of human diseases. Here, we described the levels of plasma exosomal miRNAs in PV patients and analyzed the functional features of differently expressed miRNAs and their potential target genes for the first time. We identified 1,182 miRNAs including 336 novel miRNAs and 246 differently expressed miRNAs in plasma exosomes of healthy people and PV patients. Furthermore, the functional analysis found differently expressed miRNA-regulated target genes enriched for specific GO terms including primary metabolic process, cellular metabolic process, metabolic process, organic substance metabolic process, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway containing cellular processes, human diseases, metabolic pathways, metabolism and organismal systems. In addition, we found that some predicted target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs, such as CREB1, RUNX2, EGFR, are both involved in inflammatory response and metabolism. In summary, our study identifies many candidate miRNAs involved in PV, which could provide potential biomarkers for diagnosis of PV and targets for clinical therapies against PV

Emerging biomarkers in psoriatic arthritis

Psoriasis is an immuneâ mediated skin disease which affects 2â 4% of the worldwide population. Approximately 20â 30% of patients with psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a frequently destructive and disabling condition. As skin manifestations precede joint symptoms in nearly all patients with PsA, identification of biomarkers for early prediction of joint damage is an important clinical need. Because not all patients with PsA respond to treatment in the same fashion, identification of biomarkers capable of predicting therapeutic response is also imperative. Here, we review existing literature and discuss current investigations to identify potential biomarkers for PsA disease activity, with particular emphasis on microRNAs as novel markers of interest. Serum (soluble) biomarkers, peripheral osteoclast precursor as cellular biomarkers, and genetic loci associated with skin and joint disease are also reviewed. © 2015 IUBMB Life, 67(12):923â 927, 2015Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136299/1/iub1453.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136299/2/iub1453_am.pd