Palmitoleate Induces Hepatic Steatosis but Suppresses Liver Inflammatory Response in Mice

The interaction between fat deposition and inflammation during obesity contributes to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The present study examined the effects of palmitoleate, a monounsaturated fatty acid (16∶1n7), on liver metabolic and inflammatory responses, and investigated the mechanisms by which palmitoleate increases hepatocyte fatty acid synthase (FAS) expression. Male wild-type C57BL/6J mice were supplemented with palmitoleate and subjected to the assays to analyze hepatic steatosis and liver inflammatory response. Additionally, mouse primary hepatocytes were treated with palmitoleate and used to analyze fat deposition, the inflammatory response, and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP1c) activation. Compared with controls, palmitoleate supplementation increased the circulating levels of palmitoleate and improved systemic insulin sensitivity. Locally, hepatic fat deposition and SREBP1c and FAS expression were significantly increased in palmitoleate-supplemented mice. These pro-lipogenic events were accompanied by improvement of liver insulin signaling. In addition, palmitoleate supplementation reduced the numbers of macrophages/Kupffer cells in livers of the treated mice. Consistently, supplementation of palmitoleate decreased the phosphorylation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB, p65) and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. These results were recapitulated in primary mouse hepatocytes. In terms of regulating FAS expression, treatment of palmitoleate increased the transcription activity of SREBP1c and enhanced the binding of SREBP1c to FAS promoter. Palmitoleate also decreased the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in cultured macrophages. Together, these results suggest that palmitoleate acts through dissociating liver inflammatory response from hepatic steatosis to play a unique role in NAFLD

Berberine in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives. To assess the efficacy and safety of berberine in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods. Randomized trials of berberine compared with lifestyle modification, placebo, and/or oral hypoglycaemics intervention on treating T2DM were included. Study population characteristics and outcome results were extracted independently by two reviewers. Meta-analyses were performed for data available. Results. Fourteen randomized trials, involving 1068 participants, were included in this study. Methodological quality was generally low. Compared with lifestyle modification with or without placebo, the cointervention of berberine and lifestyle modification showed significantly hypoglycaemic and antidyslipidemic response. Compared with oral hypoglycaemics including metformin, glipizide, or rosiglitazone, berberine did not demonstrate a significantly better glycaemic control but showed a mild antidyslipidemic effect. Compared with oral hypoglycaemic drugs, cointerventions with berberine and the same oral hypoglycaemics showed a better glycaemic control. No serious adverse effects from berberine were reported. Conclusions. Berberine appeared to be efficacious for treating hyperglycaemia and dyslipidemia in T2DM. However, the evidence of berberine for treating T2DM should be carefully interpreted due to the low methodological quality, small sample size, limited number of trials, and unidentified risks of bias

Widerstandsverminderung durch Ventilation stumpfer Koerper bei hoeheren Reynoldszahlen

Die Stroemungsbeeinflussung durch passive Nachlaufventilation wurde an Kugeln und an zylindrischen Koerpern variabler Streckung, die aus zwei Halbkugeln mit dazwischen eingefuegten Zylindern unterschiedlicher Laenge bestanden, experimentell untersucht. Zur Nachlaufventilation diente ein Kanal entlang der Modellachse zwischen dem vorderen Staupunktbereich und der Modellrueckseite. Der Einfluss der Ventilation auf Widerstand, Auftrieb und Nickmoment wurde im Hochdruck-Windkanal Goettingen bis zu transkritischen Reynoldszahlen bestimmt. Zusaetzlich wurden Druckverteilungsmessungen und Stroemungsaufnahmen vorgenommen. Auch Einfluesse der Modellaufhaengung sowie von Einzelrauhigkeiten der Modelloberflaeche wurden untersucht. Die bei niedrigen ueberkritischen Reynoldszahlen bereits von anderen Autoren gefundene Widerstandsverringerung konnte bis zu sehr hohen Reynoldszahlen (#approx# 10"7) nachgewiesen werden. Sie betraegt bei der Kugel bis zu 66% bei einer Querschnittsflaeche des Ventilationskanals von nur ca. 2% des Kugelquerschnitts. Bei gestreckten stumpfen Koerpern ohne Anstellwinkel wird der Ventilationseinfluss mit zunehmender Streckung geringer, bei den untersuchten Anstellwinkeln 5 und 10 bleibt er dagegen weitgehend erhalten. Bei positiven Anstellwinkeln ist das Nickmoment der ventilierten Kugel negativ, d.h. stabilisierend. Bei den gestreckten Koerpern wirkt die Ventilation auf das Nickmoment dagegen destabilisierend. (orig.)Experimental investigations were conducted on flow control by passive ventilation of wakes of spheres and of bluff bodies with different length-to-diameter ratios consisting of circular cylinders with hemispherical front and rear ends. Wake ventilation is provided by a central tunnel along the model axis connecting the stagnation region in front of the body with the wake region at the rear. The ventilation effects on drag, lift and pitching moment were determined up to transcritical Reynolds numbers by tests in the Goettingen High Pressure Wind-Tunnel. In addition, surface pressure distributions were measured and flow visualisations conducted. Effects of model support geometry and of a single surface roughness were also investigated. The drag reduction, found already at low supercritical Reynolds numbers by other authors, was confirmed up to very high Reynolds numbers (#approx#10"7), reaching up to 66% for a sphere with a cross section of the ventilating tunnel of only about 2% of the model cross section. The ventilation effects for the elongated bluff bodies at zero angle of attack decrease with increasing length-to-diameter ratios; however this is not the case at angles of attack of 5 deg and 10 deg. The pitching moment of the ventilated sphere becomes negative (stabilizing) for positive angles of attack. However, for the elongated bluff bodies it becomes positive (destabilizing). (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RN 437(01-28) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

The Effect of Momordica charantia in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus: A Review

In recent years, many studies of Momordica charantia (MC) in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications have been reported. This article reviewed the effect and mechanism of MC against diabetes, including the results from in vitro and in vivo experiments and clinical trials. The common side effects of MC were also summarized. We hope that it might open up new ideas for further mechanism exploration and clinical application as well as provide a scientific theoretical basis for the development of drugs or foods derived from MC

Physikalisch-chemische und moerteltechnische Untersuchungen zur Bewertung von Steinkohlenflugaschen aus Kraftwerken

SIGLECopy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Characterization of WHV variants in the woodchuck model Final report

Deletion mutants of hepatitis B virus (HBV) are often found in chronically HBV-infected patients. It has not been possible to study the significance of such deletion mutants on liver diseases in a suitable animal model. In this study, we characterized naturally occurring deletion mutants of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) in 11 chronically WHV-infected woodchucks. Deletions within the WHV preS region (nt 2992-338) had a length of 72 or 84 bp and were located in the amino terminal part of preS1. Internal deletions with the core gene (CID) had variable lengths (103 to 312 bp) and were identified within the center of this gene (nt 2021-2587). Four of seven CIDs were in-frame deletions, whereas the remaining three CIDs were out-of-frame deletions and led to the interruption of the reading frame. Sequence analysis of cloned PCR products of CIDs showed that heterogeneous WHV deletion mutants coexisted in single woodchucks. In addition, WHV genomes with double deletions in the preS1 and the core region could be found. We were unable to detect the expression of truncated core proteins in transfection experiments. The CID mutations led to a marked increase of the expression of the luciferase gene which was fused to the start codon of WHV polymerase, probably due to the shortening of the untranslated region or the removal of AUGs preceding the polymerase start codon. The characterization of naturally occurring WHV deletion mutants will allow us to study their biological and pathogenic properties in the woodchuck model in the future. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: DtF QN1(81,30) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEBundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Disjunctive logic program = Horn program + Control program

This paper presents an alternative view on propositional disjunctive logic program: Disjunctive program = Control program + Horn program. For this we introduce a program transformation which transforms a disjunctive logic program into a Horn program and a so called control program. The control program consists of only disjunctions of new propositional atoms and controls the 'execution' of the Horn program. The relationship between original and transformed programs is established by using circumscription. Based on this relationship a new minimal model reasoning approach is developed. Due to the transformation it is straightforward to incorporate SLD-resolution into the proof procedure. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: RO 6844(1998,8) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Nonoxynol-9 berberine plural gel has little effect on expression of SLPI, SP-D and lactoferrin in mice’s vagina

Background: The most frequently used spermicide Nonoxynol-9 (N-9) in the clinic alters the vaginal flora, which will result in an increased risk of opportunistic infection. So development of a novel spermicidal and microbicidal drug appears to be inevitable. Vaginal local immune is an important part of vaginal flora. Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), surfactant proteins D (SP-D), and lactoferrin (LF) are anti-microbial molecules with important roles in immune system of female vaginas. Objective: To observe effect of a vaginal spermicide nonoxynol-9 (N-9) berberine plural gel on the expression of SLPI SP-D and LF in mice’s vaginas. Materials and Methods: Female BABL/C mice were randomly divided into following 5 groups: normal control group, blank gel group, berberine gel group, 12% N-9 gel group and N-9 berberine plural gel group. Estradiol benzoate at physiological dose was done by hypodermic injection to every group’s mice. After 72h, drug gels were separately injected into the mice’s vaginas, while immunohistochemistry and Western blot were taken to detect the expression of the 3 indexes in mice’s vaginas respectively after 24h and 72h of gel injection. Results: The differences in the three indexes between normal control group and blank gel group were not significant statistically (p>0.05). The expression of the three indexes in 12% N-9 gel group was decreased compared to that in blank gel group (p<0.05). The differences in the three indexes between N-9 berberine plural gel group and blank gel group were not significant statistically (p>0.05). Also, the three index's level of 24h and 72h in sub observation groups after treatment were without statistical significance (p>0.05). Conclusion: Application of N-9 berberine plural gel had little impact on antimicrobial peptides in normal mice’s vaginas

TDLM - a transonic doublet lattice method for 3D potential unsteady transonic flow calculation

With 18 figs., 3 tabs., 18 refs.Available from TIB Hannover: RN 437(92-25) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Hu-Lu-Ba-Wan Attenuates Diabetic Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Rats through PKC- α

Hu-Lu-Ba-Wan (HLBW) is a Chinese herbal prescription used to treat kidney deficiency. The aim of this study was to explore the effect and mechanism of HLBW on diabetic nephropathy (DN) in type 2 diabetic rats. The rat model of DN was established by being fed a high-fat diet and intravenous injection of streptozotocin. Then, HLBW decoction was administered for 16 weeks. Blood glucose level, lipid profile, renal function, 24-hour total urinary protein, and albumin content were examined. Renal morphology and superoxide anion levels were evaluated. The activity of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and protein kinase C-alpha (PKC-α) related genes expression in renal tissue were also determined. Our data demonstrated that HLBW significantly improved hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and proteinuria in diabetic rats compared with those of control group. HLBW also alleviated glomerular expansion and fibrosis, extracellular matrix accumulation and effacement of the foot processes. Additionally, HLBW reduced superoxide anion level, NADPH oxidase activity, the protein and mRNA expressions of p47phox, and the protein expression of phosphorylated PKC-α in renal tissue. These results suggest that HLBW is effective in the treatment of DN in rats. The underlying mechanism may be related to the attenuation of renal oxidative stress via PKC-α/NADPH oxidase signaling pathway