Oligonol Ameliorates CCl 4

Oxidative stress is thought to be a key risk factor in the development of hepatic diseases. Blocking or retarding the reactions of oxidation and the inflammatory process by antioxidants could be a promising therapeutic intervention for prevention or treatment of liver injuries. Oligonol is a low molecular weight polyphenol containing catechin-type monomers and oligomers derived from lychee fruit. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of oligonol on carbon tetrachloride- (CCl4-) induced acute hepatic injury in rats. Oral administration of oligonol (10 or 50 mg/kg) reduced CCl4-induced abnormalities in liver histology and serum AST and serum ALT levels. Oligonol treatment attenuated the CCl4-induced production of inflammatory mediators, including TNF-α, IL-1β, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA levels. Western blot analysis showed that oligonol suppressed proinflammatory nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) p65 activation, phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) as well as Akt. Oligonol exhibited strong antioxidative activity in vitro and in vivo, and hepatoprotective activity against t-butyl hydroperoxide-induced HepG2 cells. Taken together, oligonol showed antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects in CCl4-intoxicated rats by inhibiting oxidative stress and NF-κB activation via blockade of the activation of upstream kinases including MAPKs and Akt

Profiling age-related epigenetic markers of stomach adenocarcinoma in young and old subjects

The purpose of our study is to identify epigenetic markers that are differently expressed in the stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) condition. Based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we were able to detect an age-related difference in methylation patterns and changes in gene and miRNA expression levels in young (n = 14) and old (n = 70) STAD subjects. Our analysis identified 323 upregulated and 653 downregulated genes in old STAD subjects. We also found 76 miRNAs with age-related expression patterns and 113 differentially methylated genes (DMGs), respectively. Our further analysis revealed that significant upregulated genes (n = 35) were assigned to the cell cycle, while the muscle system process (n = 27) and cell adhesion-related genes (n = 57) were downregulated. In addition, by comparing gene and miRNA expression with methylation change, we identified that three upregulated genes (ELF3, IL1??, and MMP13) known to be involved in inflammatory responses and cell growth were significantly hypomethylated in the promoter region. We further detected target candidates for age-related, downregulated miRNAs (hsa-mir-124-3, hsa-mir-204, and hsa-mir-125b-2) in old STAD subjects. This is the first report of the results from a study exploring age-related epigenetic biomarkers of STAD using high-throughput data and provides evidence for a complex clinicopathological condition expressed by the age-related STAD progression. © the authors, publisher and licensee Libertas Academica Limitedopen

Alpha-Adducin Gly460Trp Polymorphism and Essential Hypertension in Korea

Previous studies have suggested that the Gly460Trp polymorphism of the alpha-adducin gene (ADD-1) is associated with salt sensitivity and primary hypertension. The results of linkage or association studies of ADD-1 of different populations are controversial. This study investigated the relationship between the Gly460Trp polymorphism of ADD-1 and essential hypertension in a Korean population. The subjects (n=903) were participants in a population-based study in Jangseong County, Korea. The Gly460Trp polymorphism of ADD-1 was determined using a polymerase chain reaction method. The frequency of the 460Trp allele was 59.4% in normotensives and 61.1% in hypertensives (p=0.523). The frequencies of the genotypes did not differ significantly between the hypertensive and normotensive groups (16.3% Gly/Gly, 45.8% Gly/Trp, and 38.0% Trp/Trp in normotensives; 16.2% Gly/Gly, 45.8% Gly/Trp, and 38.0% Trp/Trp in hypertensives; p=0.928). After adjusting for other risk factors, Gly/Trp and Trp/Trp were not associated with hypertension (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.65-1.53, Gly/Trp vs. Gly/Gly; OR 1.22, 95% CI 0.79-1.90, Trp/Trp vs. Gly/Gly). These findings suggest that the Gly460Trp polymorphism of ADD-1 is not associated with hypertension

Anti-Wrinkle Effect of Magnesium Lithospermate B from Salvia miltiorrhiza BUNGE: Inhibition of MMPs via NF-kB Signaling

Skin is in direct contact with the environment and therefore undergoes aging as a consequence of environmentally induce damage. Wrinkle formation is a striking feature of intrinsic and photo-induced skin aging, which are both associated with oxidative stress and inflammatory response. The present study was undertaken to identify the mechanisms responsible for the anti-wrinkle effects of MLB, and thus, we investigated whether magnesium lithospermate B (MLB) from Salvia miltiorrhiza BUNGE associated with wrinkle formation caused by intrinsic and extrinsic skin aging using Sprague-Dawley rats aged 5 and 20 months and ultraviolet B (UVB)-irradiated human skin fibroblasts cells, respectively. The results obtained showed that the oral administration of MLB significantly upregulated the level of type I procollagen and downregulated the activities and expressions of matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) in rat skin. In fibroblasts, MLB suppressed the transactivation of nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) and activator protein 1(AP-1), which are the two transcription factors responsible for MMP expression, by suppressing oxidative stress and the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Our results show that the antioxidant effect of MLB is due to the direct scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and its inhibitory effects on NF-kB-dependent inflammation genes, such as, cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase. MLB was found to reverse both age- and UVB-related reductions in skin procollagen levels by suppressing the expressions and activities of NF-kB and AP-1-dependent MMPs by modulating ROS generation and the MAPK signaling pathway. We suggest that MLB potentially has anti-wrinkle and anti-skin aging effects

The Modified Chimney Technique With a Thoracic Aortic Stent Graft to Preserve the Blood Flow of the Left Common Carotid Artery for Treating Descending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Dissection

While thoracic endovascular aortic repair is an effective treatment option for descending thoracic aorta pathology, it does have limitations. The main limitation is related to the anatomical difficulties when disease involves the aortic arch. A fenestrated, branched aortic stent graft and hybrid operation has been introduced to overcome this limitation, but it is a custom-made device and is time consuming to manufacture. Furthermore, these devices cannot be used in an emergency setting. We report two patients with massive descending thoracic aortic aneurysm and ruptured aortic dissection very near the aortic arch who underwent a procedure which we named the modified chimney technique. The modified chimney technique can be used as a treatment option in such an emergency situation or as a rescue procedure when aortic pathology is involved near the supra-aortic vessels

Generation and analysis of large-scale expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a full-length enriched cDNA library of porcine backfat tissue

BACKGROUND: Genome research in farm animals will expand our basic knowledge of the genetic control of complex traits, and the results will be applied in the livestock industry to improve meat quality and productivity, as well as to reduce the incidence of disease. A combination of quantitative trait locus mapping and microarray analysis is a useful approach to reduce the overall effort needed to identify genes associated with quantitative traits of interest. RESULTS: We constructed a full-length enriched cDNA library from porcine backfat tissue. The estimated average size of the cDNA inserts was 1.7 kb, and the cDNA fullness ratio was 70%. In total, we deposited 16,110 high-quality sequences in the dbEST division of GenBank (accession numbers: DT319652-DT335761). For all the expressed sequence tags (ESTs), approximately 10.9 Mb of porcine sequence were generated with an average length of 674 bp per EST (range: 200–952 bp). Clustering and assembly of these ESTs resulted in a total of 5,008 unique sequences with 1,776 contigs (35.46%) and 3,232 singleton (65.54%) ESTs. From a total of 5,008 unique sequences, 3,154 (62.98%) were similar to other sequences, and 1,854 (37.02%) were identified as having no hit or low identity (<95%) and 60% coverage in The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) gene index of Sus scrofa. Gene ontology (GO) annotation of unique sequences showed that approximately 31.7, 32.3, and 30.8% were assigned molecular function, biological process, and cellular component GO terms, respectively. A total of 1,854 putative novel transcripts resulted after comparison and filtering with the TIGR SsGI; these included a large percentage of singletons (80.64%) and a small proportion of contigs (13.36%). CONCLUSION: The sequence data generated in this study will provide valuable information for studying expression profiles using EST-based microarrays and assist in the condensation of current pig TCs into clusters representing longer stretches of cDNA sequences. The isolation of genes expressed in backfat tissue is the first step toward a better understanding of backfat tissue on a genomic basis

Pulmonary Artery Embolotherapy in a Patient with Type I Hepatopulmonary Syndrome after Liver Transplantation

Although liver transplantation (LT) is the only effective treatment option for hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), the post-LT morbidity and mortality have been high for patients with severe HPS. We performed post-LT embolotherapy in a 10-year-old boy who had severe type I HPS preoperatively, but he failed to recover early from his hypoxemic symptoms after an LT. Multiple embolizations were then successfully performed on the major branches that formed the abnormal vascular structures. After the embolotherapy, the patient had symptomatic improvement and he was discharged without complications

The Effect of Apolipoprotein E Polymorphism on Lipid Levels in Korean Adults

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of polymorphisms in the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) on lipid levels in Korean adults and to investigate the interactions between these polymorphisms and environmental factors in determining lipid levels. We performed a cross-sectional study of 1,900 subjects (668 men and 1,232 women; 45-74 yr old) in Namwon, Korea, in 2004. APOE polymorphisms were determined by polymerase chain reaction and restriction enzyme analysis. Carriers of the APOE*E2 (E2) allele had significantly lower total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations than did carriers of the APOE*E3 (E3) or APOE*E4 (E4) alleles, regardless of gender. The APOE allele type had significant effect on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride levels in women, but not in men. The effect of APOE allele type on HDL-C levels was modified by age in women. In addition, in men, the effect of APOE allele type on triglyceride levels was modified by smoking. These findings highlight the important effect of gene-environment interactions on lipid levels

Distribution of the Ankle-Brachial Index and Associated Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Population of Middle-Aged and Elderly Koreans

The Doppler ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) is an objective and efficient tool that can be used to determine the presence and severity of peripheral arterial disease in the lower extremities. The ABI value is inversely associated with other cardiovascular risk factors. To date, there have been no studies of the distribution of ABI in Korea. We performed a cross-sectional study of 1,943 subjects (681 men and 1,262 women; 45-74 yr old) in Namwon, Korea. The prevalence of a low ABI (<0.90) was 2.2% in men and 1.8% in women, and a high ABI (≥1.30) was prevalent in 3.1% of men and 0.8% of women. Age, smoking habits, waist circumference, hypertension, and blood pressure were associated with ABI values in both sexes. The presence of carotid plaques was associated with ABI values only in men, whereas pulse pressure was associated with ABI values only in women (p<0.05). Although the prevalence of a low ABI in the present study was lower than those reported previously for Western populations and Japanese men, our results suggest that the ABI might be used as an indicator of cardiovascular risk factors in adult Koreans