Isolation of anticancer constituents from flos genkwa (Daphne genkwa Sieb.et Zucc.) through bioassay-guided procedures

BACKGROUND: Flos Genkwa (yuanhua in Chinese), the dried flower buds of Daphne genkwa Sieb.et Zucc. (Thymelaeaceae), is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb mainly used for diuretic, antitussive, expectorant, and anticancer effects. However, systematic and comprehensive studies on Flos Genkwa and its bioactivity are limited. RESULTS: After confirmation of the anti-tumor activity, the 95% ethanolic extract was subjected to successive solvent partitioning to petroleum ether, dichloromethane, n-butanol, and water soluble fractions. Each fraction was tested using the same biological activity model, and the dichloromethane fraction had the highest activity. The dichloromethane fraction was subjected to further chromatographic separation for the isolation of compounds 1–13. Among the 13 compounds, the diterpene esters (compounds 10–13) showed anticancer activity, whereas the flavonoids, lignanoids, and peptides showed moderate activity. Compound 13 was a new daphnane diterpenoid, which was named genkwanin VIII. The preliminary antitumor mechanism of yuanhuacine was studied by protein expression and cell cycle analysis in MCF-7 cancer cells. CONCLUSION: The present investigation tends to support the traditional use of Flos Genkwa for treating cancer. Through bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation techniques, the CH(2)Cl(2) fraction was determined as the active fraction of the flower buds of D. genkwa, and the anti-tumor activity was ascribable to the compounds 10–13

The Role of Stress Management in the Relationship between Purpose in Life and Self-Rated Health in Teachers: A Mediation Analysis

Background: To examine whether stress management mediates the relationship between purpose in life and self-rated health status (SRH). Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 6840 teachers in 2013 in Guangzhou, China. Purpose in life was assessed through the Purpose in Life Subscale of the Psychological Well-being Scale. Stress management was assessed using the eight-item questionnaire adapted from the Health-promoting Lifestyle Profile II. SRH was assessed by the Suboptimal Health Measurement Scale Version 1.0. The mediation hypothesis was tested by the structural equation model for path analysis. Results: It was found that purpose in life had direct and indirect effects on SRH. The path analysis showed the total effect (β = 0.563) of purpose in life on SRH was comprised of a direct effect (β = 0.319) and an indirect effect (β = 0.244), which was mediated by stress management. Conclusions: By supporting the mediation hypothesis, our results indicate that stress management mediated the effect of purpose in life on SRH. Enhancement of teachers’ purpose in life and improvement of training skills of stress management should be incorporated in the strategy of improving teachers’ health

The Role of Healthy Lifestyle in the Implementation of Regressing Suboptimal Health Status among College Students in China: A Nested Case-Control Study

Background: Suboptimal health status (SHS) is the intermediate health state between health and disease, it is medically undiagnosed and is also termed functional somatic syndrome. Although its clinical manifestations are complicated and various, SHS has not reached the disease status. Unhealthy lifestyle is associated with many chronic diseases and mortality. In accordance with the impact of lifestyle on health, it is intriguing to determine the association between unhealthy lifestyle and SHS risk. Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study among healthy Chinese college students from March 2012 to September 2013, which was nested in a prospective cohort of 5676 students. We performed 1:1 incidence density sampling with matched controls for birth year, sex, grade, specialty and individual character. SHS was evaluated using the medical examination report and Sub-health Measurement Scale V1.0 (SHMS V1.0). Exposure was defined as an unhealthy lifestyle per the frequency of six behavioral dimensions from the Health-promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II). Results: We matched 543 cases of SHS (42.66%) in a cohort of 1273 students during the 1.5 years mean follow-up time with controls. A significant difference (t = 9.79, p < 0.001) and a reduction in HPLP-II total score was present at 1.5 years follow-up (135.93 ± 17.65) compared to baseline (144.48 ± 18.66). A level-response effect was recorded with an increase of the total HPLP-II (every dimension was correlated with a decreased SHS risk). Compared to respondents with the least exposure (excellent level), those reporting a general HPLP-II level were approximately 2.3 times more likely to develop SHS (odd ratio = 2.333, 95% CI = 1.471 to 3.700); and those with less HPLP-II level (good level) were approximately 1.6 times more likely (1.644, 1.119–2.414) to develop SHS (p < 0.05). Our data indicated that unhealthy lifestyle behavior with respect to behavioral dimensions significantly affected SHS likelihood. Further analyses revealed a marked increase (average increased 14.73 points) in lifestyle level among those SHS regression to health after 1.5 years, with respect to the HPLP-II behavioral dimensions, in addition to the total score (t = -15.34, p < 0.001). Conclusions: SHS is highly attributable to unhealthy lifestyles, and the Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 240 2 of 17 mitigation of modifiable lifestyle risk factors may lead to SHS regression. Increased efforts to modify unhealthy lifestyles are necessary to prevent SHS

Work-Recreation Balance, Health-Promoting Lifestyles and Suboptimal Health Status in Southern China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Suboptimal health status (SHS)—an intermediate state between health and illness—refers to functional somatic symptoms that are medically undiagnosed. Although SHS has become a great challenge for global public health, very little about its etiology and mechanisms are known. Work-recreation balance is a part of work−life balance, and is related to stress which greatly influences health status. We therefore carried out a cross-sectional investigation between 2012 and 2013 within a clustered sample of 24,475 individuals aged 15−60 years from a population in southern China. In so doing, we hoped to illuminate the associations between work-recreation balance conditions, healthy lifestyles, and SHS. Work-recreation balance conditions were categorically defined by frequency (“rarely, sometimes, or always”). Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II) was used to evaluate the level of healthy lifestyles, and the medical examination report and Sub-Health Measurement Scale V1.0 (SHMS V1.0) were both used to evaluate health status. The ratio of SHS (46.3%) is higher than health status (18.4%) or disease status (35.3%). Overall, 4.9% of respondents reported the lowest level of work-recreation balance, and they scored lower on both the HPLP-II and SHMS V1.0 compared with those who frequently maintained a work-recreation balance. Significant association was found between work-recreation balance behaviors and healthy lifestyles (p < 0.001) after demographic adjustment. In comparison with those reporting a frequent work-recreation balance, individuals whose work-recreation balance was categorically “rare” were 1.69 times as likely to develop SHS (odds ratio (OR): 1.69, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.49–1.92), and those with infrequent work-recreation balance (“sometimes”) were 1.71 times more likely to develop SHS (OR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.62–1.81). These findings suggest that work-recreation balance conditions are significantly associated with, and seem to be accurate behavioral indicia of a healthy lifestyle. Poor work-recreation balance is associated with increased risk for SHS; thus, a healthier lifestyle that maintains a work-recreation balance should be promoted in order to reduce the development of SHS or disease in southern China

Additional file 1: Table S1. of The effects of short-term high-fat feeding on exercise capacity: multi-tissue transcriptome changes by RNA sequencing analysis

List of Primer sequences used for qRT-PCR. (DOC 57 kb

Saturated long-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria contribute to enhanced colonic motility in rats

Abstract Background The gut microbiota is closely associated with gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorder, but the mechanism(s) by which bacteria interact with and affect host GI motility remains unclear. In this study, through using metabolomic and metagenomic analyses, an animal model of neonatal maternal separation (NMS) characterized by accelerated colonic motility and gut dysbiosis was used to investigate the mechanism underlying microbiota-driven motility dysfunction. Results An excess of intracolonic saturated long-chain fatty acids (SLCFAs) was associated with enhanced bowel motility in NMS rats. Heptadecanoic acid (C17:0) and stearic acid (C18:0), as the most abundant odd- and even-numbered carbon SLCFAs in the colon lumen, can promote rat colonic muscle contraction and increase stool frequency. Increase of SLCFAs was positively correlated with elevated abundances of Prevotella, Lactobacillus, and Alistipes. Functional annotation found that the level of bacterial LCFA biosynthesis was highly enriched in NMS group. Essential synthetic genes Fabs were largely identified from the genera Prevotella, Lactobacillus, and Alistipes. Pseudo germ-free (GF) rats receiving fecal microbiota from NMS donors exhibited increased defecation frequency and upregulated bacterial production of intracolonic SLCFAs. Modulation of gut dysbiosis by neomycin effectively attenuated GI motility and reduced bacterial SLCFA generation in the colon lumen of NMS rats. Conclusions These findings reveal a previously unknown relationship between gut bacteria, intracolonic SLCFAs, and host GI motility, suggesting the importance of SLCFA-producing bacteria in GI motility disorders. Further exploration of this relationship could lead to a precise medication targeting the gut microbiota for treating GI motility disorders