Foeniculum vulgare Mill (Umbelliferae) Attenuates Stress and Improves Memory in Wister Rats

Purpose: To evaluate the anti-stress and memory-enhancing properties of F. vulgare extract in experimental rats.Methods: F. vulgare plant extract was obtained using Soxhlet extraction technique. The extract, at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight, was administered orally with an orogastric tube. Urinary levels of vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) and ascorbic acid in rats were used to evaluate anti-stress activity. Conditioned avoidance response was measured in normal and scopolamine-induced amnesic rats to study the memory-enhancing effects. Lipid peroxidation inhibition assay in liver and brain homogenates of rats was used to evaluate antioxidant activity.Results: Daily administration of F. vulgare extract (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight) 1 h prior to induction of stress significantly (p < 0.05) altered the stress-induced urinary biochemical levels of VMA from 395.79 ± 11.23 to 347.12 ± 12.28, 311.21 ± 12.48 and 258.86 ± 10.26 μg/kg, respectively, in 24 h, as well as ascorbic acid excretion levels from 65.74 ± 9.42 to 78.59 ± 8.44, 108.41 ± 15.62 and 125.82 ± 16.94 μg/kg also within the same period, respectively. These changes occurred in a dose-dependent fashion, and the levels in the control groups were unchanged within the same period. The memory deficits induced by scopolamine (1mg/kg, i.p.) in rats was reversed by F. vulgare dose-dependently. The extract also exhibited potent antioxidant effect by inhibition of lipid peroxidation in both rat liver and brain homogenates to a greater extent than the standard antioxidant, ascorbic acid.Conclusion: F. vulgare may be useful in the management of stress and stress-related disorders on account of its multiple actions such as anti-stress, memory-enhancing and antioxidant effects.Keywords: Foeniculum vulgare, Stress, Vanillyl mandelate, Memory, Antioxidant, Ascorbic aci

Protective Effect of Purple Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas Linn, Convolvulaceae) on Neuroinflammatory Responses in Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Microglial Cells

Purpose: To evaluate the protective effects of purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Linn, Convolvulaceae) extract (IBE) in stimulated BV-2 microglial cells and its anti-oxidant properties.Methods: Cell viability assessment was performed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to activate BV-2 microglia. Nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured using Griess assay. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expressional levels were measured by Western blot analysis. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) production was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Antioxidantproperties were evaluated by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay.Results: LPS-activated excessive release of NO in BV-2 cells was significantly inhibited by IBE (p<0.001 at 100 µg/mL). Increased production of inflammatory mediators such as iNOS, COX-2 and TNF-α (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001 at 100 and 200 µg/ml, respectively) was attenuated by IBE concentration-dependently. IBE also scavenged DPPH radicals in a  dose-dependent manner (p < 0.05 at 10 ìg/ml and p < 0.001 at 20 - 200 µg/ml).Conclusion: These results indicate that IBE attenuated neuroinflammatory responses in LPS-activated BV-2 microglia by inhibiting excessive  production of pro-inflammatory mediators such as NO, iNOS, COX-2 and TNF-α. The anti-neuroinflammatory potential of IBE may be related to its strong antioxidant properties.Keywords: Ipomoea batatas, DPPH radicals, Anti-oxidant,  Neuroinflammation, BV-2 microglia, Nitric oxide

Suaeda japonica Makino Attenuates Lipopolysaccharide- Induced Neuro-Inflammatory Responses in BV-2 Microglia via NF-kappa B Signaling

Purpose: To evaluate in vitro anti-oxidant and anti-neuro-inflammatory activities of Suaeda japonica extract (SJE) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells.Methods: 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay was used to study the antioxidant effects. 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to study cell viabilities. LPS-stimulated BV- microglial cells were used to study the geneexpression and production of inflammatory mediators determined by Western blot analysis.Results: SJE significantly inhibited the DPPH generated free radicals, and suppressed LPS-induced expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and production of nitric oxide (NO) in a concentration-dependent manner. It decreased LPS-induced expression of some inflammatorymediators and pro-inflammatory cytokines (cyclooxygenase-2 and interleukin (IL)-6). This suppression of inflammatory mediators was nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-êB)-dependent.Conclusion: Our findings imply that SJE may be a potential therapeutic agent in regulating microgliamediated neuroinflammatory responses observed in several neurodegenerative diseases.Keywords: Suaeda japonica, Antioxidant activity, Anti-inflammatory activity, Microglial Cells, iNOS, IL-6

Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effects of Houttuynia cordata Extract on LPS-Stimulated BV-2 Microglia

Purpose: To evaluate the anti-neuroinflammatory effects of Houttuynia cordata extract (H. cordata) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells, and its anti-oxidant properties.Methods: Anti-oxidant properties were evaluated by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. Cell viability was assessed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. LPS was used to stimulate BV-2 cells. Nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured using Griess assay. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression, interleukin (IL)-6 expressional level were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot analysis.Results: Ethyl actetae (HC-EA) extract of H. cordata significantly scavenged DPPH free radicals in a concentration-dependent fashion. The increased levels of NO, iNOS and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells were also suppressed by HC-EA extract in a concentration-dependent manner.Conclusion:The result indicate that the HC-EA extract exhibited strong anti-oxidant properties and inhibited the excessive production of pro-inflammatory mediators, including NO, iNOS and IL-6, in LPSstimulated BV-2 cells. The anti-oxidant phenolic compounds present in HC-EA extract might play an important role in ameliorating neuroinflammatory processes in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells.Keywords: Houttuynia cordata, DPPH radicals, antioxidant, neuroinflammation, BV-2 cells, iNOS, COX-2, IL-6

Learning Therapy Strategies from Demonstration Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation

The use of robots in stroke rehabilitation has become a pop-ular trend in rehabilitation robotics. However, despite the ac-knowledged value of customized service for individual pa-tients, research on programming adaptive therapy for indi-vidual patients has received little attention. The goal of the current study is to model teletherapy sessions in the form of a generative process for autonomous therapy that approxi-mate the demonstrations of the therapist. The resulting au-tonomous programs for therapy may imitate the strategy that the therapist might have employed and reinforce therapeutic exercises between teletherapy sessions. We propose to en-code the therapist’s decision criteria in terms of the patient’s motor performance features. Specifically, in this work, we apply Latent Dirichlet Allocation on the batch data collected during teletherapy sessions between a single stroke patient and a single therapist. Using the resulting models, the thera-peutic exercise targets are generated and are verified with the same therapist who generated the data

Anti-fibrotic effects of Rhus javanica Linn (Anacardiaceae) extract against Activated hepatic stellate cells via regulation of TGF-beta and smad signaling

Purpose: To evaluate the anti-fibrotic effects of ethanol extract of Rhus javanica Linn. (Anacardiaceae) (RJE) in activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) as well as explore the underlying mechanisms.Methods: The cytotoxic effect of RJE (100, 300 and 500 μg/mL) was analyzed using 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay in Chang liver cells. The mRNA expression of collagen type I, alpha 2 (COL1A2), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) were determined using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in HSCs. Protein expression of collagen and Smad were measured by Western blot analysis.Results: Treatment with RJE extract at 100, 300 and 500 μg/mL did not show any signs of cytotoxicity to Chang liver cells. RJE at 500 μg/mL concentration influenced the morphology, reduced the stretched fiber and  decreased the number of viable cells in activated HSCs. The increased expressional levels of fibrosis mediators such as COL1A2, TGF-β, α-SMA were decreased by RJE (500 μg/mL) pre-treatment. Quantification data showed that the increased band intensity of COL1A2 (1.41 ± 0.08), TGF-β (1.23 ± 0.13), α-SMA (1.71 ± 0.14) were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced to 0.39 ± 0.12, 0.35 ± 0.11 and 0.04 ± 0.08, respectively upon RJE treatment. However, RJE did not suppress the expression of PDGF gene. Mechanistic study revealed that RJE prevented fibrosis in HSCs via regulation of TGF-β and Smad signaling pathways.Conclusion: The findings show that RJE inhibits fibrosis production in HSCs and can be developed as a novel therapy for hepatic fibrosis. This is the first report showing the beneficial effects of R. javanica as an anti-fibrotic agent

A 3D Human Posture Approach for Activity Recognition Based on Depth Camera

Human activity recognition plays an important role in the context of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), providing useful tools to improve people quality of life. This work presents an activity recognition algorithm based on the extraction of skeleton joints from a depth camera. The system describes an activity using a set of few and basic postures extracted by means of the X-means clustering algorithm. A multi-class Support Vector Machine, trained with the Sequential Minimal Optimization is employed to perform the classification. The system is evaluated on two public datasets for activity recognition which have different skeleton models, the CAD-60 with 15 joints and the TST with 25 joints. The proposed approach achieves precision/recall performances of 99.8 % on CAD-60 and 97.2 %/91.7 % on TST. The results are promising for an applied use in the context of AAL