Effect of tangeretin on ovalbumin-provoked allergic respiratory asthma in Swiss albino mice

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of tangeretin on ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic respiratory asthma in Swiss albino mice.Methods: Mice were injected intraperitoneally with 50 μg OVA dissolved in water and 1 mg of aluminium hydroxide (alum) on the first day, and on day 12. On days 22, 26 and 30, the mice were exposed to 1 % OVA for 30 min. Mice in the asthma control group received saline via the same route. Tangeretin (50 or 100 mg/kg body weight) was given orally from day 1 to day 30. On the day of sensitization and challenge, tangeretin (50 or 100 mg/kg body weight) was injected 30 min prior to the treatment. Bronchial function, degree of inflammation, broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF), levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and IFN-γ in BALF, serum total IgE, OVA-specific IgE, IgG1 and IgG2a, as well as histopathology of lungs were determined.Results: Tangeretin administration led to significant reduction in airway sensitivity, and significant decreases in leukocyte, macrophage, and eosinophil counts (p < 0.05). It also brought about significant decreases in the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13) in both BALF and serum (p < 0.05). In addition, tangeretin reversed the OVA-induced histopathological anomalies in the lungs.Conclusion: These results demonstrate that tangeritin exerts protective effects against OVA-induced allergic respiratory asthma in Swiss albino mice, and that the drug can potentially be developed for the management of allergic asthma.Keywords: Allergic asthma, Inflammation, Cytokines, Ovalbumin, Tangereti

Effect of Schisandra chinensis (Turcz) Schisandraceae seed extracts and cisplatin on cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and wound healing in MCF-7 cells

Purpose: Schisandra chinensis is a plant used in traditional Chinese and Russian medicine. An S. chinensis seed extract was tested for its ability to potentiate the effects of the anticancer agent cisplatin in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Methods: S. chinensis seeds were extracted with ethanol and the ethanol was evaporated from the extracts to obtain an aqueous fraction of the S. chinensis seed extract (SCSE). MCF-7 cells were exposed to cisplatin alone or in combination with various concentrations of SCSE. The end points that were measured were cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and wound healing. Results: The addition of 10 % SCSE increased the cytotoxicity of cisplatin by increasing MCF-7 cell death by 7 %. The combination of 20 % SCSE and cisplatin completely inhibited wound healing in MCF7 cells. SCSE alone did not induce DNA fragmentation in MCF-7 cells. Conclusion: Compounds from S. chinensis seed extracts may mitigate cancer cell proliferation and migration. Keywords: Schisandra chinensis, MCF-7 cells, Cytotoxicity, Genotoxicity, Wound healing, Cisplati

Light anti-nuclei production in pp collisions at s\sqrt{s}=7 and 14 TeV

A dynamically constrained coalescence model based on the phase space quantization and classical limit method was proposed to investigate the production of light nuclei (anti-nuclei) in non-single diffractive (NSD) pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=7 and 14 TeV. This calculation was based on the final hadronic state in the PYTHIA and PACIAE model simulations, the event sample consisted of 1.2$\times 10^8$ events in both simulations. The PACIAE model calculated $\bar D$ yield of 6.247$\times 10^{-5}$ in NSD pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=7 TeV is well comparing with the ALICE rough datum of 5.456$\times 10^{-5}$. It indicated the reliability of proposed method in some extent. The yield, transverse momentum distribution, and rapidity distribution of the $\bar D$, $^3{\bar{He}}$, and $_{\bar\Lambda} ^3{\bar H}$ in NSD pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=7 and 14 TeV were predicted by PACIAE and PYTHIA model simulations. The yield resulted from PACIAE model simulations is larger than the one from PYTHIA model. This might reflect the role played by the parton and hadron rescatterings.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure