Administration of isoferulic acid improved the survival rate of lethal influenza virus pneumonia in mice.

BACKGROUND: Isoferulic acid (IFA) is a main active ingredient of the rhizoma of Cimicifuga beracleifolia, which is used frequently in Japanese traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory drug. It has been revealed that IFA inhibits the production of macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2), which is a murine counterpart of the chemokine family that may contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases through the chemotactic activity for inflammatory and immune effector cells. AIM OF THE STUDY: In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of IFA on the progression of lethal influenza virus pneumonia in mice by comparison with that of dexamethasone (DX), a potent inhibitor for various inflammatory cytokines including MIP-2. METHODS: Mice were infected by intranasal inoculation of influenza virus under ether anesthesia. The IFA or DX was given by oral administration once daily for 4 days after infection. After infection, the survival rate and the change in body weight were daily monitored. RESULTS: IFA administration markedly improved the survival rate and body weight loss of influenza virus-infected mice in a suitable dose range (0.5 mg/day). However, DX administration did not show a beneficial effect at any dose. CONCLUSION: These data suggested that IFA is a novel tool not only for the intervention therapy, but also for the studies on the pathogenesis of influenza virus-induced pneumonia

Inhibitory effect of ferulic acid and isoferulic acid on the production of macrophage inflammatory protein-2 in response to respiratory syncytial virus infection in RAW264.7 cells.

We investigated the effect of ferulic acid (FA) and isoferulic acid (IFA), which are the main active components of the rhizoma of Cimicifuga heracleifolia (CH), an anti-inflammatory drug used frequently in Japanese traditional medicine, on the production of macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIR-2) in a murine macrophage cell line, RAW264.7, in response to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Following the exposure of cells to RSV for 20h, the MIP-2 level in condition medium was increased to about 20 ng/ml, although this level in mock-infected cells was negligible. In the presence of either FA or IFA, RSV-infected cells reduced MIP-2 production in a dose-dependent manner. These data suggest that FA and IFA might be responsible, at least in part, for the anti-inflammatory drug effect of CH extract through the inhibition of MIP-2 production

Effects of Green Tea Catechins and Theanine on Preventing Influenza Infection among Healthcare Workers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Experimental studies have revealed that green tea catechins and theanine prevent influenza infection, while the clinical evidence has been inconclusive. This study was conducted to determine whether taking green tea catechins and theanine can clinically prevent influenza infection.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><b>Design, Setting, and Participants</b>: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 200 healthcare workers conducted for 5 months from November 9, 2009 to April 8, 2010 in three healthcare facilities for the elderly in Higashimurayama, Japan.</p> <p><b>Interventions</b>: The catechin/theanine group received capsules including green tea catechins (378 mg/day) and theanine (210 mg/day). The control group received placebo.</p> <p><b>Main Outcome Measures</b>: The primary outcome was the incidence of clinically defined influenza infection. Secondary outcomes were (1) laboratory-confirmed influenza with viral antigen measured by immunochromatographic assay and (2) the time for which the patient was free from clinically defined influenza infection, i.e., the period between the start of intervention and the first diagnosis of influenza infection, based on clinically defined influenza infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eligible healthcare workers (n = 197) were enrolled and randomly assigned to an intervention; 98 were allocated to receive catechin/theanine capsules and 99 to placebo. The incidence of clinically defined influenza infection was significantly lower in the catechin/theanine group (4 participants; 4.1%) compared with the placebo group (13 participants; 13.1%) (adjusted OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.76, <it>P </it>= 0.022). The incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza infection was also lower in the catechin/theanine group (1 participant; 1.0%) than in the placebo group (5 participants; 5.1%), but this difference was not significant (adjusted OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.01 to 1.10; <it>P </it>= 0.112). The time for which the patient was free from clinically defined influenza infection was significantly different between the two groups (adjusted HR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.84; <it>P </it>= 0.023).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Among healthcare workers for the elderly, taking green tea catechins and theanine may be effective prophylaxis for influenza infection.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials (NCT): <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01008020">NCT01008020</a></p

Risk of Liver Injury Associated with Chinese Herbal Products Containing Radix bupleuri in 639,779 Patients with Hepatitis B Virus Infection

and the risk of hospitalisation related to liver injury among HBV-infected patients in Taiwan. were assessed for any dose-response relationship. was 2.19 (95% CI: 1.66 to 2.89). The results using the case-crossover design remained similar. in HBV-infected patients might increase their risks of liver injury. Further studies are indicated to corroborate the above findings

Hearing Feelings: Affective Categorization of Music and Speech in Alexithymia, an ERP Study

Background: Alexithymia, a condition characterized by deficits in interpreting and regulating feelings, is a risk factor for a variety of psychiatric conditions. Little is known about how alexithymia influences the processing of emotions in music and speech. Appreciation of such emotional qualities in auditory material is fundamental to human experience and has profound consequences for functioning in daily life. We investigated the neural signature of such emotional processing in alexithymia by means of event-related potentials. Methodology: Affective music and speech prosody were presented as targets following affectively congruent or incongruent visual word primes in two conditions. In two further conditions, affective music and speech prosody served as primes and visually presented words with affective connotations were presented as targets. Thirty-two participants (16 male) judged the affective valence of the targets. We tested the influence of alexithymia on cross-modal affective priming and on N400 amplitudes, indicative of individual sensitivity to an affective mismatch between words, prosody, and music. Our results indicate that the affective priming effect for prosody targets tended to be reduced with increasing scores on alexithymia, while no behavioral differences were observed for music and word targets. At the electrophysiological level, alexithymia was associated with significantly smaller N400 amplitudes in response to affectively incongruent music and speech targets, but not to incongruent word targets. Conclusions: Our results suggest a reduced sensitivity for the emotional qualities of speech and music in alexithymia during affective categorization. This deficit becomes evident primarily in situations in which a verbalization of emotional information is required

Developing indicators of pattern identification in patients with stroke using traditional Korean medicine

Abstract Background The traditional Korean medical diagnoses employ pattern identification (PI), a diagnostic system that entails the comprehensive analysis of symptoms and signs. The PI needs to be standardized due to its ambiguity. Therefore, this study was performed to establish standard indicators of the PI for stroke through the traditional Korean medical literature, expert consensus and a clinical field test. Methods We sorted out stroke patterns with an expert committee organized by the Korean Institute of Oriental Medicine. The expert committee composed a document for a standardized pattern of identification for stroke based on the traditional Korean medical literature, and we evaluated the clinical significance of the document through a field test. Results We established five stroke patterns from the traditional Korean medical literature and extracted 117 indicators required for diagnosis. The indicators were evaluated by a field test and verified by the expert committee. Conclusions This study sought to develop indicators of PI based on the traditional Korean medical literature. This process contributed to the standardization of traditional Korean medical diagnoses.</p

The physics case of a 3 TeV muon collider stage

In the path towards a muon collider with center of mass energy of 10 TeV ormore, a stage at 3 TeV emerges as an appealing option. Reviewing the physicspotential of such muon collider is the main purpose of this document. In orderto outline the progression of the physics performances across the stages, a fewsensitivity projections for higher energy are also presented. There are manyopportunities for probing new physics at a 3 TeV muon collider. Some of themare in common with the extensively documented physics case of the CLIC 3 TeVenergy stage, and include measuring the Higgs trilinear coupling and testingthe possible composite nature of the Higgs boson and of the top quark at the 20TeV scale. Other opportunities are unique of a 3 TeV muon collider, and stemfrom the fact that muons are collided rather than electrons. This isexemplified by studying the potential to explore the microscopic origin of thecurrent $g$-2 and $B$-physics anomalies, which are both related with muons.<br

The physics case of a 3 TeV muon collider stage

In the path towards a muon collider with center of mass energy of 10 TeV ormore, a stage at 3 TeV emerges as an appealing option. Reviewing the physicspotential of such muon collider is the main purpose of this document. In orderto outline the progression of the physics performances across the stages, a fewsensitivity projections for higher energy are also presented. There are manyopportunities for probing new physics at a 3 TeV muon collider. Some of themare in common with the extensively documented physics case of the CLIC 3 TeVenergy stage, and include measuring the Higgs trilinear coupling and testingthe possible composite nature of the Higgs boson and of the top quark at the 20TeV scale. Other opportunities are unique of a 3 TeV muon collider, and stemfrom the fact that muons are collided rather than electrons. This isexemplified by studying the potential to explore the microscopic origin of thecurrent $g$-2 and $B$-physics anomalies, which are both related with muons.<br

Muon Collider Physics Summary

The perspective of designing muon colliders with high energy and luminosity,which is being investigated by the International Muon Collider Collaboration,has triggered a growing interest in their physics reach. We present a concisesummary of the muon colliders potential to explore new physics, leveraging onthe unique possibility of combining high available energy with very precisemeasurements.<br