PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIOXIDANT CHARACTERIZATION OF THINNED IMMATURE CITRUS UNSHIU FRUITS

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the characterization of thinned immature Citrus unshiu fruits with regard to their phytochemical profile and antioxidant capacity.Methods: Determination of total phenolic, flavonoid, and carotenoid and ascorbic acid contents was done by UV-Visible spectrophotometry, whereas UPLC-mass detection was used for the analysis of individual flavanone (naringin, hesperidin, hesperetin, neohesperedine and narirutin) and flavonol (rutin). In addition, free radicals (DPPH, O2-, H2O2 and NO) scavenging assays were used to determine the antioxidant capacity.Results: Naringin, hesperidine, neohesperedine and narirutin were the main flavanones in all thinned immature Citrus unshiu fruits. The contents of total phenolic, flavonoid and carotenoid were more prevalent in immature fruits than the level found in mature fruits. All thinned immature Citrus unshiu fruits possess an evident antioxidant capacity. The immature Citrus extract concentrations providing 50% inhibition (IC50) for free radicals; 1.2-1.49 mg/ml for DPPH, 1.03-1.46 mg/ml for superoxide, 1.95-3.43 mg/ml for hydrogen peroxide and 1.64-3.45 mg/ml for nitric oxide was lower than those of mature Citrus extracts.Conclusion: Thinned immature Citrus unshiu fruits could be an economic and readily accessible source of natural antioxidants and as a possible food and pharmaceutical supplement

Effect of dose and dosing rate on the mutagenesis of nitric oxide in supF shuttle vector

Purpose: To determine how the dose and rate of NO• treatment affects mutagenic responses.Methods: Shuttle vector pSP189 was used to determine the genotoxicity resulting from in vitro exposure to NO• using three delivery methods (reactor and Transwell co-culture systems, and NO• donor sodium nitroprusside), followed by plasmid replication in bacteria MBL50 and human AD293 cells.Results: When exposed to preformed 100% NO• for 3 h or 1% NO• for 35 h using a reactor system, a cumulative dose of 1260 μM × min reduced AD293 cell viability by 46 and 18% and increased mutation frequencies (MFs) 1.9- and 5.3-fold higher than argon control, respectively. Roughly 5-fold increase in MF of the supF gene of AD293 cells co-cultivated with macrophages stimulated with IFN-γ/LPS was also observed. When AD293 cells were treated by SNP, DNA strand breaks were induced and MFs were increased in a dose-dependent manner.Conclusion: These results provide important clues to how dose and dosing rate of introducing NO• may contribute to potential genotoxicity resulting from NO• formation in vivo.Keywords: AD293 cells, Delivery method, Genotoxicity, Nitric oxide, supF Gene of pSP189 shuttle vecto

Apoptotic properties of Citrus sudachi Hort, ex Shirai (Rutaceae) extract on human A549 and HepG2 cancer cells

Purpose: To investigate whether Citrus sudachi harvested at two stages of maturity can induce toxicity in a cell-specific manner and to determine the possible  mechanisms of Citrus sudachi-induced cytotoxic responses in two types of cancer cells (human lung adenocarcinoma A549 and hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells) and two normal cell lines (lung 16HBE140- and liver CHANG cells).Methods: 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and annexin V/propidium iodidle assay were used to test the antiproliferative activity and apoptosis of methanol extract of Citrus sudachi, respectively. Griess reaction and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were carried out to evaluate nitric oxide (NO•) production and the mRNA levels of inhibitors of apoptosis (IAP).Results: Citrus sudachi exerted cytotoxicity in a time-dependent manner in cancer cells which increased with increase in maturity but did not affect normal cells. Citrus sudachi was found to induce accumulation of cells in the sub-G1 cell cycle phase, fragmentation of DNA and cell death with characteristics of apoptosis, in both types of cancer cells. Moreover, Citrus sudachi upregulated cellular NO• produced by activation of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), while it suppressed the levels of IAP mRNA in both types of cancer cells.Conclusion: The results obtained suggest that Citrus sudachi induces apoptosis in A549 and HepG2 cells, which may be mediated by NO•. There is need for further studies on the role of Citrus sudachi in cancer treatment.Keywords: Apoptosis, Citrus sudachi, Human lung and liver cancer cells, Inhibitors of apoptosis, Nitric oxid

Evaluating the Impact of a New Casino Loyalty Program on Gaming Volume

Using two years secondary data gathered from a Las Vegas hotel and casino, the effectiveness of a new casino loyalty program is examined on both daily slot coin-in and table game drop. Based on a theoretical model advanced to estimate the effects of a new loyalty program, simultaneous multiple regression analysis with Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) terms is used to analyze the data. The results indicate that the loyalty variable significantly increases slot coin-in at a rate of $302,455 per day, while table game drop is not significantly affected by the introduction of the new loyalty program. The coin-in increase of$302,455 also can be converted to $9,366.43 in estimated slot profit per day on days with the new loyalty program. Additionally, the variables representing special event days, such as table game, poker and slot tournaments, are found to have positive and significant relationships with either table game drop or slot coin-in. This study is the first attempt to estimate the gaming contributions of a loyalty program on casino\u27s profitability. With the findings and model developed in this study, operators can examine whether loyalty programs produce sufficient returns on investment. Furthermore, this study adds a valuable piece to the limited literature base associated with the effects of loyalty programs on gaming business volumes or profitability

Effect of extraction solvents on antioxidant and skin-whitening potentials of defatted Camellia seed cakes

Defatted Camellia japonica L. seed cake is an important byproduct during the manufacture of Camellia seed oil. The present study evaluated the influence of two extraction solvents on the total contents of phenol and flavonoid, antioxidant activity and skin-whitening effect capable of inhibiting the biosynthesis of melanin of defatted Camellia seed cakes, a byproduct from Camellia oil production. The antioxidant capacities of 100% methanol and 70% ethanol extracts were analysed using radical scavenging (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, O2-, H2O2 and NO), SOD-like, ferrous ion chelating and reducing power assays. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were further determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. Moreover, intracellular antityrosinase activity and melanin contents were evaluated in human malignant melanoma cells (SK mel-100). Ethanol extracts of defatted Camellia seed cake extracts exhibited higher phenolic (4097 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g) and flavonoid (2899 mg rutin equivalents/100 g) contents with higher superoxide (IC50 = 1.9 mg/mL), nitric oxide (IC50 =1.6 mg/mL) radical scavenging, ferrous ion chelating (IC50 = 2.9 mg/mL) and reducing power (IC50 = 1.8 mg/mL) activities than those of methanol. These ethanol extracts also evidenced more effective inhibitory activities of tyrosinase and melanin synthesis than methanol extracts. Therefore, the present results demonstrated that defatted Camellia seed cakes could be a valuable source of antioxidative and whitening ingredients, and ethanol was more efficient in extracting antioxidants and bioactive compounds than methanol

Phytochemicals, Antioxidant and Anticancer Properties of Camellia japonica L.Mistletoe Extracts

Thepresent study aims to investigate the phytochemical profiles, in vitroantioxidant and antiproliferative properties of methanol and 70% ethanol extracts of Camelliajaponica L.mistletoe. Both extracts were analyzed for contents of total flavonoid, totalcarotenoid and L-ascorbic acid, and antioxidant properties such as scavenging capacities (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, O2-and NO), ferrous ion chelating and reducing power. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to assess the antiproliferative properties against human can-cer cell lines; MCF (human breast cancer cells), Hela (human cervical cancer cells), A375 (human malignant melanoma cells), HCT116 (human colon cancer cells), HepG2 (human liver cancer cells) and A549 (human non-small cell lung adenocar-cinoma cells). The results showed that the methanol extracts of Camelliajaponica L.mistletoecontained higher total flavonoids (16.237 g rutin equivalents/100 g) and carotenoids (49.175 g/100 g) with higher DPPH (SC50 = 0.6 mg/mL), superoxide (SC50 = 0.6 mg/mL), nitric oxide(SC50 = 0.5 mg/mL) radical scavengingand reduc-ing power (IC50 = 1.1 mg/mL) activitiesthan those of ethanol extracts (p< 0.05). In addition, methanol extracts showed much higher antiproliferativeactivity against human malignant melanoma A375 (IC50 = 118.1 μg/mL) and human colon cancer HCT116 (IC50 = 148.4 μg/mL) cells than ethanol extracts whereas higher inhibitory effects of human breast cancer MCF7 (IC50 = 139.9 μg/mL), human cervical cancer Hela (IC50 = 127.1 μg/mL) and human liver cancer HepG2 (IC50 = 84.2 μg/mL) cell proliferation in the ethanol extracts of Camelliajaponica L.mistletoe. The results demonstrated the potential use of Camelliajaponica L.mistletoe as a good antioxi-dant and anticancer effect

Antioxidant Property and Inhibition of Tyrosinase and Melanin Synthesis of the Korean Fir (Abies koreana Wilson) Needle Extracts

Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson) is traditionally used in folk medicine for its antibacterial, memory-enhancing, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant and skin-whitening effects of the methanol and ethanol extracts of Korean fir needles. The extracts were tested for their antioxidant capacity using various assays, including radical scavenging (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, O2-, H2O2 and NO), SOD-like, ferrous ion chelating, and reducing power assays. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The non-toxic doses of the extracts were determined by MTT assay using human malignant melanoma SK mel-100 cells, and the tyrosinase activity and melanin contents were measured using an enzyme-substrate assay. The results showed that the antioxidant activity of the Korean fir needle extracts increased in a dose-dependent manner, as confirmed by their radical scavenging activities in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) assays. The Korean fir needle extract significantly reduced tyrosinase activity and melanin content in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.01), suggesting its potential use as a skin-whitening agent. The methanol extracts of the Korean fir needles exhibited significantly higher phenolic (8306 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g) content, with higher superoxide (IC50 = 4.22 mg/mL) and nitric oxide (IC50 = 1.50 mg/mL) radical scavenging activities and inhibition of tyrosinase and melanin synthesis than those of ethanol extracts (p < 0.05). Overall, our results demonstrate the potential of Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson) needles as a source of tyrosinase inhibitors and antioxidants for inhibiting melanin biosynthesis, which could have applications in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries

Curcumin induces expression of 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase in gastric mucosal cells and mouse stomach in vivo: AP-1 as a potential target

15-Hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) catalyzes the conversion of oncogenic prostaglandin E-2 to non-tumerigenic 15-keto prostaglandin E-2. In the present study, we found that curcumin, a yellow coloring agent present in the rhizome of Curcuma Tonga Linn (Zingiberaceae), induced expression of 15-PGDH at the both transcriptional and translational levels in normal rat gastric mucosal cells. By using deletion constructs of 15-PGDH promoter, we were able to demonstrate that activator protein-1 (AP-1) is the principal transcription factor responsible for regulating curcumin-induced 15-PGDH expression. Curcumin enhanced the expression of c-jun and cFos that are functional subunits of AP-1, in the nuclear fraction of cells. Silencing of c-jun suppressed curcumin-induced expression of 15-PGDH. Moreover, the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed curcumin-induced binding of c-Jun to the AP-1 consensus sequence present in the 15-PGDH promoter. Curaimin increased phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and JNK. and pharmacologic inhibition of these kinases abrogated the curcumin-induced phosphorylation of clun and 15-PGDH expression. In contrast, tetrahydrocurcumin which lacks the alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl group failed to induce 15-PGDH expression, suggesting that the electrophilic carbonyl group of curcumin is essential for its induction of 15-PGDH expression. Curcumin restored the expression of 15-PGDH which is down-regulated by Helicobater pylori through suppression of DNA methyltransferase 1. In addition, oral administration of curcumin increased the expression of 15-PGDH and its regulators such as p-ERK1/2, p-JNK and c-Jun in the mouse stomach. Taken together, these findings suggest that curcumin-induced upregulation of 15-PGDH may contribute to chemopreventive effects of this phytochemical on inflammation-associated gastric carcinogenesis. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Separatrix modes in weakly deformed microdisk cavities

Optical modes in deformed dielectric microdisk cavities often show an unexpected localization along unstable periodic ray orbits. We reveal a new mechanism for this kind of localization in weakly deformed cavities. In such systems the ray dynamics is nearly integrable and its phase space contains small island chains. When increasing the deformation the enlarging islands incorporate more and more modes. Each time a mode comes close to the border of an island chain (separatrix) the mode exhibits a strong localization near the corresponding unstable periodic orbit. Using an EBK quantization scheme taking into account the Fresnel coefficients we derive a frequency condition for the localization. Observing far field intensity patterns and tunneling distances, reveals small differences in the emission properties. © 2017 Optical Society of America.1