Effect of lesimarin against thioacetamide-induced liver cirrhosis in rat

Liver cirrhosis is one of chronic liver diseases with high disability and mortality accompanying fibrosis, hepatocyte damage, and liver dysfunction. In this study, the hepatoprotective and the antifibrotic properties of lesimarin(lecithin - silymarin - Artemisia messerschmitiana Besser(AMB) extract complex at 11:3:6 ratio) on rat hepatic fibrosis induced by thioacetamide (TAA) was investigated. Rats were divided into seven groups: control, lesimarin, TAA, TAA+lesimarin, TAA+lecithin, TAA+silymarin, TAA+AMB. Rats were administered with TAA at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight intraperitoneally twice a week for three months. Lesimarin, lecithin, silymarin and AMB were administered at a dose of 1.0, 1.0, 0.5, 1.0g/kg body weight orally daily for three months, respectively. TAA administration resulted in hepatic fibrosis, significant decrease in body weight, albumin level and A/G ratio and increase in plasma transaminase, GGT(γ-glutamyltransferase) and ALP(alkaline phosphatase) activities as well as hepatic hydroxyproline content, which were attenuated by lesimarin administration. Lesimarin was found to decrease AST, ALT and GGT, ALP and bilirubin, hydroxyproline levels and increase albumin level and A/G ratio and its effect is more prominent than those of individual constituents. These results suggest this new drug, lesimarin, might be a promising drug to be used for chronic liver diseases

How should we evaluate the patients with elevated 1 h-plasma glucose?

Objectives: This study evaluated the cutoff values of 1 h-plasma glucose (1 h-PG) for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and demonstrated how to evaluate the patients with elevated 1 h-PG. Subjects and Methods: All patients (n = 1433) without known impaired glucose homeostasis (diabetes mellitus [DM] or prediabetes) that have been submitted to the Hospital of the Pyongyang Medical College Kim Il Sung University were enrolled in this study for evaluation of their glucose homeostasis. Results: The area under the receiver operating characteristic of 1 h-PG during 75 g oral glucose tolerance test for diagnosis of DM and IGT were 0.944 ± 0.020 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.906–0.983) and 0.964 ± 0.009 (95% CI: 0.944–0.984), respectively. The most optimal cutoff value of 1 h-PG for DM and IGT were 231.0 mg/dL and 161 mg/dL, respectively About 10.4% of normal glucose tolerance (NGT) subjects diagnosed by the present American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria had 1 h-PG equal to 161 mg/dL or above, their insulin secretion level of pancreas was as low as IGT patient, insulin resistance was higher than NGT subjects with 1 h-PG <161 mg/dL. Moreover, 29.6% of “IGT” patients diagnosed by the present ADA criteria had 1 h-PG equal to 231 mg/dL or above, their insulin secretion level of pancreas was as low as DM patients, insulin resistance was lower than DM and similar to IGT patients with 1 h-PG <231 mg/dL. Conclusions: The cutoff value of 1 h-PG for DM and IGT is 231 mg/dL and 161 mg/dL, it has high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of DM and IGT. The patients with elevated 1 h-PG should be considered as impaired glucose homeostasis (IGT or DM), and therefore treated in time

Thermoelectric transport through a finite-

We study the thermoelectric transport through a single-level quantum dot (QD) coupled to two normal metallic leads and side-coupled to Majorana bound state (MBS). The Coulomb interaction in QD is considered. To investigate only the influence of MBS on thermoelectric transport, we focus on the relatively high temperature region (T ≫ TK), where Kondo effect does not appear. The electric and thermal conductance and thermopower as a function of gate voltage (i.e. QD level) are completely different whether the coupling between MBSs is zero or not. When the coupling between MBSs is finite, all thermoelectric characteristics are similar to the transport without MBS. However, for zero MBSs’ coupling, the electric and thermal conductance peaks are reduced by 3/4. Especially, in the case of QD without MBS, the sign of thermopower changes three times, however, in the case of QD strongly side-coupled to ideal and isolated MBS, the sign of thermopower changes 9 or 5 times. It can be used for detecting of the signature of MBS. It has actual possibilities when the nanowire is long enough and pure without any defects