The hepatoprotective effects of Herbt Tea Essences on phenanthrene-induced liver damage in mice

Phenanthrene (Phe), one of the most frequently occurring pollutants in nature, can cause substantial damage to the human liver. Herbt Tea Essences (HTE), a kind of black tea extract with strong anti-inflammatory activity, can protect humans against disease. Currently, whether HTE can protect the liver from Phe-induced hepatotoxicity remains unclear. Herein, we explore the protective effects of HTE against Phe-induced hepatotoxicity. Our results showed that Phe exposure could significantly induce liver damage and increase serum hepatic enzyme levels in mice. HTE could prevent liver damage and recover the expression levels of inflammatory factors. Furthermore, we found that HTE suppressed the excessive activation of the nuclear transcription factor kappa-B and transforming growth factor-β/SMAD signaling pathways to alleviate Phe-induced liver inflammation and fibrosis. Overall, our data showed that HTE treatment could be a new preventive means for Phe-induced liver disease

Acute and Subacute Safety Evaluation of Black Tea Extract (Herbt Tea Essences) in Mice

Theabrownin (TB) is a heterogeneous biomacromolecule, extracted from tea, with many functional groups. Importantly, TB possesses diverse health benefits, such as antitumor activity and blood lipid-lowering effects. Presently, the content of TB in tea extract is relatively low. Here, we obtained a deep-processed black tea extract with a high content of TB (close to 80%), which was named Herbt Tea Essences (HTE). Currently, this study was designed to evaluate the biosafety of high-content TB products on mice. We implemented acute and subacute toxic experiments to assess its safety on organs, the serum biochemical and molecular levels. In the acute exposure study, we found that the median lethal dose (LD50) value of HTE was 21.68 g/kg (21.06–24.70 g/kg, greater than 5 g/kg), suggesting that HTE had a low acute toxicity. In the 28-day subacute exposure study, our results showed that no abnormal effects were observed in the 40 and 400 mg/kg/day HTE-treated groups. However, we observed slight nephrotoxicity in the 4000 mg/kg/day HTE-treated group. The HTE-induced nephrotoxic effect might involve the inflammatory response activation mediated by the nuclear transcription factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. This study would provide valuable data for the TB safety assessment and promote this natural biomacromolecule application in daily drinking

Increased Expression of Pregnancy Up-Regulated Non-Ubiquitous Calmodulin Kinase Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Purpose: The aims of this study were to evaluate the clinical significance and potential prognostic value of pregnancy up-regulated non-ubiquitous calmodulin kinase (PNCK) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients. Materials and Methods: The expression of PNCK mRNA was determined in 24 paired samples of ccRCCs and adjacent normal tissues using real-time RT-PCR. The expression of PNCK was determined in 248 samples of ccRCCs and 92 paired samples of adjacent normal tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. Statistical analysis was performed to define the relationship between PNCK expression and the clinical features of ccRCC. Results: The mRNA level of PNCK was significantly higher in tumorous tissues than in the adjacent non-tumorous tissues (p<0.001). An immunohistochemical analysis of 92 paired tissue specimens showed that PNCK expression was higher in tumorous tissues than in the adjacent non-tumorous tissues (p<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the PNCK expression and various clinicopathological parameters such as Fuhrman grade (p = 0.011), tumor size (p<0.001), T stage (p<0.001) and N stage (p = 0.015). Patients with higher PNCK expression had shorter overall survival time than those with lower PNCK expression (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that PNCK expression was an independent predictor for poor survival of ccRCC patients. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study that determines the relationship between PNCK and prognosis in ccRCC. We found that increased PNCK expression is associated with poor prognosis in ccRCC. PNCK may represent a novel prognostic marker for ccRCC

Immunohistochemical analysis of the expression of PNCK protein.

<p>PNCK is mainly localized within the nuclei and cytoplasmic. Immunostaining of the adjacent normal tissue samples(A) and the ccRCC tumor tissue samples(B) showed a sharp contrast between the negatively stained infiltrative tumorous area. (B): Negative or weak PNCK staining in cancerous tissue (400×). (C): Moderate PNCK staining in cancerous tissue(400×). (D): Strong PNCK staining in most of tumor cells (400×).</p

Real-time quantitative RT-PCR analysis of PNCK expression.

<p>The relative expression of PNCK mRNA in ccRCC tumor tissue samples was higher than that in the paired adjacent normal (N) tissue samples (n = 24, P<0.001). The bottom and the top of the box represent the 25th and the 75th percentile, respectively, and the band near the middle of the box is the 50th percentile (the median). The ends of the whiskers represent the 2.5th percentile and the 97.5th percentile.</p

Cox Regression analysis of the overall survival rates associated with different prognostic variables in patients with ccRCC.

<p>Cox Regression analysis of the overall survival rates associated with different prognostic variables in patients with ccRCC.</p

Increased protein expression of PNCK in ccRCC.

<p>The relative protein expression of PNCK in ccRCC tumor (T) tissue samples was higher than that in the paired adjacent normal (N) tissue samples (n = 76, P<0.001). The bottom and top of the box are the lower and upper quartiles, and the band near the middle of the box is the median. The ends of the whiskers represent the 2.5th percentile and the 97.5th percentile. Four black stars represent the special value outliers.</p

Correlation between PNCK expression and clinical pathologic features of the patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

<p>Correlation between PNCK expression and clinical pathologic features of the patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.</p