Effects of Corni fructus on ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation and airway hyper-responsiveness in a mouse model of allergic asthma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that is characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) to allergens, airway oedema, increased mucus secretion, excess production of T helper-2 (Th2) cytokines, and eosinophil accumulation in the lungs. Corni fructus (CF) is a fruit of <it>Cornus officinalis </it>Sieb. Et. Zucc. (Cornaceae) and has been used in traditional Korean medicine as an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and diuretic agent. To investigate the anti-asthmatic effects of CF and their underlying mechanism, we examined the influence of CF on the development of pulmonary eosinophilic inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness in a mouse model of allergic asthma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, BALB/c mice were systemically sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) by intraperitoneal (i.p.), intratracheal (i.t.) injections and intranasal (i.n.) inhalation of OVA. We investigated the effect of CF on airway hyperresponsiveness, pulmonary eosinophilic infiltration, various immune cell phenotypes, Th2 cytokine production, and OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) production.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The CF-treated groups showed suppressed eosinophil infiltration, allergic airway inflammation, and AHR via reduced production of interleuin (IL) -5, IL-13, and OVA-specific IgE.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data suggest that the therapeutic effects of CF in asthma are mediated by reduced production of Th2 cytokines (IL-5), eotaxin, and OVA-specific IgE and reduced eosinophil infiltration.</p

Antiasthmatic Effects of Hesperidin, a Potential Th2 Cytokine Antagonist, in a Mouse Model of Allergic Asthma

Background and Objective. The features of asthma are airway inflammation, reversible airflow obstruction, and an increased sensitivity to bronchoconstricting agents, termed airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), excess production of Th2 cytokines, and eosinophil accumulation in the lungs. To investigate the antiasthmatic potential of hesperidin as well as the underlying mechanism involved, we studied the inhibitory effect and anti-inflammatory effect of hesperidin (HPN) on the production of Th2 cytokines, eotaxin, IL-17, -OVA-specific IgE in vivo asthma model mice. Methods. In this paper, BALB/c mice were systemically sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) followed intratracheally, intraperitoneally, and by aerosol allergen challenges. We investigated the effect of HPN on airway hyperresponsiveness, pulmonary eosinophilic infiltration, various immune cell phenotypes, Th2 cytokine production and OVA-specific IgE production in a mouse model of asthma. Results. In BALB/c mice, we found that HPN-treated groups had suppressed eosinophil infiltration, allergic airway inflammation, and AHR, and these occurred by suppressing the production of IL-5, IL-17, and OVA-specific IgE. Conclusions. Our data suggest that the therapeutic mechanism by which HPN effectively treats asthma is based on reductions of Th2 cytokines (IL-5), eotaxin, OVA-specific IgE production, and eosinophil infiltration via inhibition of GATA-3 transcription factor

Influence of cultivation parameters or supplement on product qualities and culture performances during perfusion

Perfusion processes have been developed with technological advances in single-use bioreactor and cell retention device. Perfusion has advantages such as high cell density culture in compact facilities and media change or culture parameter shifts for protein production with desired qualities. Single use bioreactor (200L or 1000L) with ATF System was used for the clinical production. For the process development, the scale-down model was established with lab-scale (2L) bioreactor with ATF2. A recombinant CHO cell line producing a fusion protein was cultivated using in-house serum-free media. Influence of insulin (0~3mg/L) on qualities was investigated in the established perfusion process using in-house serum-free medium and 2L scale-down model. The results showed that low concentration of insulin enhanced O-glycosylation and -2 charged N-glycan of fusion protein. Temperature (30~34oC) conditions, under no addition of insulin, were investigated to evaluate effect on qualities. High temperature enhanced O-glycosylation and -2 charged N-glycan of fusion protein. To evaluate interaction among culture parameters (Temperature, pH, and Dissolved Oxygen) in the perfusion process, Central Composite Inscribed (CCI) was selected as design of experiment. 20 perfusion cultures were carried out in the 2L scale-down model. The results showed each parameter and interactions among parameters had an effect on qualities and culture performances

A Hybrid Approach Based on Variational Mode Decomposition for Analyzing and Predicting Urban Travel Speed

Predicting travel speeds on urban road networks is a challenging subject due to its uncertainty stemming from travel demand, geometric condition, traffic signals, and other exogenous factors. This uncertainty appears as nonlinearity, nonstationarity, and volatility in traffic data, and it also creates a spatiotemporal heterogeneity of link travel speed by interacting with neighbor links. In this study, we propose a hybrid model using variational mode decomposition (VMD) to investigate and mitigate the uncertainty of urban travel speeds. The VMD allows the travel speed data to be divided into orthogonal and oscillatory sub-signals, called modes. The regular components are extracted as the low-frequency modes, and the irregular components presenting uncertainty are transformed into a combination of modes, which is more predictable than the original uncertainty. For the prediction, the VMD decomposes the travel speed data into modes, and these modes are predicted and summed to represent the predicted travel speed. The evaluation results on urban road networks show that, the proposed hybrid model outperforms the benchmark models both in the congested and in the overall conditions. The improvement in performance increases significantly over specific link-days, which generally are hard to predict. To explain the significant variance of the prediction performance according to each link and each day, the correlation analysis between the properties of modes and the performance of the model are conducted. The results on correlation analysis show that the more variance of nondaily pattern is explained through the modes, the easier it was to predict the speed. Based on the results, discussions on the interpretation on the correlation analysis and future research are presented. Document type: Articl

Clinical applications of transient elastography

Chronic liver disease represents a major public health problem, accounting for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. As prognosis and management depend mainly on the amount and progression of liver fibrosis, accurate quantification of liver fibrosis is essential for therapeutic decision-making and follow-up of chronic liver diseases. Even though liver biopsy is the gold standard for evaluation of liver fibrosis, non-invasive methods that could substitute for invasive procedures have been investigated during past decades. Transient elastography (TE, FibroScan®) is a novel non-invasive method for assessment of liver fibrosis with chronic liver disease. TE can be performed in the outpatient clinic with immediate results and excellent reproducibility. Its diagnostic accuracy for assessment of liver fibrosis has been demonstrated in patients with chronic viral hepatitis; as a result, unnecessary liver biopsy could be avoided in some patients. Moreover, due to its excellent patient acceptance, TE could be used for monitoring disease progression or predicting development of liver-related complications. This review aims at discussing the usefulness of TE in clinical practice

Structure and spectral features of H+(H2O)(7): Eigen versus Zundel forms

The two dimensional (2D) to three dimensional (3D) transition for the protonated water cluster has been controversial, in particular, for H+(H2O)(7). For H+(H2O)(7) the 3D structure is predicted to be lower in energy than the 2D structure at most levels of theory without zero-point energy (ZPE) correction. On the other hand, with ZPE correction it is predicted to be either 2D or 3D depending on the calculational levels. Although the ZPE correction favors the 3D structure at the level of coupled cluster theory with singles, doubles, and perturbative triples excitations [CCSD(T)] using the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set, the result based on the anharmonic zero-point vibrational energy correction favors the 2D structure. Therefore, the authors investigated the energies based on the complete basis set limit scheme (which we devised in an unbiased way) at the resolution of the identity approximation Moller-Plesset second order perturbation theory and CCSD(T) levels, and found that the 2D structure has the lowest energy for H+(H2O)(7) [though nearly isoenergetic to the 3D structure for D+(D2O)(7)]. This structure has the Zundel-type configuration, but it shows the quantum probabilistic distribution including some of the Eigen-type configuration. The vibrational spectra of MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ calculations and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations, taking into account the thermal and dynamic effects, show that the 2D Zundel-type form is in good agreement with experiments. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.open353

Impact of prior abdominal surgery on postoperative prolonged ileus after ileostomy repair

SummaryBackground and aimsPostoperative ileus (POI) is one of the most common reasons for sustained hospital stays after ileostomy repair. Although many factors have been investigated as POI risk factors, the investigation of the impact of prior abdominal surgery (PAS) before rectal cancer surgery has been limited. This study aimed to identify the impact of PAS as a risk factor for POI after ileostomy repair.Material and methodsA total of 220 consecutive patients with rectal cancer who underwent ileostomy repair were enrolled. The patients were divided into PAS-positive and PAS-negative groups according to the history of PAS before rectal cancer surgery. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the clinicopathological factors associated with POI.ResultsThe PAS-positive group had a longer operation time (111 min vs. 93.4 min, p=0.029) and a greater length of hospital stay (10 days vs. 7.8 days, p=0.003) compared with the PAS-negative group. POI was more frequent in the PAS-positive group (23.1% vs. 6.2%, p=0.011). The POI rate in the entire cohort was 8.1%. The repair method (stapled side-to-side vs. hand-sewn end-to-end, odds ratio OR=3.6, 95% confidence interval CI=1.2–11.1, p=0.022) and PAS (odds ratio=4.0, 95% confidence interval=1.2–12.8, p=0.017) were significant predictors of POI in the multivariate analysis.ConclusionsThis study suggests that PAS before rectal cancer surgery is associated with POI after ileostomy repair