Hypolipidemic effect of aqueous leaf extract of carmona microphylla G Don

Purpose: To investigate the hypolipidemic effects of the aqueous leaf extract of Carmona microphylla (Lam.) G. Don. (CAE) in vitro and in vivo.Methods: The lipid-lowering effect of CAE was investigated in oleic acid (OA)-induced steatosis in HepG2 liver cells, as well as in high-fat diet (HFD)- and triton WR-1339 (TRI)-induced hyperlipidemic mice. The levels of intracellular, serum and/or hepatic total cholesterol (TC); triglyceride (TG); low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c); high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c); hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined by oil-red O staining and appropriate kits.Results: Treatment with CAE inhibited lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells and reduced the elevated levels of serum TC, TG and LDL-c as well as hepatic TC and TG in hyperlipidemic mice induced by HFD. CAE administration also significantly decreased arteriosclerosis index (AI) and LDL-c/HDL-c ratio, but improved oxidative status as revealed by increased hepatic SOD activity and decreased MDA level. The lipid ameliorating and antioxidative effects of CAE (600 mg/kg) were comparable to those of the standard lipid-lowering drug, sivastatin (5 mg/kg).Conclusion: These results suggest that C. microphylla aqueous extract (CAE) protects against hyperlipidemia induced by HFD in mice and may find therapeutic application in hyperlipidemic patients.Keywords: Carmona microphylla, Hyperlipidemia, Atherosclerosis, Oxidative stress, Sivastatin, Lipidlowerin

Automatic Lumen Segmentation in Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography Images Using Level Set

<p> Automatic lumen segmentation from intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) images is an important and fundamental work for diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease. However, it is a very challenging task due to irregular lumen caused by unstable plaque and bifurcation vessel, guide wire shadow, and blood artifacts. To address these problems, this paper presents a novel automatic level set based segmentation algorithm which is very competent for irregular lumen challenge. Before applying the level set model, a narrow image smooth filter is proposed to reduce the effect of artifacts and prevent the leakage of level set meanwhile. Moreover, a divide-and-conquer strategy is proposed to deal with the guide wire shadow. With our proposed method, the influence of irregular lumen, guide wire shadow, and blood artifacts can be appreciably reduced. Finally, the experimental results showed that the proposed method is robust and accurate by evaluating 880 images from 5 different patients and the average DSC value was 98.1% +/- 1.1%.</p

Antitumor Effect of a Polypeptide Fraction from Arca subcrenata in Vitro and in Vivo

www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrug

Utilization of psychiatric rehabilitation services and influencing factors among people with psychotic disorders in rural communities of Guangxi, China

Abstract Objectives To identify the rate and predictors of utilization of rehabilitation services among people with psychotic disorders in rural communities of Guangxi. Study design A cross-sectional survey was conducted among individuals with schizophrenia or other psychoses (severe mental disorder, ICD10: F20–F29), aged over 15 years, and their care-givers in Guangxi, China. Trained village doctors located individuals known to them and suspected as having schizophrenia or other psychoses within the target areas and recruited them into the study. Data on demographic characteristics, clinical symptoms and functions, treatment history, and reasons, if any, for non-utilization of mental health service were collected. Logistic regression was used to determine associated factors for utilization of mental health services. Results A total of 424 individuals experiencing psychosis (mean age 41.4 ± 13.0 years, 60.6% male) and 319 caregivers (mean age 55.3 ± 14.2 years) were interviewed. The median duration of disease was 13.4 years. 83.0% of patients had never used rehabilitation services. Greater use of rehabilitation was associated with having a non-organic disorder (OR = 11.6, 95% CI = 1.6–86.0) and living with a caregivers (OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.2–8.3). The top three reasons for not using rehabilitation services were lack of awareness (57.1%), lack of money (14.2%) and lack of belief in the service (12.8%). Conclusions These findings indicate a high unmet need for psychiatric rehabilitation services among people with psychotic disorders in rural areas of Guangxi. Strategies such as outreach programme and collaborative and partnership network with the local community are needed to encourage people with psychotic disorders in rural communities to increase their utilization of rehabilitation services

Health systems efficiency in China and ASEAN, 2015–2020: a DEA-Tobit and SFA analysis application

Objective To evaluate the health systems efficiency in China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries from 2015 to 2020.Design Health efficiency analysis using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier approach analysis.Setting Health systems in China and ASEAN countries.Methods DEA-Malmquist model and SFA model were used to analyse the health system efficiency among China and ASEAN countries, and the Tobit regression model was employed to analyse the factors affecting the efficiency of health system among these countries.Results In 2020, the average technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency of China and 10 ASEAN countries’ health systems were 0.700, 1 and 0.701, respectively. The average total factor productivity (TFP) index of the health systems in 11 countries from 2015 to 2020 was 0.962, with a decrease of 1.4%, among which the average technical efficiency index was 1.016, and the average technical progress efficiency index was 0.947. In the past 6 years, the TFP index of the health system in Malaysia was higher than 1, while the TFP index of other countries was lower than 1. The cost efficiency among China and ASEAN countries was relatively high and stable. The per capita gross domestic product (current US$) and the urban population have significant effects on the efficiency of health systems.Conclusions Health systems inefficiency is existing in China and the majority ASEAN countries. However, the lower/middle-income countries outperformed high-income countries. Technical efficiency is the key to improve the TFP of health systems. It is suggested that China and ASEAN countries should enhance scale efficiency, accelerate technological progress and strengthen regional health cooperation according to their respective situations

Thymopentin ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis by triggering the production of IL-22 in both innate and adaptive lymphocytes

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory gastrointestinal disease, notoriously challenging to treat. Previous studies have found a positive correlation between thymic atrophy and colitis severity. It was, therefore, worthwhile to investigate the effect of thymopentin (TP5), a synthetic pentapeptide corresponding to the active domain of the thymopoietin, on colitis. Methods: Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mice were treated with TP5 by subcutaneous injection. Body weight, colon length, colon weight, immune organ index, disease activity index (DAI) score, and the peripheral blood profile were examined. The immune cells of the spleen and colon were analyzed by flow cytometry. Histology was performed on isolated colon tissues for cytokine analysis. Bacterial DNA was extracted from mouse colonic feces to assess the intestinal microbiota. Intestinal lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs), HCT116, CT26, and splenocytes were cultured and treated with TP5. Results: TP5 treatment increased the body weight and colon length, decreased the DAI score, and restored colon architecture of colitic mice. TP5 also decreased the infiltration of immune cells and expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6. Importantly, the damaged thymus and compromised lymphocytes in peripheral blood were significantly restored by TP5. Also, the production of IL-22, both in innate and adaptive lymphoid cells, was triggered by TP5. Given the critical role of IL-22 in mucosal host defense, we tested the effect of TP5 on mucus barrier and gut microbiota and found that the number of goblet cells and the level of Mucin-2 expression were restored, and the composition of the gut microbiome was normalized after TP5 treatment. The critical role of IL-22 in the protective effect of TP5 on colitis was further confirmed by administering the anti-IL-22 antibody (αIL-22), which completely abolished the effect of TP5. Furthermore, TP5 significantly increased the expression level of retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ (RORγt), a transcription factor for IL-22. Consistent with this, RORγt inhibitor abrogated the upregulation of IL-22 induced by TP5. Conclusion: TP5 exerts a protective effect on DSS-induced colitis by triggering the production of IL-22 in both innate and adaptive lymphocytes. This study delineates TP5 as an immunomodulator that may be a potential drug for the treatment of UC

Thymopentin improves the survival of septic mice by promoting the production of 15-deoxy-prostaglandin J2 and activating the PPARγ signaling pathway

Sepsis, a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) caused by infection, is a major public health concern with limited therapeutic options. Infection disturbs the homeostasis of host, resulting in excessive inflammation and immune suppression. This has prompted the clinical use of immunomodulators to balance host response as an alternative therapeutic strategy. Here, we report that Thymopentin (TP5), a synthetic immunomodulator pentapeptide (Arg-Lys-Asp-Val-Tyr) with an excellent safety profile in the clinic, protects mice against cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis, as shown by improved survival rate, decreased level of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduced ratios of macrophages and neutrophils in spleen and peritoneum. Regarding mechanism, TP5 changed the characteristics of LPS-stimulated macrophages by increasing the production of 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15-d-PGJ2). In addition, the improved effect of TP5 on survival rates was abolished by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) antagonist GW9662. Our results uncover the mechanism of the TP5 protective effects on CLP-induced sepsis and shed light on the development of TP5 as a therapeutic strategy for lethal systemic inflammatory disorders.Fil: Zhang, Ye. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Yang, Xue. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Yan, Wenchao. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Li, Rui. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Ye, Qian. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: You, Linjun. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Xie, Wenhao. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Mo, Kun. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Fu, Ruifeng. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Wang, Yanxiang. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Chen, Yufei. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Hou, Hui. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Yang, Yong. China Pharmaceutical University; ChinaFil: Birnbaumer, Lutz. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas; ArgentinaFil: Di, Qin. Nanjing Sport Institute; ChinaFil: Li, Xianjing. China Pharmaceutical University; Chin