Anti-arthritic effect of total anthraquinone from Polygonum cuspidatum on type II collagen-induced arthritis in rats

Purpose: To study the anti-arthritic effect of total anthraquinone from Polygonum  cuspidatum (TAPC) on type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats, and to  investigate the underlying mechanism(s).Methods: CIA rats were prepared and treated orally with TAPC at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day, for 24 days. Paw volume and arthritis score were measured prior to TAPC treatment, and subsequently at 3-day intervals on days 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24. Serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-17 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while synovial tissue TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-17mRNA expressions were assayed by real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Thymus and spleen indices were also determined.Results: TAPC (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) significantly alleviated paw swelling (p < 0.05), arthritis scores (p < 0.05) and thymus and spleen indices (p < 0.05) of CIA rats, when compared with the control rats. In addition, TAPC significantly decreased serum levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-17 (p < 0.01); and down-regulated their mRNA expressions in synovial tissues (p < 0.01).Conclusion: These results suggest that TAPC exerts good anti-arthritic activity in rats, most probably via suppression of inflammatory responses.Keywords: Polygonum cuspidatum, Anthraquinone, Type II collagen-induced  arthritis, Pro-inflammatory cytokine

Aqua­[1-(1,10-phenanthrolin-2-yl-κ2 N,N′)-1H-pyrazol-3-amine-κN 2](sulfato-κO)copper(II) methanol monosolvate dihydrate

In the title compound, [Cu(SO4)(C15H11N5)(H2O)]·CH3OH·2H2O, the CuII ion is in a distorted square-pyramidal geometry, in which three N atoms from the chelating 1-(1,10-phenanthrolin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazol-3-amine ligand and one O atom from a sulfate anion define the basal plane and the O atom from the coordinating water mol­ecule is located at the apex. In the crystal, hydrogen-bonding inter­actions involving the coordinating and solvent water mol­ecules, the methanol solvent mol­ecule and the amine group (one with an intra­molecular inter­action to one of the sulfate O atoms) of the complex are observed. π–π inter­actions between symmetry-related phenantroline moieties, with a shortest centroid–centroid inter­action of 3.573 (2)°, are also present

Antioxidant Properties of Polysaccharide from the Brown Seaweed Sargassum graminifolium (Turn.), and Its Effects on Calcium Oxalate Crystallization

We investigated the effects of polysaccharides from the brown seaweed Sargassum graminifolium (Turn.) (SGP) on calcium oxalate crystallization, and determined its antioxidant activities. To examine the effects of SGP on calcium oxalate crystallization, we monitored nucleation and aggregation of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals, using trisodium citrate as a positive control. We assessed antioxidant activities of SGP by determining its reducing power, its ability to scavenge superoxide radicals, and its activity in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The nucleation inhibition ratio of trisodium citrate and SGP was 58.5 and 69.2%, respectively, and crystal aggregation was inhibited by 71.4 and 76.8%, respectively. Increasing concentrations of SGP resulted in increased scavenging of superoxide anions and DPPH radicals (IC50 = 1.9 and 0.6 mg/mL, respectively). These results suggest that SGP could be a candidate for treating urinary stones because of its ability to inhibit calcium oxalate crystallization and its antioxidant properties

Prognostic significance of hemoglobin A1c level in patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease. A systematic review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prognostic value of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in coronary artery disease (CAD) remains controversial. Herein, we conducted a systematic review to quantify the association between elevated HbA1c levels and all-cause mortality among patients hospitalized with CAD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library) for studies published from 1970 to May 2011 was performed. Cohort, case-control studies, and randomized controlled trials that examined the effect of HbA1c on all-cause mortality were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty studies met final inclusion criteria (total n = 13, 224). From the pooled analyses, elevated HbA1c level was significantly associated with increased short-term (OR 2.32, 95% CI, 1.61 to 3.35) and long-term (OR 1.54, 95% CI, 1.23 to 1.94) mortality risk. Subgroup analyses suggested elevated HbA1c level predicted higher mortality risk in patients without diabetes (OR 1.84, 95% CI, 1.51 to 2.24). In contrast, in patients with diabetes, elevated HbA1c level was not associated with increased risk of mortality (OR 0.95, 95% CI, 0.70 to 1.28). In a risk-adjusted sensitivity analyses, elevated HbA1c was also associated with a significantly high risk of adjusted mortality in patients without diabetes (adjusted OR 1.49, 95% CI, 1.24 to 1.79), but had a borderline effect in patients with diabetes (adjusted OR 1.05, 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.11).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings demonstrate that elevated HbA1c level is an independent risk factor for mortality in CAD patients without diabetes, but not in patients with established diabetes. Prospective studies should further investigate whether glycemic control might improve outcomes in CAD patients without previously diagnosed diabetes.</p

Hierarchical visual perception and two-dimensional compressive sensing for effective content-based color image retrieval

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) has been an active research theme in the computer vision community for over two decades. While the field is relatively mature, significant research is still required in this area to develop solutions for practical applications. One reason that practical solutions have not yet been realized could be due to a limited understanding of the cognitive aspects of the human vision system. Inspired by three cognitive properties of human vision, namely, hierarchical structuring, color perception and embedded compressive sensing, a new CBIR approach is proposed. In the proposed approach, the Hue, Saturation and Value (HSV) color model and the Similar Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (SGLCM) texture descriptors are used to generate elementary features. These features then form a hierarchical representation of the data to which a two-dimensional compressive sensing (2D CS) feature mining algorithm is applied. Finally, a weighted feature matching method is used to perform image retrieval. We present a comprehensive set of results of applying our proposed Hierarchical Visual Perception Enabled 2D CS approach using publicly available datasets and demonstrate the efficacy of our techniques when compared with other recently published, state-of-the-art approaches