A Herbal Formula HT051, a Combination of Pueraria lobata

Menopause is strongly associated with an increased risk of metabolic dysfunctions due to the decline in estrogen. Here, we hypothesized that dietary HT051, containing the roots of Pueraria lobata and Rehmannia glutinosa, has beneficial effects on ovariectomized (OVX) rats by regulating lipid metabolism. Forty-eight female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: sham-operated (Sham), OVX, OVX with low-dose HT051 supplementation, and OVX with high-dose HT051 supplementation. The rats were fed with a modified AIN-93G diet or an HT051-containing modified AIN-93G diet for 8 weeks. Body weight, fat mass, and serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, alanine transaminase, and aspartate transaminase decreased in HT051-fed OVX rats. Dietary HT051 supplementation significantly decreased the mRNA expression of lipogenesis-related genes, including sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c and fatty acid synthase, and increased the mRNA expression of β-oxidation-related genes, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor and carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 in the liver of OVX rats. Moreover, the expression of genes involved in adipogenesis and inflammation was significantly lower in the adipose tissue of OVX rats fed with HT051 than in the OVX group. These findings suggest that HT051 may be a potential natural alternative for the management of postmenopausal metabolic dysfunctions

Establishment of in vitro multi-organ system using 3D bioprinting strategies for understanding molecular pathogenesis of enteric hyperoxaluria

Enteric hyperoxaluria (a.k.a. secondary hyperoxaluria; SH) can occur as a complication of inflammatory bowel disease, causing oxalate malabsorption. The SH patients often have an increased risk of having recurrent kidney stones and loss of kidney function from oxalate nephropathy. Current therapeutic options are simply limited to correcting the underlying gastrointestinal disorders. Therefore developing SH model is needed to better define the precise factors that influence risk of having SH. In this study, in vitro SH model was successfully designed and constructed by utilizing 3D co-axial cell printing technique and transwell systems with integrated intestinal barrier and proximal tubule into a single platform. The hallmarks in SH pathogenesis have been successfully recapitulated on in vitro SH model, and the overall performance of this platform is being measured by multiple biochemical methods.1

Establishment of in vitro multi-organ system using 3D bioprinting strategies for understanding molecular pathogenesis of enteric hyperoxaluria

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Establishment of in vitro multi-organ system using 3D bioprinting strategies for understanding molecular pathogenesis of enteric hyperoxaluria

Enteric hyperoxaluria (a.k.a. secondary hyperoxaluria; SH) can occur as a complication of inflammatory bowel disease, causing oxalate malabsorption. The SH patients often have an increased risk of having recurrent kidney stones and loss of kidney function from oxalate nephropathy. Current therapeutic options are simply limited to correcting the underlying gastrointestinal disorders. Therefore developing SH model is needed to better define the precise factors that influence risk of having SH. In this study, in vitro SH model was successfully designed and constructed by utilizing 3D co-axial cell printing technique and transwell systems with integrated intestinal barrier and proximal tubule into a single platform. The hallmarks in SH pathogenesis have been successfully recapitulated on in vitro SH model, and the overall performance of this platform is being measured by multiple biochemical methods.1

Establishment of An Integrative 3D Bioprinted In Vitro Disease Model by Recapitulating Pathophysiological Features of Secondary Hyperoxaluria

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Erratum: 3D bioprinted in vitro secondary hyperoxaluria model by mimicking intestinal-oxalatemalabsorption-related kidney stone disease (Applied Physics Reviews (2022) 9 (041408) DOI: 10.1063/5.0087345)

© 2023 Author(s).This article was originally published online on 21 November 2022 with an incorrect affiliation identifier for author Dong-Woo Cho. It is correct as it appears above. All online versions of this article were corrected on 23 November 2022. AIP Publishing apologizes for this error.11Nsciescopu

Live observation of the oviposition process in Daphnia magna.

In favorable conditions, Daphnia magna undergoes parthenogenesis to increase progeny production in a short time. However, in unfavorable conditions, Daphnia undergoes sexual reproduction instead and produces resting eggs. Here, we report live observations of the oviposition process in Daphnia magna. We observed that the cellular contents flowed irregularly through the narrow egg canal during oviposition. Amorphous ovarian eggs developed an oval shape immediately after oviposition and, eventually, a round shape. Oviposition of resting eggs occurred in a similar way. Based on the observations, we propose that, unlike Drosophila eggs, Daphnia eggs cannot maintain cytoplasmic integrity during oviposition. We also determined that the parthenogenetic eggs were activated within 20 min, as demonstrated by vitelline envelope formation. Therefore, it is plausible that the eggs of Daphnia magna may be activated by squeezing pressure during oviposition

Astragalus Extract Mixture HT042 Increases Longitudinal Bone Growth Rate by Upregulating Circulatory IGF-1 in Rats

Astragalus extract mixture HT042 is a standardized ingredient of health functional food approved by Korean FDA with a claim of “height growth of children.” HT042 stimulates bone growth rate and increases local IGF-1 expression in growth plate of rats which can be considered as direct stimulation of GH and its paracrine/autocrine actions. However, it remains unclear whether HT042 stimulates circulatory IGF-1 which also plays a major role to stimulate bone growth. To determine the effects on circulatory IGF-1, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 expressions and phosphorylation of JAK2/STAT5 were evaluated in the liver after 10 days of HT042 administration. HT042 upregulated liver IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 mRNA expression, IGF-1 protein expression, and phosphorylation of JAK2/STAT5. HT042 also increased bone growth rate and proliferative zonal height in growth plate. In conclusion, HT042 stimulates bone growth rate via increment of proliferative rate by upregulation of liver IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 mRNA followed by IGF-1 protein expression through phosphorylation of JAK2/STAT5, which can be regarded as normal functioning of GH-dependent endocrine pathway

Moxifloxacin-based extended depth-of-field (EDOF) wide-field microscopy with surface tracking for non-invasive examination of conjunctival goblet cells in awake human subjects

Mucin secretive conjunctival goblet cells (CGCs) in the eye play important roles in ocular surface homeostasis by forming the mucous layer of the tear film. CGC information is also an important biomarker for diagnosis because CGC loss or dysfunction is observed in various ocular surface diseases. In this study, we developed moxifloxacin-based extended depth-of-field (EDOF) microscopy with surface tracking for non-invasive CGC imaging in awake human subjects. The system had a DOF of 0.8 mm, a field of view (FOV) of 1.3mm x 1.3mm, and imaging speed of 15 fps. The phase detection method was used for real-time surface tracking. Moxifloxacin ophthalmic solution was topically instilled for CGC labeling. Repeated large area imaging of the same conjunctiva in a human subject was demonstrated. MBFM might have the potential for non-invasive CGC examination in patients.1

Deep learning framework for automated goblet cell density analysis in in-vivo rabbit conjunctiva

Abstract Goblet cells (GCs) in the conjunctiva are specialized epithelial cells secreting mucins for the mucus layer of protective tear film and playing immune tolerance functions for ocular surface health. Because GC loss is observed in various ocular surface diseases, GC examination is important for precision diagnosis. Moxifloxacin-based fluorescence microscopy (MBFM) was recently developed for non-invasive high-contrast GC visualization. MBFM showed promise for GC examination by high-speed large-area imaging and a robust analysis method is needed to provide GC information. In this study, we developed a deep learning framework for GC image analysis, named dual-channel attention U-Net (DCAU-Net). Dual-channel convolution was used both to extract the overall image texture and to acquire the GC morphological characteristics. A global channel attention module was adopted by combining attention algorithms and channel-wise pooling. DCAU-Net showed 93.1% GC segmentation accuracy and 94.3% GC density estimation accuracy. Further application to both normal and ocular surface damage rabbit models revealed the spatial variations of both GC density and size in normal rabbits and the decreases of both GC density and size in damage rabbit models during recovery after acute damage. The GC analysis results were consistent with histology. Together with the non-invasive high-contrast imaging method, DCAU-Net would provide GC information for the diagnosis of ocular surface diseases