Hepatoprotective effects of ginseng saponins in a mouse model of carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury

Purpose: To investigate the effects of ginsenosides Rg1 and Rb1 on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury in mice.Methods: Thirty-two mice were randomly divided into four groups. In control group, mice were administered sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC-Na) by intraperitoneal injection for seven days. In CCl4 treatment group, mice were treated as control group for the first seven days and then intraperitoneally injected with CCl4 in olive oil on day 8. In Rb1- and Rg1-treatment group, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with Rb1 or Rg1 (each 30 mg/kg, dissolved in 0.5 % CMC-Na), respectively for seven days, followed by intraperitoneal injection with CCl4 in olive oil on day 8. Histological damage was examined by haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) were assessed enzymatically. Tissue IL-6 and IL-8 levels were measured by ELISA. Gene and protein levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, Smad2, and Smad3 were analyzed by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and western blotting, respectively.Results: CCl4 treatment caused histological damage in mouse liver, and increased the levels of ALT, AST (five-fold), IL-6 (three-fold), and IL-8 (five-fold), and elevated expressions of TGF-β, Smad2, and Smad3. Ginsenosides Rg1 or Rb1 pre-treatment attenuated liver injury by decreasing the serum levels of ALT (from 700 to 200 UI/L) AST (from 550 pg/mL to 250 pg/ml), IL-6 (from 1,100 to 750 pg/mL), and IL-8 (from 600 to 200 pg/mL), and inhibiting the expressions of TGF-β, Smad2, and Smad3.Conclusion: Ginsenosides (Rg1 and Rb1) attenuate CCl4-induced liver injury and inflammation by regulating TGF-β/Smad signalling pathway.Keywords: Ginseng saponin, Ginsenosides, Rg1, Rb1, Hepatoprotective effect, TGF-β/Smad signalling pathwa

Visually Meaningful Image Encryption Scheme Based on DWT and Schur Decomposition

A visually meaningful image encryption scheme with an asymmetric structure based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and Schur decomposition is proposed in this study. First, the RSA algorithm is used to generate the initial values for the chaotic system to produce the random sequence. Then, both scrambling and diffusion operations are performed on the plain image to obtain the preencrypted image. Moreover, the Schur decomposition is applied on the preencrypted plain image to obtain the upper triangular and orthogonal matrices. Second, the cover image is scrambled followed by a DWT operation. Four subbands are then formed, namely, LL, HL, LH, and HH. Finally, the former upper triangular matrix and orthogonal matrix are embedded into subbands LH and HH produced by the cover image. After the application of the inverse DWT and inverse scrambling operation, the final visually meaningful cover image embedded with a secret plain image can be obtained. No one can identify any useful information about the plain image from the final embedded cover image, nor can anybody know that there is any hidden secret image. Experimental simulations show that the normalized correlation values between the original cover image and the final visually meaningful cover image are approximately 0.9997. Therefore, the proposed encryption scheme is imperceptible for secret image communications

Self-Adaptive Image Encryption Algorithm Based on Quantum Logistic Map

This study proposes a self-adaptive image encryption algorithm based on the quantum logistic map. First, the initial values are substituted into the quantum logistic map based on an iteration process to generate three random sequences. After preprocessing, three new random sequences with better randomicity were obtained from the generated random sequences. In particular, the correlation coefficients for random sequences before and after preprocessing are compared to determine the best model to make the correlation coefficients closer to zero. Second, one random sequence in the scrambling stage is selected with respect to the plain image. The selected random sequence is then used to perform row-column perturbation on the plain image. Finally, the remaining two random sequences are used to perform forward and reverse diffusion to obtain the final cipher image. Because of the dependence on the plain image, the algorithm can frustrate the chosen-plaintext and known-plaintext attacks. Experimental results show that the proposed encryption algorithm can achieve secure communications

Image Encryption Scheme Based on a Generalized Arnold Map and RSA Algorithm

This study proposes a new image encryption scheme based on a generalized Arnold map and Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) algorithm. First, the parameters of the generalized Arnold map are generated by an asymmetric encryption-system RSA algorithm, and the keystream is produced iteratively. To change the distribution of pixel values, the image data are hidden by XOR diffusion. Second, both rows and columns of the image are cyclically confused to hide the image data again. Then, the additive mode diffusion operation is performed to realize third-layer hiding for image content. The overall diffusion and confusion operations are conducted twice to obtain the final cipher image. Test results prove that the encryption scheme proposed in this study is effective and has strong antiattack capabilities and key sensitivity. In addition, because the scheme security relies on the RSA algorithm, it has high security

Additional file 1 of The effect of fibrinoid necrosis on the clinical features and outcomes of primary IgA nephropathy

Additional file 1: Supplemental Table 1. Multivariate effect of the presence of glomeruli with FN lesions on survival from combined event. Supplemental Table 2. Multivariate effect of the fraction of glomeruli with FN lesions on survival from combined event