TCMGIS-II based prediction of medicinal plant distribution for conservation planning: a case study of Rheum tanguticum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many medicinal plants are increasingly endangered due to overexploitation and habitat destruction. To provide reliable references for conservation planning and regional management, this study focuses on large-scale distribution prediction of <it>Rheum tanguticum </it>Maxim. ex Balf (<it>Dahuang</it>).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Native habitats were determined by specimen examination. An improved version of GIS-based program for the distribution prediction of traditional Chinese medicine (TCMGIS-II) was employed to integrate national geographic, climate and soil type databases of China. Grid-based distance analysis of climate factors was based on the Mikowski distance and the analysis of soil types was based on grade division. The database of resource survey was employed to assess the reliability of prediction result.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 660 counties of 17 provinces in China, covering a land area of 3.63 × 10⁶km², shared similar ecological factors with those of native habitats appropriate for <it>R. tanguticum </it>growth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>TCMGIS-II modeling found the potential habitats of target medicinal plants for their conservation planning. This technology is useful in conservation planning and regional management of medicinal plant resources.</p

Interplay between residual protease activity in commercial lactases and the subsequent digestibility of β-casein in a model system

One of the conventional ways to produce lactose-hydrolyzed (LH) milk is via the addition of commercial lactases into heat-treated milk in which lactose is hydrolyzed throughout storage. This post-hydrolysis method can induce proteolysis in milk proteins due to protease impurities remaining in commercial lactase preparations. In this work, the interplay between lactose hydrolysis, proteolysis, and glycation was studied in a model system of purified β-casein (β-CN), lactose, and lactases using peptidomic methods. With a lactase presence, the proteolysis of β-CN was found to be increased during storage. The protease side-activities mainly acted on the hydrophobic C-terminus of β-CN at Ala, Pro, Ile, Phe, Leu, Lys, Gln, and Tyr positions, resulting in the formation of peptides, some of which were N-terminal glycated or potentially bitter. The proteolysis in β-CN incubated with a lactase was shown to act as a kind of “pre-digestion”, thus increasing the subsequent in vitro digestibility of β-CN and drastically changing the peptide profiles of the in vitro digests. This model study provides a better understanding of how the residual proteases in commercial lactase preparations affect the quality and nutritional aspects of β-CN itself and could be related to its behavior in LH milk

Clinical Study Metformin and Diammonium Glycyrrhizinate Enteric-Coated Capsule versus Metformin Alone versus Diammonium Glycyrrhizinate Enteric-Coated Capsule Alone in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective. The present study was conducted to compare the efficacy of metformin combined with diammonium glycyrrhizinate enteric-coated capsule (DGEC) versus metformin alone versus DGEC alone for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Subjects and Methods. 163 patients with NAFLD and T2DM were enrolled in this 24-week study and were randomized to one of three groups: group 1 was treated with metformin alone; group 2 was treated with DGEC alone; group 3 received metformin plus DGEC combination therapy. Anthropometric parameters, liver function, lipid profile, serum ferritin (SF), metabolic parameters, liver/spleen computed tomography (CT) ratio, and fibroscan value were evaluated at baseline and after 8, 16, and 24 weeks of treatment. Results. After 24 weeks, significant improvements in all measured parameters were observed in three groups ( &lt; 0.05) except for the improvements in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and metabolic parameters in group 2 which did not reach statistical significance ( &gt; 0.05). Compared with group 1 and group 2, the patients in group 3 had greater reductions in observed parameters apart from CB and TB ( &lt; 0.05). Conclusions. This study showed that metformin plus DGEC was more effective than metformin alone or DGEC alone in reducing liver enzymes, lipid levels, and metabolic parameters and ameliorating the degree of hepatic fibrosis in patients with NAFLD and T2DM

The H19/let-7 double-negative feedback loop contributes to glucose metabolism in muscle cells

The H19 lncRNA has been implicated in development and growth control and is associated with human genetic disorders and cancer. Acting as a molecular sponge, H19 inhibits microRNA (miRNA) let-7. Here we report that H19 is significantly decreased in muscle of human subjects with type-2 diabetes and insulin resistant rodents. This decrease leads to increased bioavailability of let-7, causing diminished expression of let-7 targets, which is recapitulated in vitro where H19 depletion results in impaired insulin signaling and decreased glucose uptake. Furthermore, acute hyperinsulinemia downregulates H19, a phenomenon that occurs through PI3K/AKT-dependent phosphorylation of the miRNA processing factor KSRP, which promotes biogenesis of let-7 and its mediated H19 destabilization. Our results reveal a previously undescribed double-negative feedback loop between sponge lncRNA and target miRNA that contributes to glucose regulation in muscle cell

Quercetin Pretreatment Attenuates Hepatic Ischemia Reperfusion-Induced Apoptosis and Autophagy by Inhibiting ERK/NF- κ

Background. Hepatic ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury is a common phenomenon in transplantation or trauma. The aim of the present study was to determine the protective effect of quercetin (QE) on hepatic IR injury via the ERK/NF-κB pathway. Methods. Mice were randomized into the sham, IR, QE100 + IR, and QE200 + IR groups. Quercetin was administered intragastrically daily at two doses (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) for 5 days prior to IR injury. The expression levels of liver enzymes, inflammatory cytokines, and other marker proteins were determined at 2, 8, and 24 hours after IR. And they were compared among these groups. Results. Compared with the IR group, the treatment of QE reduced the release of cytokines, leading to inhibition of apoptosis and autophagy via downregulation of the ERK/NF-κB pathway in this model of hepatic IR injury. Conclusion. Apoptosis and autophagy caused by hepatic IR injury were inhibited by QE following a reduction in the release of inflammatory cytokines, and the relationship between the two may be associated with inactivation of the ERK/NF-κB pathway

15-Deoxy- γ

Objective. 15-Deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) reduces inflammation and has been identified as an anti-inflammatory prostaglandin in numerous animal models. In this study, we investigated both effects of 15d-PGJ2 and its protection mechanism in concanavalin A- (ConA-) induced autoimmune hepatitis in mice. Materials and Methods. In vivo, Balb/C mice were injected with ConA (25 mg/kg) to induce acute autoimmune hepatitis, and 15d-PGJ2 (10 μg or 25 μg) was administered 1 h before the ConA injection. The histological grade, proinflammatory cytokine levels, and NF-κB and PPARγ activity were determined 6, 12, and 24 h after the ConA injection. In vitro, LO2 cells and RAW264.7 cells were pretreated with 15d-PGJ2 (2 μM) 1 h before the stimulation with ConA (30 μg/mL). The NF-κB and PPARγ activity were determined 30 min after the ConA administration. Results. Pretreatment with 15d-PGJ2 reduced the pathological effects of ConA-induced autoimmune hepatitis and significantly reduced the levels of cytokines after injection. 15d-PGJ2 activated PPARγ, blocked the degradation of IκBα, and inhibited the translocation of NF-κB into the nucleus. Conclusion. These results indicate that 15d-PGJ2 protects against ConA-induced autoimmune hepatitis by reducing proinflammatory cytokines. This reduction in inflammation may correlate with the activation of PPARγ and the reduction in NF-κB activity

Diagnostic Performance of Des- γ

Background. There have been many reports on des-γ-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) as a promising serum marker in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the results are inconsistent and even conflicting. Methods. This meta-analysis was performed to investigate the performance of DCP in the diagnosis of HCC. Following a systematic review of relevant studies, Meta-DiSc 1.4 software was used to extract data and to calculate the overall sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). Data are presented as forest plots and summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) analysis was used to summarize the overall test performance. Results. Twelve studies were included in our meta-analysis. The overall sensitivity, specificity, PLR, and NLR of DCP for the detection of HCC in the studies included were 71% (95%CI: 68%–73%), 84% (95%CI: 83%–86%), 6.48 (95%CI: 4.22–9.93), and 0.33 (95%CI: 0.25–0.43), respectively. The area under the SROC curve was 0.8930 and the Q index was 0.8238. Significant heterogeneity was found. Conclusion. This meta-analysis indicated that DCP had moderate diagnostic accuracy in HCC. Further studies with rigorous design, large sample size, and mmultiregional cooperation are needed in the future