Elevation of serum oxidative stress in patients with retina vein occlusions.

PURPOSE: Retina vein occlusion (RVO) is a visual-threatening retinal disease that causes irreversible impaired quality of life. The contribution of oxidative stress behind clinical course of RVO was rarely investigated. The study aimed to measure the serum oxidative biomarker in patients with RVO to investigate further physical response. METHODS: We measured the serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8OHdG), Sirutin 1 (SIRT1), peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor gamma (PPAR-r), Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), orkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1), orkhead box protein O3 (FOXO3), catalase, (SOD) and hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) among 19 patients with cataract as control group and 36 patients with RVO, respectively. RESULTS: The mean MDA, 8OHdG and hydrogen peroxide in the serum were significantly higher in patients with RVO compared with the results in control group subjects. Whereas SIRT1, PPAR-r, PGC-1, FOXO1, FOXO3, catalase and SOD levels in serum were significantly decreased in patients with RVO compared with control group. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that the serum level of MDA, 8OHdG and hydrogen peroxide is increased in patients with RVO. Among these, the elevation of MDA, 8OHdG and hydrogen peroxide suggests the increasing of serum oxidative stress in RVO patients. All enzymes related reactive oxygen species scavenge were decreased. Thus, focal RVO may increase systemic oxidative stress within serum.

Combined phytochemistry and chemotaxis assays for identification and mechanistic analysis of anti-inflammatory phytochemicals in Fallopia japonica.

Plants provide a rich source of lead compounds for a variety of diseases. A novel approach combining phytochemistry and chemotaxis assays was developed and used to identify and study the mechanisms of action of the active compounds in F. japonica, a medicinal herb traditionally used to treat inflammation. Based on a bioactivity-guided purification strategy, two anthranoids, emodin and physcion, were identified from F. japonica. Spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize its crude extract, fractions and phytochemicals. The crude extract, chloroform fraction, and anthranoids of F. japonica significantly inhibited CXCR4-mediated chemotaxis. Mechanistic studies showed that emodin and physcion inhibited chemotaxis via inactivating the MEK/ERK pathway. Moreover, the crude extract and emodin could prevent or treat type 1 diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. This study illustrates the applicability of a combinational approach for the study of anti-inflammatory medicine and shows the potential of F. japonica and its anthranoids for anti-inflammatory therapy.

Anti-Hyperglycemic Properties of Crude Extract and Triterpenes from Poria cocos.

Poria cocos, Bai Fu Ling in Chinese, is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diabetes. However, its claimed benefits and mechanism are not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect and action of P. cocos on type 2 diabetes. We first performed phytochemical analysis on the crude extract and factions of P. cocos. P. cocos crude extract at 50 mg/kg body weight or more significantly decreased blood glucose levels in db/db mice. Based on a bioactivity-directed fractionation and isolation (BDFI) strategy, chloroform fraction and subfractions 4 and 6 of the P. cocos crude extract possessed a blood glucose-lowering effect. Dehydrotumulosic acid, dehydrotrametenolic acid, and pachymic acid were identified from the chloroform sub-fractions 4, 3, and 2, respectively. Dehydrotumulosic acid had anti-hyperglycemic effect to a greater extent than dehydrotrametenolic acid and pachymic acid. Mechanistic study on streptozocin- (STZ-) treated mice showed that the crude extract, dehydrotumulosic acid, dehydrotrametenolic acid, and pachymic acid of P. cocos exhibited different levels of insulin sensitizer activity. However, the P. cocos crude extract and triterpenes appeared not to activate PPAR-γ pathway. Overall, the data suggest that the P. cocos extract and its triterpenes reduce postprandial blood glucose levels in db/db mice via enhanced insulin sensitivity irrespective of PPAR-γ.

Anti-diabetic properties of three common Bidens pilosa variants in Taiwan.

Bidens pilosa L. var. radiata (BPR), B. pilosa L. var. pilosa (BPP), and B. pilosa L. var. minor (BPM) are common variants of a plant often used as a folk remedy for diabetes in Taiwan. However, the three variants are often misidentified and little is known about their relative anti-diabetic efficacy and chemical composition. In this paper, we have first developed a method based on GC-MS and cluster analysis with visualization to assist in rapidly determining the taxonomy of these three Bidens variants. GC-MS was used to determine the chemical compositions of supercritical extracts, and differences and similarities in the variants were determined by hierarchical cluster analysis. Next, the HPLC profiles of the methanol crude extracts in the Bidens plants and evaluated anti-diabetic effects of methanol crude extracts were compared, as well as three polyacetylenic compounds of the Bidens plants using db/db mice. Single-dose and long-term experiments showed that the BPR extract had higher glucose-lowering and insulin-releasing activities than extracts from the other two variants, and that cytopiloyne was the most effective pure compound among the three polyacetylenic compounds. BPR extract and cytopiloyne also significantly reduced the percentage of the glycosylated hemoglobin A1c in db/db mice. Besides, both animal studies and HPLC analysis demonstrated a good correlation between anti-diabetic efficacy of the Bidens extracts and the particular polyacetylenes present.