Purple Corn Extract Improves Dry Eye Symptoms in Models Induced by Desiccating Stress and Extraorbital Lacrimal Gland Excision.

Dry eye disease (DED) occurs when there are not enough tears, and the associated symptoms-burns, itching, and a gritty feeling in the eye-can cause great discomfort. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of purple corn extract (PCE) on DED. Pretreatment with PCE prevented desiccation-stress-induced cell damage in human retinal pigment epithelial cells and primary human corneal epithelial cells. Furthermore, PCE reduced the mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators in the induction of desiccation stress. The therapeutic effects of PCE on DED were evaluated in an animal model with induced unilateral excision of the exorbital lacrimal gland. The administration of PCE was effective at recovering tear production, corneal surface irregularity, and conjunctival goblet cell density, as well as at reducing apoptotic cell death in the outer layer of the corneal epithelium. Collectively, PCE improved dry eye symptoms, and, therefore, it could be a potential agent to ameliorate and/or treat DED.

Heukharang lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) leaf extract displays sleep-promoting effects through GABAA receptor.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Although lettuce is traditionally known to have hypnotic and sedative effects, to date, only a few studies have documented its sleep-promoting effects and elucidated the related mechanisms. AIM OF THE STUDY: We aimed to investigate the sleep-promoting activity of Heukharang lettuce leaf extract (HLE) with increased lactucin content, known as a sleep-promoting substance in lettuce, in animal models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To evaluate the effect of HLE on sleep behavior, analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG), gene expression of brain receptors, and activation mechanisms using antagonists were investigated in rodent models. RESULTS: High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that HLE contained lactucin (0.78 mg/g of extract) and quercetin-3-glucuronide (1.3 mg/g of extract). In the pentobarbital-induced sleep model, the group administered 150 mg/kg of HLE showed a 47.3% increase in sleep duration time as compared to the normal group (NOR). The EEG analysis showed that the HLE significantly increased non-rapid eye movement (NREM), where delta waves were improved by 59.5% when compared to the NOR, resulting in increased sleep time. In the caffeine-induced arousal model, HLE significantly decreased the awake time increased by caffeine administration (35.5%) and showed a similar level to NOR. In addition, HLE increased the gene and protein expression of gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor type A (GABAA), GABA type B, and 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 1A. In particular, in comparison to the NOR, the group administered 150 mg/kg HLE showed an increase in expression levels of GABAA and protein by 2.3 and 2.5 times, respectively. When the expression levels were checked using GABAA receptor antagonists, HLE showed similar levels to NOR, as the sleep duration was reduced by flumazenil (45.1%), a benzodiazepine antagonist. CONCLUSIONS: HLE increased NREM sleep and significantly improved sleep behavior due to its action on the GABAA receptors. The collective findings suggest that HLE can be used as a novel sleep-enhancing agent in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Effect of Scrophularia buergeriana extract on the degranulation of mast cells and ear swelling induced by dinitrofluorobenzene in mice.

Scrophularia buergeriana Miquel (Scrophulariaceae, SB) is a biennial plant native to Korea, northern China, and Japan that plays an important role in traditional medicine. The dried root of SB has long been used in oriental medicine for treatment of fever, swelling, constipation, pharyngitis, neuritis, and laryngitis. In the present study, we evaluated the ethanol extract of SB (SBE) to determine if it exerted any anti-allergic effects that had not previously been demonstrated. SBE markedly inhibited ß-hexosaminidase and histamine release and suppressed the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-4 cytokines by RBL-2H3 mast cells. In addition, topical treatment with SBE effectively reduced allergic inflammation in a dinitrofluorobenzene-induced contact hypersensitivity mouse model. These results strongly suggest that SBE is a promising source of anti-allergic agents.

Antiangiogenic effect of licochalcone A.

To date, no antiangiogenic activity has been demonstrated for licochalcone A (LicA), a major phenolic constituent of Glycyrrhiza inflata, although it shows significant antitumor activity in human malignant cell lines. Our previous work demonstrated that LicA down-regulates inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide in murine macrophages. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether LicA inhibits angiogenesis, which is crucial for cancer development and progression. LicA significantly inhibited proliferation (20 microM), migration (5-20 microM), and tube formation (10-20 microM) of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) as well as microvessel growth from rat aortic rings (10-20 microM). Furthermore, LicA significantly inhibited the growth of CT-26 colon cancer implants in BALB/c mice, with fewer CD31- and Ki-67-positive cells but more apoptotic cells. The underlying antiangiogenic mechanism of LicA correlated with down-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-2 activation. Our findings provide the first evidence that LicA inhibits angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, perhaps by blocking VEGF/VEGFR-2 signaling. Inhibition of tumor growth may be attributed, at least in part, to decreased angiogenesis in LicA-treated mice. These findings emphasize the potential use of LicA against tumor development and progression in which angiogenesis is stimulated.

Study on immunostimulating activity of macrophage treated with purified polysaccharides from liquid culture and fruiting body of Lentinus edodes.

Lentinus edodes is a well-known edible and medicinal mushroom used in Oriental cultures. Recently, L. edodes has attracted a lot of attention owing to its antifungal activity, antibacterial activity, antiviral activity, hepatoprotective effect, antitumor activities, and immunomodulatory and cytotoxic effects. In this study, the water-soluble crude polysaccharides, CPF and CPB, which were obtained from the fruiting body and culture cell-free broth of L. edodes by hot-water extraction and ethanol precipitation, were fractionated by DEAE cellulose and Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography, resulting in six polysaccharide fractions, CPFN-G-I, CPFN-G-II, CPFN-G-III, CPFA-G, CPBN-G, and CPBA-G. Among these fractions, CPFN-GI, CPBN-G, and CPBA-G were shown to stimulate the functional activation of macrophages including NO production cytokine expression and phagocytosis.

Structural characteristics of immunostimulating polysaccharides from lentinus edodes.

There is a significant amount of experimental evidence suggesting that polysaccharides from mushrooms enhance the host immune system by activating various mechanisms in immune cells, including macrophages. In this study, polysaccharides from Lentinus edodes were found to stimulate the functional activation of macrophages to secrete inflammatory mediators and cytokines and increase the phagocytotic uptake. The chemical properties of the stimulatory polysaccharides, CPFN-G-I, CPBN-G, and CPBA-G, were determined based on their monosaccharide composition, which mainly consisted of glucose and mannose. According to FT-IR and GC/MS, the structure of CPFN-G-I, purified from the fruiting body of L. edodes, was found to consist of a beta-1,6-branched-beta-1,4-glucan, whereas CPBN-G and CPBA-G, purified from the liquid.