Oligonol, a low-molecular-weight polyphenol derived from lychee peel, attenuates diabetes-induced pancreatic damage by inhibiting inflammatory responses via oxidative stress-dependent mitogen-activated protein kinase/nuclear factor-kappa B signaling.

This study investigated the effects of oligonol, a low-molecular-polyphenol derived from lychee peel, against diabetes-induced pancreatic damage via oxidative stress-induced inflammation. Oligonol was orally administered at 10 or 20 mg/kg body weight/day for 10 days to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, and the rats were compared with nondiabetic and diabetic control rats. The diabetic rats showed loss of body weight and increased pancreatic weight, and the oral administration of oligonol attenuated these parameters. Moreover, the administration of oligonol caused a significant decrease in the serum glucose level and a significant increase in the serum and pancreatic insulin and C-peptide levels in the diabetic rats. Oligonol also significantly reduced the enhanced levels of reactive oxygen species and 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, which are oxidative stress biomarkers, in the serum and pancreas. Oligonol treatment reduced the overexpression of phospho-p38, phospho-ERK1/2, phospho-inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), NF-κBp65, and NF-κBp65-induced inflammatory protein such as cyclooxygenase-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6. Furthermore, oligonol treatment led to significantly attenuated histological damage in the pancreas. On the basis of these results, we conclude that a plausible mechanism of oligonol's antidiabetic action may be its antioxidative stress-related anti-inflammatory action.

Anti-obesity and immunomodulatory effects of Allium hookeri leaves cultivated with artificial light of different intensities on immune-depressed obese mice.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Allium hookeri (AH) leaves cultivated with different light-emitting diode (LED) intensities (L: low, 100 µmol/m2/s; M: medium, 150 µmol/m2/s; H: high, 200 µmol/m2/s). Alliin concentration increased as light intensity increased in AH and showed the highest level at LED-H condition. The anti-obesity and immunomodulatory properties of AH were evaluated in a cyclophosphamide (CPA)-induced immunosuppressed obese animal model. C57BL/6 J mice were randomly divided into control (CON), high-fat diet (HFD) control (CON-H), negative control (NC), positive control (PC, ß-glucan, 50 mg/kg body weight (BW)), AH L, M, and H groups. The three kinds of AH extracts were orally administered to the mice at 300 mg/kg BW for 2 weeks. Except for CON and CON-H, all the other groups were intraperitoneally treated with CPA. Epididymal and abdominal fat weight decreased as LED intensity increased while spleen weight increased in the AH groups. Serum glucose decreased as LED intensity increased in the AH groups and H group showed the lowest level. Triglycerides, total, and LDL-cholesterol levels decreased while HDL-cholesterol level increased in the AH groups compared to the NC group. Moreover, AH effectively reduced serum ALT and AST levels and increased the total white blood cell count, particularly elevating lymphocyte and monocyte levels. Furthermore, NK cell activity was higher in the AH groups. These findings suggest that AH cultivated at optimal LED intensity could be used as a novel biomedicine and in pharmacotherapy to treat related diseases to improve public health without any toxicity.

The Immune-Stimulating and Anti-Diabetic Effects of Allium hookeri Leaves Grown in a Plant Factory with Artificial Lights in Immunosuppressed Obese C57BL/6 Mice.

We investigated the immune-stimulating and anti-diabetic effects of Allium hookeri leaves grown in a plant factory with artificial lights. The immunomodulatory effects of A. hookeri leaves' ethanol extracts were evaluated with immune-related hematological factors in blood, the proliferation of splenocytes, NK cell activity, IgG and cytokine levels, and their mechanisms in immunosuppressed obese mice. Anti-diabetic effects were determined by the inhibitory activity against α-amylase and α-glucosidase in vitro and fasting blood glucose levels and biochemical factors in the serum of immunosuppressed obese mice. A. hookeri leaf extracts increased WBC and LYM counts, the proliferation of splenocytes, and serum IgG and IL-1ß concentrations compared to those of the NC group, which was used as a negative control. A. hookeri leaf extracts also improved serum HDL levels while they decreased the activities of digestive enzymes, fasting blood glucose, and biochemical factors (ALT, AST, T-Chol, TG, LDL, and GLU). The expressions of IL-1ß, JNK, c-Jun, p65, and iNOS in the thymus of immunosuppressed mice were activated by the treatment of A. hookeri leaf extracts. The results suggest that A. hookeri leaves grown in a plant factory with artificial lights also have immune-stimulatory and anti-diabetic effects and can be used as novel functional supplements to control related diseases and to improve public health.

Reflective three-dimensional displays using the cholesteric liquid crystal with an inner patterned retarder.

We propose a reflective three-dimensional (3D) display using a cholesteric liquid crystal (ChLC) with an inner patterned retarder producing half-wave retardation. The inner patterned retarder, fabricated by selective ultra-violet exposure to the aligned reactive mesogen, divides the circularly polarized light reflected from the ChLC layer into two orthogonal circular polarizations. These reflected orthogonal polarizations construct stereoscopic 3D images without any optical components such as a polarizer and backlight unit.

Changes in Beneficial C-glycosylflavones and Policosanol Content in Wheat and Barley Sprouts Subjected to Differential LED Light Conditions.

The spectral quality and intensity of light, photoperiodism, and other environmental factors have profound impacts on the metabolic composition of light-dependent higher plants. Hence, we investigate the effects of fluorescent light (96 µmol m-2s-1) and white (100 µmol m-2s-1), blue (100 µmol m-2s-1), and red (93 µmol m-2s-1) light-emitting diode (LED) light irradiation on the C-glycosylflavone and policosanol contents in young seedlings of wheat and barley. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analyses of C-glycosylflavone contents in barley reveal that the saponarin content is significantly enhanced under blue LED light irradiation. Under similar conditions, isoorientin and isoschaftoside contents are improved in wheat seedlings. The contents of these C-glycosylflavones differed along with the light quality and growth period. The highest accumulation was observed in sprouts after three days under blue LED light irradiation. GC/MS analyses of policosanol contents showed that 1-hexacosanol (C26:o-OH) in barley and 1-octacosanol (C28:o-OH) in wheat seedlings were reduced under LED light irradiation, compared to seedlings under fluorescent light conditions. Nonetheless, the policosanol contents gradually improved with the extension of growth times and treatments, irrespective of the light quality. Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between the expression pattern of biosynthesis-related genes and the respective metabolite content in barley. This study demonstrates that blue LED light irradiation is useful in maximizing the C-glycosylflavone content in barley and wheat sprouts.

Molecular characterization of colorectal cancer patients and concomitant patient-derived tumor cell establishment.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to establish a prospectively enrolled colorectal cancer (CRC) cohort for targeted sequencing of primary tumors from CRC patients. In parallel, we established collateral PDC models from the matched primary tumor tissues, which may be later used as preclinical models for genome-directed targeted therapy experiments. RESULTS: In all, we identified 27 SNVs in the 6 genes such as PIK3CA (N = 16), BRAF (N = 6), NRAS (N = 2), and CTNNB1 (N = 1), PTEN (N = 1), and ERBB2 (N = 1). RET-NCOA4 translocation was observed in one out of 105 patients (0.9%). PDC models were successfully established from 62 (55.4%) of the 112 samples. To confirm the genomic features of various tumor cells, we compared variant allele frequency results of the primary tumor and progeny PDCs. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the variants from primary tumor cells and PDCs was 0.881. METHODS: Between April 2014 and June 2015, 112 patients with CRC who underwent resection of the primary tumor were enrolled in the SMC Oncology Biomarker study. The PDC culture protocol was performed for all eligible patients. All of the primary tumors from the 112 patients who provided written informed consent were genomically sequenced with targeted sequencing. In parallel, PDC establishment was attempted for all sequenced tumors. CONCLUSIONS: We have prospectively sequenced a CRC cohort of 105 patients and successfully established 62 PDC in parallel. Each genomically characterized PDCs can be used as a preclinical model especially in rare genomic alteration event.