Growth performance and nitrogen excretion of broiler chickens fed low protein diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of amino acid (AA) supplementation in low-protein (LP) diets on growth performance and nitrogen (N) excretion. A total of 175 7-day-old Ross 308 male broilers, with a mean body weight (BW) of 165 g (standard deviation = 11.2 g), were grouped into five blocks by BW and allocated to seven treatments according to a randomized complete block design with five replicate cages at five birds per cage. Dietary treatments comprised a control diet containing 20.0% crude protein (CP) and six LP diets containing either 18.5% or 17.0% CP. These LP diets were supplemented with either no AA supplementation, indispensable AA, or both indispensable and dispensable AA (glutamic acid and glycine). Birds were fed experimental grower diets from day 7 to 21 and then commercial finisher diets until day 28. During the grower period (day 7 to 21), birds fed LP diets supplemented with indispensable AA exhibited greater (p < 0.05) BW, body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and gain-to-feed ratio (G:F) than birds fed LP diets without crystalline AA and were comparable to birds fed the control diet. During the finisher period (day 21 to 28), birds fed LP diets supplemented with indispensable AA showed greater (p < 0.05) BW than birds fed LP diets without crystalline AA, and their growth performance was comparable to birds fed the control diet. Throughout the overall period, supplementing indispensable AA in LP diets resulted in elevated (p < 0.05) BWG, FI, and G:F more than those of LP diets without crystalline AA and were comparable to those of the control diet. Supplementing indispensable AA in LP diets decreased amount and coefficient of N excretion as much as the control diet. Dispensable AA supplementation in LP diets did not influence growth performance and N excretion. In conclusion, supplementing indispensable AA in LP diets maintains growth performance and N excretion until the dietary CP lowers from 20.0% to 17.0% during the grower period. As long as dietary CP is above 17.0%, dispensable AA may not be deficient in LP diets during the grower period.

Challenges and Perspectives in Target Identification and Mechanism Illustration for Chinese Medicine.

Chinese medicine (CM) is an important resource for human life understanding and discovery of drugs. However, due to the unclear pharmacological mechanism caused by unclear target, research and international promotion of many active components have made little progress in the past decades of years. CM is mainly composed of multi-ingredients with multi-targets. The identification of targets of multiple active components and the weight analysis of multiple targets in a specific pathological environment, that is, the determination of the most important target is the main obstacle to the mechanism clarification and thus hinders its internationalization. In this review, the main approach to target identification and network pharmacology were summarized. And BIBm (Bayesian inference modeling), a powerful method for drug target identification and key pathway determination was introduced. We aim to provide a new scientific basis and ideas for the development and international promotion of new drugs based on CM.

Processing Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex with ginger juice: process optimization based on AHP-CRITIC weighting method and composition changes after processing / 中国中药杂志

The weight coefficients of appearance traits, extract yield of standard decoction, and total content of honokiol and magnolol were determined by analytic hierarchy process(AHP), criteria importance though intercrieria correlation(CRITIC), and AHP-CRITIC weighting method, and the comprehensive scores were calculated. The effects of ginger juice dosage, moistening time, proces-sing temperature, and processing time on the quality of Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex(MOC) were investigated, and Box-Behnken design was employed to optimize the process parameters. To reveal the processing mechanism, MOC, ginger juice-processed Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex(GMOC), and water-processed Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex(WMOC) were compared. The results showed that the weight coefficients of the appearance traits, extract yield of standard decoction, and total content of honokiol and magnolol determined by AHP-CRITIC weighting method were 0.134, 0.287, and 0.579, respectively. The optimal processing parameters of GMOC were ginger juice dosage of 8%, moistening time of 120 min, and processing at 100 ℃ for 7 min. The content of syringoside and magnolflorine in MOC decreased after processing, and the content of honokiol and magnolol followed the trend of GMOC>MOC>WMOC, which suggested that the change in clinical efficacy of MOC after processing was associated with the changes of chemical composition. The optimized processing technology is stable and feasible and provides references for the modern production and processing of MOC.

Efficacy and safety of Xuefu Zhuyu Granules combined with western medicine in the treatment of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease: A study protocol of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Despite advances in treatment strategies for coronary heart disease, angina pectoris remains a major cardiovascular disease causing death worldwide. For patients with angina pectoris of coronary heart disease, new or adjuvant treatment regimens are needed. The available evidence suggests that Xuefu Zhuyu Granules combined with Western medicine has advantages in the treatment of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease, but whether its efficacy has a placebo effect and whether it can be used as an adjuvant regimen for the treatment of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease remains controversial. METHODS: This is a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to study the efficacy and safety of Xuefu Zhuyu Granules combined with Western medicine in the treatment of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease. Participants will be randomly divided into a treatment group or a control group, and all patients will receive Western medicine treatment based on guideline recommendations. On this basis, the treatment group orally takes Xuefu Zhuyu Granules and the control group orally takes Xuefu Zhuyu Granules mimic, and are followed up for 24 weeks after 12 weeks of continuous treatment. The observation indexes include: cardiac function parameters (left ventricular end-diastolic diameter; left ventricular end-systolic diameter; left ventricular ejection fraction, blood lipid levels (total cholesterol; triacylglycerol; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), the number of angina attacks per week, total amount of nitroglycerin tablets taken, and adverse reactions. Finally, SPSS22.0 (IBM Company, New York, NY) software will be used for statistical analysis of the data. DISCUSSION: This study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xuefu Zhuyu Granules combined with Western medicine in the treatment of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease. The results of this study will verify whether the efficacy of Xuefu Zhuyu Granules in the treatment of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease belongs to the placebo effect, which will also provide a reference for the clinical use of Xuefu Zhuyu Granules as a supplementary scheme for the treatment of angina pectoris of coronary heart disease.

A Novel 5-HT1B Receptor Agonist of Herbal Compounds and One of the Therapeutic Uses for Alzheimer's Disease.

The serotonin receptor 5-HT1B is widely expressed in the central nervous system and has been considered a drug target in a variety of cognitive and psychiatric disorders. The anti-inflammatory effects of 5-HT1B agonists may present a promising approach for Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment. Herbal antidepressants used in the treatment of AD have shown functional overlap between the active compounds and 5-HT1B receptor stimulation. Therefore, compounds in these medicinal plants that target and stimulate 5-HT1B deserve careful study. Molecular docking, drug affinity responsive target stability, cellular thermal shift assay, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) 1/2 phosphorylation tests were used to identify emodin-8-O-ß-d-glucopyranoside (EG), a compound from Chinese medicinal plants with cognitive deficit attenuating and antidepressant effects, as an agonist of 5-HT1B. EG selectively targeted 5-HT1B and activated the 5-HT1B-induced signaling pathway. The activated 5-HT1B pathway suppressed tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels, thereby protecting neural cells against beta-amyloid (Aß)-induced death. Moreover, the agonist activity of EG towards 5-HT1B receptor, in FRET and ERK1/2 phosphorylation, was antagonized by SB 224289, a 5-HT1B antagonist. In addition, EG relieved AD symptoms in transgenic worm models. These results suggested that 5-HT1B receptor activation by EG positively affected Aß-related inflammatory process regulation and neural death resistance, which were reversed by antagonist SB 224289. The active compounds such as EG might act as potential therapeutic agents through targeting and stimulating 5-HT1B receptor for AD and other serotonin-related disorders. This study describes methods for identification of 5-HT1B agonists from herbal compounds and for evaluating agonists with biological functions, providing preliminary information on medicinal herbal pharmacology.

Evaluation of energy and amino acids of brown rice and its effects on laying performance and egg quality of layers.

Two experiments were conducted to determine apparent metabolizable energy (AME), nitrogen-corrected AME (AMEn), and ileal digestible amino acid (AA) content of brown rice (BR) and to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of BR on laying performance and egg quality of laying hens. In Exp. 1, 72 Hy-line Brown layers (49-week-old) were allocated to two treatments using a completely randomized block design, and each treatment included six cages per treatment and six hens per cage. A semi-purified diet was formulated to include BR as the sole source of AA and energy and an N-free diet was used to determine basal endogenous loss of AA. The hens were fed a commercial layer diet for adaptation to the experimental environment and diet for 7 days from d 0, and then fed experimental diets for 5 days from d 7. Excreta were collected from d 10 to 11 and ileal digesta were collected on d 12. On a dry matter (DM) basis, the AME and AMEn of BR was determined at 3,773 and 3,729 kcal/kg, respectively. The apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of BR ranged from 32.7% for Thr to 73.7% for Arg. The range of the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) value was between 79.4% for Met and 96.6% for Lys. In Exp. 2, 252 Hy-line Brown layers (44-week-old) were divided into four groups, comprising seven replicates of nine birds each and assigned to four experimental diets containing 0 (Control), 5%, 10%, or 15% BR for 5 weeks. The BR-containing diets were formulated to be equal in the content of AMEn and digestible AA to those of the diet without BR. No significant differences were observed in laying performances. Egg quality and blood profiles were not linearly or quadratically affected by dietary treatments. These results suggest that up to 15% BR can be included into layer feed without any adverse effects on laying performance and egg quality, if its energy and digestible AA values are well evaluated.

Regulation of Proinflammatory Mediators via NF-κB and p38 MAPK-Dependent Mechanisms in RAW 264.7 Macrophages by Polyphenol Components Isolated from Korea Lonicera japonica THUNB.

Lonicera japonica THUNB., which abundantly contains polyphenols, has been used as a traditional medicine for thousands of years in East Asian countries because of the anti-inflammation properties. This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory mechanism of polyphenol components isolated from Korea L. japonica T. by nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) pathway. Polyphenols significantly decreased lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced mRNA and protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2, as well as mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin- (IL-) 1ß, and IL-6. Moreover, polyphenols inhibited nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65, phosphorylation/degradation of the inhibitor of κB, and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, whereas the extracellular signal-regulated kinase and Janus N-terminal kinase were not affected. These results indicate that polyphenol components isolated from Korea L. japonica T. should have anti-inflammatory effect on LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells through the decrease of proinflammatory mediators expression by suppressing NF-κB and p38 MAPK activity.

Alstonia scholaris R. Br. Significantly Inhibits Retinoid-Induced Skin Irritation In Vitro and In Vivo.

Topical retinoids inhibit matrix metalloproteinases and accelerate collagen synthesis, thereby triggering antiaging effects in the skin. However, topical retinoids can cause severe skin reactions, including scaling, erythema, papules, and inflammation. The present study demonstrates that the ethanolic bark extract of Alstonia scholaris R. Br. can significantly inhibit all-trans retinoic acid-induced inflammation in human HaCat keratinocyte cells. Furthermore, two representative retinoid-induced proinflammatory cytokines, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and interleukin-8, were significantly suppressed by A. scholaris extract (by 82.1% and 26.3% at 100 ppm, and dose-dependently across the tested concentrations) in vitro. In a cumulative irritation patch test, A. scholaris extract decreased retinol-induced skin irritation, while strengthening the ability of retinoids to inhibit matrix metalloproteinase-1 expression, which is strongly associated with aging effects. These results suggest that A. scholaris is a promising compound that may increase the antiaging function of retinoids while reducing their ability to cause skin irritation.

Flavonoids Isolated from Korea Citrus aurantium L. Induce G2/M Phase Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Gastric Cancer AGS Cells.

Aim of the Study. Citrus species is used in traditional medicine as medicinal herb in several Asian countries including Korea. Flavonioids became known as various properties, such as anti-oxidants, anti-inflammation and anti-cancer, and so forth. The present study, the anti-cancer effect of flavonioids isolated from Citrus aurantium L. in human gastric cancer AGS cells has been investigated. Materials and Methods. The anti-proliferative activity was assayed using MTT assay. Cell cycle analysis was done using flow cytometry and apoptosis detection was done using by hoechst fluorescent staining and Annexin V-propidium iodide double staining. Western blot was used to detect the expression of protein related with cell cycle and apoptosis. Results. Flavonoids isolated from Citrus aurantium L. have the effect of anti proliferation on AGS cells with IC50 value of 99 µg/mL. Flavonoids inhibited cell cycle progression in the G2/M phase and decrease expression level of cyclin B1, cdc 2, cdc 25c. Flavonoids induced apoptosis through activate caspase and inactivate PARP. Conclusions. Flavonoids isolated from Citrus aurantium L. induced G2/M phase arrest through the modulation of cell cycle related proteins and apoptosis through activation caspase. These finding suggest flavonoids isolated from Citrus aurantium L. were useful agent for the chemoprevention of gastric cancer.