6-shogaol is a potential treatment for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Objective: Natural products in diet have shown a potential role in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is a great candidate because of its properties of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer, but little is known about its effect on head and neck cancer. 6-Shogaol is an active compound derived from Ginger. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the possible anticancer effects of 6-shogaol, a major ginger derivate, on head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) and the underlying mechanisms. Material and Methods: Two HNSCC cell lines, SCC4 and SCC25, were used in this study. Both SCC4 and SCC25 cells were kept as control or treated with 6-shogaol for 8 and 24 hours and then the cell apoptosis and cell cycle progression of treated cells were examined by PI and Annexin V-FITC double stain and flow cytometry analysis. The Cleaved caspase 3, phosphorylations of ERK1/2 and p38 kinases were examined by Western blot analysis. Results: The results showed that 6-shogaol significantly initiated the G2/M phase arrest of the cell cycle and apoptosis to inhibit the survival of both cell lines. Moreover, these responses could be regulated by ERK1/2 and p38 signaling. And, finally, we also demonstrated that 6-shogaol could enhance the cytotoxicity of cisplatin in HNSCC cells. Conclusion: Our data provided new insights to understand the potential pharmaceutical efficacy of a ginger derivate, 6-shogaol, in antagonizing HNSCC survival. The present study suggests that 6-shogaol is a potential novel candidate for anti-HNSCCs therapy.

Clinical and Cellular Evidence of Glycyrrhiza glabra and Platycodon grandiflorus for Vocal Fold Nodules Complementary Treatment.

Vocal fold nodules (VFNs) are the most frequent cause of hoarseness. The management comprised medical, surgical and physical therapy but the effectiveness is not always satisfactory. In this study, we try to figure out an alternative treatment from our clinical experience summary. We retrospectively reviewed VFNs patients who received traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments from July 2018 to August 2020 and traced their Chinese Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-C10) and multidimensional voice program (MDVP) analysis results. For further evaluation, we conducted an inflammatory response of porcine vocal fold epithelial (PVFE) cells with 50 ng/mL TNF-alpha. The inflamed PVFE cells were separately cultured in the aqueous extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra (G. glabra) and Platycodon grandifloras (P. grandifloras). In these VFNs patients (n = 22), the average VHI-C10 score decreased from 17.6 to 6.6 (p < 0.001). MDVP analysis revealed improvements in jitter, shimmer, noise-harmonic ratio, and GRBAS scoring system. Of the TCM prescription patterns, G. glabra and P. grandiflorus were used most frequently. In the MTT assay of PVFE cells, no adverse effects of our extracts were observed at doses of 1-200 µg/mL. Western blot analysis revealed downregulation of p65 and mitogen activated protein kinase pathway proteins. The results from both the clinical and in vitro aspects of this study revealed that the herbs G. glabra and P. grandiflorus may offer beneficial outcomes as alternative treatments for VFNs after precise diagnosis.

Dihydroisotanshinone I as a Treatment Option for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) are the most common cancers of the head and neck, and their prevalence is rapidly increasing. HNSCCs present a clinical challenge because of their high recurrence rate, therapeutic resistance to radiation and chemotherapy drugs, and adverse effects. Hence, traditional Chinese herbal treatment may be advantageous to therapeutic strategies for HNSCCs. Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), a well-known Chinese herb, has been extensively applied in treatments for various diseases, including cancer, because of its high degree of safety and low rate of adverse effects despite its unclear mechanism. Thus, we aimed to explore the possible anticancer effects and mechanisms of dihydroisotanshinone I (DT), a compound in danshen (extract from danshen), on HNSCCs. Three HNSCCs cell lines were used for in vitro studies, and a Detroit 562 xenograft mouse model was chosen for in vivo studies. Our in vitro results showed that DT could initiate apoptosis, resulting in cell death, and the p38 signaling partially regulated DT-initiated cell apoptosis in the Detroit 562 model. In the xenograft mouse model, DT reduced tumor size with no obvious adverse effect of hepatotoxicity. The present study suggests that DT is a promising novel candidate for anti-HNSCCs therapy.

Truncated Pneumolysin from Streptococcus pneumoniae as a TLR4-Antagonizing New Drug for Chronic Inflammatory Conditions.

Microbial proteins have recently been found to have more benefits in clinical disease treatment because of their better-developed strategy and properties than traditional medicine. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a truncated peptide synthesized from the C-terminal sequence of pneumolysin, i.e., C70PLY4, in Streptococcus pneumoniae, in treating chronic inflammatory conditions. It has been shown that C70PLY4 significantly blocks the transendothelial migration of neutrophils and attenuates the formation of atherosclerotic plaque and the secretion of soluble forms of the intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), the vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), and E-selectin in high-fat-diet/streptozotocin-induced inflammatory rats. The mechanism and the docking simulation analysis further indicated that C70PLY4 might serve as a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) antagonist by competing for the binding site of MD2, an indispensable protein for lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-TLR4 interaction signaling, on the TLR4 structure. Moreover, compared to the full-length PLY, C70PLY4 seems to have no cytotoxicity in human vascular endothelial cells. Our study elucidated a possible therapeutic efficacy of C70PLY4 in reducing chronic inflammatory conditions and clarified the underlying mechanism. Thus, our findings identify a new drug candidate that, by blocking TLR4 activity, could be an effective treatment for patients with chronic inflammatory diseases.

Zoledronate induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation by upregulating p21 in mouse MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts.

Background: Increasing research has recently been focused on the supplementary use of drugs such as bisphosphonates that are known to influence bone turnover to prevent and treat periprosthetic bone loss and subsequent implant loosening following total joint replacements. However, there are still concerns about the conflicting effects of bisphosphonate treatment on osteoblastic bone formation in the literature. Methods: In this study, we investigate the role of zoledronate (ZOL) in regulating cell cycle distribution and differentiation in mouse MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts and also explore the mechanism underlying this effect of ZOL. We examined the expression levels of osteocalcin (OCN) by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the total amount of CDK6, p21 and p27 proteins by Western blot analysis, and the cell cycle distribution by flow cytometric analysis in mouse MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts to evaluate the effect of ZOL. Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were used to assess the individual contributions of genes to specific osteoblast phenotypes. Results: In addition to increased OCN expression, we found that ZOL treatment induces the G0/G1 arrest and results in the increase of p21 and p27 expressions and decrease of CDK6 expression in mouse MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts. Both p21 and p27 mediates ZOL-induced cell cycle exit; however, p21, but not p27, is responsible for the increase of ZOL-induced OCN expression in these cells. Conclusions: These results endorse that ZOL might have an anabolic effect on osteoblasts. The CDK inhibitor p21 plays a key role in regulating osteoblast differentiation by controlling proliferation-related events in mouse MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts.

Glucose adsorption to chitosan membranes increases proliferation of human chondrocyte via mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 signaling.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is currently still an irreversible degenerative disease of the articular cartilage. Recent, dextrose (d-glucose) intraarticular injection prolotherapy for OA patients has been reported to benefit the chondrogenic stimulation of damaged cartilage. However, the detailed mechanism of glucose's effect on cartilage repair remains unclear. Chitosan, a naturally derived polysaccharide, has recently been investigated as a surgical or dental dressing to control breeding. Therefore, in this study, glucose was adsorbed to chitosan membranes (CTS-Glc), and the study aimed to investigate whether CTS-Glc complex membranes could regulate the proliferation of human OA chondrocytes and to explore the underlying mechanism. Human OA and SW1353 chondrocytes were used in this study. The experiments involving the transfection of cells used SW1353 chondrocytes. A specific inhibitor and siRNAs were used to investigate the mechanism underlying the CTS-Glc-regulated proliferation of human chondrocytes. We found that CTS-Glc significantly increased the proliferation of both human OA and SW1353 chondrocytes comparable to glucose- or chitosan-only stimulation. The role of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling, including mTOR, raptor, and S6k proteins, has been demonstrated in the regulation of CTS-Glc-increased human chondrocyte proliferation. mTORC1 signaling increased the expression levels of maturated SREBP-1 and FASN and then induced the expressions of cell cycle regulators, that is, cyclin D, cyclin-dependent kinase-4 and -6 in human chondrocytes. This study elucidates the detailed mechanism behind the effect of CTS-Glc complex membranes in promoting chondrocyte proliferation and proposes a possible clinical application of the CTS-Glc complex in the dextrose intraarticular injection of OA prolotherapy in the future to attenuate the pain and discomfort of OA patients.

Long-term antihypertensive effects of far-infrared ray irradiated from wooden board in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

BACKGROUND: Far-infrared ray (FIR) has been widely used in promoting health and has been shown to exert beneficial effects in vascular function. The non-thermal effect of FIR has been found to play a significant role in the protective effect on some vascular-related diseases, but its protective effects and use against hypertension have not been clearly presented. METHODS: In the present study, by using a wooden board coated with FIR-irradiated materials, we evaluated the long-term antihypertensive effect on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) in the environment in contact with the FIR-irradiated wooden board. SHRs were placed on the wooden board with or without FIR radiation for 4 weeks. RESULTS: The systolic blood pressure (BP) of SHRs undergoing different treatments was measured weekly using a tail-cuff method. FIR radiation significantly reduced the systolic BP of the SHRs along with a decreasing plasma level of angiotensin II and an increasing plasma level of bradykinin. In addition, long-term contact of FIR did not significantly affect the BP in normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKYs). CONCLUSIONS: Our results provided the evidence based on which FIR radiation could be considered an effective non-pharmacological choice for preventing hypertension.

Fulvic acid attenuates homocysteine-induced cyclooxygenase-2 expression in human monocytes.

BACKGROUND: Homocysteine and pro-inflammatory mediators such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) have been linked to vascular dysfunction and risks of cardiovascular diseases. Fulvic acid (FA), a class of compounds of humic substances, possesses various pharmacological properties. However, the effect of FA on inflammatory responses of the monocytes remains unclear. We investigated the regulatory effect of FA on homocysteine-induced COX-2 expression in human monocytes. METHODS: Peripheral blood monocytes and U937 cells were used for all experiments. Real-time PCR and ELISA assay were used to analyze the COX-2 mRNA expression and PGE2 secretion, respectively. Specific inhibitors were used to investigate the mechanism of homocysteine-mediating COX-2 mRNA expression and PGE2 secretion. Luciferase assay, transcription factor ELISA, and chromatin immunoprecipitation were used to determine the role of nuclear factor-κB in FA-mediated inhibition of homocysteine effect on monocytes. RESULTS: The results show that pretreating monocytes with FA inhibited the homocysteine-induced COX-2 expression in a dose-dependent manner. Stimulation of U937 monocytes with homocysteine induced rapid increases in the phosphorylation of ERK and JNK; the inhibitor for ERK and JNK attenuated the homocysteine-induced nuclear factor-κB activation and COX-2 expression. Transcription factor ELISA and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that FA blocked the homocysteine-induced increases in the binding activity and in vivo promoter binding of nuclear factor-κB in monocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide a molecular mechanism by which FA inhibits homocysteine-induced COX-2 expression in monocytes, and a basis for using FA in pharmaceutical therapy against inflammation.