Kinkéliba (Combretum micranthum) Leaf Extract Alleviates Skin Inflammation: In Vitro and In Vivo Study.

Kinkéliba (Combretum micranthum, Seh-Haw in Wolof) is a popular bush tea in West African countries. Although the kinkéliba plant's leaves have been widely consumed for its nutritional and medicinal properties, its benefits on skin health potential have been practically untouched. In human epidermal primary keratinocytes, vitexin and isovitexin-rich kinkéliba extract treatment significantly (p < 0.001) enhanced up to 39.6% of the cell survival rate decreased by UV radiation irritation. The treatment of kinkéliba leaf extracts also reduced the production of UV-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 by 57.6% and 42.5%, respectively (p < 0.001), which cause skin redness and skin barrier dysfunction, as well as wrinkles and collagen degradation. The anti-inflammation efficacy of kinkéliba leaf extracts might involve significant inhibition on the levels of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) (-70.8%, p < 0.001) and nitrotyrosine (-56.9%, p < 0.05). Further topical applications of kinkéliba leaf extract gel were found to reduce sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)-induced skin inflammation: at D7, the skin trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) and skin redness (a* value) were both reduced by 59.81% (p < 0.001) and 22.4% (p < 0.001), compared with D0. In vitro and in vivo data support a new topical application of the kinkéliba leaf as an effective active ingredient for the treatment of skin inflammation, as well as subsequent barrier dysfunction and inflammaging.

Attenuation Effect of Salvianolic Acid B on Testicular Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Rats.

During testicular ischemia-reperfusion, overproduction of reactive oxygen species is associated with testicular injury. We injected hydrogen peroxide (a representative of reactive oxygen species) into normal testis via the testicular artery. The experiment demonstrates that reactive oxygen species can cause spermatogenic injury. Salvianolic acid B, the most abundant bioactive component in Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, has been reported to possess a potent antioxidant activity. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of salvianolic acid B on testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury in a rat testicular torsion-detorsion model. Rats were randomly separated into three groups, including 20 rats in each group: control group with sham operation, testicular ischemia-reperfusion group, and testicular ischemia-reperfusion + salvianolic acid B-treated group. In the testicular ischemia-reperfusion group, left testicular torsion of 720° for 2 hours was induced, and then testicular detorsion was carried out. Rats in the salvianolic acid B-treated group additionally had salvianolic acid B administered intravenously at detorsion. At 4 hours after detorsion, testes of 10 rats from each group were collected to analyze the protein expression of xanthine oxidase which catalyzes generation of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde concentration (an indirect indicator of reactive oxygen species). At 3 months after detorsion, testes of the remaining 10 rats from each group were collected to analyze spermatogenesis. Compared with the control group, xanthine oxidase protein expression and malondialdehyde concentration in ipsilateral testes of testicular ischemia-reperfusion group increased significantly, while spermatogenesis decreased significantly. In the salvianolic acid B-treated group, xanthine oxidase protein expression and malondialdehyde concentration in ipsilateral testes decreased significantly, while spermatogenesis increased significantly, compared with the testicular ischemia-reperfusion group. These results suggest that salvianolic acid B can attenuate testicular torsion/detorsion-induced ischemia/reperfusion injury by downregulating the xanthine oxidase protein expression to inhibit reactive oxygen species formation.

Male sterile 28 encodes an ARGONAUTE family protein essential for male fertility in maize.

Male sterility is a common biological phenomenon in plants and is a useful trait for hybrid seed production. Normal tapetum development is essential for viable pollen generation. Although many genes involved in tapetum differentiation and degradation have been isolated in maize, elements that regulate tapetum development during pollen mother cell (PMC) meiosis are less studied. Here, we characterized a classical male-sterile mutant male sterile 28 (ms28) in maize. The ms28 mutant had a regular male meiosis process, while its tapetum cells showed premature vacuolation at the early meiotic prophase stage. Using map-based cloning, we cloned the Ms28 gene and confirmed its role in male fertility in maize together with two allelic mutants. Ms28 encodes the ARGONAUTE (AGO) family protein ZmAGO5c, and its transcripts primarily accumulate in premeiosis anthers, with more intense signals in PMCs. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that genes related to anther development, cell division, and reproductive structure development processes were differentially expressed between the ms28 mutant and its fertile siblings. Moreover, small RNA (sRNA) sequencing revealed that the small interfering RNA (siRNA) and microRNA (miRNA) abundances were obviously changed in ms28 meiotic anthers, which indicated that Ms28 may regulate tapetal cell development through small RNA-mediated epigenetic regulatory pathways. Taken together, our results shed more light on the functional mechanisms of the early development of the tapetum for male fertility in maize.

Maize male sterile 33 encodes a putative glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase that mediates anther cuticle formation and microspore development.

BACKGROUND: The anther cuticle, which is primarily composed of lipid polymers, is crucial for pollen development and plays important roles in sexual reproduction in higher plants. However, the mechanism underlying the biosynthesis of lipid polymers in maize (Zea mays. L.) remains unclear. RESULTS: Here, we report that the maize male-sterile mutant shrinking anther 1 (sa1), which is allelic to the classic mutant male sterile 33 (ms33), displays defective anther cuticle development and premature microspore degradation. We isolated MS33 via map-based cloning. MS33 encodes a putative glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase and is preferentially expressed in tapetal cells during anther development. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed a substantial reduction in wax and cutin in ms33 anthers compared to wild type. Accordingly, RNA-sequencing analysis showed that many genes involved in wax and cutin biosynthesis are differentially expressed in ms33 compared to wild type. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that MS33 may contribute to anther cuticle and microspore development by affecting lipid polyester biosynthesis in maize.

Leaf Extract from Lithocarpus polystachyus Rehd. Promote Glycogen Synthesis in T2DM Mice.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of leaf extract from Lithocarpus polystachyus Rehd. on type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the active ingredients of this effect. In addition, this study determined, for the first time, the underlying molecular and pharmacological mechanisms of the extracts on hyperglycemia using long-term double high diet-fed and streptozotocin (STZ) induced type II diabetic mice. In the present study, leaf extract, phloridzin and trilobatin were assessed in vivo (gavage) and in vitro (non-invasive micro-test technique, NMT) in experimental T2DM mice. The biochemical parameters were measured including blood glucose and blood lipid level, liver biochemical indexes, and hepatic glycogen. The relative expression of glycometabolism-related genes was detected. The effect of leaf extracts on physiological glucose flux in liver tissue from control and T2DM mice was also investigated. Body weight of experimental T2DM mice increased significantly after the first week, but stabilized over the subsequent three weeks; body weight of all other groups did not change during the four weeks' study. After four weeks, all treatment groups decreased blood glucose, and treatment with leaf extract had numerous positive effects: a) promoted in glucose uptake in liver, b) increased synthesis of liver glycogen, c) reduced oxidative stress, d) up-regulation of glucokinase (GK), glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2), insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate (IRS) expression in liver, e) down-regulation of glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-P) expression, and f) ameliorated blood lipid levels. Both treatment with trilobatin or phloridzin accelerated liver glycogen synthesis, decreased oxidative stress and increased expression of GK. IRS and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) were both up-regulated after treatment with trilobatin. Expression of GLUT2, PEPCK and G-6-P were also increased in liver tissue after treatment with phloridzin. Our data indicate that leaf extract from L. polystachyus Rehd. has a preferable hypoglycemic effects than trilobatin or phloridzin alone. Leaf extract significantly increased glucose uptake and hepatic glycogen synthesis while also inducing a decline of hepatic gluconeogenesis and oxidative stress in T2DM mice. From this study, we draw conclusions that L. polystachyus promoted glycogen synthesis in T2DM mice, and that the active compounds were not only the trilobatin or phloridzin.

Absorption of caffeine in fermented Pu-er tea is inhibited in mice.

Caffeine is present in a number of dietary sources consumed worldwide. Although its pharmacokinetics has been intensively explored, little is known about complexed caffeine (C-CAF) in aqueous extraction of fermented Pu-er tea. The major components of C-CAF are oxidative tea polyphenols (OTP) and caffeine. Furthermore, the C-CAF can be precipitated in low pH solution. After administering the same amount of total caffeine and comparing the peak level of plasma caffeine with the coffee (contains 0.11 ± 0.01% C-CAF) group, the results showed that the caffeine/OTP (contains 66.67 ± 0.02% C-CAF) group and the instant Pu-er tea (contains 23.18 ± 0.02% C-CAF) group were 33.39% and 25.86% lower, respectively. The concentration of the metabolites of caffeine supports the idea that the absorption of the C-CAF was inhibited in mice. Congruent with this result, the amount of caffeine detected in mice excrement showed that more caffeine was eliminated in the caffeine/OTP group and the Pu-er tea group. The locomotor activity tests of mice demonstrated that the stimulating effect of caffeine in caffeine/OTP and Pu-er tea was weaker than in coffee. Our findings demonstrate that caffeine can be combined with OTP and the absorption of C-CAF is inhibited in mice, thus decreasing the irritation effect of caffeine. This may also be developed as a slow release formulation of caffeine.