Neuroprotective Effect of Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid (TUDCA) on In Vitro and In Vivo Models of Retinal Disorders: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is a naturally produced hydrophilic bile acid that has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine. Numerous recent in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that TUDCA has neuroprotective action in various models of retinal disorders. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the scientific literature and provide a comprehensive summary on the neuroprotective action and the mechanisms involved in the cytoprotective effects of TUDCA. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA (The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Systematic literature search of United States National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Web of Science, Embase, Scopus and Cochrane Library was performed, which covered all original articles published up to July 2022. The terms, "TUDCA" in combination with "retina", "retinal protection", "neuroprotection" were searched. Possible biases were identified with the adopted SYRCLE's tool. RESULTS: Of the 423 initially gathered studies, 24 articles met inclusion/exclusion criteria for full-text review. Six of them were in vitro experiments, 17 studies reported in vivo data and one study described both in vitro and in vivo data. The results revealed the effect of TUDCA on different retinal diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP), diabetic retinopathy (DR), retinal degeneration (RD), retinal gangli on cell (RGC) damage, Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), choroidal neovascularization (CNV), and retinal detachment (RDT). The quality scores of the in vivo studies were ranged from 5 to 7 points (total 10 points), according to SYRCLE's risk of bias tool. Both in vitro and in vivo data suggested that TUDCA could effectively delay degeneration and apoptosis of retinal neurons, preserve retinal structure and function, and its mechanism of actions might be related with inhibiting apoptosis, decreasing inflammation, attenuating oxidative stress, suppressing endoplasmic reticulum(ES) stress, and reducing angiogenesis. CONCLUSION: This systematic review demonstrated that TUDCA has neuroprotective effect on in vivo and in vitro models of retinal disorders, reinforcing the currently available evidence that TUDCA could be a promising therapeutic agent in retinal diseases treatment. However, well designed clinical trials are necessary to appraise the efficacy of TUDCA in clinical setting.

A polymeric nanoformulation improves the bioavailability and efficacy of sorafenib for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Sorafenib (sfb) is widely used in clinics for advanced HCC therapy. However, the therapeutic efficacy of sfb is suboptimal due to its poor water solubility, low bioavailability, and side effects. Here, we employed a clinically safe polymer poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic acid) (PEG-b-PLA) to prepare a nanoparticle (NP)-based sfb formulation (NP-sfb) and tested its antitumor effect in multiple HCC models. NP-sfb could achieve effective drug loading and remain stable under physiological conditions. NP-sfb could be taken up by HepG2, Hepa1-6, and H22 cells and could efficiently inhibit cell proliferation and/or promote cell apoptosis. In vivo studies indicated that NP-sfb showed significantly improved therapeutic efficacy compared with free-sfb at the same dose or even higher doses. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that NP-sfb not only inhibited tumor proliferation and angiogenesis but also stimulated the tumor microenvironment by reducing the infiltration of immunosuppressive myeloid cells and increasing the ratio of cytotoxic T cells. This study demonstrates that the NP-based formulation is a promising strategy to improve the clinical application of sfb.

Lactobacillus paracasei PS23 Delays Progression of Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Senescence Accelerated Mouse Prone 8 (SAMP8) Mice.

Probiotic supplements are potential therapeutic agents for age-related disorders due to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the effect of probiotics on age-related brain dysfunction remains unclear. To investigate the effects of Lactobacillus paracasei PS23 (LPPS23) on the progression of age-related cognitive decline, male and female senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice were divided into two groups (n = 6 each): the control and PS23 groups. From the age of 16 weeks, these groups were given saline and LPPS23, respectively, because SAMP8 mice start aging rapidly after four months of age. After 12 weeks of treatment, we evaluated the effect of LPPS23 by analyzing their appearance, behavior, neural monoamines, anti-oxidative enzymes, and inflammatory cytokines. The PS23 group showed lower scores of senescence and less serious anxiety-like behaviors and memory impairment compared to the control group. The control mice also showed lower levels of neural monoamines in the striatum, hippocampus, and serum. Moreover, LPPS23 induced the anti-oxidative enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Higher levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP1) and lower levels of interleukin (IL)-10 indicated that LPPS23 modulated the inflammation. Our results suggest that LPPS23 supplements could delay age-related cognitive decline, possibly by preventing oxidation and inflammation and modulating gut⁻brain axis communication.

Aroma characteristics of cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla Chang).

Three types of Cocoa tea, green, oolong, and black, were prepared from fresh young leaves of Camellia ptilophylla. Their aroma characteristics were compared by a sensory evaluation with corresponding traditional tea samples made from C. sinensis. The aroma profile of Cocoa green tea was quite different from that of traditional green tea, but fermented Cocoa oolong tea and black tea showed aroma profiles similar to those of traditional oolong tea and black tea. Cocoa green tea contained vanillin as the most abundant aroma constituent. Almost the same aroma compounds of jasmine lactone, indole and monoterpene alcohols, which are known as important aroma constituents in commercial oolong tea and black tea, were identified as the main aroma compounds in the fermented Cocoa tea types. The composition of these aroma compounds well explained the aroma profile of each Cocoa tea. The monoterpene alcohols seemed to be released during fermented tea manufacture, because seventeen glycosides consisting of the aglycons of terpene alcohols were identified in Cocoa tea leaves, and hydrolytic activity of crude enzymes in the p-nitrophenol glycoside substrate was also detected.

[Genetic diversity of Camellia sinensis germplasm in Guangdong Province based on morphological parameters and SRAP markers].

By the methods of phenotypic identification and SRAP makers amplification, the genetic diversity of twenty-five local tea cultivars in Guangdong Province and five contrastive cultivars from other regions was assessed and classified, and the phenotypic traits of the cultivars were clustered by Pearson correlation and Farthest neighbor methods. The coefficient of variation of the phenotypic traits was averagely 32.15%. Fine-hair had the highest coefficient of variation (42.41%), while the growth period of bud leaves had the smallest one (18.52%). Based on the cluster analysis of phenotypic traits, the test 30 tea cultivars could be clustered into 4 groups, 17 cultivars in the first group, 10 cultivars in the second group, 2 contrastive cultivars Yunnan-dayezhong and Lingyun-baimaocha in the third group, and 1 contrastive cultivar Hainan-dayezhong in the fourth group. After the amplification with 21 SRAP primers, a total of 127 fragments were detected, among which, 114 fragments were polymorphic, accounting for 88.67% of the total. The amplified fragments and polymorphic fragments per primer combination were averagely 6.05 and 5.43, respectively. At the genetic distance of 0.39 cm, the tea cultivars could be classified into three groups A, B and C, and 83.33% of the cultivars were belonged to group A. At the genetic distance of 0.31 cm, group A could be further classified into three sub-groups I , II and III, 13 cultivars in subgroup I, 2 cultivars in subgroup II, and 10 cultivars in subgroup III. It was not exactly the same between the clustering based on SRAP markers amplification and the performance of phenotypic traits.