Stimulatory effect of dietary red ginseng on epidermal hydration and ceramide levels in ultraviolet-irradiated hairless mice.

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation induces skin dryness, largely by disruption of the epidermal barrier. In a search for dietary and plant compounds that would protect against skin dryness, we investigated the dietary effect of red ginseng (the steamed root of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) on epidermal levels of hydration and ceramides, the most important lipids for maintaining the epidermal barrier, in UV-irradiated mice. Albino hairless mice were fed either control diets (group UV [UV-irradiated control]) or diets with 0.5% (group H0.5) or 1% (group H1.0) red ginseng extract for 5 weeks in parallel with UV irradiation. A normal control group (group C) was fed a control diet without UV irradiation for 5 weeks. Skin dryness in group UV, as assessed by epidermal levels of hydration and ceramides, was significantly lower than those in group C. With no differences in food intake and weight gains among groups, epidermal levels of hydration and ceramides in group H0.5 were similar to those in group C. In addition, protein expression of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), a key enzyme involved in de novo ceramide synthesis, was increased in group H0.5. However, epidermal levels of hydration and ceramides in group H1.0 did not differ from those in group UV, in which ceramidase, an enzyme involved in ceramide degradation, was highly expressed. In conclusion, we demonstrate that dietary supplementation of 0.5% red ginseng protects skin from UV-induced dryness with an accumulation of ceramides due to elevated expression of SPT protein.

Bee venom suppresses LPS-mediated NO/iNOS induction through inhibition of PKC-alpha expression.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Bee venom (BV) is a traditional Korean medicine that has been widely used with satisfactory results in the treatment of some immune-related diseases, especially rheumatoid arthritis. AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study is to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the anti-inflammatory effects of BV, which is used in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases in traditional Korean medicine. We evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of BV on NO generation and iNOS expression by LPS in rat C6 glioma cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: BV was obtained from the National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (NIAST) of Korea. Nitrite measurement, Immuno blot analysis, Reverse transcriptase-PCR and Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) were used for assessment. RESULTS: BV suppressed the LPS-induced NO generation and iNOS expression, and it also inhibited the expressions of LPS-induced pro-inflammatory molecules including Cox-2 and IL-1 beta in rat C6 glioma cells. Then, BV inhibited LPS-induced expression of PKC-alpha and MEK/ERK, not p38 and JNK. Moreover, inhibition of LPS-induced iNOS expression by BV was dependent on transcriptional activities of AP-1/NF-kappaB through MEK/ERK pathway. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that BV suppresses LPS-induced iNOS activation through regulation of PKC-alpha. Accordingly, BV exerts a potent suppressive effect on pro-inflammatory responses in rat C6 glioma cells.

Sulfuric acid baking and leaching of spent Co-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst.

Dissolution of metals from a pre-oxidized refinery plant spent Co-Mo/Al(2)O(3) catalyst have been tried through low temperature (200-450 degrees C) sulfuric acid baking followed by mild leaching process. Direct sulfuric acid leaching of the same sample, resulted poor Al and Mo recoveries, whereas leaching after sulfuric acid baking significantly improved the recoveries of above two metals. The pre-oxidized spent catalyst, obtained from a Korean refinery plant found to contain 40% Al, 9.92% Mo, 2.28% Co, 2.5% C and trace amount of other elements such as Fe, Ni, S and P. XRD results indicated the host matrix to be poorly crystalline gamma- Al(2)O(3). The effect of various baking parameters such as catalyst-to-acid ratio, baking temperature and baking time on percentage dissolutions of metals has been studied. It was observed that, metals dissolution increases with increase in the baking temperature up to 300 degrees C, then decreases with further increase in the baking temperature. Under optimum baking condition more than 90% Co and Mo, and 93% Al could be dissolved from the spent catalyst with the following leaching condition: H(2)SO(4)=2% (v/v), temperature=95 degrees C, time=60 min and Pulp density=5%.

The effectiveness of bone mineral density as supplementary tool for evaluation of the osteogenic potential in patients with spinal fusion.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study. PURPOSE: This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of bone mineral density measurement as a supplementary tool for evaluation of osteogenic potential in patients with spinal fusion. To this end, we correlated bone mineral density (BMD) with osteogenic potential from cultured mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Many studies have correlated osteogenic potential of in vitro cultured MSCs with aging or osteoporosis. METHODS: We studied twenty-five individuals with harvested bone marrow from the ilium during lumbar spinal surgery. The BMD of the femoral neck was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry prior to bone marrow aspiration, and the osteoporotic group was classified as those with T-scores below-2.5. After MSCs were isolated from bone marrow, in vitro induction of osteogenesis was performed. We analyzed the patient's osteogenic potential from cultured MSCs such as mineral deposition stain, bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and osteoblast-specific gene expression in RT-PCR. RESULTS: On mineral staining, the osteoporotic group had a scanty matrix mineral deposition in contrast to the non-osteoporotic group. The expression of osteocalcin in the osteoporotic group was 1.5 to 3 times less than in the non-osteoporotic group. At the 3(rd) week after the induction of osteogenesis, the activity of ALP of cultured MSCs in the osteoporotic group was lower than in the control group (mean, 45+/-19 u/L, in osteoporotic group vs 136+/-7 u/L in non-osteoporotic), and there was a statistically significant and positive correlation between BMD & ALP (r=0.487, p=0.013). CONCLUSIONS: There is a positive correlation between BMD and osteogenic potential derived from MSCs. The measurement of BMD can provide supplementary data for evaluating osteogenic potential clinically.

A laboratory scale study on arsenic(V) removal from aqueous medium using calcined bauxite ore.

The present work deals with the As(V) removal from an aqueous medium by calcined refractory grade bauxite (CRB) as a function of solution pH, time, As(V) concentration and temperature. The residual As(V) was lowered from 2 mg/L to below 0.01 mg/L in the optimum pH range 4.0-7.0 using a 5 g/L CRB within 3 h contact time. The adsorption data fits well with Langmuir isotherm and yielded Langmuir monolayer capacity of 1.78 mg As(V)/g of CRB at pH 7.0. Presence of anions such as silicate and phosphate decreased As(V) adsorption efficiency. An increase temperature resulted a decrease in the amount of As(V) adsorbed by 6%. The continuous fixed bed column study showed that at the adsorbent bed depth of 30 cm and residence time of 168 min, the CRB was capable of treating 340 bed volumes of As(V) spiked water (C0 = 2 mg/L) before breakthrough (Ce = 0.01 mg/L). This solid adsorbent, although not reusable, can be considered for design of adsorption columns as an efficiency arsenic adsorption media.

Selective recovery of Mo, Co and Al from spent Co/Mo/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst: effect of calcination temperature.

A combination of pyro and hydrometallurgical process has been proposed to selectively recover molubdenum, cobalt and aluminium from the spent catalyst containing 12.3% Mo; 31.8% Al; 2.38% Co; 9.5% S and 2.9% C. Before a two-stage alkali-acid leaching process to selectively target Mo, Co and Al from the uncrushed sample, the spent catalyst was calcined at different temperatures. Characterization of different calcined samples was carried out by different instrumental analysis like XRD, TG/DTA, IR and SEM in order to understand the structural changes and dissolution behavior of spent catalyst. It was found that calcination at 500 degrees C preferred for spent catalyst roasting since the surface and pore structures obtained by roasting at this temperature facilitated dissolution of calcined spent catalyst in the leachant. Mo was selectively separated and recovered from the leach liquor by carbon adsorption method; whereas, Al and Co were separated by an organo-phosphinic-based extractant, Cyanex 272. In the whole process, 95.9% Mo, 89.6% Co and 39.8% Al was recovered from the spent catalyst. Finally, a complete process flowsheet has been presented.