Potential active constituents responsible for treating acute pharyngitis in the flowers of Hosta plantaginea (Lam.) Aschers and their pharmacokinetics.

In Asia, the flower of Hosta plantaginea (Lam.) Aschers (hosta flower) is both an edible food and medicine. The hosta flower is often used as a material for cooking porridge and scented tea and in combination with other plants for alleviating pharyngitis. To clarify the anti-pharyngitis effect of the hosta flower and evaluate its potential active ingredients, an ethanol extract of the hosta flower was prepared and partially purified via chromatography on a column packed with D101 macroporous resin, which was eluted with different concentrations of ethanol. The anti-pharyngitis effect of the crude extract and the various partially purified fractions was examined in an ammonia-induced acute pharyngitis rat model. The 30% ethanol-eluted fraction significantly alleviated the severity of pharyngitis in the rat, as evaluated by changes in the levels of cytokines (IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α) and histological changes in the pharynx tissues. Subsequent HPLC-QTOF/MS (high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight tandem mass spectrometry) analysis of this fraction revealed kaempferol and its glycosides as the main components. Three of the main components were isolated and identified by 1D NMR. Their pharmacokinetics were studied for the first time by UHPLC-QQQ/MS (ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry). The findings suggested that the 30% ethanol-eluted fraction of the hosta flower extract may be a potential functional food for treating pharyngitis.

The effects and safety of omega-3 fatty for acute lung injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have compared the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI) with omega-3 fatty, yet the results remained inconsistent. Therefore, we attempted this meta-analysis to analyze the role of omega-3 fatty in the treatment of ALI patients. METHODS: We searched PubMed databases from inception date to October 31, 2019, for RCTs that compared the treatment of ALI with or without omega-3 fatty. Two authors independently screened the studies and extracted data from the published articles. Summary mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for each outcome by fixed- or random-effects model. RESULTS: Six RCTs with a total of 277 patients were identified, of whom 142 patients with omega-3 fatty acid treatment and 135 patients without omega-3 fatty treatment. Omega-3 fatty treatments significantly improve the PaO2 (MD = 13.82, 95% CI 8.55-19.09), PaO2/FiO2 (MD = 33.47, 95% CI 24.22-42.72), total protein (MD = 2.02, 95% CI 0.43-3.62) in ALI patients, and omega-3 fatty acid treatments reduced the duration of mechanical ventilation (MD = - 1.72, 95% CI - 2.84 to - 0.60) and intensive care unit stay (MD = - 1.29, 95% CI - 2.14 to - 0.43) in ALI patients. CONCLUSIONS: Omega-3 fatty can effectively improve the respiratory function and promote the recovery of ALI patients. Future studies focused on the long-term efficacy and safety of omega-3 fatty use for ALI are needed.

Efficacy of High Specific Volume Polysaccharide - A New Type of Dietary Fiber - On Molecular Mechanism of Intestinal Water Metabolism in Rats With Constipation.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a new type of dietary fiber - high specific volume polysaccharide (HSVP) - on fecal properties, serum vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) concentration, intestinal flora count, and expression of the VIP-cAMP-PKA-AQP3 signaling pathway. MATERIAL AND METHODS Compound diphenoxylate was used in 48 healthy Wistar rats to establish a constipation model. Rats were divided into a normal control group, a constipation model group, an HSVP low-dose group, an HSVP medium-dose group, an HSVP high-dose group, and a fructose control group. We used colony count method, ELISA, WB, and RT-PCR to determine fecal moisture content, fecal hardness, fecal passage time, serum VIP concentration, number of intestinal bacteria, and VIP-cAMP-PKA-AQP3 signal pathway protein expression. RESULTS The constipation model was established successfully. HSVP (the medium dose was 10% and the high dose was 15%) improved fecal moisture content, reduced hardness, shortened fecal emptying time, increased intestinal bacteria, reduced serum VIP concentration, downregulated cAMP and PKAm RNA transcription, reduced protein expression, and reduced intestinal AQP3 expression. CONCLUSIONS HSVP improved constipation, increased the number of intestinal bacteria, and elevated expression of the VIP-cAMP-PKA-AQP3 signaling pathway. The mechanism of HSVP in regulating intestinal water metabolism in constipated rats may occur through the VIP-cAMP-PKA-AQP3 signaling pathway, and be closely related to changes in intestinal bacteria. The important role of the brain-gut-microbiome axis in the pathogenesis of constipation has been confirmed in this study.

Application of a nanotechnology antimicrobial spray to prevent lower urinary tract infection: a multicenter urology trial.

BACKGROUND: Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is a common nosocomial device-associated infection. It is now recognized that the high infection rates were caused by the formation of biofilm on the surface of the catheters that decreases the susceptibility to antibiotics and results in anti-microbial resistance.In this study, we performed an in vitro test to explore the mechanism of biofilm formation and subsequently conducted a multi-center clinical trial to investigate the efficacy of CAUTI prevention with the application of JUC, a nanotechnology antimicrobial spray. METHODS: Siliconized latex urinary catheters were cut into fragments and sterilized by autoclaving. The sterilized sample fragments were randomly divided into the therapy and control group, whereby they were sprayed with JUC and distilled water respectively and dried before use.The experimental standard strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) were isolated from the urine samples of patients. At 16 hours and 7 days of incubation, the samples were extracted for confocal laser scanning microscopy.A total of 1,150 patients were accrued in the clinical study. Patients were randomized according to the order of surgical treatment. The odd array of patients was assigned as the therapy group (JUC), and the even array of patients was assigned as the control group (normal saline). RESULTS: After 16 hours of culture, bacterial biofilm formed on the surface of sample fragments from the control group. In the therapy group, no bacterial biofilm formation was observed on the sample fragments. No significant increase in bacterial colony count was observed in the therapy group after 7 days of incubation.On the 7th day of catheterization, urine samples were collected for bacterial culture before extubation. Significant difference was observed in the incidence of bacteriuria between the therapy group and control group (4.52% vs. 13.04%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the effectiveness of JUC in preventing CAUTI in a hospital setting was demonstrated in both in vitro and clinical studies.