Therapeutic Potentiality of Celtis choseniana Nakai on Androgenic Alopecia through Repression of Androgen Action and Modulation of Wnt/β-catenin Signaling

In this study, we investigated the efficacy of Celtis choseniana Nakai (C. choseniana) as complementary herbal medicine to ameliorate androgenic alopecia (AGA). The effects of C. choseniana on AGA were evaluated using testosterone propionate-induced AGA mouse model and dihydrotestosterone-treated human hair follicle dermal papilla cells. In vivo, C. choseniana treatment deactivated androgen signaling by reducing the concentration of serum dihydrotestosterone level and expressions of 5α-reductase 2 and androgen receptor. Next, C. choseniana treatment increased the hair regrowth rate. Histological studies demonstrated that C. choseniana induced the anagen phase in testosterone propionate-induced AGA mouse model. Cellular proliferation was promoted by C. choseniana treatment via increasing the expression of proliferation factors, such as proliferating cell nuclear antigen and cyclin D1. Furthermore, C. choseniana treatment increased the expression of proteins related to the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. In addition, dickkopf-1, a Wnt inhibitor, was downregulated with C. choseniana treatment. Likewise, C. choseniana treatment promoted cellular proliferation in vitro. This study demonstrated the inhibitory effect of C. choseniana on androgen-induced AGA. Moreover, C. choseniana induced activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, resulting in prolonged anagen and cellular proliferation. Therefore, we suggest that C. choseniana can be used as a therapeutic agent to alleviate AGA.

The extract of Celtis choseniana Nakai alleviates testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia through inhibiting 5α reductase type 2 and the Akt/NF-κB/AR pathway / 中国天然药物

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a chronic male disease characterized by the enlarged prostate. Celtis chosenianaNakai (C. choseniana) is medicinally used to alleviate pain, gastric disease, and lung abscess. In this study, the effect of C. choseniana extract on BPH was investigated using testosterone-induced rats. Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups: control, BPH (testosterone 5 mg·kg-1), Fina (finasteride 2 mg·kg-1), and C. choseniana (50 and 100 mg·kg-1). After four weeks of TP treatment with finasteride or C. choseniana, prostate weights and DHT levels were measured. In addition, the prostates were histopathologically examined and measured for protein kinase B (Akt)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)/AR signaling, proliferation, apoptosis, and autophagy. Prostate weight and epithelial thickness were reduced in the C. choseniana groups compared with that in the BPH group. The extract of C. choseniana acted as a 5α reductase inhibitor, reducing DHT levels in the prostate. Furthermore, the extract of C. choseniana blocked the activation of p-Akt, nuclear NF-κB activation and reduced the expression of AR and PSA compared with BPH. Moreover, the expression of Bax, PARP-1, and p53 increased, while the expression of bcl-2 decreased. The present study demonstrated that C. choseniana extract alleviated testosterone-induced BPH by suppressing 5α reductase and Akt/NF-κB activation, reducing AR signaling and inducing apoptosis and autophagy in the prostate. These results suggested that C. choseniana probably contain potential herbal agents to alleviate BPH.

Albizzia julibrissin Suppresses Testosterone-induced Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia by Regulating 5α-Reductase Type 2 – Androgen Receptor Pathway

Albizzia julibrissin (AJ) is an herbal medicine that shows low toxicity, promotes promoting blood circulation and mitigates the inflammation and has mild side effects. Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common diseases that occurs in older males and often results in lower urinary tract symptoms. This study was conducted to evaluate the protective effect of AJ against BPH using LNCaP cells and Sprague Dawley rats treated with testosterone. Treatment with AJ extract reduced the expression of androgen receptor (AR) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in vitro. In vivo, rats were divided into 6 groups: 1 (Normal Control); 2 (Testosterone propionate (TP) alone); 3 (TP + finasteride); 4 (TP + AJ 10 mg/kg); 5 (TP + AJ 50 mg/kg); 6 (TP + AJ 300 mg/kg). The groups treated with AJ showed reduced the relative prostate weights and BPH-related proteins were altered, with decreased AR, PSA and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) observed by western blot. Histopathological analysis revealed the therapeutic effect of AJ, with a decreased thickness of epithelial cells and reduced level of PCNA and 5α-reductase type 2. These results suggest that AJ extract could ameliorate testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Erratum: Quatification of Flavonoid Contents in Chungsimyeonja-tang, a Multi-Herbal Decoction, and Its Protective Effect against Cisplatin-induced Nephrotoxicity

Correction for incorrect control groups (A, B, and C) at a Fig. 3. and Fig. 4. respectively. NPS 2014 20(4): 251-257.

Hippotherapy in Adult Patients with Chronic Brain Disorders: A Pilot Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of hippotherapy for adult patients with brain disorders. METHOD: Eight chronic brain disorder patients (7 males, mean age 42.4+/-16.6 years) were recruited. The mean duration from injury was 7.9+/-7.7 years. The diagnoses were stroke (n=5), traumatic brain disorder (n=2), and cerebral palsy (n=1). Hippotherapy sessions were conducted twice a week for eight consecutive weeks in an indoor riding arena. Each hippotherapy session lasted 30 minutes. All participants were evaluated by the Berg balance scale, Tinetti Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment, 10 Meter Walking Test, Functional Ambulatory Category, Korean Beck Depression Inventory, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. We performed baseline assessments twice just before starting hippotherapy. We also assessed the participants immediately after hippotherapy and at eight weeks after hippotherapy. RESULTS: All participants showed no difference in balance, gait function, and emotion between the two baseline assessments before hippotherapy. During the eight-week hippotherapy program, all participants showed neither adverse effects nor any accidents; all had good compliance. After hippotherapy, there were significant improvements in balance and gait speed in comparison with the baseline assessment (p<0.05), and these effects were sustained for two months after hippotherapy. However, there was no significant difference in emotion after hippotherapy. CONCLUSION: We could observe hippotherapy to be a safe and effective alternative therapy for adult patients with brain disorders in improving balance and gait function. Further future studies are warranted to delineate the benefits of hippotherapy on chronic stroke patients.

Chemotherapy for Colorectal Cancer

Survival outcomes have been steadily improving for last 50 years in patients with colorectal cancer. The 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is still one of the major chemotherapeutic agents. New cytotoxic agents, irinotecan and oxaliplatin, or targeted agents, bevacizumab and cetuximab, have been studied in the treatment of colon cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy is indicated in patients with colon cancer at high-risk stage II and III, and after complete resection. Oxaliplatin-based regimens, FOLFOX, are considered as the standard adjuvant chemotherapy. If there are contraindications for oxaliplatin, the best alternatives are capecitabine or 5FU/LV. In rectal cancer, adjuvant chemotheradiotherapy is indicated in patients who had curative resection with stage II and III cancer. Adjuvant chemotherapy is necessary after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in rectal cancer. The introduction of novel agents targeted to specific molecular features of cancer cells promises more options and marked improvements in efficacy for treatment of metastatic colon cancer. Bevacizumab has been shown to extend survival in colorectal cancer when used in combination with irinotecan and 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy, and the addition of cetuximab to irinotecan and 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy eliminates irinotecan resistance. Interestingly, there has been no clear association between the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and response to the EGFR inhibitors. Instead, KRAS mutation has been accepted as a negative predictive factor for the treatment of cetuximab. In contrast, no valid biomarkers for bevacizimab were found so far. More studies are necessary to identify biomarkers of targeted agents. Recent advancement of chemotherapeutic agents extended survival in colorectal cancer.

Chemotherapy for Colorectal Cancer / 대한소화기학회지

Recent advances in chemotherapy lead to improved survival outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer. The 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is still one of the important chemotherapeutic agents since 1950s, but the introduction of newer cytotoxic agents, irinotecan and oxaliplatin, or targeted agents, bevacizumab and cetuximab, have changed treatment strategies for these patients. A deliberate choice should be made for adjuvant chemotherapy, because it has became complicated more than ever before. Oxaliplatin plus 5-FU seemed to be superior in terms of disease-free and overall survival than 5-FU alone after curative surgery for colon cancers. However not all of these patients seemed to receive benefit from this intensive adjuvant treatment, and some limitations are present according to the postoperative stage, tumor biology and clinical characteristics. For metastatic disease, there is no doubt that more complicated strategies are present because we have more abundant chemotherapeutic agents available for metastatic setting compared to adjuvant setting. Recently, targeted agents, such as bevacizumab or cetuximab, also took an important place in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, and many efforts are also made to find the biomarkers for predicting treatment responses to these targeted agents. In this review, we intended to sort up the standard strategies of chemotherapy for patients with colorectal cancer according to the latest pivotal publications.