Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of selected natural compounds contained in a dietary supplement on two human immortalized keratinocyte lines.

Several advantages may derive from the use of dietary supplements containing multiple natural antioxidants and/or anti-inflammatory agents. At present, however, there is scarce information on the properties and potential of combined supplements. To fill the gap, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities exerted by a combination of seven natural components (coenzyme Q10, krill oil, lipoic acid, resveratrol, grape seed oil, α-tocopherol, and selenium) contained in a dietary supplement used for the prevention of skin disorders were investigated in vitro. Each component was administered, alone or in combination, to human keratinocytes, and the inhibition of Reactive Oxygen Species production and lipid peroxidation as well as the ability to reduce inflammatory cytokine secretion and to modulate Nuclear Factor-κB pathway was evaluated. The combination exhibited high antioxidant activity and in specific conditions the combination's efficiency was higher than that of the most powerful components administered individually. Moreover, the combination showed remarkable anti-inflammatory properties. It reduced more efficiently than each component the secretion of Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1, a crucial cytokine for the development of chronic inflammation in skin, and inhibited Nuclear Factor-κB molecular pathway. Overall, our findings suggest that the combined formulation may have the potential to powerfully inhibit oxidative stress and inflammation at skin level.

Cultured epithelial grafting using human amniotic membrane: the potential for using human amniotic epithelial cells as a cultured oral epithelium sheet.

OBJECTIVE: Human amniotic cells are a valuable source of functional cells that can be used in various fields, including regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of human amniotic epithelial (hAE) cells as a new cell source for culturing stratified epithelium sheets for intraoral grafting. METHODS: Enzymatically isolated hAE cells were submerged in a serum-free, low-calcium-supplemented MCDB 153 medium without a feeder layer. The hAE cells were seeded onto a Millicell cell culture plate insert and cultured while submerged in a high-calcium medium for 4 days. Then, they were cultured at an air-liquid interface for 3 weeks. Cultures of hAE cells proliferated at the air-liquid interface. RESULTS: After 3 weeks, the hAE cells cultivated using the air-liquid interface method lead to almost 10 continuous layers of stratified epithelium without parakeratinization or keratinization. It confirmed immunohistochemically that the presence of CK10/13 and Ki-67 positive cells were spread throughout almost all the epithelial layer, and that CK19 positive cells were expressed throughout the entire epithelial layer in the cultured hAE cell sheets. Cultured hAE cells sheets showed a staining pattern similar to that of uncultured oral mucosa: ZO-1 and occludin were located in the intercellular junctions throughout all the epithelial layers. It was suggested that the hAE sheets consisted of highly-active proliferating cells and undifferentiated cells, and had a barrier function. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that hAE cells may be a promising cell source for the development of stratified epithelium allograft sheets using a human cell strain.

[Immunological mechanism of exfoliative tongue fur in children with asthma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the immunological mechanism of exfoliative tongue fur in children with asthma. METHODS: Thirty-nine children with asthma, twenty-eight children with repetitive respiratory tract infection (non-asthma) and eleven healthy children were divided into five groups, which were asthma with exfoliative fur or with non-exfoliative fur groups, non-asthma with exfoliative fur or with non-exfoliative fur groups and normal control group. The concentrations of keratin 13 and bcl-2 in cells exfoliated from tongue fur were detected by immunohistochemical method. The expression levels of blood cell chemokine receptor-3 (CCR-3) and CD4(+) were examined by flow cytometry, and the levels of serum cortisol and IgE were detected by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: The levels of blood CD4(+) and CCR-3 of children with asthma and exfoliative fur were higher than those in the asthma with non-exfoliative fur group and the normal control group (P<0.05). The serum level of cortisol in the groups of asthma with exfoliative fur and non-asthma with exfoliative fur were lower than that in the other groups (P<0.05). The serum levels of IgE in asthma with exfoliative fur or with non-exfoliative fur groups were higher than that in the other groups (P<0.05). Concentrations of keratin 13 in the cells exfoliated from tongue fur in the groups of asthma or non-asthma with exfoliative fur were lower than that of the other groups (P<0.05). There was no significant difference of expression level of bcl-2 in the cells exfoliated from tongue fur among these five groups. CONCLUSION: There is a reasonably close relationship between the formation of exfoliative tongue fur and the immune system such as low level of serum cortisol and high levels of blood CD4(+) and CCR-3, which may all promote the formation of exfoliative fur. The disability of keratinization and apoptosis of epithelial cells of tongue may also be one cause for its formation.