Unsaturated fatty acid-enriched extract from Hippophae rhamnoides seed reduces skin dryness through up-regulating aquaporins 3 and hyaluronan synthetases 2 expressions.

BACKGROUND: Seed oil of sea buckthorn (SBT) is well known to contain high amount of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and PUFA is generally acknowledged to promote skin hydration by reducing trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL). AIMS: The present study is aimed to investigate that skin hydration offered by SBT seed oil is whether through up-regulating AQP3 or HAS2 expression. METHODS: MTT assay was performed to detect cytotoxicity of SBT seed oil, and then, PCR was carried out to explore whether SBT seed oil can increase AQP3 mRNA expression in normal human epidermis keratinocytes (NHEK) cells or not. Immunofluorescence (IF) and Western blot analysis were used to test the protein level expression of AQP3 and HAS2 influenced by SBT seed oil in NHEK cells or in reconstructed epidermis skin model. RESULTS: According to the result of MTT assay, all test concentration of SBT seed oil showed no cytotoxicity to cells. 10 µg/mL SBT seed oil treatment evidently increased AQP3 mRNA level compared to negative control (NC). IF and Western blot analysis results demonstrated that AQP3 and HAS2 protein levels in NHEK cells treated with 10 µg/mL SBT seed oil were much higher than that of NC. Finally, treatment with 10 µg/mL SBT seed oil substantially up-regulated expression of AQP3 and HAS2 protein in reconstructed epidermis skin model in comparison to NC. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, our study first proved that SBT seed oil can improve skin hydration through increasing AQP3 and HAS2 expressions.

Treatment with Docosahexaenoic Acid Improves Epidermal Keratinocyte Differentiation and Ameliorates Inflammation in Human Keratinocytes and Reconstructed Human Epidermis Models.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that can cause skin barrier function damage. Although co-incubation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) exerts a positive effect on deficient skin models, no studies have investigated the effects of topical treatment with DHA in an inflammatory reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) model. The effects of DHA on monolayer normal human epidermal keratinocyte (NHEK) cells were evaluated using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The skin-related barrier function was assessed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, Western blot (WB), immunohistofluorescence (IF), and ELISA in normal and inflammatory RHE models. Docosahexaenoic acid upregulated filaggrin and loricrin expression at mRNA levels in addition to suppressing overexpression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-α (IL-1α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) stimulated by polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (stimulation cocktail) in cultured NHEK cells. After topical treatment with DHA, cocktail-induced inflammatory characteristics of skin diseases, including barrier morphology, differentiation proteins, and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) secretion, were alleviated in RHE models. Supplementation with DHA can improve related barrier function and have anti-inflammation effects in monolayer keratinocytes and RHE models, which indicates that DHA may have potential value for the treatment of inflammation-associated skin diseases.

Effect of IgY on Periodontitis and Halitosis Induced by Fusobacterium nucleatum.

Fusobacterium nucleatum is a morbific agent in periodontitis and halitosis. Egg yolk antibody (IgY) was obtained from egg yolks from chickens stimulated with F. nucleatum. This study was to assess the effectiveness of IgY on periodontitis and halitosis caused by F. nucleatum in vitro and in vivo. The growth of F. nucleatum was inhibited (p <0. 05) by different concentrations of IgY in vitro and the results of a Halimeter show volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) were reduced to 904 ± 57 ppb at a concentration 40 mg/ml of IgY. The changes of fatty acids of F. nucleatum were determined using GC-MS. The scores for odor index of rat saliva were decreased. The major constituent of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including short-chain acids decreased 46.2% in 10 mg/ml IgY, ammonia decreased 70% in 40 mg/ml IgY, while aldehydes and olefine ketones were almost unchanged. The ELISA assay revealed that IL-6 and TNF-α were decreased after 4 weeks' IgY treatment. Morphometric (X-ray) and histological analyses (HE) showed that IgY reduced alveolar bone loss and collagen fibers became orderly in rat models. As a result, IgY may have the potential to treat periodontitis and halitosis.

Clinical observation on treatment of severe acute pancreatitis by combined administration of Qingyi Decoction and Glauber's salt / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the value of Qingyi Decoction (QYD) and Glauber's salt (GS) for treatment of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-five patients with SAP were randomly assigned to two groups, the treated group (33 patients) and the control group (32 patients). They received the same therapy except that to the patients in the treated group, QYD was given through naso-gastric tube and GS was applied externally.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with those in the control group, the alleviating time of clinical symptoms, such as abdominal pain and distention, time of hospitalization and time of blood amylase recovery in the treated group were shorter, with lesser complications and lower rate of transferring to operation (all with P < 0.05), showing a better efficacy in all aspects, but the mortality in the two groups was not different (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Combined use of QYD and GS has significant therapeutic effect for treatment of SAP.</p>