[Effects of dihydromyricetin on the migration and invasion of human gastric cancer MKN45 cells and its mechanism].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of dihydromyricetin (DHM) on the migration and invasion of human gastric cancer MKN45 cells and its mechanism and provide experimental basis for the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). METHODS: MKN45 cells were pre-treated with DHM (0,10,20,30,40,50 µmol/L) for 24 and 48 hours respectively. Cell viability treated with different concentrations of DHM was detected by Cell Counting kit (CCK-8) assay, cell migration was measured by wound healing assay, and cell invasion was tested by Transwell assay. Cells were pre-treated with DHM or co-treated with c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway inhibitor SP600125, then, the levels of migration- and invasion-related proteins were tested by Western blot. RESULTS: DHM concentration-dependently inhibited cell migration and invasion and downregulated matrix metalloprotein -2 (MMP-2) and phosphorylated JNK (pJNK) expression in MKN45 cells, followed by upregulation of E-cadherin and downregulation of Vimentin. Co-treatment with DHM and JNK inhibitor SP600125 further suppressed MMP-2 expression and cell invasion in MKN45 cells, suggesting that DHM inhibited MKN45 cells metastasis through JNK/MMP-2 pathway. CONCLUSION: DHM can inhibit cell migration and invasion in human gastric cancer MKN45 cells through downregulating MMP-2 expression via JNK signaling pathway and reverse epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), implying that DHM could have the potential to serve as an anti-metastatic agent for treating gastric cancer.

[Intervention effect of trillium tschonoskii maxim extract solution on myocardial injury in diabetic rats].

OBJECTIVE: To study the protective effect and the underlying mechanism of trillium tschonoskii maxim (TTM, Traditional Chinese Medicine) on myocardial injury of diabetic rats induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin (STZ), which will lay a theoretical foundation for further exploring its pharmacological effect. METHODS: SD male rats received high fat diet and STZ (35 mg/kg) via tail vein injection were modeled into diabetic rats, the levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in serum, the contents of superoxide (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX),malondialdehyde (MDA) in cardiac tissues, and cardiac myocyte apoptosis index were tested in all groups after the last administration. RESULTS: Compared with that in the model group, SOD and GPX activities were significantly increased and levels of BNP、cTnI、cardiac weight index (CWI)、apoptosis index (AI) were decreased in TTM and metformin (Met) group. The effects of TTM were better than traditional medicine metformin in enhancing GPX activity and decreasing collagen level. CONCLUSIONS: TTM can inhibit myocardial apoptosis by reducing oxidative stress responses in diabetic rats, which can slow down collagen fiber production to protect the myocardial cell injury.

[Effects of Se-riched soybean peptide on antioxidant function in rats of fatty liver caused by high-fat diet].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of Se-riched soybean peptide (SSP) on antioxidant function in rats of fatty liver caused by high-fat diet. METHODS: Forty Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups randomly and fed with standard diet and water (NC), high-fat diet and water (HC), high-fat diet and SSP (0.1 g/d) (SeH), standard diet and SSP (0.1 g/d) (SeN) respectively. After 10 weeks, the rats were killed to investigate the pimelosis level in liver tissues by Sudan III staining and the expression of hepatic GRP78 by immunohistochemical analysis. We also analyzed the changes of liver function, blood lipid, the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in livers and serum. RESULTS: The pimelosis level, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), MDA contents and the expression of GRP78 in HC group were significantly higher than those in NC, SeN, SeH groups. The activities of GSH-Px and SOD in liver and serum were markedly up-regulated in SeH (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between NC and SeN groups. CONCLUSION: SSP can improve liver cell injury and the antioxidant functions in rats with fatty liver effectively and decrease the expression of GRP78 in liver.

Anti-fungal efficacy of polybutylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles of allicin and comparison with pure allicin.

Although garlic has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for its medical properties for thousands of years, investigations into its mode of action are relatively recent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro anti-fungal efficacy of the active principle of garlic, pure allicin and polybutylcyanoacrylate (PBCA) nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with allicin. Pure allicin was prepared by reacting synthetic alliin with a stabilized process of the garlic enzyme alliinase. PBCA NPs were prepared by emulsion polymerization method and pure allicin was wrapped into it. The in vitro efficacy of pure allicin and PBCA-allicin NPs to Candida albicans, Cryputococcus neoformans, Trichophyton rubum, Microsporum gypseum, M. canis and Epidermophyton floccosum was examined and evaluated by MIC and MFC. The MIC of PBCA-allicin NPs to C. albicans (2.93 x 10(-2)mg/ml), T. rubum (1.46 x 10(-2)mg/ml) and E. floccosum (1.46 x 10(-2)mg/ml) was significantly lower than that of pure allicin (5.86 x 10(-2)mg/ml, 2.93 x 10(-2)mg/ml, 2.93 x 10(-2)mg/ml, respectively); accordingly, the MFC of PBCA-allicin NPs to C. albicans (5.86 x 10(-2)mg/ml), T. rubum (2.93 x 10(-2)mg/ml), E. floccosum (2.93 x 10(-2)mg/ml) and M. canis (2.93 x 10(-2)mg/ml) also decreased dramatically. These favourable results indicated that pure allicin has stronger in vitro anti-fungal efficacy to six tested fungi than alliinase and alliin. Moreover, it has improved significantly after pure allicin being wrapped into PBCA NP, which may be due to the NP's good prolonged release effect and nano-scale dimensions.