Intraocular pressure-lowering effect of Cordyceps cicadae mycelia extract in a glaucoma rat model.

Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. This study evaluates the reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) induced by C. cicadae mycelia extract in a steroid-induced rat model of glaucoma. Cordyceps cicadae mycelia is a well-known and valued traditional Chinese herbal medicine. C. cicadae mycelia were cultured using a liquid fermentation technique. The harvested C. cicadae mycelia were then lyophilized and extracted with two solvents, water and ethanol. The aqueous extract (CCM-DW) and ethanolic extract (CCM-EtOH) of the mycelia were obtained through lyophilization. Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 6 in each group): a normal group, a control group, and experimental groups treated with CCM-DW, or CCM-EtOH (both at 50 mg/kg/body weight). Except for those in the normal group, all rats received a subconjunctival injection of betamethasone to induce high IOP. The rats in the experimental groups received a daily administration of CCM by oral gavage for four consecutive weeks. IOP reduction is the known treatment for glaucoma. The results revealed that steroid treatment caused a significant increase in the animals' IOP (control group). Elevated IOP decreased significantly after treatment with CCM-DW and CCM-EtOH (p < 0.01), and CCM-DW was more effective than CCM-EtOH. CCM-DW and CCM-EtOH were capable of causing significant decreases in high IOP-induced lesions in pathological studies in which it was shown that the efficacy of CCM-DW surpassed that of CCM-EtOH. After CCM-DW administration for 28 days, there were significant decreases in malondialdehyde and lactate dehydrogenase levels and significant increases in catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase levels. In summary, C. cicadae mycelia may be beneficial for preventing or treating glaucoma due to its significant IOP-lowering and antioxidant activities.

Protective effect of Corchorus capsularis L. leaves on ethanol-induced acute gastric mucosal lesion in rats.

In Taiwan, Corchorus capsularis L. has long been cultivated and the leaves are consumed as edible vegetable. This study is to investigate the protection effect of extract of C. capsularis leaves (ECC) on ethanol-induced acute gastric mucosal lesion (AGML) in rats. The results of phytochemical determination in ECC for total polyphenol, flavonoid and polysaccharide were 59.88 ± 0.61 mg/g, 86.39 ± 18.0 mg/g and 320.89 ± 6.99 mg/g, respectively. ECC showed significant activity of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging with IC50 of 0.25 mg/ml. In vivo studies, Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into five groups: sham, vehicle (control) and low-, medium-, and high-dose ECC (LECC, MECC, HECC; 200, 400, and 1,000 mg/kg/day, respectively). ECC was able to decrease significantly the ulcer index (UI) caused by 80% ethanol in a dose dependent manner. There was no significant effect on growth trend and food intake rate after the administration of ECC in the experimental period. The serum lipid parameters in ECC groups revealed significant increase in glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dilmutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and a decrease in malondialdehyde (MDA). Significant amelioration on pathological lesion score was found in ECC groups compared with the control group (P<0.05). The overall results indicate that ECC has protective effects on ethanol-induced AGML in rats, which could be associated with its antioxidant activity.

Autophagy and apoptotic machinery caused by Polygonum cuspidatum extract in cisplatin­resistant human oral cancer CAR cells.

Polygonum cuspidatum (Hu Zhang) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has been revealed to exert anticancer, anti­angiogenesis, anti­human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), anti­hepatitis B virus, anti­microbial, anti­inflammatory, and neuro­protective bio­activities. However, the effect of P. cuspidatum extract (PCE) on drug­resistant human oral cancer cells regarding cell death is not fully understood yet. The present study was undertaken to explore the induction of autophagic and apoptotic cell death and to investigate their underlying molecular mechanisms in PCE­treated cisplatin­resistant human oral cancer CAR cells. Our results revealed that PCE was determined via HPLC analytic method, and it was revealed that resveratrol may be a major compound in PCE. The data also demonstrated that PCE reduced CAR cell viability in a concentration­ and time­dependent response via an MTT assay. PCE had an extremely low toxicity in human normal gingival fibroblasts (HGF). Autophagic and apoptotic cell death was found after PCE treatment by morphological determination. PCE was revealed to induce autophagy as determined using acridine orange (AO), LC3­GFP, monodansylcadaverine (MDC) and LysoTracker Red staining in CAR cells. In addition, PCE was revealed to induce apoptosis in CAR cells via 4',6­diamidino­2­phenylindole (DAPI)/terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick­end labeling (TUNEL) double staining. PCE significantly stimulated caspase­9 and ­3 activities as revealed using caspase activity assays. PCE markedly increased the protein levels of Atg5, Atg7, Atg12, Beclin­1, LC3, Bax and cleaved caspase­3, while it decreased the protein expression of Bcl­2 in CAR cells as determined by western blotting. In conclusion, our findings are the first to suggest that PCE may be potentially efficacious for the treatment of cisplatin­resistant human oral cancer.

Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) triggers mitochondria-mediated apoptotic machinery in human cisplatin-resistant oral cancer CAR cells.

Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), a component of dietary food, possesses a powerful anticancer activity. Previous studies have shown that BITC produces a large number of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increases intracellular Ca2+ release from endoplasmic reticulum (ER), leading to the activation of the apoptotic mechanism in tumor cells. However, there is not much known regarding the inhibitory effect of BITC on cisplatin-resistant oral cancer cells. The purpose of this study was to examine the anticancer effect and molecular mechanism of BITC on human cisplatin-resistant oral cancer CAR cells. Our results demonstrated that BITC significantly reduced cell viability of CAR cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. BITC was found to cause apoptotic cell shrinkage and DNA fragmentation by morphologic observation and TUNEL/DAPI staining. Pretreatment of cells with a specific inhibitor of pan-caspase significantly reduced cell death caused by BITC. Colorimetric assay analyses also showed that the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 were elevated in BITC-treated CAR cells. An increase in ROS production and loss of mitochondria membrane potential (ΔΨm) occurred due to BITC exposure and was observed via flow cytometric analysis. Western blotting analyses demonstrated that the protein levels of Bax, Bad, cytochrome c, and cleaved caspase-3 were up-regulated, while those of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and pro-caspase-9 were down-regulated in CAR cells after BITC challenge. In sum, the mitochondria-dependent pathway might contribute to BITC-induced apoptosis in human cisplatin-resistant oral cancer CAR cells.

Effects of Lycium barbarum (goji berry) on dry eye disease in rats.

Lycium barbarum (goji berry) has long been used as a food and traditional herbal medicine. This study aimed to investigate the beneficial effect of the goji berry on dry eye disease in rats. Male Sprague­Dawley rats with induced dry eye disease were randomly assigned to four groups: Vehicle (control), low­dose goji berry extract [GBE; 250 mg/kg/body weight (bw)], median­dose GBE (350 mg/kg/bw), and high­dose GBE (500 mg/kg/bw). Three methods, Schirmer's test, tear break­up time (BUT) measurement and keratoconjunctival fluorescein staining, were used to evaluate the effect of GBE on symptoms of dry eye disease experienced by the rats. The results of the present study revealed that both the Schirmer's test score and tear BUT significantly increased following 1 week of GBE administration. Furthermore, the severity of the keratoconjunctival staining decreased significantly. In addition, the results suggested that administration of GBE may ameliorate dry eye disease symptoms in a dose­dependent manner. There were no mortalities and no apparent abnormal histopathology changes in the liver or kidney tissues of rats administered GBE for 21 consecutive days. Polysaccharides and betaine present in GBE may have important effects in alleviating dry eye disease induced by oxidative stress and inflammation. In conclusion, the goji berry is a safe, functional food with beneficial effects in alleviating dry eye disease.

Inhibitory effect of burdock leaves on elastase and tyrosinase activity.

Burdock (Arctium lappa L.) leaves generate a considerable amount of waste following burdock root harvest in Taiwan. To increase the use of burdock leaves, the present study investigated the optimal methods for producing burdock leaf extract (BLE) with high antioxidant polyphenolic content, including drying methods and solvent extraction concentration. In addition, the elastase and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of BLE was examined. Burdock leaves were dried by four methods: Shadow drying, oven drying, sun drying and freeze-drying. The extract solution was then subjected to total polyphenol content analysis and the method that produced BLE with the highest amount of total antioxidant components was taken forward for further analysis. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-pycrylhydrazyl scavenging, antielastase and antityrosinase activity of the BLE were measured to enable the evaluation of the antioxidant and skin aging-associated enzyme inhibitory activities of BLE. The results indicated that the total polyphenolic content following extraction with ethanol (EtOH) was highest using the freeze-drying method, followed by the oven drying, shadow drying and sun drying methods. BLE yielded a higher polyphenol content and stronger antioxidant activity as the ratio of the aqueous content of the extraction solvent used increased. BLE possesses marked tyrosinase and elastase inhibitory activities, with its antielastase activity notably stronger compared with its antityrosinase activity. These results indicate that the concentration of the extraction solvent was associated with the antioxidant and skin aging-associated enzyme inhibitory activity of BLE. The reactive oxygen species scavenging theory of skin aging may explain the tyrosinase and elastase inhibitory activity of BLE. In conclusion, the optimal method for obtaining BLE with a high antioxidant polyphenolic content was freeze-drying followed by 30-50% EtOH extraction. In addition, the antielastase and antityrosinase activities of the BLE produced may be aid in the development of skincare products with antiwrinkle and skin-evening properties.

Kaempferol induces ATM/p53-mediated death receptor and mitochondrial apoptosis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Kaempferol is a member of the flavonoid compounds found in vegetables and fruits. It is shown to exhibit biological impact and anticancer activity, but no report exists on the angiogenic effect of kaempferol and induction of cell apoptosis in vitro. In this study, we investigated the role of kaempferol on anti-angiogenic property and the apoptotic mechanism of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Our results demonstrated that kaempferol decreased HUVEC viability in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Kaempferol also induced morphological changes and sub-G1 phase cell population (apoptotic cells). Kaempferol triggered apoptosis of HUVECs as detecting by DNA fragmentation, comet assay and immunofluorescent staining for activated caspase-3. The caspase signals, including caspase-8, -9 and -3, were time-dependently activated in HUVECs after kaempferol exposure. Furthermore, pre-treatment with a specific inhibitor of caspase-8 (Z-IETD-FMK) significantly reduced the activity of caspase-8, -9 and -3, indicating that extrinsic pathway is a major signaling pathway in kaempferol-treated HUVECs. Importantly, kaempferol promoted reactive oxygen species (ROS) evaluated using flow cytometric assay in HUVECs. We further investigated the upstream extrinsic pathway and showed that kaempferol stimulated death receptor signals [Fas/CD95, death receptor 4 (DR4) and DR5] through increasing the levels of phosphorylated p53 and phosphorylated ATM pathways in HUVECs, which can be individually confirmed by N-acetylcysteine (NAC), ATM specific inhibitor (caffeine) and p53 siRNA. Based on these results, kaempferol-induced HUVEC apoptosis was involved in an ROS-mediated p53/ATM/death receptor signaling. Kaempferol might possess therapeutic effects on cancer treatment in anti-vascular targeting.

Reduced threshold of optically pumped amplified spontaneous emission and narrow line-width electroluminescence at cutoff wavelength from bilayer organic waveguide devices.

We present a detailed study of the optically and electrically pumped emission in the BSB-Cz/PVK bilayer waveguide devices. By optical pumping we demonstrate that PVK as a spacer between fluorescent BSB-Cz and ITO electrode allows the significant reduction of the threshold for amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of BSB-Cz. The simulation provides a better understanding of how the PVK thickness affects the waveguide mode field distribution and hence the ASE threshold of BSB-Cz. On the other hand, the BSB-Cz/PVK bilayer OLED exhibits the external quantum efficiency of >1% and anisotropic electroluminescence with spectrally narrowed edge emission at the cutoff wavelength controlled by the BSB-Cz thickness. When tuning the cutoff wavelength to match the peak gain of BSB-Cz, we demonstrate an intense, particularly narrow edge emission (~5 nm) without obvious degradation of efficiency at a high current density of 1000 mA/cm2, suggesting a reliable device performance for high-power applications and further exploration of electrically-pumped ASE.

Multi-wavelength-switchable and Uniform Erbium-doped Fiber Laser Using Unbalanced In-line Sagnac Interferometer.

We have proposed and demonstrated a multi-wavelength-switchable and uniform erbium-doped fiber laser using unbalanced in-line Sagnac Interferometer. By employing this simple scheme and through the proper control of the polarization controller, we were able to achieve uniform multi-wavelength operation of up to 84 laser lines with the signal-to- noise ratio over 20dB and 0.8-nm wavelength switching at room temperature. Again, we generated more than 300 lines, 0.1-m wavelength switching and good power stability (