Dihydromyricetin Inhibits Pseudorabies Virus Multiplication In Vitro by Regulating NF-κB Signaling Pathway and Apoptosis.

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) infections have caused huge economic losses to the breeding industry worldwide, especially pig husbandry. PRV could threaten human health as an easily ignored zoonotic pathogen. The emergence of new mutants significantly reduced the protective effect of vaccination, indicating an urgent need to develop specific therapeutic drugs for PRV infection. In this study, we found that dihydromyricetin (DMY) could dose-dependently restrain PRV infection in vitro with an IC50 of 161.34 µM; the inhibition rate of DMY at a concentration of 500 µM was 92.16 %. Moreover, the mode of action showed that DMY directly inactivated PRV virion and inhibited viral adsorption and cellular replication. DMY treatment could improve PRV-induced abnormal changes of the NF-κB signaling pathway and excessive inflammatory response through regulation of the contents of IκBα and p-P65/P65 and the transcriptional levels of cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6). Furthermore, DMY promoted the apoptosis of PRV-infected cells through the regulation of the expressions of Bax and Bcl-xl and the transcriptional levels of Caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl, thereby limiting the production of progeny virus. These findings indicated that DMY could be a candidate drug for the treatment of PRV infection.

Antiviral effect of an extract from Kaempferia galanga L. rhizome in mice infected with pseudorabies virus.

Pseudorabies virus (PrV) is one of the most important herpesviruses which can cause severe diseases in many mammals and some avian species. In recent years, repeated outbreaks of pseudorabies worldwide indicated an urgent need for new control measures. The results described in this study demonstrated that an extract prepared from the rhizome of Kaempferia galanga L (Kge), which consisted of flavonoids (2.82%), saccharides (61.37%), phenols (1.22%) and saponins (3.10%), possessed a potent anti-PrV activity. In PK-15 cells, Kge treatment inhibited PrV-induced cell death by more than 90% at a dose of 200 µg/mL. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 55.85 µg/mL. In the PrV-infected mice treated with Kge, the survival rate was up to 60% at day 6 post-infection, while the infected mice without Kge treatment all died. The virus titers in the brains of the Kge-treated infected mice were significantly reduced. Kge treatment also alleviated the severity of the PrV-induced lesions in the heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney. Kge exhibited immune-regulating activity through the regulation of cytokines (IFN-α, IFN-ß, IL-4, IL-6 and TNF-α) in the serum of PrV-infected mice, suggesting that one possible mechanism of anti-PrV activity was through the regulation of immune function. These results suggested that Kge could be a promising drug candidate for treating PrV infections.

The correlation between controlled attenuation parameter and metabolic syndrome and its components in middle-aged and elderly nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients.

This study aims to investigate the correlation between controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in middle-aged and elderly nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients.Middle-aged and elderly patients with NAFLD, who visited our hospital from June 2016 to May 2017, were enrolled as study subjects, whereas middle-aged and elderly patients without liver disease were enrolled as controls in the same period. The prevalence of MetS, MetS components, and the different numbers of MetS components were compared among patients with different CAP values.As the CAP value increased, the prevalence of MetS, MetS components, and the different numbers of MetS components significantly increased. The CAP value was positively correlated with the prevalence of MetS, obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, and the number of MetS components, and was negatively correlated with the prevalence of hypo-high-density-lipoprotein cholesterolemia.CAP values are closely correlated to MetS and its components in middle-aged and elder NAFLD patients. CAP may be an indicator of risk of MetS and the severity of metabolic disorders in middle-aged and elderly NAFLD patients.