marrow complete remission (CR), and standard non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) doses of rituximab in untreated CLL patients 4 cleared the bone marrow in only 9% of patients. We, therefore, would offer an alternative focus for future investigation with rituximab. Specifically, efforts should be focused on understanding potential factors such as stromal cell interaction that disrupt apoptosis, 5 CLL cell density, antibody penetration, and decreased access to complement and effector cells within the bone marrow that might prevent efficient clearance of tumor cells in the majority of patients. Such studies will facilitate development of alternative combination strategies to improve bone marrow responses with this promising combination therapy.

Wellcome Trust ERAES Programme, Save the Children.

BackgroundThe vast majority of the population around the world has always used medicinal plants as first source of health care to fight infectious and non infectious diseases. Most of these medicinal plants may have scientific evidence to be considered in general practice.ObjectiveThe aim of this work was to investigate the antioxidant capacities and anti-inflammatory activities of ethanol extracts of leaves of Cassia alata, Eleusine indica, Carica papaya, Eremomastax speciosa and the stem bark of Polyscias fulva, collected in Cameroon.MethodsChemiluminescence was used to analyze the antioxidant activities of plant extracts against hydrogen peroxide or superoxide anion. Comet assays were used to analyze the protection against antioxidant-induced DNA damage induced in white blood cells after treating with hydrogen peroxide. Flow cytometry was used to measure γδ T cells proliferation and anti-inflammatory activity of γδ T cells and of immature dendritic cells (imDC) in the presence of different concentrations of plant extracts.ResultsEthanol extracts showed strong antioxidant properties against both hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion. Cassia alata showed the highest antioxidant activity. The effect of plant extracts on γδ T cells and imDC was evidenced by the dose dependent reduction in TNF-α production in the presence of Cassia alata, Carica papaya, Eremomastax speciosa Eleusine indica, and Polyscias fulva. γδ T cells proliferation was affected to the greatest extent by Polyscias fulva.ConclusionThese results clearly show the antioxidant capacity and anti-inflammatory activities of plant extracts collected in Cameroon. These properties of leaves and stem bark extracts may contribute to the value for these plants in traditional medicine and in general medical practice.

There is a growing interest in therapeutically targeting the inflammatory response that underlies age-related chronic diseases including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Through integrative small RNA sequencing, we show the presence of conserved plant miR159a and miR156c in dried nuts having high complementarity with the mammalian TNF receptor superfamily member 1a (Tnfrsf1a) transcript. We detected both miR159a and miR156c in exosome-like nut nanovesicles (NVs) and demonstrated that such NVs reduce Tnfrsf1a protein and dampen TNF-α signaling pathway in adipocytes. Synthetic single-stranded microRNAs (ss-miRs) modified with 2′- O -methyl group function as miR mimics. In plants, this modification naturally occurs on nearly all small RNAs. 2′- O -methylated ss-miR mimics for miR156c and miR159a decreased Tnfrsf1a protein and inflammatory markers in hypertrophic as well as TNF-α-treated adipocytes and macrophages. miR156c and miR159a mimics effectively suppress inflammation in mice, highlighting a potential role of plant miR-based, single-stranded oligonucleotides in treating inflammatory-associated metabolic diseases.