Organization, 1980; IARC, 1987). Exposures to inorganic arsenic from medicinal (Sommers and McManus, 1953;Frost, 1967), environmental (Neubauor, 1947;Tseng et al.. 1968;Yeh et al., 1968;Yeh, 1973; Cebnran et al., 1983) and occupational (Roth, 1957;Nelson et al., 1973;Brown and Rabinowitz, 1979) sources have been found to be associated with the development of skin cancer. Blackfoot disease (BFD) is a unique peripheral vascular disorder confined to an area on the south-west coast of Taiwan (Wu et al., 1961). The prevalence of BFD has been found to increase with the arsenic content of drinking water in a dose-response relation (Chen and Wu, 1962). The prevalence of skin cancer, hyperkeratosis and hyperpigmentation in the BFD endemic area was as high as 10.6, 71.0 and 183.5 per 1000 respectively (Tseng et al., 1968). A dose-response relation was also observed between the occurrence of skin cancer and the arsenic concentration in drinking water (Tseng et al., 1968;Tseng, 1977;Chen et al., 1985 Chen et al., , 1988Wu et al., 1989;Chen et al., 1992). Furthermore, a significant ecological correlation beween the arsenic level in well water and ageadjusted mortality from skin cancer in 314 townships all over Taiwan island was reported in a recent study (Chen and Wang, 1990). All these findings were obtained in ecological correlation studies on the association between arsenic exposure and skin cancer prevalence studies at the village level. They might be subject to the bias of ecological fallacy, i.e. the association observed at the village level may not hold at the individual level.Artesian wells have been used in the BFD endemic area since the decade 1900-10. In the 1960s a tap water supply Correspondence: C-J Chen Received 31 January 1994; revised 26 July 1994: accepted 16 August 1994 system was implemented in the endemic area, but the coverage was not high until the 1970s. This study was camred out at the individual level to assess the prevalence of skin cancer among residents in the BFD-endemic area who had not drunk high-arsenic artesian well water for more than 15 years.Despite a large number of residents having consumed higharsenic artesian well water, only a small fraction were affected with skin cancer (Tseng et al., 1968). Furthermore, residents with the same exposure to high-arsenic artesian well water were of different ages at the onset of skin cancer. Such discrepancies in individual susceptibility suggest the existence of some other co-factors in the induction of arsenic-related skin cancer. Multiple risk factors other than chronic arsenic exposure were also explored in this study. Material and methodsStud} area Three villages, Homei, Fuhsin and Hsinming of Putai Township on the south-western coast of Taiwan island, were selected as the study area. These three villages include approximately 5% of the total population of the BFD endemic area. BFD was hyperendemic in this area with a prevalence as high as 13.6% in Homei, 9.6% in Fuhsin and 10.3% in Hsinming (Wu et al., 1961). Residents in the area ha...
Aim To explore the effects of Radix Sophorae Flavescentis carbonisata-based carbon dots (RSFC-CDs) on an ethanol-induced acute gastric ulcer rat model. Methods The structure, optical properties, functional groups and elemental composition of RSFC-CDs synthesized by one-step pyrolysis were characterized. The gastric protective effects of RSFC-CDs were evaluated and confirmed by applying a rat model of ethanol-induced acute gastric ulcers. The underlying mechanisms were investigated through the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signalling pathway and oxidative stress. Results RSFC-CDs with a diameter ranging from 2–3 nm mainly showed gastric protective effects by reducing the levels of NF-κB, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) to inhibit ethanol-induced inflammation and oxidative stress. Conclusion RSFC-CDs have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects, making them promising for application in ethanol-induced gastric injury.
Yinzhihuang granules (YZHG) is a patented Chinese medicine for the treatment of hepatitis B. This study aimed to investigate the intrinsic mechanisms of YZHG in the treatment of hepatitis B and to provide new evidence and insights for its clinical application. The chemical compounds of YZHG were searched in the CNKI and PUBMED databases, and their putative targets were then predicted through a search of the SuperPred and Swiss Target Prediction databases. In addition, the targets of hepatitis B were obtained from TTD, PharmGKB and DisGeNET. The abovementioned data were visualized using Cytoscape 3.7.1, and network construction identified a total of 13 potential targets of YZHG in the treatment of hepatitis B. Molecular docking verification showed that CDK6, CDK2, TP53 and BRCA1 might be strongly correlated with hepatitis B treatment. Furthermore, GO and KEGG analyses indicated that the treatment of hepatitis B by YZHG might be related to positive regulation of transcription, positive regulation of gene expression, the hepatitis B pathway and the viral carcinogenesis pathway. Network pharmacology intuitively shows the multicomponent, multitarget and multichannel pharmacological effects of YZHG in the treatment of hepatitis B and provides a scientific basis for its mechanism of action. The cause of hepatitis B is hepatitis B virus (HBV), which is a double-stranded, circular, incompletely closed DNA virus 1-3. Antiviral therapy involving pegylated interferon or nucleoside analogs (lamivudine, adefovir, entecavir, tenofovir disoproxil, or tenofovir alafenamide) is currently provided clinically to patients with hepatitis B to inhibit HBV DNA replication and improve liver inflammation and fibrosis 4,5 , but this treatment protocol requires patients to be treated indefinitely and has a relatively low cure rate. Researchers are constantly searching for more effective drugs. In addition, the long-term use of nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) might lead to drug resistance and renal damage and cannot reverse liver fibrosis. Therefore, an increasing number of people have begun to focus on Chinese herbal medicines and seek safer and more cost-effective supplementary drugs for hepatitis B 6-8. Chinese herbal medicines have a long history of use in China. In recent years, researchers have continuously found effective pharmaceutical ingredients and targets for the treatment of diseases from Chinese herbal medicines. These results show that Chinese herbal medicines constitute extremely rich resources, and the discovery of new medicine sources from Chinese herbal medicine is becoming a major method of drug development. Yinzhihuang granules (YZHG) can clear away heat and toxic materials, promote diuresis and eliminate jaundice. The prescription is composed of "Yinchenhao Decoction" (Han, Zhongjing Zhang, "Treatise on Febrile Diseases") and "Huanglianjiedu Decoction" (Tang, Tao Wang, "Essential Secrets from Outside the Metropolis"). The YZHG
Introduction:The charcoal processed product of Armeniacae Semen Amarum (ASA), ASA Carbonisata (ASAC), has long been used for its anti-inflammatory effects. However, the material basis and mechanism of action of ASAC remain unclear. Aim: To explore the anti-inflammatory effects of Armeniacae Semen Amarum Carbonisataderived carbon dots (ASAC-CDs). Methods: The physicochemical properties of ASAC-CDs including morphology, optical properties, functional groups were characterized by a series of methods, mainly including electron microscopy, optical technology and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The antiinflammatory effect of ASAC-CDs was evaluated and confirmed using acute lung injury (ALI) induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in rats. Results:The ASAC-CDs ranged from 1.5 to 5.5 nm in diameter, with a quantum yield of 3.17%. ASAC-CDs alleviated LPS-induced inflammation, as demonstrated by reducing the levels of IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α and increasing the contents of IL-10 in rat serum. More interestingly, ASAC-CDs reduce the content of MDA and MPO and increase the activity of SOD and the content of GSH, indicating the antioxidant activity of ASAC-CDs. Conclusion:These results demonstrate the remarkable anti-inflammatory effects of ASAC-CDs against ALI induced by LPS, which provide an important basis for the application of ASAC-CDs in clinical anti-pneumonia, and lay an experimental foundation for the research and development of novel nano-drugs.
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