BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVESNelumbo leaves have been used in traditional medicine to treat bleeding, gastritis, hemorrhoids, and halitosis. However, their mechanisms have not been elucidated.MATERIALS/METHODSThe present study prepared two Nelumbo leaf extracts (NLEs) using water or 50% ethanol. Inflammatory response was induced with LPS treatment, and expression of pro-inflammatory mediators (inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 and nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) productions were assessed. To determine the anti-inflammatory mechanism of NLEs, we measured nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity. Major metabolites of NLEs were also analyzed and quantified.RESULTSNLEs effectively reduced the expression and productions of pro-inflammatory mediators such as IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, PGE2, and NO. NLEs also reduced NF-κB activity by inhibiting inhibitor of NF-κB phosphorylation. Both extracts contained catechin and quercetin, bioactive compounds of NLEs.CONCLUSIONSIn this study, we showed that NLEs could be used to inhibit NF-κB-mediated inflammatory responses. In addition, our data support the idea that NLEs can ameliorate disease conditions involving chronic inflammation.
This study was performed to investigate the effects of academic stress and academic burnout on smartphone addiction in junior high school students. A survey was conducted using a convenient sample drawn from 306 students at six junior high schools in Seoul. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 23.0 program. The results show that 21.6% of students were at risk of smartphone addiction. The high risk of smartphone addiction group used smartphone longer during weekdays and weekends. In addition, the high level of academic stress and academic burnout groups showed higher smartphone addiction scores compared to the lower level of academic stress and academic burnout groups. Smartphone addiction was positively correlated with academic stress and academic burnout. Furthermore, the results show that academic achievement and attending class, academic stress and disengagement, and academic burnout affected smartphone addiction. Therefore, to prevent smartphone addiction in adolescents, academic stress should be reduced in adolescents as well as develop educational programs to help students release or control their academic stress.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.