(Osbeck) M.C.Johnst., an evergreen tender shrub of the Rhamnaceae, has been used as folk medicine and in traditional tea. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the free radical scavenging activity and cell cytotoxicity of branches. The ethyl acetate fraction and-butanol fraction were identified to be rich in phenolic compounds exhibiting impressive antioxidant activity after stepwise partitioning of solvent fractions of the methanol extracts of branches (MB). Among the different human cancer cells tested, maximum cytotoxicity was found in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells with MB, chloroform, ethyl acetate,-butanol and water fraction. A significant (<0.05) correlation between antioxidant activities and cytotoxicity exists in each fraction. These results suggest the branches of can be a valuable source of antioxidants, and they can serve as natural anticancer constituents in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications.
Five extraction conditions (AE, autoclave extraction; OE, oven extraction; HWSE, hot water and sonication extraction; HWASE, hot water acidified with 0.5% (v/v) acetic acid and sonication extraction; and BE, boiling extraction) were examined to compare the effects of different hot water extraction methods on the antioxidant properties of blueberries. The extraction yields of the AE, OE, HWSE, HWASE, and BE were 7.94%, 8.35%, 8.55% 9.15%, and 8.50%, respectively. The polyphenol and flavonoid contents of AE were 3.47 mg GAE/g and 1.59 mg RE/g, respectively, which were highest centents among others. Those of OE were ranked second to the highest. The total anthocyanin content of HWSE (5.29 mg/g) was significantly higher than that of others whereas that of AE showed the lowest content (0.96 mg/g). The order of ABTS radical and alkyl radical scavenging activities was as follows: AE > BE > OE > HWSE > HWASE. The antioxidant properties were considerably correspondent with the total polyphenol and flavonoid content. DPPH radical scavenging activity was quite high in HWSE, AE, and BE extraction, however, there were no significant differences among the five extraction methods in the aspect of Fe2+ ion chelating activities. Moreover, AE showed the highest SOD activity, and protected the dermal fibroblast the best against H2O2-induced cytotoxicity. In conclusion, it was suggested that the autoclave extraction (AE) would be the most effective method for preparing blueberry hot water extracts with relatively high antioxidant activities.
Recently, liver damage contributes to big percentage of the morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Excessive intake of alcohol is one of the major causes of liver injury. When liver injury is repeated and becomes chronic, it leads to development of fibrosis and cirrhosis. In the liver, TGF-β is a profibrogenic cytokine, which participates in various critical events cause liver fibrosis. Seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis) is a common traditional Chinese medicine and has been widely used for centuries. Seahorse has been known to have a variety of bioactivities, such as anti-oxidant, anti-fatigue, and anti-tumor. Peptide is one of the main compounds of seahorse. In this study, we isolated enzymatic hydrolysate from seahorse H. abdominalis by alcalase hydrolysis and investigated the effect of the hydrolysate on liver injury. In the present in vitro studies, the hydrolysate increases cell viability of Chang cells and protects Huh7 cells from ethanol toxicity. In addition, the hydrolysate inhibits TGF-β-induced responses. In vivo studies show that the pretreatment of hydrolysate reduces alcohol-induced increases of serum Glutamic oxaloacetic acid transaminase and Glutamic pyruvate transaminase activities and increases liver weight and body weight. These results suggest that seahorse may have a hepatoprotective effect.
Hepatitis B virus infection can cause hepatic fibrosis leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. However the mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, we found that Hepatitis B virus X-protein (HBx) increases vimentin, fibronectin, slug, snail and NOX4 expression. Because NOX4-mediated reactive oxygen species can increase slug and snail, which can induce fibrosis, HBx may be a key regulator of hepatic fibrosis development via NOX4 induction. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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