Polyherbal formulation (PHF) is composed of Artemisia santolinifolia Turcz, Saussurea salicifolia L. and Hippophae rhamnoides L., which mainly used for inflammatory disorders in traditional Mongolian medicine. The aim of the study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of PHF in carrageenan and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced models of inflammation. The total active constituents of 20% ethanol extract of PHF was determined, using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and aluminum chloride reagent, respectively. Inflammation models were induced by 1% carrageenan and LPS 7.5 mg/kg in the experimental groups. The levels of serum tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB-1) were measured in PHF pretreatment groups by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The lungs were harvested and evaluated for histopathological assessment on 12 hours after LPS administration. The content of total phenolic was 28.5±0.12 mg/g and flavonoids 12.4±0.42 mg/g. After 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 min, the data indicate that PHF 75, 150 and 300 mg/kg was significantly effective reducing paw edema volumes induced by carrageenan compared to control (p<0.01). PHF pretreatment significantly reduced levels of serum TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 at 300 minutes after carrageenan injection. Moreover, pretreated with PHF 150 mg/kg groups serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and HMGB-1 were significantly (p<0.01) reduced compared with the control group after LPS injection. It showed less inflammation and change of pulmonary structure compared with the LPS group at 12 hours after LPS injection. From the results of the study, it was demonstrated that PHF had sufficient potential to treat inflammatory disorders by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Surface force analysis with atomic force microscope (AFM) in which a single amino acid residue was mounted on the tip apex of AFM probe was carried out for the first time at the molecular level on titanium dioxide (TiO2) as a representative mineral surface for prebiotic chemical evolution reactions. The force analyses on surfaces with three different crystal orientations revealed that the TiO2 (110) surface has unique characteristics for adsorbing glycine molecules showing different features compared to those on TiO2 (001) and (100). To examine this difference, we investigated thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and the interaction between the PEG cross-linker and the three TiO2 surfaces. Our data suggest that the different single crystal surfaces would provide different chemical evolution field for amino acid molecules.
The mechanism underlying the bioinertness of nonfouling self-assembled monolayers was investigated with protein adsorption experiments, platelet adhesion tests, and surface force measurements with an atomic force microscope. Our force measurements revealed strong repulsion operating between nonfouling SAMs in the range of 4 to 6 nm in PBS buffer solution. In addition, we found that the protein-adsorbing and cell-adhering SAMs did not exhibit such repulsion. We concluded that the repulsion originated from structured interfacial water molecules. Considering the correlation among the above results, we propose that the structured interfacial water with a thickness of 2 to 3 nm (half of the range of the repulsion observed in the surface force measurements) plays an important role in deterring proteins and cells from adsorption or adhesion.
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