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A 42-d trial was conducted with 252 broiler chickens (d 1 of age, 38.8 +/- 1.3 g of BW) to determine the effects of Forsythia suspensa extract on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and antioxidant activities under high ambient temperature (32 +/- 1 degrees C). The feeding program consisted of a starter diet from d 1 to 21 of age and a finisher diet from d 22 to 42 of age. Dietary treatments included a negative control group (NC) fed a cornsoybean meal based diet without vitamin C or Forsythia suspensa extract, a positive control group fed a diet with 200 mg of vitamin C/kg, and a test group (FS) fed with 100 mg of Forsythia suspensa extract/kg. There were 14 cages per treatment and 6 birds per cage during the study. Birds had free access to diets and water during the entire period. Body weight and feed intake were measured at d 21 and 42. Blood and tissue samples were collected at d 21 and 42 for assay of antioxidant indices. Growth performance did not differ among treatment groups during the starter period. In the finisher phase, birds in FS had greater (P < 0.05) average daily gain, feed conversion, and apparent digestibility of energy, CP, calcium, and phosphorus than birds in NC. Furthermore, birds in FS had greater (P < 0.05) total antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase activity and lower (P < 0.05) malondialdehyde activity in the serum than birds in NC. The FS birds had greater (P < 0.05) muscle superoxide dismutase activity and lower (P < 0.05) malondialdehyde than NC birds. During the entire period, hepatic superoxide dismutase activity of FS birds was greater (P < 0.05) than that of NC birds. Dietary supplementation with Forsythia suspensa extract can enhance nutrient digestibility and growth performance possibly by reducing oxidative stress of broiler chickens under high ambient temperatures.

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The objectives of this study were to investigate the radical-scavenging activity and protective potential of Sophora flavescens from oxidative damage by the radical generator 2,2-azobis(2-amidinopropane)dihydrochloride (AAPH) in renal epithelial LLC-PK 1 cells and to identify the active components using the bioassay-linked fractionation method. The MeOH extract and fractions of CH 2 Cl 2 , BuOH, and H 2 O from S. flavescens showed 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging effects in a dose-dependent manner (pϽ0.01),whereas only the BuOH and CH 2 Cl 2 fractions showed protective effects against LLC-PK 1 cellular damage induced by AAPH in a dose-dependent manner (pϽ0.01). In particular, the BuOH fraction had the most effective (pϽ0.05) antioxidative capacity. Employing a bioassay-linked HPLC/MS method, the active constituents from the BuOH fraction of S. flavescens were isolated and characterized as sophoraflavanone G and kurarinone with potent antioxidant effects against the DPPH radical, with IC 50 values of 5.26 and 7.73 m mg/ml, respectively. Moreover, the compounds dose dependently recovered cell viability decreased by AAPH treatment (pϽ0.01), suggesting their protective roles against cellular oxidative damage. The results of this study suggest that S. flavescens has excellent antioxidative and kidney-protective potential and that flavonoids from S. flavescens, i.e., sophoraflavanone G and kurarinone, are the active constituents.

An efficient extraction of anthocyanin from purple corn (Zea mays L.) was investigated in this paper. Tristimulus colourimetry was used to evaluate the process quantitatively and qualitatively. Purple corn anthocyanin was extracted with 1 n HCl-95% ethanol (15:85, v ⁄ v) at different extraction temperatures (30-70°C), times (60-120 min) and solid-liquid ratio (1:20-1:40). The combined effects of extraction conditions on anthocyanin yield and colour attributes were studied using a three-level three-factor Box-Behnken design. The results showed that the highest yield of anthocyanin from purple corn (6.02 mg g )1 ) were obtained at 70°C, extraction time 73 min, and solid-liquid ratio 1:25. Three kinds of non-acylated anthocyanins were detected and characterised as cyanidin-3-glucoside, pelargonidin-3-glucoside and peonidin-3-glucoside by HPLC-MS.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are considered to be important regulators in breast cancer. In the present study, the potential mechanisms and functional roles of lncRNA PSMG3-antisense (AS)1 were investigated in vivo and in vitro. The relative expression levels of lncRNA PSMG3-AS1 and microRNA (miR)-143-3p were determined using reverse-transcription quantitative PCR. The protein expression levels of collagen type 1 alpha 1 (COL1A1) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were obtained using western blot analysis. Bioinformatics analysis was used to identify the relationship between PSMG3-AS1, miR-143-3p and COL1A1. Colony forming and Cell Counting Kit-8 assays were used to detect cell proliferation. Transwell and wound-healing assays were used to determine cell migration. The results of the present study demonstrated that PSMG3-AS1 expression was increased in breast cancer tumor tissues and cell lines, and that of miR-143-3p was decreased. Knockdown of PSMG3-AS1 increased the level of miR-143-3p expression, which led to the mitigation of proliferation and migration capacity in breast carcinoma cells. Additionally, PSMG3-AS1 knockdown was demonstrated to reduce the mRNA and protein expression levels of COL1A1. miR-143-3p mimic transfection reduced proliferation and migration in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines. Furthermore, miR-143-3p inhibition significantly increased the proliferation and migration of breast cancer cells compared with the negative control group. The mRNA and protein expression levels of PCNA were reduced in the MCF-7 cell line when transfected with miR-143-3p mimics and si-PSMG3-AS1. However, PCNA expression was increased in cells transfected with a miR-143-3p inhibitor. In conclusion, the results of the present study identified a novel lncRNA PSMG3-AS1, which serves as a sponge for miR-143-3p in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. PSMG3-AS1 may be used as a potential therapeutic target gene in breast cancer treatment.