Adaptogens are harmless herbs which have pharmaceutical benefits due to their balancing, regulative and tonic functions. However, despite these medicinal effects, the antioxidant potential of adaptogens is rarely mentioned. This study investigated the antioxidant potential of 3 adaptogen extracts, Rhodiola rosea (golden root), Eleutherococcus senticosis (Siberian ginseng) and Emblica officinalis (Indian gooseberry, Amla). The results of this study showed that R. rosea had the highest potential for singlet oxygen scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, ferric reducing, ferrous chelating and protein thiol protection than either of the other 2 extracts. E. senticosis, on the other hand, showed the best potential for hypochlorite scavenging. In addition, the polyphenol content in the 3 adaptogen extracts followed the order: R. rosea, E. officinalis and E. senticosis. Our data suggest that the antioxidant potential of the 3 adaptogen extracts was proportional to their respective polyphenol content. The supplementation of adaptogen extracts containing high levels of polyphenols may not only have adaptogen properties, but may decrease the risk of complications induced by oxidative stress.

Emblica Officinalis (also known as Amla or Indian Gooseberry), a natural, traditional and functional food in Asia, has physiological benefits such as hepato-, cyto- and radio- protection, as well as hypolipidemic effects. In addition, Amla often functions as a potent antioxidant due to the high level of ascorbic acid (ranging from 1,100 to 1,700 mg/100 g of fruit) in its fruit. The aim of this study was to determine whether supplementation with Amla extract could reduce oxidative stress in patients with uremia. The findings show that supplementation with Amla extract for 4 months reduced the plasma oxidative marker, 8-iso-prostaglandin, (M0 vs. M4 = 1415 +/- 1234 pg/ml vs. 750 +/- 496 pg/ml, p < 0.05) and increased plasma total antioxidant status (TAS) (M0 vs. M4 = 2.32 +/- 0.14 mM vs. 2.55 +/- 0.24 mM, p < 0.05) in uremic patients. On the other hand, there were no significant differences observed in liver function (GOP and GPT), renal function (creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and uric acid), diabetic index (plasma glucose and adiponectin) and atherogenic index (LDL/HDL ratio, total cholesterol and homocysteine) in patients treated with Amla for 4 months. Our data suggest that Amla supplementation may increase plasma antioxidant power and decrease oxidative stress in uremic patients. However, Amla extract did not influence hepatic or renal function, or diabetic and atherogenic indices in uremic patients.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) can worsen the prognosis or survival in prostate cancer (PC) patients. We investigated whether glycemic control impacts mortality in PC patients with existing diabetes. Methods: All PC patients with or without preexisting DM were enrolled from 2006 to 2017. Mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values (<7%, 7%-9%, ≥9%) were used to represent glycemic control. Major outcomes included all-cause, PC-specific, and non-PC mortalities. Statistical analyses were performed using Cox regression models with adjusted mean HbA1c and other related confounders. Results: A total of 831 PC patients were enrolled (non-DM group, n = 690; DM group with a record of mean HbA1c values, n = 141). Results showed that the DM group with mean HbA1c level ≥ 9% (n = 14) had significantly increased risk for all-cause and non-PC mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 3.09; 95% CIs, 1.15-8.32; p=0.025 and HR, 5.49; 95% CIs, 1.66-18.16; p = 0.005, respectively), but not for PC-specific mortality (HR, 1.03; 95% CIs, 0.13-8.44; p = 0.975), compared with the non-DM group. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that PC patients with DM who had a mean HbA1c level ≥ 9% had higher risks of all-cause and non-PC mortality compared with non-DM subjects. Further large and long-term studies are needed to verify the effect of glycemic control in PC patients with DM.

BackgroundElevated levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) within tissues may contribute to endothelial dysfunction, an early indicator of atherosclerosis. We aimed to investigate whether levels of skin AGEs could be a useful marker to predict endothelial dysfunction in uremic subjects on hemodialysis.Methods and ResultsOne hundred and nineteen uremic patients on hemodialysis and 57 control subjects with moderate-to-high cardiovascular risk factors and without chronic kidney disease (CKD) were enrolled. We used ultrasound to measure flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD). An AGE reader measured skin autoflurorescence (AF). We then compared differences in FMD and skin AF values between the two groups. The uremic subjects had significantly higher levels of skin AF (3.47±0.76 AU vs. 2.21±0.45 arbitrary units; P<0.01) and significantly lower levels of FMD (4.79%±1.88% vs. 7.19%±2.17%; P<0.01) than the non-CKD subjects. After adjusting for all potential covariates, we found that skin AF level independently predicted FMD in both the hemodialysis and the non-CKD groups. In the hemodialysis group, skin AF ≥ 3.05 arbitrary units predicted abnormal FMD at a sensitivity of 87.9% and a specificity of 78.6% (P<0.01).ConclusionsSkin AF could be a useful marker to predict endothelial dysfunction in uremic subjects on hemodialysis.

Background: Due to the potential consequences of post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) exacerbating secondary injury following traumatic brain injury (TBI), the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is an accepted option for seizure prophylaxis. However, there is only a paucity of data that can be found regarding outcomes surrounding the use of AEDs. The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate whether the prophylactic administration of AEDs significantly decreased the incidence of PTE, when considering the severity of TBI. Methods: All trauma patients who had been newly diagnosed with TBI from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Statistical comparisons were made using the chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Cox regression modeling. After excluding any exposed subjects with no appropriate match, patients who had received AED prophylaxis were matched by propensity score with those who did not receive AEDs. All of the TBI populations were followed up until June 30, 2018. Results: We identified 1316 patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria in our matched cohort through their propensity scores, where 138 patients had been receiving prophylactic AEDs and 138 patients had not. Baseline characteristics were similar in gender, age, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores, and risk factors of PTE including skull fracture, chronic alcoholism, subdural hematoma, epidural hematoma, and intracerebral hematoma. After adjusting for those risk factors, the relative incidence of seizure was not statistically significant in either of the groups ( p = 0.566). Conclusion: In our cohort analysis, AED prophylaxis was ineffective in preventing seizures, as the rate of seizures was similar whether patients had been receiving the drugs or not. We therefore concluded that the benefits of routine prophylactic anticonvulsant therapy in patients with TBI need to be re-evaluated.