The American journal of Chinese medicine
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There is increasing evidence that starvation induces autophagy, which may be protective during starvation, in an AMPK-dependent manner. Polysaccharides from Fuzi (FPS) reportedly have protective effects on nutrition-limited livers. The present study was designed to determine whether FPS protected H9c2 cells against starvation-induced cytotoxicity using an AMPK/mTOR-dependent mechanism. ⋯ FPS treatment attenuated the cell viability decrement and the starvation-induced decline in the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and autophagy; also, the AMPK/mTOR pathways were activated during treatment. Ara-A treatment abolished the protective effect of FPS, while AICAR treatment had a similar effect to FPS. We conclude that autophagy attenuates starvation-induced cardiomyocyte death, and FPS increases autophagy activity to protect against starvation-induced cytotoxicity in H9c2 cells, likely through AMPK/mTOR pathway activation.
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Sargassum fulvellum (Turner) C. Agardh has been used to treat various inflammatory diseases, including lump, dropsy, swollen and painful scrotum, and urination problems for several centuries with no side effects. This study aims to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of the hexane fraction of S. fulvellum (HFS) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced mouse-ear edema. ⋯ Moreover, HFS inhibited the activation of Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in the LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, HFS suppressed PMA-induced mouse-ear edema. The above data indicate that the anti-inflammatory effects of HFS on LPS-stimulated cells are associated with the suppression of NF-κB through the inhibition of MAPKs and Akt phosphorylation.
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Electroacupuncture (EA) at ST36 is effective for improving gastric motility. However, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of EA on gastric contraction and to determine whether interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) are involved. ⋯ The distribution of ICCs was further assessed by immunohistochemistry. The results were as follows: (1) Contractions in the DM group were attenuated at four and eight weeks, but LEA and HEA restored the attenuated contraction. (2) ICCs were significantly decreased at eight weeks without alteration at four weeks in DM group, but were rescued in the LEA and HEA groups. (3) Whereas M-SCF and S-SCF in the DM group were slightly decreased at four weeks and were dramatically reduced at eight weeks, LEA and HEA markedly enhanced SCF at eight weeks. Collectively, the data suggest that in diabetic rats, LEA and HEA at ST36 could facilitate contraction of the gastric antrum, possibly by involving the SCF/c-kit pathway.
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A new, simple, accurate and reliable full-time five-wavelength fusion method for the simultaneous separation and determination of nine active chemical compositions (liquiritin apioside, liquiritin, isoliquiritin apioside, ononin, isoliquiritin, liquiritigenin, calycosin, isoliquiritigenin, Glycyrrhizic acid monoammonium salt) in traditional Chinese medicine Glycyrrhiza was developed using reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) coupled with a diode-array detector (DAD). The chromatographic separation was performed on an Agilent TC-C18 column with gradient elution using 0.04% methanoic acid (A) and acetonitrile (B) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1) and UV detection at 248 nm, 250 nm, 276 nm, 362 nm, 370 nm. The standard curves were linear over the range of 2.1379-12.8272 μg for liquiritin apioside, 3.9299-23.5794 μg for liquiritin, 1.0432-6.2592 μg for isoliquiritin apioside, 0.8764-5.8584 μg for ononin, 1.0701-6.4205 μg for isoliquiritin, 1.3685-8.2111 μg for liquiritigenin, 0.3927-2.3563 μg for calycosin, 0.2498- 1.4986 μg for isoliquiritigenin, 2.0094-12.0564 μg for Glycyrrhizic acid monoammonium salt, respectively (r(2) > 0.9997). ⋯ The precision for all the analytes was less than 2.52%. The method indicated good performance in terms of precision, accuracy and linearity. The method enabled the simultaneous determination of nine active chemical compositions for quality control of Glycyrrhiza.
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PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling promotes cell survival, proliferation and progression in cancer cells. Targeting this pathway may lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches for human cancers. Here, we examined the effects of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in pancreatic cancer cells, and assessed its therapeutic potential. ⋯ Our results revealed that EGCG dramatically inhibited the proliferation of PANC-1 cells and induced apoptosis simultaneously. Furthermore, it upregulated PTEN mRNA and protein expression levels, as well as downregulating the expression of phospho-AKT and phospho-mTOR. In conclusion, these results suggest that EGCG can suppress proliferation and induce apoptosis of PANC-1 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner; moreover, EGCG also can upregulate PTEN expression and downregulate the expression of pAKT and p-mTOR to modulate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.