Journal of medicinal food
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Journal of medicinal food · Jun 2014
Effect of intraperitoneal administered ginseng total saponins on hyperalgesia induced by repeated intramuscular injection of acidic saline in rats.
The aim of this study was to assess the antinociceptive activity of ginseng total saponins (GTS) on hyperalgesia induced by repeated intramuscular injections of acidic saline in rats and to examine the mechanisms involved. Rats were injected intraperitoneally with a 0.9% saline vehicle or various doses of GTS after the development of hyperalgesia. Rats were then injected with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) or naloxone 10 min before GTS injection. ⋯ The MWT was significantly increased after intraperitoneal injection of 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of GTS when compared with the MWT after the development of hyperalgesia. Injection of GTS with NMDA showed a significant decrease in the MWT when compared with GTS injection. GTS showed an antinociceptive activity against chronic muscle-induced pain, and the effect of GTS may be mediated by NMDA.
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Journal of medicinal food · Jun 2014
Deer bone extract suppresses articular cartilage damage induced by monosodium iodoacetate in osteoarthritic rats: an in vivo micro-computed tomography study.
We evaluated the anti-osteoarthritic effects of deer bone extract on articular cartilage damage by using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) in monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis (OA) in rats. Male Wistar rats (6 weeks of age) were randomly divided into 5 groups (10 rats/group): sham control (SC; PBS injection+PBS 1 mL treatment); negative control (NC; MIA injection+PBS 1 mL treatment); positive control (PC; MIA injection+250 mg/kg glucosamine sulfate/chondroitin sulfate mixture treatment); low dose (LDB; MIA injection+250 mg/kg deer bone extract treatment); and high dose (HDB; MIA injection+500 mg/kg deer bone extract treatment). After 50 days of treatment, we observed that the administration of deer bone extract protected against bone destruction and reduced the number of erosion lacunae. ⋯ Sp) increase caused by MIA was decreased significantly with the administration of deer bone extract (LDB: 73.4 μm, HDB: 81.2 μm vs. NC: 112.0 μm). We concluded that the oral administration of deer bone extract effectively relieved the morphological changes induced by MIA injection in an animal model.
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Journal of medicinal food · Nov 2012
Alpinia officinarum inhibits adipocyte differentiation and high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice through regulation of adipogenesis and lipogenesis.
Although Alpinia officinarum has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of several conditions, such as abdominal pain, emesis, diarrhea, impaired renal function, and dysentery, little is known about its function in obesity. In this study, we investigated the antiobesity effect of A. officinarum ethanol extract (AOE) on lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells and obesity in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). AOE dose-dependently suppressed lipid accumulation during differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by downregulating CCAAT enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) genes. ⋯ The protein expression patterns, observed by immunoblot, were confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Collectively, these results suggest that AOE prevents obesity by suppressing adipogenic and lipogenic genes. AOE has potential for use as an antiobesity therapeutic agent that can function by regulating lipid metabolism.
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Journal of medicinal food · Apr 2012
Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) extract suppresses adrenocortical cancer cell proliferation through modulation of the apoptotic pathway, steroidogenesis, and insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor/RAC-α serine/threonine-protein kinase signaling.
Adrenocortical carcinomas are rare but present with extremely poor prognosis. One of the approaches to control cancer progression and reduce cancer risk is prevention through diet. Bitter melon is widely consumed as a vegetable and especially as a traditional medicine in many countries. ⋯ BME treatment decreased the level of phosphorylation of cyclin-dependent kinase 7, which is required, at least in part, for steroidogenic factor 1 activation. Finally, we observed that BME treatment significantly reduced the level of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor and its downstream signaling pathway as evidenced by lower levels of phosphorylated RAC-α serine/threonine-protein kinase. Taken together, these data illustrate the inhibitory effect of bitter melon on cell proliferation of adrenocortical cancer through modulation of diverse mechanisms.
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Journal of medicinal food · Feb 2012
Inhibition of adhesion of uropathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria to uroepithelial cells by extracts from cranberry.
Cranberry extract has been reported as a therapeutic agent, mainly in urinary tract infections due to its anti-adhesive capacity. In order to compare the effects of proanthocyanidin (procyanidin) (PAC)-standardized cranberry extracts and commercial PAC A2, we first investigated the presence of genes encoding known adhesins on 13 strains of uropathogenic strains coming from patients with cystisis. After this characterization, the anti-adhesive effects of PAC A2 were assayed on selected uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains before testing cranberry extracts. ⋯ Moreover, the assays were more robust when bacteria were in fast growing conditions (exponential phase): the adhesion to uroepithelial cells was greater. Significant reduction of adhesion to urepithelial cells was observed: around 80% of inhibition of adhesion with the cranberry extracts at equivalent PAC concentration of 50 μg/mL. The effects of the different assayed extracts were not obviously different except for extract B, which inhibited approximately 55% of adhesion at an equivalent PAC concentration of 5 μg/mL.