The inhibition of inflammatory molecule expression on 3T3-L1 adipocytes by berberine is not mediated by leptin signaling

In our previous study, we have shown that berberine has both anti-adipogenic and anti-inflammatory effects on 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and the anti-adipogenic effect is due to the down-regulation of adipogenic enzymes and transcription factors. Here we focused more on anti-inflammatory effect of berberine using real time RT-PCR and found it changes expressions of adipokines. We hypothesized that anti-adipogenicity of berberine mediates anti-inflammtory effect and explored leptin as a candidate mediator of this signaling. We studied this hypothesis by western blot analysis, but our results showed that berberine has no effect on the phosphorylations of STAT-3 and ERK which have important roles on leptin signaling. These results led us to conclude that the anti-inflammatory effect of berberine is not mediated by the inhibition of leptin signal transduction. Moreover, we have found that berberine down-regulates NF-kappaB signaling, one of the inflammation-related signaling pathway, through western blot analysis. Taken together, the anti-inflammatory effect of berberine is not mediated by leptin, and berberine induces anti-inflammatory effect independent of leptin signaling.

The Factors Affect that Survival of Sepsis or Septic Shock Patients Admitted through Emergency Department

PURPOSE: We sought to determine the impact of the factors that affect the mortality of critically ill patients with sepsis or septic shock. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult patients admitted with sepsis or septic shock from April 1, 2006, to December 31, 2007, at a single, urban academic emergency department (ED). The primary outcome was patients' death. Predictor variables were the EDLOS, the time from registration to order for antibiotics administration, number of hospital days, initial systolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure after hydration, heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature, serum white blood cell count, and serum lactic acid level. Cox's proportional hazard model was used to elucidate the relationship of predictor variables to patients' death. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 12.0. RESULTS: The overall mortality rate was 56.2%. Average length of stay was 204.5+/-90.6 minutes in the survival group and 166.6+/-81.8 minutes in the death group (p=0.041). The mortality was not shown to be significantly different between patients spending less than 4 hours and patients spending over 4 hours. The relative risk (RR) for patients' death was significantly higher in patients with hypotension persisting despite adequate fluid resuscitation. CONCLUSION: EDLOS did not affect mortality for the patients admitted with sepsis or septic shock. The patients' prognoses were mainly related to the systolic blood pressure after hydration.