Soy isoflavone reduces LPS-induced acute lung injury via increasing aquaporin 1 and aquaporin 5 in rats.

Acute lung injury (ALI) followed with severe inflammation and oxidative stress. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant are the properties of aquaporin 1 (AQP1) and aquaporin 5 (AQP5). The goal of this study was to see if soy isoflavone can diminish lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI and the underling mechanism. LPS-induced ALI was given to Sprague-Dawley rats 14 days following oophorectomy. One hour before the LPS challenge, estradiol (1 mg/kg) was administered subcutaneously as positive control and soy isoflavone was intragastric administration for 14 days prior to LPS challenge with different doses. Six hours after LPS challenge, the pulmonary edema, pathophysiology, inflammation, and the oxidative stress in lung tissues of rats were discovered. We found that soy isoflavone can reduce pulmonary edema and the lung pathology in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1ß, and interleukin-6 were decreased in rats treated with soy isoflavone. Meanwhile, soy isoflavone reduced pulmonary oxidative stress by decreasing malondialdehyde levels, while increasing superoxide dismutase levels in lung tissues in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanically, we found that the mRNA and protein level of AQP1 and AOP5 were increased in lung tissues of rats treated with soy isoflavone compared the LPS-treated rats. Thus, soy isoflavone alleviates LPS-induced ALI through inducing AQP1 and AQP5.

Risk factors and gene polymorphisms of inflammatory bowel disease in population of Zhejiang, China.

AIM: To identify the risk factors and three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of NOD2/CARD15 gene in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of the population in Zhejiang, China. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted using recall questionnaire to collect data on demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle characteristics and dietary behaviors from 136 determined IBD patients and 136 paired healthy controls. COX regression method was used to screen the statistically significant risk factors for IBD. The polymorphisms of NOD2/CARD15 gene Arg702Trp, Gly908Arg and Leu1007fsinsC were genotyped and further compared between 60 patients with IBD and 60 healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: IBD occurred primarily in young and middle-aged people. The mean age for IBD patients was 42.6 years. The ratio of males to females was 1.23:1. COX regression indicated a higher statistical significance in milk, fried food and stress compared with the other postulated risk factors for IBD. None of the patients with IBD and healthy controls had heterozygous or homozygous SNPs variants. CONCLUSION: Milk, fried food and stress are associated with increased risk of IBD. The common variants in NOD2/CARD15 gene are not associated with IBD in China's Zhejiang population.