Effect of E-OJ-01 on Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction and Myocardial Oxygen Consumption: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

Purpose: E-OJ-01 (OxyjunTM), a proprietary, standardized aqueous extract of Terminalia arjuna (TA) bark, has previously shown promising cardiovascular health benefits in healthy young athletic adults and is now being tested to determine its ability to support left ventricular ejection fraction and associated parameters in a diverse population. Participants and Methods: Healthy adults aged 30-70 years (n=72) were included in the study to investigate the effect of 400 mg/day of E-OJ-01 when administered for 8 weeks on myocardial pumping capacity, primarily left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The secondary endpoints were improvement in diastolic filling (E/A) ratio, rate pressure product (RPP), and fatigue severity scale (FSS) score. The effect of the intervention on blood lipids and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels was also explored. The safety of the intervention was evaluated by monitoring adverse events, vitals (heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), and body temperature (BT)), and liver (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT)) and kidney function (serum creatinine). Results: E-OJ-01 increased the LVEF by 6.28% (percentage change) from the baseline compared with 0.24% (percentage change) in the placebo group (p<0.05). It reduced fatigue (22.52%), RPP (1.54%), and GGT levels (5.90%) from the baseline. No adverse events related to the intervention were observed during the study. Conclusion: The study showed that E-OJ-01 could improve cardiac pumping capacity by significantly increasing LVEF and reducing fatigue in a diverse, healthy population.

Cell wall composition in juvenile and adult leaves of maize (Zea mays L.).

Many leaf characteristics vary with position along the culm in maize (Zea mays L.) due to the existence of vegetative phase change and heteroblasty. The objective of this work was to determine if differences in cell wall composition exist among developmental phases and between Cg1, a developmental mutant, and wild-type maize. In one experiment, the middle third of fully elongated leaf blades from lower and upper regions of the shoot was harvested (midribs removed) and analyzed for several cell wall components. Averaged over five inbreds (De811, Ia5125, Mo17, P39, and Wh8584), lower leaf blades had higher levels of xylose and lower levels of total uronosyls, glucose, arabinose, and galactose (P < 0.05) than did upper leaf blades. With the exception of glucose, upper and lower leaves of Cg1 plants varied in the same manner as their near-isogenic siblings, except cell walls of Cg1 plants were more "juvenile" than cell walls of wild-type siblings at the same leaf stage. These data support the hypothesis that Cg1 delays but does not eliminate the transition from juvenile-vegetative to adult-vegetative phase. In a second experiment, juvenile (leaves 3 and 5), transition (leaf 7), and adult (leaves 9 and 11) leaves from inbreds B73 and De811 were harvested and analyzed as in the first experiment. As leaf number rose, total cell wall content of sample dry matter, total neutral sugars, glucose, xylose, and ester-linked monomers of p-coumaric acid and total ferulates including ferulate dimers increased linearly while total uronosyls acids, arabinose, and galactose declined linearly (P < 0.05). Glucose and xylose are major cell wall components released from cellulose and xylans after acid hydrolysis. Pectin, a minor component of grass cell walls, is composed of galacturonosyls, arabinose, and galactose. Secondary cell wall deposition increased between leaves 3 and 11 in a heteroblastic series, due to either increased cell wall content concomitant with decreased cell lumen size, changes in proportion of cell types (i.e., sclerenchyma), or a combination of these factors.

Effects of selection for the timing of vegetative phase transition on corn borer (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae and Crambidae) damage.

In maize, Zea mays L., the timing of vegetative phase transition from juvenile to adult vegetative phases can be modified through selection. A reduction in the juvenile vegetative phase has been associated with resistance to diseases and pests. The major maize pest in temperate areas is Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) and in Europe Sesamia nonagrioides Lefebvre. The objective of our study was to determine the effects of divergent selection for the timing of vegetative phase transition in maize on resistance to corn borers. Three cycles of divergent selection for early and late phase transition in a field corn synthetic and in a sweet corn population were evaluated separately under S. nonagrioides and O. nubilalis artificial infestation. For the field corn experiment, yield and moisture improved with selection for phase transition in both directions, but improvement was due to artifacts of selection, rather than to the change in phase transition. There were no correlated responses for corn borer damage, yield, or grain moisture due to selection for the timing of vegetative phase transition. In the sweet corn experiment, selection for the timing of vegetative phase transition had no significant effects on corn borer damage in sweet corn harvested at the fresh stage. Our results do not support the use of phase transition as an indirect criterion for improving resistance to corn borers in maize. The relationship between phase transition and pest resistance reported by other studies could depend on the genotypes or could be too weak to be detected in a selection program with wild-type maize.