Nephroprotective Effect of POLYCAN on Acute Renal Failure Induced by Cisplatin in Rats.

We performed to evaluate the effect of POLYCAN (ß-glucan) on cisplatin-(CDDP-)induced acute renal failure (ARF) in rats. POLYCAN was administered orally once a day for 32 days. Each of 8 rats per group was selected based on the body weight (BW) after acclimatization and they were sacrificed at 5 days after CDDP injection. There was significant (P < 0.05) increase of BW after CDDP dosing in all POLYCAN groups than vehicle control and significant (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) decrease of absolute and relative kidney weight were detected in all POLYCAN groups compared with vehicle control. In addition, serum BUN and creatinine level in all POLYCAN groups were significantly (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05) lower than vehicle control and the percentage of degenerative regions significantly (P < 0.01) decreased in all POLYCAN groups. As the results of CDDP-induced ARF process, dramatic decrease of the BW, increase of the kidney weight, serum BUN, and creatinine level were detected in vehicle control group compared with sham control group. The changes by CDDP-induced ARF process in POLYCAN groups were significantly and dose-dependently improved compared with vehicle control group. Therefore, POLYCAN has enough potential to develop as a new agent of prevention or treatment for ARF.

Enhanced cardioprotective effects by coexpression of two isoforms of hepatocyte growth factor from naked plasmid DNA in a rat ischemic heart disease model.

BACKGROUND: The therapeutic potential of pCK-HGF-X7, a naked DNA designed to express two isoforms of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF(723) and HGF(728) ), was studied in the rat ischemic heart disease model. METHODS: First, the kinetics of gene expression was examined by injecting pCK-HGF-X7 DNA into the rat heart. Second, the cardioprotective effects were compared between the two naked DNA constructs, expressing a single (HGF(728) ) or both isoforms (HGF(728) and HGF(723) ) of HGF, in the rat ischemic heart disease model. The ischemic injury to the rat heart was created by ischemia-reperfusion in the anterior descending artery. The respective naked DNA constructs were injected into the anterior wall of the rat heart with the ischemia-reperfusion injury. Cardiac function, capillary density and anti-fibrotic activity were compared between the two naked DNA constructs. RESULTS: The intramyocardial administration of pCK-HGF-X7 resulted in transient and localized HGF expression for 3 weeks. At its peak, approximately 678 pg (per mg of tissue protein) of HGF was produced in the injected heart without an increase of HGF protein level in other tissues, and serum. pCK-HGF-X7 more efficiently improved the left ventricular ejection fraction and the systolic anterior wall thickness, increased the capillary density, and inhibited myocardial fibrosis, in a statistically significant manner, compared to the identical vector encoding HGF(728) only. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that transfer of the genomic-cDNA hybrid expressing both isoforms of the HGF gene might provide higher therapeutic effects than the cDNA sequence producing HGF(728) alone in the treatment of ischemic heart disease.

Lipid-soluble ginseng extract induces apoptosis and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in NCI-H460 human lung cancer cells.

This study was performed to elucidate the anticancer mechanism of a lipid-soluble ginseng extract (LSGE) by analyzing induction of apoptosis and arrest of cell cycle progression using the NCI-H460 human lung cancer cell line. Proliferation of NCI-H460 cells was potently inhibited by LSGE in a dose-dependent manner. The cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase in NCI-H460 cells was induced by LSGE. The percentage of G0/G1 phase cells significantly increased, while that of S phase cells decreased after treatment with LSGE. The expression levels of cyclin-dependent kinase2 (CDK2), CDK4, CDK6, cyclin D3 and cyclin E related to G0/G1 cells progression were also altered by LSGE. In addition, LSGE-induced cell death occurred through apoptosis, which was accompanied by increasing the activity of caspases including caspase-8, caspase-9 and caspase-3. Consistent with enhancement of caspase activity, LSGE increased protein levels of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9, and poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP). These apoptotic effects of LSGE were inhibited by the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk. These findings indicate that LSGE inhibits NCI-H460 human lung cancer cell growth by cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and induction of caspase-mediated apoptosis.

Development of a surface plasmon resonance-based immunosensor for the rapid detection of cardiac troponin I.

The concentration of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in blood is an important marker for heart muscle cell damage. A surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based immunosensor was devised for the rapid and specific detection of cTnI. It was constructed by crosslinking a monoclonal antibody P-II-13, which was generated against a loop region (aa 84-94) of cTnI protein as an epitope peptide, onto a chemically modified thin gold film. The performance of the sensor was examined with respect to the SPR signal intensity versus cTnI concentration. The signal intensity was directly correlated with the cTnI concentration in the range of 0-160 µg/l. The sensor signal was saturated when the concentration of cTnI approached 660 µg/l with the SPR intensity of 172 RU. The lower detection limit of the sensor was 68 ng/l cTnI, which was comparable to ELISA-based commercial cTnI detection systems.

A lipid-soluble red ginseng extract inhibits the growth of human lung tumor xenografts in nude mice.

Lipid-soluble ginseng extract was prepared by n-hexane extraction of red ginseng. BALB/c-nu mice were inoculated with human lung cancer (NCI-H460) cells to establish a human tumor xenograft model in nude mice, and the lipid-soluble ginseng extract was orally administered. The tumor inhibitory rates of the lipid-soluble ginseng extract at doses of 0.1, 0.3, and 1.0 g/kg/day were 18.9% (P < .05), 60.0% (P < .001), and 67.5% (P < .001), respectively. The oral administration of the lipid-soluble extract of red ginseng showed a potent anticancer effect in nude mice bearing human lung cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner without any apparent toxicity. This lipid-soluble ginseng extract is a potential nontoxic anticancer supplement for the prevention and intervention of lung tumor growth through an oral administration route.

A dual gold nanoparticle conjugate-based lateral flow assay (LFA) method for the analysis of troponin I.

For signal amplification without an additional operation step in a gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based lateral flow assay (LFA), a new and simple method utilizing two AuNP-antibody conjugates was developed. The 1st conjugate was the AuNP immobilized with an anti-troponin I antibody and blocked with bovine serum albumin (BSA), and the 2nd conjugate was the AuNP immobilized with an anti-BSA antibody and blocked with human serum albumin. The two conjugates were encapsulated in different pads, respectively. A scheme of the LFA system is described in the part A of first figure. The size of the two conjugates was very critical in the detection sensitivity of troponin I. When 10nm for the 1st and 40 nm for the 2nd were used, the detection sensitivity increased about a 100-fold compared to the conventional LFA. We could detect as low as 0.01 ng/mL troponin I in 10 min using the dual AuNP conjugate-based LFA, which was successfully applied in the analysis of serum samples of patients with myocardial infarction.

Birefringent waveguide sensor using a polarizer rotating technique.

A birefringence measurement system is introduced to get high phase resolution for detection of low contents of biochemicals. By using a fixed quarter-wave plate and a rotating polarizer, the phase difference between two orthogonal polarizations is transformed into phase delay of output sinusoidal signal. Analyzing the output phase, birefringence change could be detected with a phase noise of 0.14 degrees. As well as the birefringence measurement system, an optical evanescent waveguide sensor was developed. A rib-type silica waveguide overlaid with TiO2 film was fabricated, and a developed birefringence measurement technique was employed in evaluating a refractive index change on waveguide surface. For the fabricated waveguide with a 40-nm-thick TiO2 film, experiment results showed that the minimum detectable index change was 5.9x10(-7).

Panax ginseng protects against global ischemia injury in rat hippocampus.

Based on the use of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (Family Araliaceae) for the treatment of stroke in traditional Korean medicine, the present study was carried out to evaluate neuroprotective effects of P. ginseng after transient global cerebral ischemia using the four-vessel occlusion rat model. Nissl staining, lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde [MDA] formation), and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) of rat brain were assessed. Ethanolic P. ginseng extract (200 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly protected CA1 neurons against 10 minutes of transient forebrain ischemia as demonstrated by measuring the density of neuronal cells. P. ginseng also significantly decreased the level of MDA and increased the expression of GPx and SOD. These results suggest that P. ginseng might be neuroprotective against cerebral ischemia-induced injury in rat brain by decreasing lipid peroxides and increasing the expression of GPx and SOD.