Effects of Vigiis 101-LAB on a healthy population's gut microflora, peristalsis, immunity, and anti-oxidative capacity: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study.

Vigiis 101-LAB capsules are produced from the fermentation of Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101. We tested effects of Vigiis 101-LAB capsules I or II (5 or 10 billion CFU/day, respectively) on gut microflora in clinical trial I, and on peristalsis, immunity, and anti-oxidative capacity in clinical trial II, during a 4-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, adaptive-design study. In trial I, 36 subjects were divided into capsule I and placebo groups. After 4 weeks, Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. counts were significantly higher in the feces of treatment subjects, with increases of 4.01- and 4.25-fold, respectively. In trial II, 52 subjects were divided into capsule II and placebo groups. After 4 weeks, the treatment group was found to have improved motility, decreased food transit time, and significantly increased immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin M, and antioxidant activity. Thus, daily administration of Vigiis 101 capsule II can improve peristalsis, immunity, and anti-oxidative capacity.

Effect of a balanced nutrition meal replacement diet with altered macromolecular composition along with caloric restriction on body weight control.

The prevalence of obesity and its related metabolic syndrome (MetS) has shown an upsurge in recent years due to modified lifestyle patterns. The present study was designed to investigate the impact of a nutritionally balanced conventional meal replacement diet with modified macromolecular composition (rich in soy/pea protein and soluble fibers) and caloric restriction on Taiwanese obese subjects. Obese subjects (BMI > 27; n = 50, male 23, female 27) were recruited and requested to replace two meals per day (breakfast and lunch or dinner) with the balanced nutritional meal replacement diet (equal to 240 kcal) for 8 weeks with one regular meal and make sure that the daily target calorie limit (caloric restriction) was less than 1500 kcal day-1 for men and 1200 kcal day-1 for women. After eight weeks of intervention with a calorie-restricted balanced partial meal replacement diet, the levels of body weight, body fat, and waist circumference were significantly reduced by 4.1 kg, 2.38%, and 5.06 cm, respectively. The levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) with a significant increase (p < 0.05) in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) levels after 8 weeks of intervention with the meal replacement diet. Moreover, the levels of insulin, homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), leptin, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and cardiovascular risk factors were significantly attenuated (p < 0.05). To conclude, the present intervention with meal replacement and caloric restriction on obese subjects could concomitantly decrease the body weight and glycemic and cardiovascular risk factors and thereby lower the risk of various metabolic disorders.

Hypocholesterolemic Efficacy of Quercetin Rich Onion Juice in Healthy Mild Hypercholesterolemic Adults: A Pilot Study.

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is widely employed as a food ingredient as well as traditional remedy to treat fever, burns, and scurvy. The present study focused on the modulator efficacy of the quercetin rich onion juice on lipid profile and antioxidant status in mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects. Twenty-four healthy subjects with mild hypercholesterolemia (≧ 200 mg/dL) were recruited and divided into two groups, and they consumed 100 mL of onion juice or placebo every day for 8 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected at initial, 2nd, 6th, 8th, 10th week for estimating various biochemical assays, as well as anthropometric indices. After 8 weeks of intervention, onion juice greatly decreased (p < 0.05) waist circumference, total cholesterol and LDL-c. In addition, it elevates (p < 0.05) total antioxidation capacity and prolong lag-time of LDL oxidation were also noted. To conclude, drinking onion juice could markedly suppress cholesterol level and elevate total antioxidation capacity. Hence, onion juice was probably recommended for combating various cardiovascular diseases.

Complementary usage of Rhodiola crenulata (L.) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients: the effects on cytokines and T cells.

Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory disease predominantly involving T cells, no study of Rhodiola as an immunomodulator in COPD patients has been reported. In this study, COPD patients took Rhodiola crenulata 500 mg (n = 38) or placebo (starch/phosphate buffered saline) (n = 19) daily for 12 weeks and were compared with untreated, age-matched, and sex-matched non-COPD control subjects. Our results showed that serum levels of IL-2, IL-10, and IFN-γ in COPD patients before treatment are significantly higher than levels in non-COPD controls (p < 0.05). A significant decrease in IFN-γ was seen in the Rhodiola treatment group (p < 0.05) but not in the placebo group (p > 0.05). The results suggested that Rhodiola treatment had beneficial antiinflammation effects, lower COPD assessment test score and decreased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, on COPD patients (p < 0.05). The effects of Rhodiola treatment on COPD patients were shown to decrease the IFN-γ concentration and CD8(+) count but increase the expressions of CD4(+) CD25(+) FOXP3(+) and CD4(+) CD25(+) CD45(+) FOXP3(+) in the blood significantly (p < 0.05). This is the first trial using Rhodiola as a complementary therapy for COPD patients. T cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of COPD through the increased expression of CD8(+) T cells and IFN-γ and may be a viable target for potential therapy.

Selective apoptotic cell death effects of oral cancer cells treated with destruxin B.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have revealed that destruxins (Dtx) have potent cytotoxic activities on individual cancer cells, however, data on oral cancer cells especial human are absent. METHODS: Destruxin B (DB) was isolated and used to evaluate the selective cytotoxicity with human oral cancer cell lines, GNM (Neck metastasis of gingival carcinoma) and TSCCa (Tongue squamous cell carcinoma) cells, and normal gingival fibroblasts (GF) were also included as controls. Cells were tested with different concentrations of DB for 24, 48, and 72 h by MTT assay. Moreover, the mechanism of cytotoxicity was investigated using caspase-3 Immunofluorescence, annexin V/PI staining, and the expression of caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl-2 by western blotting after treated with different concentrations of DB for 72 h as parameters for apoptosis analyses. RESULTS: The results show that DB exhibited significant (p < 0.01) and selective time- and dose-dependent inhibitory effects on GNM and TSCCa cells viability but not on GF cells. The data suggested that DB is capable to induce tumor specific growth inhibition in oral GNM and TSCCa cancer cells via Bax/Bcl-2-mediated intrinsic mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in time- and dose-dependent manners. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report on the anti-proliferation effect of DB in oral cancer cells. The results reported here may offer further evidences to the development of DB as a potential complementary chemotherapeutic target for oral cancer complications.

In vivo cytokine modulatory effects of cinnamaldehyde, the major constituent of leaf essential oil from Cinnamomum osmophloeum Kaneh.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the major compound in the leaf essential oil of Cinnamomum osmophloeum Kaneh. and to examine its in vivo toxicity and cytokine-modulatory effects. The HS-GC/MS and quantitative HPLC analyses showed the concentrations of the major compounds, cinnamaldehyde, benzaldehyde and 3-phenylpropionaldehyde, in the leaf essential oil of Cinnamomum osmophloeum to be 16.88, 1.28 and 1.70 mg/mL, respectively. Acute and sub-acute toxicity tests identified no significant changes in body weight, liver and kidney function indices, and pathology for the mice treated with up to 1 mL/kg body weight of Cinnamomum osmophloeum leaf essential oil or up to 4 mg/kg body weight of cinnamaldehyde. A murine model was established using ovalbumin (OVA)-primed Balb/C mice treated with various concentrations of Cinnamomum osmophloeum leaf essential oil or cinnamaldehyde daily for 4 weeks. The results of tests with commercial ELISA kits indicated no significant cytokine-modulatory effects in mice treated with Cinnamomum osmophloeum leaf essential oil; however, the serum concentrations of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-10, but not IFN-γ, significantly increased in animals treated with 1 mg/kg body weight of cinnamaldehyde during the 4-week period. The possibility that the other constituents act as antagonists of cinnamaldehyde cannot be excluded.

Possible DNA viral factors of human breast cancer.

Viruses are considered to be one of the high-risk factors closely related to human breast cancer. However, different studies of viruses in breast cancer present conflicting results and some of these works remain in dispute. DNA viruses, such as specific types of human papillomaviruses (HPV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), and human herpes virus type 8 (HHV-8), have emerged as causal factors of some human cancers. These respective exogenous viruses and the possibility of multiple viral factors are discussed in this review.

Concurrent Guillain-Barré syndrome and myasthenia gravis: the first case in Taiwan.

The concurrent development of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and myasthenia gravis (MG) is rare. It has been associated with molecular mimicry between infectious agents and self-antigens. Such antibodies may show cross-reactions against both myelin proteins of peripheral nerves and acetylcholine receptors of neuromuscular junctions. Thymoma-associated multi-organ autoimmunity may also play a role in initiating autoimmune process. We present such a case with the concurrent development of GBS and MG.

Immunopathology of hepatitis B virus infection.

The interaction between immune responses and hepatitis B virus (HBV) is coordinated between innate and adaptive immunity. Anti-HBs antibodies protect the host by blocking the binding ability of HBV. Anti-HBc antibodies are detected with persistent HBV infection. The presence of anti-HBe antibodies is often associated with recovery from active diseases and is clinically used as a benchmark to assess response to treatment. Our studies have revealed that the anti-HBV immunoglobulins secreted are different in subclass patterns in different HBV infection status populations. These revelations may help to understand HBV escape and persistent infection and to develop strategies for prevention and therapeutic management of HBV infection.