Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva Linn.) flowers improve sleep quality in human and reduce nitric oxide and interleukin-6 production in macrophages.

The flowers of daylily (Hemerocallis fulva Linn.) have been used as vegetable and medicinal herb for thousands of years in Taiwan and eastern Asia. Daylily flowers have been demonstrated to exert several biomedical properties. In this study, we provided the evidences show that daylily flowers exert anti-inflammatory activity in vitro and improved the sleep quality in vivo. We demonstrated that adult volunteers received water extract of daylily flowers improved sleep quality, sleep efficiency and daytime functioning, while sleep latency was reduced, compared to the adult volunteers received water. In addition, we demonstrated that aqueous and ethanol extracts of daylily flowers inhibited nitric oxide and interleukin-6 production in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages. Furthermore, the quantitative high performance liquid chromatography-based analysis showed the rutin content of the aqueous extract, ethanolic extract, ethyl acetate fractions of ethanolic extract, and water fractions of ethanolic extract were 7.27, 23.30, 14.71, and 57.43 ppm, respectively. These results indicate that daylily flowers have the potential to be a nutraceutical for improving inflammatory-related diseases and sleep quality in the future.

Effects of substrate bias on the sputtering of high density (111)-nanotwinned Cu films on SiC chips.

This article presents a study of the influence of the substrate bias on the microstructure, preferred orientation, and mechanical and electrical properties of nanotwinned Cu film. The formation of a nanotwinned structure and (111) surface orientation can be properly controlled by applied substrate bias. High density nanotwinned structures were introduced into Cu films sputtered on SiC substrates with over 90% of (111)-orientation at - 150 V. Densely packed Cu nanotwins were observed within the columnar grains stacked up on each other along the film growth direction, with an average twin spacing of 19.4 nm. The Cu films deposited on SiC substrate via bias sputtering had surface roughness of 8.6 to 15.8 nm. The resistivity of the copper nanotwinned films sputtered with various substrate biases varied. The optimal indentation, 2.3 GPa, was found in the nanotwinned Cu film sputtered with a bias voltage of - 150 V. The effects of Ar ion bombardment on microstructure, surface morphology and properties are further discussed.

Long-Term Clinical Outcomes of New-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents in Coronary Artery Disease: A Real-World Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Treating vessels with a very small reference vessel diameter (RVD) in coronary artery disease is challenging. OBJECTIVE: Long-term evaluation of new-generation drug-eluting stents (DESs) for the treatment of coronary lesions with different RVDs. METHODS: From April 2009 to March 2019, 780 patients who underwent single coronary stenting were divided into ≤ 2.25 (very small), 2.5-3.0 (small), and ≥ 3.5 mm (large) DES groups after 1:2:2 propensity score matching. The primary endpoint was target lesion failure (TLF), and the secondary endpoints were major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) and stent thrombosis (ST). RESULTS: During 3 years after new-generation DES implantation, TLF and MACE rates were significantly lower in the very small DES group. The risk of TLF was significantly lower in the very small DES group compared to the small DES group [very small vs. small: TLF, adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.282, p = 0.040]. The risks of MACEs and all-cause mortality were significantly lower in the very small DES group compared to the small DES group (very small vs. small: MACEs, adjusted HR = 0.215, p = 0.001; all-cause mortality, adjusted HR = 0.181, p = 0.005). The cumulative incidence rates of TLF-free (log-rank test p = 0.001) and MACE-free (log-rank test p < 0.001) survival were significantly different among the groups, and the very small DES group had a high event-free survival rate. No cases of ST occurred in any group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the use of new-generation DESs for treating coronary lesions in very small vessels is safe and effective.

Wild Bitter Melon Exerts Anti-Inflammatory Effects by Upregulating Injury-Attenuated CISD2 Expression following Spinal Cord Injury.

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) induce secondary neuroinflammation through astrocyte reactivation, which adversely affects neuronal survival and eventually causes long-term disability. CDGSH iron sulfur domain 2 (CISD2), which has been reported to be involved in mediating the anti-inflammatory responses, can serve as a target in SCI therapy. Wild bitter melon (WBM; Momordica charantia Linn. var. abbreviata Ser.) contains an anti-inflammatory agent called alpha-eleostearic acid (α-ESA), a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-ß (PPAR-ß) ligand. Activated PPAR-ß inhibits the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway via the inhibition of IκB (inhibitor of NF-κB) degradation. The role of astrocyte deactivation and CISD2 in anti-inflammatory mechanisms of WBM in acute SCIs is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A mouse model of SCI was generated via spinal cord hemisection. The SCI mice were administered WBM intraperitoneally (500 mg/kg bodyweight). Lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) stimulated ALT cells (astrocytes) were used as an in vitro model for studying astrocyte-mediated inflammation post-SCI. The roles of CISD2 and PPAR-ß in inflammatory signaling were examined using LPS-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells transfected with si-CISD2 or scramble RNA. RESULTS: WBM mitigated the SCI-induced downregulation of CISD2, PPAR-ß, and IκB and upregulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP; marker of astrocyte reactivation) in the spinal cord of SCI mice. Additionally, WBM (1 µg/mL) mitigated LPS-induced CISD2 downregulation. Furthermore, SH-SY5Y neural cells with CISD2 knockdown exhibited decreased PPAR-ß expression and augmented NF-κB signaling. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report that CISD2 is an upstream modulator of the PPAR-ß/NF-κB proinflammatory signaling pathway in neural cells, and that WBM can mitigate the injury-induced downregulation of CISD2 in SCI mice and LPS-stimulated ALT astrocytes.

Sacubitril/Valsartan Improves Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction and Reverses Cardiac Remodeling in Taiwanese Patients with Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction.

BACKGROUND: The angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor sacubitril/valsartan is known to improve outcomes of cardiac death and hospitalization due to heart failure in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, data on improvements in ejection fraction after using sacubitril/valsartan are still lacking in Taiwan. METHODS: We conducted this prospective, single armed, observation cohort study to evaluate changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients with heart failure and reduced LVEF treated with sacubitril/valsartan. This was an all-comer study. We prescribed sacubitril/valsartan as both first-line and second-line therapy to every eligible patient regardless of whether they were already on standard therapy or newly-diagnosed with HFrEF. The primary outcome was improvements in LVEF. We also collected data about changes in left ventricular chamber size, blood pressure, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and renal function according to serum creatinine level. RESULTS: During March 2016 to April 2018, 93 patients were enrolled. The mean LVEF improved from 35 ± 6.1% to 50 ± 8.8% at 6 months use of sacubitril/valsartan (p < 0.001). The left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular end-systolic diameter, and left atrial diameter all decreased. The average NT-proBNP level decreased from 6379 pg/mL to 1661 pg/dL. CONCLUSIONS: Sacubitril/valsartan demonstrated a significant effect in improving LVEF, left ventricular reverse remodeling, and reduction of NT-proBNP in this Taiwanese cohort.