Modification of physicochemical and medicinal characterization of Liuwei Dihuang particles by ultrafine grinding

Effects of different forms of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on growth performance, intestinal development, and systemic immunity in early-weaned piglets

The present study was conducted to determine effects of different forms of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, strain Y200007) on the growth performance, intestinal development, and systemic immunity in early-weaned piglets. A total of 96 piglets (14-d old, initial average body weight of 4.5 kg) were assigned to 4 dietary treatments: (1) basal diet without yeast (Control); (2) basal diet supplemented with 3.00 g/kg live yeast (LY); (3) basal diet supplemented with 2.66 g/kg heat-killed whole yeast (HKY); and (4) basal diet supplemented with 3.00 g/kg superfine yeast powders (SFY). Diets and water were provided ad libitum to the piglets during 3-week experiment. Growth performance of piglets was measured weekly. Samples of blood and small intestine were collected at days 7 and 21 of experiment. Dietary supplementation with LY and SFY improved G:F of piglets at days 1-21 of the experiment (P < 0.05) compared to Control group. Serum concentrations of growth hormone (GH), triiodothyronine (T3), tetraiodothyronine (T4), and insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in piglets at day 21 of the experiment were higher when fed diets supplemented with LY and SFY than those in Control group (P < 0.05). Compared to Control group, contents of serum urea nitrogen of piglets were reduced by the 3 yeast-supplemented diets (P < 0.05). Diets supplemented with LY increased villus height and villus-to-crypt ratio in duodenum and jejunum of piglets (P < 0.05) compared to other two groups at day 7 of the experiment. Feeding diets supplemented with LY and SFY increased (P < 0.05) serum concentrations of IgA, IL-2, and IL-6 levels in piglets compared to Control. The CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio and proliferation of T-lymphocytes in piglets fed diets supplemented with LY were increased compared to that of Control group at day 7 of the experiment (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with both LY and SFY enhanced feed conversion, small intestinal development, and systemic immunity in early-weaned piglets, with better improvement in feed conversion by dietary supplementation with LY, while dietary supplementation with SFY was more effective in increasing systemic immune functions in early-weaned piglets.

Effect of media milling on lipid-lowering and antioxidant activities of chitosan

The effect of media milling on lipid-lowering and antioxidant activities of chitosan was studied in rats fed high-fat diets. Results showed that media-milled chitosan was more effective than chitosan in reducing body weight gain and liver fat accumulation of rats. Compared with chitosan, the reducing effects of media-milled chitosan on serum triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were increased by 10.1, 7.5 and 10.2%, and liver TG and TC-reducing effects were increased by 16.2 and 14.6%, respectively. Rats fed media-milled chitosan showed decreased levels of free fatty acid (FFA) and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. The cholesterol and fat in feces of rats fed media-milled chitosan were higher than those of rats fed chitosan. These results suggested media milling enhanced the lipid-lowering and antioxidant activities of chitosan, and the reason might be partly due to its effect on strengthening the ability of chitosan in promoting fecal lipid excretions.

Pretreatments for the efficient extraction of bioactive compounds from plant-based biomaterials

The extraction of medicinal or functional compounds from herbal plants is an important unit operation in food and bio-industries. The target compounds are generally present inter- or intra-cellularly in an intricate microstructure formed by cells, intercellular spaces, capillaries, and pores. The major resistance of molecular diffusion in materials of plant origin always comes from the intact cell walls and adhering membranes. Therefore, increasing the permeability of cell walls and membranes plays a very important role to increase extraction yield and/or extraction rate. Important pretreatment methods to modify the cellular structures and increase the permeability of cell walls or membranes are discussed in this paper. They include physical, biologic, and chemical treatments. In physical methods, mechanical disruption, high-pressure (HP) process, pulsed electric field (PEF) application, ultrasonic treatment, and freeze-thaw, and so on were applied. In biologic methods, different cell wall-degrading enzymes were applied to break-down cell walls or membranes and to diminish the overall internal resistance for transporting bioactive compounds from internal matrix to the external solution. In chemical methods, various chemicals for increasing the inner- or outer-membrane permeabilization were introduced. The principles of the technologies, examples of improvements, and advantages and disadvantages of the pretreatment methods are critically reviewed in this paper.

System analysis of LWDH related genes based on text mining in biological networks

Liuwei-dihuang (LWDH) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), but its molecular mechanism about gene interactions is unclear. LWDH genes were extracted from the existing literatures based on text mining technology. To simulate the complex molecular interactions that occur in the whole body, protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs) were constructed and the topological properties of LWDH genes were analyzed. LWDH genes have higher centrality properties and may play important roles in the complex biological network environment. It was also found that the distances within LWDH genes are smaller than expected, which means that the communication of LWDH genes during the biological process is rapid and effectual. At last, a comprehensive network of LWDH genes, including the related drugs and regulatory pathways at both the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels, was constructed and analyzed. The biological network analysis strategy used in this study may be helpful for the understanding of molecular mechanism of TCM.

Ultrafine particles of Ulmus davidiana var. japonica induce apoptosis of gastric cancer cells via activation of caspase and endoplasmic reticulum stress

Small-sized particles are more suitable for targeted delivery and are therapeutically more effective than large-sized particles. In this study, we investigated the anticancer effects of ultrafine particles of Ulmus davidiana var. japonica (ufUJ) on human gastric cancer cell lines SNU-1, SNU-216, and SNU-484. ufUJ induced apoptosis by the proteolytic activation of caspase-9, caspase-6, and caspase-3 and cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. The expression levels of the endoplasmic reticulum stress-related protein BiP markedly increased after ufUJ treatment. BiP knockdown decreased ufUJ-induced cell death. ufUJ-induced apoptosis was inhibited by the caspase-3 inhibitor z-DEVD-fmk, caspase-6 inhibitor z-VEID-fmk, and caspase-9 inhibitor z-LEHD-fmk, and by siRNAs against caspases 3, 6, and 9. Gastric cancer cells did not show anchorage-independent growth in the presence of ufUJ. However, cells treated with caspase inhibitors showed an enhanced colony-forming ability. These findings may be helpful in the prevention of gastric cancer and in the development of functional foods.

Green Extraction: Enhanced Extraction Yield of Asiatic Acid from Centella asiatica (L.) Nanopowders

Nanopowders of Centella asiatica (L.) were produced using planetary ball mill in order to investigate the differences of water extraction yield of asiatic acid as compared to micropowders of Centella asiatica. Effect of extraction time (20–60 min) on extraction yield of asiatic acid from Centella asiatica was examined. Results showed that water extraction of asiatic acid using Centella asiatica nanopowders exhibits was almost 50% higher extraction yield with 7.09 mg/g as compared to the micropowders of Centella asiatica. It was concluded that nanopowders contributed in enhancing water extraction yield of asiatic acid as compared to micropowders. Thereby utilizing nanopowders in water extraction could improve the extraction of asiatic acid via clean, eco-friendly, and less expensive process.