Hot water-extracted Lycium barbarum and Rehmannia glutinosa inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

AIM: To investigate the effect of hot water-extracted Lycium barbarum (LBE) and Rehmannia glutinosa (RGE) on cell proliferation and apoptosis in rat and/or human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells.

METHODS: Rat (H-4-II-E) and human HCC (HA22T/VGH) cell lines were incubated with various concentrations (0-10 g/L) of hot water-extracted LBE and RGE. After 6-24 h incubation, cell proliferation (n = 6) was measured by a colorimetric method. The apoptotic cells (n = 6) were detected by flow cytometry. The expression of p53 protein (n = 3) was determined by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting.

RESULTS: Crude LBE (2-5 g/L) and RGE (2-10 g/L) dose-dependently inhibited proliferation of H-4-II-E cells by 11% (P < 0.05) to 85% (P < 0.01) after 6-24 h treatment. Crude LBE at a dose of 5 g/L suppressed cell proliferation of H-4-II-E cells more effectively than crude RGE after 6-24 h incubation (P < 0.01). Crude LBE (2-10 g/L) and RGE (2-5 g/L) also dose-dependently inhibited proliferation of HA22T/VGH cells by 14%-43% (P < 0.01) after 24 h. Crude LBE at a dose of 10 g/L inhibited the proliferation of HA22T/VGH cells more effectively than crude RGE (56.8% ± 1.6% vs 70.3% ± 3.1% of control, P = 0.0003 < 0.01). The apoptotic cells significantly increased in H-4-II-E cells after 24 h treatment with higher doses of crude LBE (2-5 g/L) and RGE (5-10 g/L) (P < 0.01). The expression of p53 protein in H-4-II-E cells was 119% and 143% of the control group compared with the LBE-treated (2, 5 g/L) groups, and 110% and 132% of the control group compared with the RGE -treated (5, 10 g/L) groups after 24 h.

CONCLUSION: Hot water-extracted crude LBE (2-5 g/L) and RGE (5-10 g/L) inhibit proliferation and stimulate p53-mediated apoptosis in HCC cells.

The effects of indocyanine green and endoillumination on rabbit retina: an electroretinographic and histological study

AIM

To evaluate the functional and morphological retinal toxicity associated with intravitreal injection of indocyanine green (ICG) dye in rabbit eyes during vitrectomy with endoillumination.

METHODS

20 eyes of 10 New Zealand pigmented rabbits were used in the study. All eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy and removal of posterior vitreous cortex under endoillumination. In one eye of each rabbit, intravitreal injection of 0.1 ml of 2.5 mg/ml ICG was applied for 30 seconds followed by 10 minutes of endoillumination. The control eye had endoillumination only without ICG injection. Dark adapted and light adapted electroretinograms (ERGs) were performed before the surgery and 1 week after surgery for serial comparisons. Rabbits were killed 1 week after surgery and eyes were enucleated for histological examination.

RESULTS

Serial ERG comparisons showed significant reduction in the light adapted a-wave amplitude (p = 0.037) and significant delays in the dark adapted and light adapted b-wave latencies (p = 0.020 and p = 0.038, respectively) in the ICG treated eyes. Histological examinations demonstrated loss of photoreceptor outer segments with focal absence of photoreceptors in some areas in the ICG injected eyes.

CONCLUSIONS

Vitrectomy followed by intravitreal injection of 2.5 mg/ml ICG for 30 seconds with endoillumination may result in retinal toxicity causing functional and morphological retinal damages in rabbit eyes. The lowest concentration of ICG should be used if necessary for intraocular use to prevent potential retinal toxicity.

A water-based triphenyltetrazolium chloride method for the evaluation of green plant tissue viability

A water-based 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) partitioning method using n-hexane for the evaluation of green plant tissue viability has been developed. Conventionally, the reduction of TTC to insoluble red-coloured triphenylformazan (TPF) has been used to detect seed, bud, leaf and cultured cell viability. However, the 95% ethanol used to extract TPF also extracts various pigments, such as chlorophyll, from plant tissues which interfere with the absorption of TPF at 485 nm. This new water-based method improves upon the current method by eliminating the interfering pigments in the hexane layer, and by minimising the non-enzymatic oxidation of the sample. When used to evaluate the tissue viability of chillstressed waxapple (Syzygium samarangense) plants, the refined method had a greater sensitivity than the electrolyte leakage method and thus provided a more precise assessment for the physiological state of various plant tissues.

Molecular cloning and heterologous expression of a glutathione S-transferase involved in insecticide resistance from the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella

Four glutathione S-transferase (GST, EC 2.5.1.18) isozymes have been characterized in the larvae of the diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella L., a cosmopolitan insect pest of crucifiers. This work aimed at cloning and heterologously expressing the cDNA of DBM GST-3, an isozyme involved in this insect resistance to some organophosphorus insecticides, and studying the molecular basis for its increased expression in the resistant strains. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using midgut mRNA from a methyl parathion resistant MPA strain and degenerate primers complimentary to the N-terminal and internal amino acid sequences of GST-3 generated a 128 bp DNA product. A clone of 809 bp, obtained by screening a midgut cDNA library of MPA strain using this PCR product as probe, encoded a protein of 216 amino acids (calculated Mr 24,083 and pI 8.50). This GST of DBM, PxGST3, shared the highest (46.3%) amino acid sequence identity, among insects, to MsGST1 of Manduca sexta. PxGST3 mRNA level was considerably higher in MPA than in susceptible strains, and Southern blots suggested that gene amplification was probably not involved in the increased expression of this GST isozyme. Enzymatically active PxGST3 expressed heterologously in E. coli exhibited similar biochemical and toxicological properties as GST-3 purified from DBM larvae. It is the first cloned GST with a well-defined role in insecticide resistance.