Do We Become More Cautious for Others When Large Amounts of Money Are at Stake?

A considerable proportion of financial decisions are made by agents acting on behalf of other people. Although people are more cautious for others when making medical decisions, this does not seem to be the case for economic decisions. However, studies with large amounts of money are particularly absent from the literature, which precludes a clear comparison to studies in the medical domain. To address this gap, we investigated the effect of outcome magnitude in two experiments where participants made choices between safe and risky options. Decision-makers were not more cautious for others over large amounts. In fact, risk-taking was accentuated for large amounts in the gain domain. We did not find self-other differences in the loss domain for either outcome magnitude. This suggests that the caution observed in medical decisions does not replicate in financial decisions with large amounts, or at least not in the same way. These results echo the concerns that have been raised about excessive risk-taking by financial agents.

Glycyrrhetinic Acid Maintains Intestinal Homeostasis via HuR

Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) is one of the main components of the traditional Chinese medicine of licorice, which can coordinate and promote the effects of other medicines in the traditional prescription. We found that GA could promote the proliferation, decrease the apoptotic rate, and attenuate DFMO-elicited growth arrest and delay in restitution after wounding in IEC-6 cells via HuR. GA failed to promote proliferation and to suppress apoptosis after silencing HuR by siRNA in IEC-6 cells. Furthermore, with the model of small intestinal organoids developed from intestinal crypt stem cells, we found that GA could increase HuR and its downstream ki67 levels to promote intestinal organoid development. In the in vivo assay, GA was shown to maintain the integrity of the intestinal epithelium under the circumstance of 48 h-fasting in rats via raising HuR and its downstream genes such as EGF, EGFR, and MEK. These results suggested that via HuR modulation, GA could promote intestinal epithelium homeostasis, and therefore contribute to the absorption of constituents from other medicines co-existing in the traditional prescription with licorice in the small intestine. Our results provide a new perspective for understanding the effect of licorice on enhancing the therapeutic effect of traditional prescriptions according to the traditional Chinese medicine theory.

Cynaropicrin targets the trypanothione redox system in Trypanosoma brucei

In mice cynaropicrin (CYN) potently inhibits the proliferation of Trypanosoma brucei-the causative agent of Human African Trypanosomiasis-by a so far unknown mechanism. We hypothesized that CYNs α,β-unsaturated methylene moieties act as Michael acceptors for glutathione (GSH) and trypanothione (T(SH)2), the main low molecular mass thiols essential for unique redox metabolism of these parasites. The analysis of this putative mechanism and the effects of CYN on enzymes of the T(SH)2 redox metabolism including trypanothione reductase, trypanothione synthetase, glutathione-S-transferase, and ornithine decarboxylase are shown. A two step extraction protocol with subsequent UPLC-MS/MS analysis was established to quantify intra-cellular CYN, T(SH)2, GSH, as well as GS-CYN and T(S-CYN)2 adducts in intact T. b. rhodesiense cells. Within minutes of exposure to CYN, the cellular GSH and T(SH)2 pools were entirely depleted, and the parasites entered an apoptotic stage and died. CYN also showed inhibition of the ornithine decarboxylase similar to the positive control eflornithine. Significant interactions with the other enzymes involved in the T(SH)2 redox metabolism were not observed. Alongside many other biological activities sesquiterpene lactones including CYN have shown antitrypanosomal effects, which have been postulated to be linked to formation of Michael adducts with cellular nucleophiles. Here the interaction of CYN with biological thiols in a cellular system in general, and with trypanosomal T(SH)2 redox metabolism in particular, thus offering a molecular explanation for the antitrypanosomal activity is demonstrated. At the same time, the study provides a novel extraction and analysis protocol for components of the trypanosomal thiol metabolism.