Objective: To study the antiviral effect of polysaccharides from brown seaweed Lobophora variegata. Method: The crude polysaccharide was extracted with boiling water and precipitated with ethanol,and then fractionated with ion exchange chromatography. Its antiviral activity was tested by cytopathic effect (CPE) reduction assay and plaque reduction assay. The cytotoxicity of the water crude extract was determined by MTT method. Results: The crude water extract showed markedly antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 and type 2 including ACV resistant strain and clinical strains with low EC50 values of 18.2 and 6.25 μg/ml respectively. It also showed very low cytotoxicity to Vero, HEp-2 and MDCK cells. Therefore, the crude extract possessed high selective index for antiviral effect. It also had some inhibitory effect on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) but had no effect on influenza A virus. Two fractions were isolated from the water crude extract and they exhibited anti-HSV activity in the test of CPE reduction assay in Vero cells. Conclusion: Seaweed Lobophora variegata contains antiviral polysaccharides with high inhibitory effect on herpes simplex virus.

Iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) remain prevalent nutritional problems in many parts of the world. Among infants and young children, IDA has adverse effects on growth and development. Mental deficits exhibited in infancy can be long lasting. Efforts are being made to combat these problems. However, in the past decade little success was made. Currently there is interest in developing home fortificants that are versatile, inexpensive, efficacious and effective. One of these is the Sprinkles, which contain iron fumarate coated with a soy lipid and other micronutrients. The Sprinkles is packaged in small sachets and intended to be added to ready-to-eat home-prepared complementary foods once a day. An acceptance test was conducted in 5 cities in China. The Sprinkles was provided for the acceptance by infants aged 6-24 months and children of 2-5 years in 4 successive weeks. Their mothers were interviewed 4 times during the period of the study. The results showed that both the mothers, the infants and young children accepted the foods with added Sprinkles well.

Objective To observe the effects of secoisolariciresinol (SECO) and its metabolites, enterolactone (ENL) and enterodiol (END), on proliferation of MCF-7 cell line and to the probable mechanism. Method Effect of SECO, END, ENL and genistein (GEN) on MCF-7 proliferation was investigated by MTT assay. Cell cycle arrest was measured by flow cytometry (FCM). Cell morphology was observed by optical microscope. The anticarcinogenic mechanism of SECO was analyzed. Results SECO had promotive effect on the cell growth at lower concentration (≤40 ?mol/L) but inhibition effect at higher concentration (100 ?mol/L). ENL and END, however, showed significant inhibition effect at all tested concentrations (10~100?mol/L). The cell cycle progression was arrested at G2/M phase and apoptosis was observed by optical microscope. Conclusion Effect of SECO on the MCF-7 cell proliferation depends on its concentration. Inhibition effect of SECO may relate to its metabolites ENL or END.

Objective To evaluate the effects of soy isoflavones on bone density (BMD) in women in randomized clinical trials by meta-analysis. Method We searched the databases the Medline, Pubmed, and CNKI from January 1990 to October 2007 using the keywords, phytoestrogen, isoflavone, soy, genistein in combination with bone. We only included the studies of randomized clinical trial, in which the data of BMDs at lumbar spine, total hip or femoral neck prior to and post isoflavone intervention or their relevant changes and their standard deviation or 95% CI in women were provided. Results Sixteen papers (1304 women, 91% postmenopausal) were included and a mean daily dose of 73 mg supplemental soy isoflavones resulted in weighted mean (%)(95%CI) difference in yearly BMD changes of 18.3 (2.0%,CI 6.0~30.6) and 3.3(0.40%,CI 0.5~6.1) mg/cm2 at the lumber spine and total hip, respectively. Subgroup analyses showed that the effects were more pronounced in those with the isoflavone dose ≥80 mg/d than those of

Objective To study the differences between diet induced obesity (DIO) and diet induced obesity resistance (DIO-R) during insulin resistance (IR) in rats. Method Male SD rats were fed by high-fat diet 1 (45 % fat kJ) after adaptation. At 3rd week, rats were divided into 3 groups according to their body weight: rats belonging to the middle 1/3 of their body weights were the control group, and was fed by control diet (10 % fat kJ). The heaviest 1/3 and the lightest 1/3 belong to DIO and DIO-R group, respectively, and were fed by high-fat diet 2 (60 % fat kJ). Five rats were selected randomly from each group and sacarified at 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th week. The energy intake, body fat contents, fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum lipid, serum insulin, insulin sensitive index(ISI)and leptin of rats were monitored dynamically. Results DIO rats were significantly different from DIO-R and control rats in energy intake, body fat content, FBG, lipid, serum insulin and leptin. Conclusion Fed by the same high-fat diet, DIO rats are more sensitive than DIO-R rats to become IR.