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 study the anti-tumor effect of the proteoglycan extracted from abalone viscera (AVPF-I). Methods Hepatic carcinoma cell H22-bearing mice were randomized to negative control (physiological saline), positive control (cyclophosphamide) and three doses of AVPF-I groups. The tumor growth, cell mediated immune function including lymphocyte proliferation, phagocytosis of peritoneal macrophage, NK cell activity, and the level of serum TNF-?,IL-1and IFN-?were detected. Results A significant inhibition of the tumor growth was observed in the AVPF-I group(P

Objective To observe the expression of novel URB gene in the differentiation display of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and the effects of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and pioglitazone (PIO) on URB mRNA expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes at different times. Method The 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with IL-6 and PIO under different concentration and different time phase, and real-time fluorescence monitoring RT-PCR was conducted to measure the URB mRNA level. Fat droplets were verified by oil red O staining. Results 1. URB mRNA level was increased gradually in the whole differentiation process. 2. The expression levels of URB mRNA was decreased along with the treatment of IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and adipocytes. 3. PIO increased the level of URB mRNA in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and the reducing effect of IL-6 on URB mRNA could be corrected by PIO. Conclusion URB may be an important adipocytokin which affects energy metabolism and may work as a pharmacological gene target in the future.

Objective To observe the effect of adjusting high dietary profein intake on nutritional status of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Method Thirty three PD patients whose daily protein intake (DPI) was over 1.2g/(kg? d) were included in study from July, 2005 to November, 2006. A recipe was given by a professional dietitian for every patient to reduce DPI meanwhile maintaining sufficient daily energy intake (DEI). DPI, DEI, serum albumin (ALB), lean body mass(LBM) and subjective global assessment(SGA) and the prevalence of hyperphosphatemia, hyperkalemia and metabolic acidosis were evaluated before and after 3 and 6 mo adjustment. Results At the end of observation, 28 patients were enrolled in the study. Their mean age was 61.37?12.25 yrs, 11 males and 17 females with dialysis period 8.8 mon (1～66 mo). DPI and DEI were significantly decreased during 6 mo (P=0.000). Nobody complained about gastrointestinal symptoms, and the quality and satisfaction of life during the study were not significantly different. Serum Alb at 3 rd month was higher than the start of study (36.22?2.79g/L vs 37.34?3.32 g/L,P