BACKGROUND: Endothelial adhesion molecule expression induced by pro-inflammatory cytokine plays an important role in vascular endothelial cell injury, leading to vascular disease. Allium tuberosum (AT), which is used as a functional food, has a thrombolytic effect. It contains vitamin A, vitamin C, carbohydrate, calcium, iron, and phosphorus. There are many carotenes that turn into vitamin A in the body. Also, it helps blood circulation and stimulates metabolism. The purpose of the this study was to estimate the anti-inflammatory effects of the AT extract. METHODS: Human vascular endothelial cells were pre-treated with 100 μg/mL AT extract for 30 minutes and subsequently co-treated with TNF-α (10 ng/mL) and AT extract (100 μg/mL) for 1, 4, and 6 hours. After treatment, the cells were lysed and used for quantitative reverse transcription PCR, Western blot analysis, and monocyte adhesion assay. RESULTS: We examined the effect of the AT extract on inflammatory gene expression in TNF-α-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The extract reduced the expression levels of mRNA and protein of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 in TNF-α-stimulated HUVECs. It also inhibited the TNF-α-induced phosphorylation of the NF-κB p65 subunit and degradation of IκBα. Furthermore, the AT extract prevented the increased adhesion capacity of monocyte to TNF-α-stimulated vascular endothelial cells by reducing ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: The AT extract has preventive and anti-inflammatory effect against vascular disease and has potential for supporting prevention against the early process of atherosclerosis.
Allium* ; Ascorbic Acid ; Atherosclerosis ; Blood Circulation ; Blotting, Western ; Calcium ; Carotenoids ; Chive* ; Endothelial Cells* ; Functional Food ; Gene Expression ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; Humans* ; Inflammation* ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; Iron ; Metabolism ; Monocytes ; Necrosis* ; NF-kappa B ; Phosphorus ; Phosphorylation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; Vascular Diseases ; Vitamin A

No abstract available.
Aged, 80 and over ; Ascorbate Oxidase/*metabolism ; Ascorbic Acid/administration & dosage/blood/*chemistry ; Breast Neoplasms/pathology ; Cholesterol/*blood ; *Colorimetry ; Enzyme Assays ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Intestine, Small/surgery ; Kidney/physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Palliative Care ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of vitamin C and E on blood lead (Pb) levels and SOD, GSH-Px, NOS activity and NO, MDA content in hippocampus of rats with lead poisoning.

METHODSRat lead poisoning model was established by oral administration of 0.615 mmol/L lead acetate in drinking water for 4 weeks; and animals were fed with vitamin C 100 mg/kg. bw and/or vitamin E 100 mg/kg. bw for 1 week. Then blood Pb levels and SOD, GSH-Px, NOS activity and MDA, NO contents in hippocampus of rats were determined by corresponding kits.

RESULTCompared with control group, blood Pb level was decreased significantly (P<0.05) after given vitamin C, vitamin E or combination of vitamin C and E. The concentrations of SOD, GSH-Px, NO and NOS were significantly higher in vitamin C and/or E groups than those in control group (P<0.05). The concentration of MDA in vitamin treatment groups was significantly lower than that in lead control group (P<0.05); furthermore concentration of MDA in combination of vitamin C and E group was significantly higher than that in vitamin C alone group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONAdministration of vitamin C and E can decrease blood lead level, alleviate damage of lipid peroxidation in hippocampus by lead toxicity and reverse NO, NOS levels in rats with lead poisoning.

Animals ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Ascorbic Acid ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Hippocampus ; metabolism ; Lead ; blood ; Lead Poisoning ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase ; metabolism ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Vitamin E ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use

Antioxidant vitamin supplementation focuses one's attention on the prevention of age-related diseases. This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant status and lipid profiles and to look into the antioxidant vitamin supplementation that affects lipid metabolism in 20 elderly non-smoking Korean women (placebo group: n = 6, vitC suppl: n = 7, vitE suppl: n = 7). Age, height, weight, muscle, percent of fat and WHR were not significantly different among the groups, however % of fat was above 33% and WHR was above 0.9. And blood pressure of the placebo group was 131.7/81.7 (border line hypertension), that of vitamin C supplement was 141.4/87.1 (hypertension) and that of vitamin E supplement was 151.4/92.9 (hypertension). Although nutrient intakes of all groups were poor, antioxidant status (blood vitamins C, E, A, and beta-carotene) and lipid profile (TG, total-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol) were normal. For nutritional intervention, the vitamin C supplement group received L-ascorbic acid 1,000 mg, and vitamin E supplement group received d-alpha-tocopherol 400IU for 4 weeks, showing the effects of vitamin E supplementation. Response total cholesterol of HDL-cholesterol (T-Chol/HDL) in vitamin E supplement group was significantly decreased from 4.3 to 3.2. And response LDL-cholesterol of HDL-cholesterol (LDL/HDL) in the vitamin E supplement group was also significantly decreased from 2.6 to 1.7. In addition, after the adjustment for plasma lipids (TG, total cholesterol), plasma vitamin A levels in vitamin E supplement group were significantly increased from 7.89 mg/g to 14.91 mg/g. And systolic blood pressure in vitamin E supplement group was significantly reduced. These results suggested that vitamin E supplementation affects the lipid profiles and blood pressure in elderly non-smoking women. So various nutrition programs must be implemented against age-related diseases and further studies are needed regarding sorts and amounts of antioxidant nutrients and supplementation periods.
Aged* ; Ascorbic Acid ; Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Female ; Humans ; Lipid Metabolism ; Plasma ; Vitamin A ; Vitamin E ; Vitamins

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) increases oxidative stress and damage in patients with CBP, and to explore its possible mechanism.

METHODSEighty patients with CBP and 80 healthy adults as controls were enrolled in a case-control study, in which levels of nitric oxide (NO), vitamin C (VC), and vitamin E (VE) in plasma, as well as malondialdehyde (MDA), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) in erythrocytes were determined by spectrophotometry.

RESULTSCompared with the average values of NO, VC, VE, MDA, SOD, and CAT in the healthy control group, those of plasma NO and erythrocyte MDA in the CBP group were significantly increased (P < 0.001), and those of plasma VC and VE as well as erythrocyte SOD and CAT in the CBP group were significantly decreased (P < 0.001). Findings from partial correlation analysis for course of the disease and NO, VC, VE, MDA, SOD, and CAT in 80 patients with CBP, adjusted for age, suggested that with prolonged course of the disease, values of NO and MDA were gradually increased (P < 0.001), and those of VC, VE, SOD, and CAT were gradually decreased (P < 0.05-0.001). The findings from stepwise regression analysis for course of the disease and NO, VC, VE, MDA, SOD, and CAT in CBP group suggested that the model of stepwise regression was Y = -19.1160 + 0.3112MDA + 0.0337NO, F = 22.1734, P < 0.001, r = 0.6045, P < 0.001. The findings from the reliability analysis for VC, VE, SOD, CAT, NO, and MDA in the CBP group showed that the reliability coefficients' alpha (6 items) was 0.7195, P < 0.0001, and the standardized item alpha was 0.9307, P < 0.0001.

CONCLUSIONThere exist increased oxidative stress and damage induced by chronic bacterial prostatitis in patients, and such a phenomenon is closely related to the course of disease.

Adult ; Ascorbic Acid ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Catalase ; metabolism ; Erythrocytes ; enzymology ; Humans ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Oxidative Stress ; Prostatitis ; blood ; diagnosis ; Spectrophotometry ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Vitamin E ; blood

To determine whether addition of vitamin C (Vit C) to single-unit plasma could influence the efficacy of inactivating viruses and could maintain the activity of plasma proteins by methylene blue (MB)-light treatment. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) Indiana strain was used as the indicating virus. Human plasma containing VSV was added with different concentrations of Vit C and final concentration 1 micromol/L MB and irradiated by fluorescence at an intensity of 40,000 lx, samples were collected at different times for detection. Cytopathic effect was used to test the effect of virus inactivation. A segment of the nucleic acid encoding capsid protein of VSV was amplified with RT-PCR. Some methods, such as the Clauss method, the one-stage method, microimmunoelectrophoresis, were used to investigate the changes of plasma components. The results showed that when the VSV plasma was added with 240 micromol/L Vit C and treated by MB-light irradiation for 60 min, the titer of VSV decreased by more than 8 lg TICD50/ml. Meanwhile, target segment amplification of VSV was also negative. The recovery rates of fibrinogen and coagulation factor VIII (FVIII: C) were 83.55% and 81.67% respectively, which had significant difference comparing with the routine MB-fluorescent light treatment. Most of plasma proteins were not affected significantly. No change in immunogenicity of these proteins was observed by using microimmunoelectrophoresis. It is concluded that virus inactivation is not influenced and plasma proteins are effectively protected by Vit C. Vit C can be used as a protector and is beneficial to improving the quality of plasma subjected to MB- photodynamic treatment.
Ascorbic Acid ; pharmacology ; Blood Proteins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Light ; Methylene Blue ; pharmacology ; Plasma ; virology ; Vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus ; drug effects ; Virus Inactivation ; drug effects

AIMTo observe the protective effects of tanshinones (tanshinone IIA, tanshinone I, cryptotanshinone and dihydrotanshinone) against liver injury in mice loaded with restraint stress.

METHODSThe liver injury model was established under 12 h restraint stress in mice 5 days after tanshinones treatment. The hepatoprotective effects were evaluated by assessing alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in plasma. The contents of vitamin C, GSH and malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver were performed by HPLC and TBARS methods, respectively. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay was used to measure the antioxidant capacity.

RESULTSTanshinones decreased ALT and MDA levels, and increased ORAC, vitamin C and GSH levels in liver tissues as compared with restraint stress control. Tanshinones also significantly inhibited oxidation in vitro. Among four tanshinones, dihydrotanshinone was more effective than others both in vivo and in vitro test.

CONCLUSIONTanshinones possesses potent antioxidant activity in vitro and in vivo, and protected against liver injury induced by restraint stress. The active mechanisms may be related to their antioxidant capability.

Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Ascorbic Acid ; metabolism ; Diterpenes, Abietane ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Glutathione ; metabolism ; Liver ; drug effects ; injuries ; metabolism ; Liver Diseases ; blood ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Mice ; Phenanthrenes ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Restraint, Physical ; adverse effects ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; chemistry ; Stress, Physiological ; complications

AIMTo assess the relation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants in the internal spermatic vein blood compared to the peripheral venous blood.

METHODSSixty-eight infertile oligoasthenozoospemic patients associated with varicocele were investigated. During inguinal varicocelectomy, blood samples of internal spermatic as well as median cubital veins were withdrawn. Three ROS factors (malondialdehyde [MDA], hydrogen peroxide H(2)O(2), nitric oxide [NO]) and four antioxidants (superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase [Cat], glutathione peroxidase [GPx] and vitamin C) were estimated in these blood samples.

RESULTSMean levels of tested ROS factors were significantly higher in the internal spermatic venous blood compared to those in the peripheral one (mean+/-SD) (MDA 18.7+/-1.4 nmol/mL vs. 15.4+/-1.4 nmol/mL, H(2)O(2) 43.6+/-8.0 micromol/mL vs. 30.8+/-8.1 micromol/mL, NO 2.3+/-0.5 nmol/L vs. 1.6+/-0.4 nmol/L, P<0.01). Mean levels of tested antioxidants were significantly lower in the internal spermatic venous blood compared to those in the peripheral one (superoxide dismutase 1 690.7+/-130.0 U/mL vs. 1 818.5+/-143.0 U/mL, catalase 38.9+/-6.1 mol/L vs. 47.9+/-10.2 mol/L, GPx 20.4+/-8.1 U/mL vs. 23.0+/-8.4 U/mL, vitamin C 0.3+/-0.1 vs. 0.4+/-0.1 mg/dL, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONInternal spermatic venous blood of infertile male cases associated with varicocele demonstrated elevated levels of ROS and decreased levels of antioxidants compared to peripheral venous circulation.

Adult ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Ascorbic Acid ; blood ; Catalase ; blood ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; blood ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; metabolism ; Infertility, Male ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Prospective Studies ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Spermatic Cord ; blood supply ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood ; Varicocele ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Veins ; enzymology ; metabolism

AIMTo investigate whether chronic bacterial prostatitis might increase oxidative stress and oxidative damage in chronic bacterial prostatitis patients (CBPP), and to explore its possible mechanism.

METHODSEnrolled in a case-control study were 70 randomly sampled CBPP and 70 randomly sampled healthy adult volunteers (HAV), on whom plasma nitric oxide (NO), vitamin C (VC), vitamin E (VE) and beta-carotene (beta-CAR) level, erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA) level, as well as erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities were determined by spectrophotometry.

RESULTSCompared with the HAV group, values of plasma NO and erythrocyte MDA in the CBPP group were significantly increased (P < 0.001); those of plasma VC, VE and beta-CAR as well as erythrocyte SOD, CAT and GPX activities in the CBPP group were significantly decreased (P < 0.001). Findings from partial correlation for the 70 CBPP showed that with prolonged course of disease, values of NO and MDA were gradually increased (P < 0.001), and those of VC, VE, beta-CAR, SOD, CAT and GPX were gradually decreased (P < 0.05-0.001). The findings from stepwise regression for the 70 CBPP suggested that the model was Y = -13.2077 + 0.1894MDA + 0.0415NO - 0.1999GPX, F = 18.2047, P < 0.001, r = 0.6729, P < 0.001.

CONCLUSIONThe findings suggest that there exist increased oxidative stress and oxidative damage induced by chronic bacterial prostatitis in the patients, and such phenomenon was closely related to the course of disease.

Adult ; Ascorbic Acid ; blood ; Bacterial Infections ; blood ; physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Catalase ; blood ; Erythrocytes ; metabolism ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; blood ; Humans ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Oxidative Stress ; physiology ; Prostatitis ; blood ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Reference Values ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood ; Vitamin E ; blood ; beta Carotene ; blood

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of fruit juices with different antioxidant capacity on antioxidant system function of aged rats.

METHODSThirty Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: pomegranate juice and apple juice as two experimental groups, while distilled water as normal control group. They were administrated fruit juices or distilled water respectively by gavage daily for 4 weeks. At the end of experiment, the antioxidant system function was assessed.

RESULTSThe aged rats in pomegranate juice group showed significantly higher serum antioxidant capacity (0.90 +/- 0.13) mmol/L than that in control group (0.79 +/- 0.10) mmol/L (P < 0.05). The concentrations of serum carbonyl and oxLDL were decreased significantly in pomegranate juice group as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The percentage of injured blood lymphocyte DNA and the ratio of tail length/total length were declined significantly in pomegranate juice group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 respectively). The apple juice showed no effects except decreased ratio of tail length/total length of injured lymphocyte DNA. There were no changes in concentrations of serum vitamin C, vitamin E, urinary 8-OH-dG excretion and the activities of serum SOD, GSH-Px, CAT among three groups.

CONCLUSIONSThe pomegranate juice should possess higher antioxidant capacity and might improve the antioxidant system function of aged rats, while the apple juice is relatively lower in antioxidant capacity and not very effective. The polyphenols in pomegranate juice might be the important functional components.

Aging ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Ascorbic Acid ; blood ; Beverages ; Catalase ; blood ; Comet Assay ; Female ; Fruit ; chemistry ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; blood ; Lymphocytes ; metabolism ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; urine ; Malus ; chemistry ; Punicaceae ; chemistry ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood ; Vitamin E ; blood