No abstract available.
Environmental Health* ; Toxicology*

No abstract available.
Environmental Health ; Toxicology

Introduction: Plants have been used for the treatment of diabetes in Philippine system of medicine and in other countries. They provide clues for the development of new and better oral drugs for diabetes due to the fact that prevalence of diabetes is on a steady upsurge worldwide and identified as one of the leading causes of mortality in Philippines. Methods: An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in Tarlac of Central Luzon Philippines to evaluate the relative efficacy of the plants used to treat diabetes. A total number of 450 respondents medically diagnosed of having diabetes were interviewed using a previously prepared questionnaire. Fidelity levels (FLs) and use values (UVs) were calculated to identify and verify most preferred plant species used in study areas. Results: A total of 25 plant species are utilized by the respondents to treat diabetes. Medicinal plants commonly utilized are Momordica charantia Linn., Moringa oleifera Lam, Annona muricata Linn., Psidium guajava Linn., Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers., Hibiscus esculentis Linn., Amomum zingiber Linn., Myrtus cumini Linn., Garcinia mangostana Linn., and Aloe vera Linn. Decoction process is used to prepare the leaves of the medicinal plants for medical consumption in the form of tea. Conclusion: This study confirms the use of different plant species to treat diabetes. It further affirms that most people with diabetes in the study areas rely on traditional medicine for their primary health care needs.

Objective Observe the effect of using ginseng and astragalus arbran decoction with western medicine on type-2 diabetes. Method Divide fifty type-2 diabetes sufferers into control group and treatment group randomly.Sufferers from control group take diformin tablets and acarbose orally; Those from treatment group take ginseng and astragalus arbran decoction additionally on that basis for eight weeks continuously.Compare the changes of blood sugar of the two groups before and after the treatments in the situation of limosis and two hours after dinner. Results control group and treatment group each has a total effective rate of 72% and 98% respectively, significant difference exists (P<0.05). Conclusion Using ginseng and astragalus arbran decoction with western medicine has a better effect on controlling blood sugar.

Objective:To prepare GST-Orai2 fusion protein and to prepare polyclonal antibody against Orai2 by immunizing rabbits.To further investigate the function of Orai2,a transmembrane protein,this antibody was used to identify the Orai2 conditional gene knockout mice.Methods:ORF of Orai2 was amplified by PCR and subcloned into pGEX-6p-1 vector.After transforming BL21 (DE3) competent cells,we succeeded in inducing the expression of GST-Orai2 fusion protein using IPTG.Then the GST-Orai2 protein was purified by immobilized Glutathione affinity chromatography and identified by SDS-PAGE.A New England rabbit was immunized with the prepared fusion protein in Freund's adjuvant to prepare specific antibody.Finally,the prepared antibody was identified by Western blot by checking its titer and specificity.Furthermore,we took use of the prepared Orai2 antibody to identify Orai2 conditional gene knockout mice,with comparing to the wildtype ones in the same cage.Results:The purity of purified GST-Orai2 reached to 90% and the concentration was 0.35 mg/ml by BCA kit.We could detect Orai2 protein even in dilution of 1:10,000.Also,the prepared polyclonal antibody agianst Orai2 could detect both overexpressed and endogenous Orai2 protein in mouse-brain,without crossing reaction with Orai1.As well,we found that the Orai2 protein expression was of obvious reduction in Orai2 conditional gene knockout mice,compared with the wildtype ones in the same cage.Conclusion:We successfully obtain the purified GST-Orai2 fusion protein and prepare specific and highly sensitive polyclonal antibody against Orai2.The antibody can be used to detect overexpressed and endogenous Orai2 protein inmouse-brain specifically,and to identify Orai2 conditional gene knockout mice,without any crossing reaction with Orai1.Our work contributes a lot to the future investigation of functions of Orai2.

　In the coming ″Super-aging society″ , collaboration between medical professionals and health workers in home-care will be critical. Thus, undergraduate interprofessional education is important for the improvement of a collaborative attitude. We ran a 2-day IPE program for a medical and a rehabilitation student focused on collaboration for patients who have chronic diseases and problems in Activities of Daily Life (ADL) . As a result, one showed marked improvement in ADL while the other did not. Students learned not only roles and perceptions of other professionals but also a sense of worth and an appreciation of the difficulty of patient-centered home-care.

Shigyakusan, a traditional Japanese prescription, has been prescribed for chronic diseases including gastritis, upper respiratory tract infection, hepatitis, irritable colon and so on. The effectiveness of shigyakusan against pain, however, has only been rarely reported. Here we report that shigyakusan was effective on pain such as intractable chronic and acute pain in 26 patients. Shigyakusan is composed of 7.5 g (dry weight/day) : saiko, shakuyaku, kijitsu and kanzo. Shigyakusan and kososan mimic the composition of saikosokanto. Pain alleviation periods were 3-90 days (26 ± 19). Pains were recognized in various regions including side of the flank and the thorax, the back, the tongue, the perineum, the elbow joint, the head and plantar areas. Abdominal findings as tension of the rectus abdominis, kyokyokuman (discomfort of the hypochondrium area) and sinkahiko (tenderness of the hypochondrium area) were recognized 58%, 46% and 38%, respectively. All patients were recognized with depressive conditions. Shigyakusan alleviated acute and chronic pain that had not been improved with Western medicine. Therefore, shigyakusan may be considered for prescription in patients with incurable pain.

Aims: Today, bacterial biofilms contribute to 65% of nosocomial infections worldwide. One of the most common pathogens that can form biofilm is Pseudomonas aeroginusa. Therefore, the present study was aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of catechin and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on planktonic and biofilm cells of P.aeruginosa standard strain. Methodology and results: Standard strains of P. aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) were cultivated in nutrient agar medium for 24 h at 37 °C. The MICs values of EDTA, catechin and imipenem antibiotics on P. aeruginosa were determined with micro dilution test. Then, the biofilm of this bacterium was grown and finally the influences of these agents on biofilm inhibition were evaluated by colorimetric MTT and ATPase release assays. One way analyses of variance and then Fisher's least significant difference test were carried out to compare the different groups. The MIC values of catechin and EDTA on P. aeruginosa were 7.24 and 24.92 (μg/mL), respectively. Colorimetric assay with MTT showed that EDTA, and catechin inhibited biofilm formation significantly. ATPase assay indicated that the amount of released ATP from EDTA and catechin groups were significantly lower than the control group. Also, there was a significant difference between the EDTA and catechin groups with respect to the amount of the released ATP. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Our findings showed that EDTA and catechin can inhibit the growth of planktonic and biofilm cells of P. aeruginosa. From the results of the present study, we suggest using these agents to reduce or inhibit bacterial contamination of medical devices.

To interact with the egg, the spermatozoon must undergo several biochemical and motility modifications in the female reproductive tract, collectively called capacitation. Only capacitated sperm can undergo acrosomal exocytosis, near or on the egg, a process that allows the sperm to penetrate and fertilize the egg. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent processes on acrosomal exocytosis. Inhibition of protein kinase A (PKA) at the end of capacitation induced acrosomal exocytosis. This process is cAMP-dependent; however, the addition of relatively high concentration of the membrane-permeable 8-bromo-cAMP (8Br-cAMP, 0.1 mmol l-1) analog induced significant inhibition of the acrosomal exocytosis. The induction of acrosomal exocytosis by PKA inhibition was significantly inhibited by an exchange protein directly activated by cAMP (EPAC) ESI09 inhibitor. The EPAC selective substrate activated AE at relatively low concentrations (0.02-0.1 μmol l-1), whereas higher concentrations (>5 μmol l-1) were inhibitory to the AE induced by PKA inhibition. Inhibition of PKA revealed about 50% increase in intracellular cAMP levels, conditions under which EPAC can be activated to induce the AE. Induction of AE by activating the actin severing-protein, gelsolin, which causes F-actin dispersion, was inhibited by the EPAC inhibitor. The AE induced by PKA inhibition was mediated by phospholipase C activity but not by the Ca2+-channel, CatSper. Thus, inhibition of PKA at the end of the capacitation process induced EPAC/phospholipase C-dependent acrosomal exocytosis. EPAC mediates F-actin depolymerization and/or activation of effectors downstream to F-actin breakdown that lead to acrosomal exocytosis.