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.

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.

　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.

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.

Background & Objective: Resistance training is deemed to be beneficial for multiple sclerosis patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether a program of RT and whole body vibration has any effect on the pattern of hormonal changes in female MS patients. Methods: Twenty-four female MS patients were enrolled in this study. They were aged between 20-40 years and ranged from 2-4 on the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Twelve patients took part in this protocole. The duration of the program was eight weeks, each sessions were held three times per week. The twelve controls did not take part in this program. Serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing-hormone, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, prolactin and cortisol were measured before and after the protocole between the 8th and 10th day of the follicular phase of the patients’ menstrual cycle. Descriptive statistics and co-variance analysis were adapted for evaluating the data. Results: Significant increases in levels of testosterone and prolaction, whereas a significant decrease in levels of cortisol were detected. Conclusion: The results provide clues as to the involvement of testosterone, prolactin and cortisol as possible mediators of the beneficial effects of resistance training and whole body vibration in multiple sclerosis.

Background: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of MetSyn and insulin resistance (IR) in children and adolescents in Qazvin, Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 338 children and adolescents aged 10–18 years old who were selected by a multistage cluster random sampling method. We performed standardised measurements of variables including waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, plasma glucose level, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), triglycerides, and insulin. MetSyn was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation criteria. IR was estimated by the homeostatic model assessment. Results: Of the 338 total subjects, 172 were female. The overall prevalence of MetSyn and IR were 3.4% and 18.2%, respectively. There was no sex difference for the prevalence of MetSyn. A total of 185 subjects (56.4%) had one or two components of MetSyn. The most common component was low HDL levels in both sexes, which was followed by high WC in females and high fasting plasma glucose levels in males. Conclusion: The lack of a standard definition of MetSyn in children and adolescents combined with the geographical and socioeconomic differences make it difficult to compare the results from different studies. Modification of lifestyle habits is an important strategy in preventing MetSyn and IR.

High fructose diet is associated with the global metabolic syndrome (MtS) pandemic. MtS develops in early life, depending on prenatal and postnatal nutritional status. We hypothesized that ovariectomy increases the chances of developing MtS in adult offspring following high fructose intake by the mother. Pregnant C57BL/6J mouse dams drank water with or without 20% fructose during pregnancy and lactation. After weaning, the pups were fed regular chow. The offspring were evaluated until they were 7 months of age after the mice in each group, both sexes, were gonadectomized at 4 weeks of age. The offspring (both sexes) of the dams who had high fructose intake developed MtS. In the offspring of dams who drank tap water, orchiectomy increased the body weight gain and body fat accumulation, while ovariectomy increased the body fat accumulation as compared to the sham controls.In the offspring of dams with high fructose intake, orchiectomy decreased the body weight gain, body fat accumulation, visceral adiposity, and glucose intolerance, while ovariectomy exacerbated all of them as compared to the sham operations.These data indicate that ovariectomy encourages the development of MtS in adult offspring after maternal high fructose intake, while orchiectomy prevents the development of MtS. The sex difference indicates that male and female sex hormones play contradictory roles in the development of MtS.