Background: AH product is a herbal remedy containing of twelve plant extracts, which has a good hepatoprotective effect in two models inducing acute liver injury by carbon tetraclorid (CCl4) and paracetamol. Objective: To evaluate antioxidant activity in vitro and in vivo of AH product. Subjects and methods: Evaluation of antioxidant activity through a reduction of anion superoxide level in vitro and MDA concentration in liver tissue in vitro and in vivo. Results: AH product reduced anion superoxide level, IC50 was 26.60\xb5g/ml. In vitro, AH product at concentration of 125\xb5g/ml reduced formation of MDA 53.70%. The higher the concentration, the stronger the inhibition. In vivo, models of acute liver injuries induced by CCI4 and PAR in mice, AH product at two different doses (4.8 tablets/kg and 9.6 tablets/kg) reduced MDA concentration in liver tissue (33,9 - 36,6 % in CCI4 model and 21,4 - 25,3 % in PAR model) in comparison with group which used hepatotoxins but didn't use any drug. Conclusions: AH product containing many remedies was demonstrated having antioxidant activity which contributed to mechanism of hepatoprotection of this product. \r\n", u'\r\n', u'
Antioxidants ; Herbal Medicine ;

Objective:Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) is endemic in poultry in Viet Nam. The country has experienced the third highest number of human infections with influenza A(H5N1) in the world. A study in Hanoi in 2001, before the epizootic that was identified in 2003, found influenza A(H5N1) specific antibodies in 4% of poultry market workers (PMWs). We conducted a seroprevalence survey to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies to influenza A(H5N1) among PMWs in Hanoi, Thaibinh and Thanhhoa provinces.Methods:We selected PMWs from five markets, interviewed them and collected blood samples. These were then tested using a horse haemagglutination inhibition assay and a microneutralization assay with all three clades of influenza A(H5N1) viruses that have circulated in Viet Nam since 2004.Results:The overall seroprevalence was 6.1% (95% confidence interval: 4.6–8.3). The highest proportion (7.2%) was found in PMWs in Hanoi, and the majority of seropositive subjects (70.3%) were slaughterers or sellers of poultry.Discussion:The continued circulation and evolution of influenza A(H5N1) requires comprehensive surveillance of both human and animal sites throughout the country with follow-up studies on PMWs to estimate the risk of avian–human transmission of influenza A(H5N1) in Viet Nam.

The phytochemical investigation of Broussonetia kazinoki roots led to the isolation of ten compounds, including six flavonoids (1–6), two lignans (7 and 8), and two coumarins (9 and 10) by comparing their 1H and 13C NMR spectra with reference values. To the best of our knowledge, compounds 9 and 10 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Among the ten isolates, compounds 2, 4, and 6 exhibited inhibitory effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in macrophage RAW264.7 cells with IC50 values of 11.98, 10.16, and 24.06 μM, respectively. Furthermore, compounds 2, 4, and 6 reduced LPS-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in a dose-dependent manner. Pre-incubation of cells with these compounds also significantly suppressed LPS-induced COX-2 protein expression. Compounds 2, 4, and 6 also showed cytotoxic activity against HL-60 cells with IC50 values ranging between 46.43 and 94.06 μM.

The phytochemical investigation of Broussonetia kazinoki roots led to the isolation of ten compounds, including six flavonoids (1–6), two lignans (7 and 8), and two coumarins (9 and 10) by comparing their 1H and 13C NMR spectra with reference values. To the best of our knowledge, compounds 9 and 10 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Among the ten isolates, compounds 2, 4, and 6 exhibited inhibitory effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in macrophage RAW264.7 cells with IC50 values of 11.98, 10.16, and 24.06 μM, respectively. Furthermore, compounds 2, 4, and 6 reduced LPS-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in a dose-dependent manner. Pre-incubation of cells with these compounds also significantly suppressed LPS-induced COX-2 protein expression. Compounds 2, 4, and 6 also showed cytotoxic activity against HL-60 cells with IC50 values ranging between 46.43 and 94.06 μM.

In our study, sixteen known phenolic compounds, including quercetin (1), methyl gallate (2), caesalpiniaphenol C (3), 8S,8′S,7′R-(‒)-lyoniresinol (4), 7,3′,5′-trihydroxyflavanone (5), sappanchalcone (6), sappanone A (7), taxifolin (8), fisetin (9), fustin (10), (+)-catechin (11), brazilin (12), 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl β-ᴅ-glucopyranoside (13), 1-(2-methylbutyryl)phloroglucinol-glucopyranoside (14), (+)-epi-catechin (15), and astragalin (16) and one mixture of two conformers of protosappanin B (17/18) were isolated from the stems of Caesalpinia decapetala var. japonica. Their structures were elucidated based on a comparison of their physicochemical and spectral data with those of literature. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first isolation of compounds 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10 from C. decapetala and compounds 13 and 14 from the Caesalpinia genus. All the isolated compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effect against the α-glucosidase enzyme.Among them, two flavonols (1 and 9), one chalcone (6), and one homoisoflavanone (7) exhibited an inhibitory effect on α-glucosidase action with an IC 50 range value of 5.08 ‒ 15.01 µM, stronger than that of the positive control (acarbose, IC 50 = 152.22 μM). Kinetic analysis revealed that compounds 1 and 9 showed non-competitive α-glucosidase inhibition, while the inhibition type was mixed for compounds 6 and 7.

Soluble epoxide hydrolases (sEH) are enzymes present in all living organisms, metabolize epoxy fatty acids to 1,2-diols. sEH in the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids plays a key role in inflammation. In addition, the endogenous lipid mediators in cardiovascular disease are also broken down to diols by the action of sEH that enhanced cardiovascular protection. In this study, sEH inhibitory guided fractionation led to the isolation of five phenolic compounds trans-resveratrol (1), trans-piceatannol (2), sulfuretin (3), (+)-balanophonin (4), and cassigarol E (5) from the ethanol extract of the seeds of Passiflora edulis Sims cultivated in Vietnam. The chemical structures of isolated compounds were determined by the interpretation of NMR spectral data, mass spectra, and comparison with data from the literature. The soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitory activity of isolated compounds was evaluated. Among them, trans-piceatannol (2) showed the most potent inhibitory activity on sEH with an IC₅₀ value of 3.4 µM. This study marks the first time that sulfuretin (3) was isolated from Passiflora edulis as well as (+)-balanophonin (4), and cassigarol E (5) were isolated from Passiflora genus.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Epoxide Hydrolases ; Ethanol ; Fatty Acids ; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated ; Inflammation ; Metabolism ; Passiflora ; Passifloraceae ; Phenol ; Vietnam