Antibacterial activity of t-cinnamaldehyde: An approach to its mechanistic principle towards enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC).

Background: Compounds of natural origin are potent source of drugs with unique mechanisms of action. Among phytochemicals, trans-cinnamaldehyde (t-CA) exhibits a wide range of biological activity, thus has been used for centuries to fight bacterial and fungal infections. However, the molecular basis of these properties has not been fully covered.

[Self-made metal freezing plate for cryopreservation of human epididymal sperm: An experimental study].

Objective: To study the effect of a new human sperm freezing method on the sperm recovery rate and search for an optimal method for cryopreservation of human epididymal sperm.

Methods: We collected semen samples from 76 men with obstructive azoospermia by percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration and divided each sample into two parts to be cryopreserved with a self-made metal freezing plate (the experimental group) or by slow freezing (the control group), respectively. We measured the percentage of progressively motile sperm (PMS) with the computer-assisted semen analysis system and compared the membrane function, DNA fragmentation index (DFI), acrosin activity and morphological abnormality of the sperm between the two groups before and after cryopreservation.

Mangiferin induces apoptosis by regulating Bcl-2 and Bax expression in the CNE2 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line.

To investigate the anti-proliferative mechanism of mangiferin in a human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line, CNE2 cells were incubated with different concentrations of mangiferin (12.5, 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 μM) or with PBS as a control for 72 hours. Analyses were made of the cell cycle and apoptosis with measurement of mRNA and protein levels of two apoptosis-related genes, Bcl-2 and Bax.

Gentiana manshurica Kitagawa prevents acetaminophen-induced acute hepatic injury in mice via inhibiting JNK/ERK MAPK pathway.

Aim: To investigate the in vivo hepatoprotective effects and mechanisms of Gentiana manshurica Kitagawa (GM) in acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury in mice.

Methods: GM (200, 150 or 50 mg/kg body weight) or N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC; 300 mg/kg body weight) was administrated orally with a single dose 2 h prior to APAP (300 mg/kg body weight) injection in mice.

Results: APAP treatment significantly depleted hepatic glutathione (GSH), increased serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal levels, and decreased hepatic activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD).