Publications by authors named "Kai-An Chuang"

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial disorder characterized by cognitive decline. Current available therapeutics for AD have limited clinical benefit. Therefore, preventive therapies for interrupting the development of AD are critically needed.

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Cisplatin chemotherapy causes myelosuppression and often limits treatment duration and dose escalation in patients. Novel approaches to circumvent or lessen myelotoxicity may improve clinical outcome and quality of life in these patients. (CS) is a freshwater unicellular green alga and exhibits encouraging efficacy in immunomodulation and anticancer in preclinical studies.

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Neuroinflammation plays a central role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Compounds that suppress neuroinflammation have been identified as potential therapeutic targets for AD. Rhinacanthin C (RC), a naphthoquinone ester found in Kurz (Acanthaceae), is currently proposed as an effective molecule against inflammation.

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Agaricus blazei Murill is an edible and medicinal mushroom. In the previous study, we have proved that extracts of A. blazei inhibit human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation activated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA).

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Aims: Aberrant activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been implicated in carcinogenesis. Identification of inhibitors of this pathway may help in cancer therapy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the inhibitory effect of 3-methoxyapigenin (3-MA) with β-catenin/LEF reporter system.

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The Wnt/β-catenin pathway has been implicated in leukemogenesis. We found β-catenin abnormally accumulated in both human acute T cell leukemia Jurkat cells and human erythroleukemia HEL cells. β-Catenin can be significantly down-regulated by the Janus kinase 2 specific inhibitor AG490 in these two cells.

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Aims: To evaluate potential agents of therapeutic value in tissue inflammation, we studied norcantharidin (NCTD) and its derivatives for their effects on immune responses of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in vitro.

Main Methods: PBMC proliferation was evaluated by tritiated thymidine uptake method. The production and gene expression of cytokines were determined with enzyme immunoassays (EIA) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively.

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We selected Agaricus blazei Murill, used in the treatment of tissue inflammation and cancer in traditional Chinese medicine, to test its immunopharmacological activity. The effects of A. blazei extracted fractions (AB-BDM-1 to AB-BDM-10) on human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation were determined on the basis of the uptake of tritiated thymidine.

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