Natural Products as the Potential to Improve Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are the two most common neurodegenerative diseases in the world, and their incidence rates are increasing as our society ages. This creates a significant social and economic burden. Although the exact cause and treatment methods for these diseases are not yet known, research suggests that Alzheimer's disease is caused by amyloid precursor protein, while α-synuclein acts as a causative agent in Parkinson's disease.

Vascular Relaxation and Blood Pressure Lowering Effects of in Rats.

Siebold et Zuccarini is mainly consumed as processed fruits in beverages, vinegar, alcohol, or fruit syrup; studies have reported various functional effects. Many pharmacological and functional studies exist on fruit extracts or processed foods using fruits, however, efficacy studies on various parts of , including the bark, branches, flowers, and leaves, have not been sufficiently conducted. A previous study revealed that a 70% ethanol extract of branches induced vascular endothelium-dependent vasorelaxant effects in rat thoracic aortic rings.

Vasorelaxant effects of 50 commonly used traditional herbal prescriptions on isolated rat aortic rings.

Objective: To investigate the vasorelaxant activities of 50 common traditional herbal prescriptions (THPs) on isolated rat aortic rings.

Methods: An electric extractor was used to extract THPs. Rat aortic rings were precontracted using phenylephrine in organ chambers containing Krebs-Henseleit solution.

Social Support, Activities of Daily Living, and Depression among Older Japanese and Koreans Immigrants in the U.S.

This study investigates the relationship between social support, activities of daily living (ADL), and depression among older Japanese and Koreans living in the U.S. Data were collected from 207 older Japanese and 210 older Koreans in various long-term care settings in Honolulu and Los Angeles.

Vasorelaxant Effect of (Siebold) Siebold & Zucc. Branch through the Endothelium-Dependent Pathway.

Korean plum ( (Siebold) Siebold & Zucc.) has long been used as a health food or herbal medicine in Asia. Previous studies have shown that several plants of the genus have vasodilatory and antihypertensive effects; we hypothesized that branches may have a vasorelaxant effect.

Endothelium-Dependent Vasorelaxant Effect of Branch on Isolated Rat Thoracic Aorta.

Peach ( (L.) Batsch) is a popular fruit consumed by people worldwide, owing to its pleasant flavor and high mineral nutrient content. A few plants from the genus , such as , , and have shown vasorelaxant and vasodilatory effects, to date, no study has investigated the vasorelaxation effects of the branch extract (PPE).

Prunetin Relaxed Isolated Rat Aortic Rings by Blocking Calcium Channels.

Prunetin, a component of herbal medicines and various foods, such as pea, peach, cherry, and , is a useful pharmacological compound. We previously reported the potent vasorelaxant effect of the bark of . Therefore, we investigated the vasorelaxant activities of prunetin on isolated rat aortic rings and hypotensive activity on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) in this study.

Vasorelaxant and Hypotensive Effects of Cheonwangbosimdan in SD and SHR Rats.

Historically, traditional herbal medicines (THMs) have been the conventional treatment strategy in the Korean medical system for treating many diseases. However, THMs have rarely been used to treat hypertension, and moreover few studies have investigated the interaction of blood pressure with the coadministration of synthetic antihypertensives. We aimed to evaluate the vasorelaxant and hypotensive effects of the traditional herbal prescription Cheonwangbosimdan (CWBSD; "Tianwangbuxindan" in Chinese) and the combination of CWBSD with amlodipine.

Review on the characteristics of liver-pacifying medicinal in relation to the treatment of stroke: from scientific evidence to traditional medical theory.

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of liver pacifying medicinal in the treatment of brain disease to provide scientific evidence in clinical usage on stroke.

Methods: MEDLINE/PubMed, Google Scholar, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database were used as the literature sources. The Scientific name, Latin pharmaceutical name, Chinese name of 7 kinds of liver pacifying medicinal including Gouteng (Ramulus Uncariae Rhynchophyllae cum Uncis), Tianma (Rhizoma Gastrodiae), Juemingzi (Semen Cassiae Obtusifoliae), Quanxie (Scorpio), Wugong (Scolopendra), Jiangcan (Bombyx Batryticatus), and Dilong (Pheretima Aspergillum) were used as the keywords to search the databases for relevant publications up to July 2016.

Experimental research of hypotensive and hypolipidemic effects with Modified Sanhuang Xiexin Decoction ().

Objective: To investigate the hypotensive and hypolipidemic effects of Modified Sanhuang Xiexin Decoction (, HVC1), a herbal prescription for the vascular diseases in Chinese medicine and evaluate the acute and subchronic oral toxicities.

Methods: Fifty-six spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHRs) were used to investigate the hypotensive and hypolipidemic effect of HVC1. Rats in the normal group (n=8) were fed with normal diet.

Vasorelaxant effects of Angelica decursiva root on isolated rat aortic rings.

Background: Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and a worldwide problem. Despite increases in the development of synthetic drugs for hypertension treatment, the rate of untreated and uncontrolled hypertension remains high. These drugs are effective, but can also cause side effects.

Wound Healing Effects of Matsumura Bark in Scalded Rats.

Pruni Cortex has been used to treat asthma, measles, cough, urticaria, pruritus, and dermatitis in traditional Korean medicine. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of Matsumura bark methanol extract (PYE) on scald-induced dorsal skin wounds in rats. Scalds were produced in Sprague-Dawley rats with 100°C water and treated with 5% and 20% PYE (using Vaseline as a base), silver sulfadiazine (SSD), and Vaseline once a day for 21 days, beginning 24 hours after scald by treatment group allocation.

Effect of Acer tegmentosum bark on atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in NC/Nga mice.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic and relapsing inflammatory condition characterized by pruritic and eczematous skin lesions that requires safe and effective pharmacological therapy. The bark of Acer tegmentosum Maxim trees has been used in Korean folk and traditional medicine to treat abscesses, surgical bleeding, liver diseases, and AD.

Aim Of Study: To investigate the therapeutic effect of A.

Antihypertensive Effect of the GaMiSamHwangSaSimTang in Spontaneous Hypertensive Rats.

The present study was designed to evaluate the antihypertensive effect of GaMiSamHwangSaSimTang (HVC1), a 30% ethanol extract of a mixture comprising Pruni Cortex, Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, and Rhei Rhizoma, on spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHRs). The systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured every 4 or 7 days using the noninvasive tail cuff system. The vasorelaxant effects on isolated aortic rings were evaluated.

Effect of Ampelopsis Radix on wound healing in scalded rats.

Background: Ampelopsis Radix has been used as a traditional Korean medicine for the treatment of burns and scalds. However, there has been no scientific research to date on the wound healing properties of Ampelopsis Radix for scald burns. This study aimed to evaluate the healing effect of Ampelopsis japonica root tuber ethanol extract (AJE) on induced cutaneous scald injury in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats.

Endothelium-Independent Vasorelaxant Effect of Ligusticum jeholense Root and Rhizoma on Rat Thoracic Aorta.

Ligusticum jeholense has been used as the traditional medicine 'Go-Bon' (Chinese name, Gao-ben) in China and Korea. Considering the increased use of medicinal herbs to treat hypertension, in this study, we aimed to investigate the mechanisms of the vasorelaxation effect caused by L. jeholense.

Epitaxial growth of molecular crystals on van der waals substrates for high-performance organic electronics.

Epitaxial van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures of organic and layered materials are demonstrated to create high-performance organic electronic devices. High-quality rubrene films with large single-crystalline domains are grown on h-BN dielectric layers via vdW epitaxy. In addition, high carrier mobility comparable to free-standing single-crystal counterparts is achieved by forming interfacial electrical contacts with graphene electrodes.

Optical reflectivity and Raman scattering in few-layer-thick graphene highly doped by K and Rb.

We report the optical reflectivity and Raman scattering of few layer (L) graphene exposed to K and Rb vapors. Samples many tens of layers thick show the reflectivity and Raman spectra of the stage 1 bulk alkali intercalation compounds (GICs) KC(8) and RbC(8). However, these bulk optical and Raman properties only begin to appear in samples more than about 15 graphene layers thick.

Unusual molecular conformations in fluorinated, contorted hexabenzocoronenes.

Fluorinated, contorted hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs) have been synthesized in a facile manner via Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of fluorinated phenyl boronic acids followed by photocyclization and Scholl cyclization. In addition to the molecular conformation observed in previous HBC derivatives, close-contact fluorine-fluorine intramolecular interactions result in a metastable conformation not previously observed. Heating the metastable HBCs above 100 °C irreversibly converts them to the stable conformation, suggesting that the metastable conformation arises from a kinetically arrested state during cyclization.

Two-dimensional alignment of imogolite on a solid surface.

Surface modified imogolite fiber, hydrated aluminium silicate that has the shape of a rigid hollow cylinder, was aligned with consistent nano spacing and was visualized by scanning tunneling microscopy.