Toxicological Safety Evaluation in Acute and 21-Day Studies of Ethanol Extract from Sol Thunb.

(Solanaceae) is a traditional Chinese medicine widely used to remedy cold fever, damp-heat jaundice, herpes, and nephritis dropsy. Despite its obvious therapeutic advantages, few toxicological studies have involved the efficacy and safety of its long-term treatment. To investigate the acute and subchronic toxicity of the extract of 75% ethanol extract of whole (ESL) after oral administration in mice.

Fabrication and wetting behaviour of micro/nanostructured mushroom-shaped silver pillar surface.

This manuscript presents a simple, one-step method for the fabrication of micro/nanostructured metal-based superhydrophobic surfaces via electroplating using stacked polycarbonate membranes with nanoscale and microscale pores as a template. The two-tiered mushroom-shaped silver pillar arrays include a top layer composed of nanopillars and a bottom layer composed of T-shaped micropillars. The presence of the re-entrant surface structures with a strong resistance pin the droplets to the cap's ridge and prevent water droplets from penetrating into the valleys of the rough surface, thus resulting in an increase in water contact angle (WCA).

d-Limonene protects PC12 cells against corticosterone-induced neurotoxicity by activating the AMPK pathway.

The stress-induced hormone corticosterone initiates oxidative stress and inflammatory responses, culminating in cell apoptosis and neurological changes. We assessed the effects of d-Limonene on a PC12 cellular model of corticosterone-induced neurotoxicity, and whether these effects involved the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPKα) pathway. PC12 cells were treated with corticosterone with or without d-limonene for 24 h.

Macranthol attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced depressive-like behaviors by inhibiting neuroinflammation in prefrontal cortex.

Macranthol is a lignans natural product isolated from Illicium dunnianum Tutch. Our previous studies have shown that BDNF dependent signaling pathway activation was involved in the antidepressant-like effects of macranthol. However, it is not clear whether neuro-inflammation suppression is involved in the effects of macranthol.

Apigenin reverses depression-like behavior induced by chronic corticosterone treatment in mice.

Previous researches found that apigenin exerted antidepressant-like effects in rodents. However, it is unclear whether the neurotrophic system is involved in the antidepressant-like effects of apigenin. Our present study aimed to explore the neurotrophic related mechanism of apigenin in depressive-like mice induced by chronic corticosterone treatment.

Hepatoprotective effect of ethanol extract from Berchemia lineate against CCl4-induced acute hepatotoxicity in mice.

Context: The roots of Berchemia lineate (L.) DC. (Rhamnaceae) have been long used as a remedy for the treatment of some diseases in Guangxi Province, China.

Nobiletin Ameliorates the Deficits in Hippocampal BDNF, TrkB, and Synapsin I Induced by Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress.

Background. Our previous study has demonstrated that nobiletin could reverse the behavioral alterations in stressed mice. However, the relation of its antidepressant-like action with neurotrophic molecular expression remains unknown.

Antidepressant-like effect of macranthol isolated from Illicium dunnianum tutch in mice.

The present study was aimed to evaluate the behavioral and biochemical effects of macranthol, a triphenyl lignan isolated from Illicium dunnianum. To this aim, mice were treated with macranthol (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg) and then subjected to the forced swimming test, tail suspension test and chronic unpredictable mild stress. It was observed that macranthol significantly reduced the immobility time in the forced swimming test and tail suspension test after acute (1-day) treatment, and reversed the reduction of sucrose preference induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress after chronic (5-week) treatment.

Essential oil of Perilla frutescens-induced change in hippocampal expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in chronic unpredictable mild stress in mice.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Perilla frutescens (Perilla leaf), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been used for centuries to treat various conditions including depression. A previous study of the authors demonstrated that essential oil of Perilla frutescens (EOPF) attenuated the depressive-like behavior in mice.

Aim Of The Study: This study was undertaken to explore the dynamic change of behaviors and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), and improved by EOPF.

Antidepressant-like effect of oleanolic acid in mice exposed to the repeated forced swimming test.

The study aimed to explore the antidepressant-like effect of oleanolic acid and its possible mechanism related to the monoaminergic system and neurotrophin in mice exposed to the repeated forced swimming test (FST). Both the duration and the latency of immobility affected by oleanolic acid (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg) were evaluated in the FST repeated at intervals on days 1, 7 and 14, followed by neurochemical and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) analyses in the mouse brain regions of frontal cortex and whole hippocampus. A repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that over retesting the immobility time increased, whereas latency to immobility tended to decrease.

Novel alginate-poly(L-histidine) microcapsules as drug carriers: in vitro protein release and short term stability.

Spherical, smooth-surfaced and mechanically stable alginate-poly(L-histidine) (PLHis) microcapsules with narrow particle size distributions were prepared by incubating calcium alginate beads in aqueous solutions of PLHis. The in vitro release characteristics, drug loading and encapsulation efficiency of the microcapsules were investigated using bovine erythrocytes hemoglobin (Hb) as a model drug. The results showed that the concentration of Ca(2+) ions had a considerable effect on the drug loading, encapsulation efficiency and in vitro release behavior of the microcapsules.