Oral treatment with probiotics reduces allergic symptoms in ovalbumin-sensitized mice: a bacterial strain comparative study.

Background/aim: Evidence demonstrating an important role of the intestinal microbiota in the incidence of allergic disorders has led to the concept of using probiotics as possible antiallergic therapy. This study aimed to select a bacterial strain with the best antiallergic treatment effects from a panel of 6 bacterial strains in a mouse model of ovalbumin(OVA)-allergic asthma.

Methods: OVA-sensitized BALB/c mice were orally administered the bacterial strains Bifidobacterium breve M-16V, B.

The multicomponent phytopharmaceutical SKI306X inhibits in vitro cartilage degradation and the production of inflammatory mediators.

Clinical studies have demonstrated that SKI306X, a purified preparation of three medicinal plants, relieves joint pain and improves functionality in osteoarthritis patients. To study the biological action of SKI306X, bovine cartilage explants and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were stimulated with IL-1 beta and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) respectively, in the presence or absence of SKI306X and its individual composites. All tested compounds inhibited dose-dependently IL-1 beta-induced proteoglycan release and nitric oxide production by cartilage, indicating cartilage protective activity.

Selective inhibition of COX-2 by a standardized CO2 extract of Humulus lupulus in vitro and its activity in a mouse model of zymosan-induced arthritis.

A standardized CO(2) extract from Humulus lupulus L. (hop extract) was investigated for its selective COX-1/2 inhibitory properties. An in vitro model of inflammation using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was used as a model to investigate the effect of hop extract on PGE(2) production.

Oral administration of the NADPH-oxidase inhibitor apocynin partially restores diminished cartilage proteoglycan synthesis and reduces inflammation in mice.

Apocynin, an inhibitor of NADPH-oxidase, is known to partially reverse the inflammation-mediated cartilage proteoglycan synthesis in chondrocytes. More recently, it was reported that apocynin prevents cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression in monocytes. The present study aimed to investigate whether these in vitro features of apocynin could be confirmed in vivo.

Selective COX-2 inhibition by a Pterocarpus marsupium extract characterized by pterostilbene, and its activity in healthy human volunteers.

In this study, an extract of Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. containing pterostilbene has been evaluated for its PGE2-inhibitory activity in LPS-stimulated PBMC. In addition, the COX-1/2 selective inhibitory activity of P.