Barley Sprouts Extract Attenuates Alcoholic Fatty Liver Injury in Mice by Reducing Inflammatory Response.

It has been reported that barley leaves possess beneficial properties such as antioxidant, hypolipidemic, antidepressant, and antidiabetic. Interestingly, barley sprouts contain a high content of saponarin, which showed both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. In this study, we evaluated the effect of barley sprouts on alcohol-induced liver injury mediated by inflammation and oxidative stress.

Suppression of Akt-HIF-1α signaling axis by diacetyl atractylodiol inhibits hypoxia-induced angiogenesis.

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α is a key regulator associated with tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, and metastasis. HIF-1α regulation under hypoxia has been highlighted as a promising therapeutic target in angiogenesis-related diseases. Here, we demonstrate that diacetyl atractylodiol (DAA) from Atractylodes japonica (A.

Temporal changes in physiological parameters of systemic inflammatory response syndrome during the three days prior to a diagnosis of sepsis: a case-control study.

Aims And Objectives: This study was conducted to determine temporal patterns of early changes in physiological parameters of systemic inflammatory response syndrome over three days prior to a diagnosis of sepsis.

Background: Early detection and timely management of systemic inflammatory response syndrome are often not implemented due to a failure to recognise or diagnose systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

Design: A retrospective case-control study design was adopted.

Long term durability and outcomes of carotid stenting and carotid endarterectomy.

Purpose: To evaluate the long term durability and outcomes of carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) compared with carotid endarterectomy (CEA).

Methods: Using multiple comprehensive databases, we searched for randomized controlled trials comparing CAS with CEA for carotid stenosis. Studies were classified according to symptom status: symptomatic, asymptomatic, or all inclusive stenosis.

Effect of the prenatal maternal environments and diets on cord blood interleukin-4 and interferon -gamma: A pilot study.

Background And Objective: TThe environment of a pregnant woman can affect not only fetal growth and development, but also diseases in childhood. Neonatal cord blood cytokines are commonly used to evaluate the immune development of neonates. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the environment and diet during pregnancy on IL-4 and IFN-γ in neonatal cord blood.

What Characteristics Confer Proteins the Ability to Induce Allergic Responses? IgE Epitope Mapping and Comparison of the Structure of Soybean 2S Albumins and Ara h 2.

Ara h 2, a peanut 2S albumin, is associated with severe allergic reactions, but a homologous protein, soybean 2S albumin, is not recognized as an important allergen. Structural difference between these proteins might explain this clinical discrepancy. Therefore, we mapped sequential epitopes and compared the structure of Ara h 2, Soy Al 1, and Soy Al 3 (Gly m 8) to confirm whether structural differences account for the discrepancy in clinical responses to these two proteins.

Exosome-mediated activation of toll-like receptor 3 in stellate cells stimulates interleukin-17 production by γδ T cells in liver fibrosis.

Unlabelled: During liver injury, hepatocytes secrete exosomes that include diverse types of self-RNAs. Recently, self-noncoding RNA has been recognized as an activator of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3). However, the roles of hepatic exosomes and TLR3 in liver fibrosis are not yet fully understood.

Terminalia Chebula provides protection against dual modes of necroptotic and apoptotic cell death upon death receptor ligation.

Death receptor (DR) ligation elicits two different modes of cell death (necroptosis and apoptosis) depending on the cellular context. By screening a plant extract library from cells undergoing necroptosis or apoptosis, we identified a water extract of Terminalia chebula (WETC) as a novel and potent dual inhibitor of DR-mediated cell death. Investigation of the underlying mechanisms of its anti-necroptotic and anti-apoptotic action revealed that WETC or its constituents (e.

Intracranial Stenting as a Rescue Therapy in Patients with Stroke-in-Evolution.

Background: The feasibility and efficacy of intracranial stenting were evaluated for patients with a stroke-in-evolution after the time window for thrombolysis.

Methods: Patients with symptomatic intracranial steno-occlusive disease with progressive or fluctuating symptoms were treated using intracranial stenting after the time window for hyperacute thrombolysis.

Results: Within the study period, we identified 10 patients (7 men, 62.

Efficient quantitative assessment of facial paralysis using iris segmentation and active contour-based key points detection with hybrid classifier.

Background: Facial palsy or paralysis (FP) is a symptom that loses voluntary muscles movement in one side of the human face, which could be very devastating in the part of the patients. Traditional methods are solely dependent to clinician's judgment and therefore time consuming and subjective in nature. Hence, a quantitative assessment system becomes apparently invaluable for physicians to begin the rehabilitation process; and to produce a reliable and robust method is challenging and still underway.

Arterial Wall Imaging in Symptomatic Carotid Stenosis: Delayed Enhancement on MDCT Angiography.

Objective: To evaluate progressive enhancement in the carotid arterial wall overlying plaque in the symptomatic side for patients with cerebrovascular symptoms until delayed phase using MDCTA.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-one patients (all men; ages, 49-82 years; mean, 67.8 ± 8.

Novel composite score to predict atrial Fibrillation in acute stroke patients: AF predicting score in acute stroke.

Background And Purpose: Identification of high risk population for atrial fibrillation among acute stroke patients is a center of attention. The objective of the present study was to construct a model that can predict the presence of atrial fibrillation in ischemic stroke patients and to validate the model.

Methods: From a prospectively collected hospital-based stroke registry participated by two hospital, we selected data of patients who were admitted within 24 h after the onset of symptoms.

Association between Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference and Prevalence of Microalbuminuria in Korean Adults of Age 30 Years and Older without Diabetes, Hypertension, Renal Failure, or Overt Proteinuria: The 2013 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Microalbuminuria and obesity markers are known risk factors for cardiovascular or renal disease. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of microalbuminuria according to body mass index (BMI) and abdominal obesity criteria.

Methods: The study subjects included 3,979 individuals aged 30 years or older who did not have diabetes, hypertension, renal failure, or overt proteinuria, from among those who participated in The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2013, a cross-sectional, nationally representative, stratified survey.

Drinking Amount Associated with Abnormal Gamma-Glutamyl Transpeptidase Expression in Women.

Background: This study investigated whether there is any difference in drinking amount associated with abnormal expression of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), one of the biological markers of excessive drinking, between flushing and non-flushing women after drinking.

Methods: The subjects were 797 women aged 20-59 years old who visited health promotion center of Chungnam National University Hospital between January, 2013 and July, 2014. Facial flushing status after drinking, amount of alcohol consumed per drinking episode, and the number of drinking days per week were assessed using a questionnaire.

Prestroke Antiplatelet Agents in First-Time Ischemic Stroke Are Related to Subtypes.

Background: It is not well known whether prestroke antiplatelet agents (PAs) are associated with the subtypes of ischemic stroke.

Methods: We screened patients in a hospital-based stroke registry. Patients who were admitted with a diagnosis of first-time ischemic stroke within 5 days of symptom onset were included.

Hepatic non-parenchymal cells: Master regulators of alcoholic liver disease?

Chronic alcohol consumption is one of the most common causes of the progression of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). In the past, alcohol-mediated hepatocyte injury was assumed to be a significantly major cause of ALD. However, a huge number of recent and brilliant studies have demonstrated that hepatic non-parenchymal cells including Kupffer cells, hepatic stellate cells, liver sinusoidal endothelial cells and diverse types of lymphocytes play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of ALD by producing inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, oxidative stress, microRNA, and lipid-originated metabolites (retinoic acid and endocannabinoids) or by directly interacting with parenchymal cells (hepatocytes).

Temporal patterns of change in vital signs and Cardiac Arrest Risk Triage scores over the 48 hours preceding fatal in-hospital cardiac arrest.

Aim: To determine temporal patterns of vital sign and Cardiac Arrest Risk Triage score changes over the 48-hour period preceding cardiac arrest in an ICU setting.

Background: Vital sign instability usually occurs prior to cardiac arrest. However, few studies have been conducted on the temporal patterns of individual vital signs preceding cardiac arrest.

Protocol for the comparison of triflusal and clopidogrel in secondary prevention of stroke based on cytochrome P450 2C19 genotyping (MASETRO study): A multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group trial.

Rationale And Aim: The antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel is reportedly influenced by cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19) polymorphisms. However, there is no data concerning the relationship between stroke recurrence and CYP2C19 polymorphisms in patients treated with clopidogrel for secondary prevention of ischemic stroke. Triflusal may be an alternative therapy for clopidogrel in patients with poor genotype.

Transcriptional regulation of early T-cell development in the thymus.

T-cell development occurs in multipotent progenitors arriving in the thymus, which provides a highly specialized microenvironment. Specification and sequential commitment processes to T cells begin in early thymic progenitors upon receiving thymus-specific environmental cues, resulting in the activation of the genetically programmed transcriptional cascade that includes turning on and off numerous transcription factors in a precise manner. Thus, early thymocyte differentiation has been an excellent model system to study cell differentiation processes.

Adenomatoid odontogenic tumor associated with an unerupted mandibular lateral incisor: a case report.

Adenomatoid odontogenic tumor (AOT) is a rare, benign odontogenic tumor that predominantly appears in the second decade of life in female patients. Most AOTs occur in the anterior part of the maxilla and are usually associated with impacted anterior teeth. There are three types of AOT, follicular, extrafollicular, and peripheral, which are classified based on the location of the lesion and its association with the impacted tooth.

Effect of Inductively Coupled Plasma on the Structural and Electrical Properties of Ti-Doped ITO Films Formed by IPVD.

In this study, we investigated Ti-doped ITO films formed through ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD) using inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Ti-doped ITO thin films showed an enhanced mobility with ICP power; owing to the improved crystallinity, and the sheet resistance of the Ti-doped ITO (30 nm) largely decreased from 295.1 to 134.