Inhibiting MiR-34α reduces retinal cell apoptosis and downstream NF-κB pathway in diabetic retinopathy rats through regulating HMGB1 expression.

Background: This is a research aimed to study the effect of micro ribonucleic acid (miR)-34α on the retinal cell apoptosis in diabetic retinopathy (DR) rats and its key molecular mechanism.

Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into healthy group (H group, N.=5), diabetes group (D group, N.

A new antibacterial compound from Luo Han Kuo fruit extract (Siraitia grosvenori).

Luo Han Kuo fruit (Siraitia grosvenori Swingle) has been used in China for centuries as a sweetening agent, and also used to treat sore throat and cough. In our recent study, a new bioactive compound, (2R,3S,4S)-2,3-trans-3,4-cis-5,3'-bimethoxy-7-(trans-2-propenal)-3,4-flavandiol (1), named siraitiflavandiol was obtained. The structure has been determined on the basis of spectroscopic studies including 1D and 2D NMR ((1)H, (13)C NMR, (1)H-(1)H COSY, HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY), CD, EI-MS, and HR-EI-MS spectra.