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Acremoniumterricola milleretal mycelium (AMM) exerts numerous protective effects on organs, and has been used in Chinese herb prescriptions to treat refractory diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of AMM on immunological hepatic fibrosis induced by porcine serum (PS) in rats. Male Sprague Dawley rats were administered 0.5 ml sterile PS by intraperitoneal injections twice a week for 18 weeks. AMM (175, 350 or 700 mg/kg) and colchicine (0.1 mg/kg) were administered intragastrically each day until the rats were sacrificed. PS administration resulted in marked hepatic fibrosis, as assessed by increased oxidative stress and hepatic collagen content, as well as a-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) expression. AMM significantly reduced liver damage and fibrosis. In addition, AMM decreased the elevation in hydroxyproline, hyaluronic acid, laminin and procollagen type III; increased the activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase; decreased a-SMA expression; and eliminated hepatic collagen deposits. Furthermore, AMM inhibited Smad2/3 phosphorylation and Smad7 expression. These results indicate that AMM is able to reduce oxidative stress, inhibit collagen synthesis and block the transforming growth factor-β/Smad signaling pathway in a dose-dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare the foam capacity (FC) and foam stability (FS) of freeze-dried porcine serum (PS) and porcine serum albumin (PSA) with egg white protein (EW). PSA was obtained by hydrophobic interaction chromatography in a single chromatographic step. Foaming properties were determined at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 % of protein solutions in buffer phosphate, pH 7.2, under native conditions (25°C) and after heat treatment (80°C, 10 min). Both, FC and FS properties improved with increasing protein concentration in all isolates. In native fractions, foam capacity of PS and PSA proteins were comparable to EW fraction. However, the foaming stability of EW and PSA was higher than that PS. After heat treatment, foam capacity of EW fraction was not affected, whereas it decreased for both porcine fractions. On the contrary, foam stability of porcine fractions was higher than for EW. In conclusion, separation of PSA from total serum allows obtaining a protein with foaming properties as good as egg white and better than porcine serum. Resumen Se compararon la capacidad espumante (CE) y la estabilidad de la espuma (EE) de suero porcino (SP) y albúmina porcina (ASP), con clara de huevo (CH) liofilizadas. La ASP se obtuvo por cromatografía de interacción hidrofóbica. Las propiedades espumantes se determinaron en soluciones de proteína de 2, 4, 6, 8 y 10 %, bajo condiciones nativas (25°C) y después de un tratamiento térmico (80°C, 10 min). En condiciones nativas la capacidad espumante de las fracciones proteicas (SP y ASP) fue comparable a la de clara de huevo. Sin embargo la estabilidad fue mayor en la clara de huevo y en la albúmina porcina que en el suero. Después del tratamiento térmico se observó un decremento en la CE de PS y ASP, mientras que la CE de la clara no se vio afectada. Por el contrario la EE de las fracciones porcinas fue mayor que la de clara de huevo. La ASP presenta propiedades espumantes comparables a la CE y mejores que el SP. Palabras clave: suero porcino, albumina, capacidad de espumado, estabilidad de la espuma [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]