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Background: Activated charcoal (AC) is highly adsorbent and is often used to promote seedling growth in plant tissue culture; however, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, root and leaf tissues of 10-day-old seedlings grown via immature embryo culture in the presence or absence of AC in the culture medium were subjected to global transcriptome analysis by RNA sequencing to provide insights into the effects of AC on seedling growth. Results: In total, we identified 18,555 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Of these, 11,182 were detected in the roots and 7373 in the leaves. In seedlings grown in the presence of AC, 9460 DEGs were upregulated and 7483 DEGs were downregulated in the presence of AC as compared to the control. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed 254 DEG-enriched pathways, 226 of which were common between roots and leaves. Further analysis of the major metabolic pathways revealed that AC stimulated the expression of nine genes in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway, including PLA, CYP73A, COMT, CYP84A, and 4CL, the protein products of which promote cell differentiation and seedling growth. Further, AC upregulated genes involved in plant hormone signaling related to stress resistance and disease resistance, including EIN3, BZR1, JAR1, JAZ, and PR1, and downregulated genes related to plant growth inhibition, including BKI1, ARR-B, DELLA, and ABF. Conclusions: Growth medium containing AC promotes seedling growth by increasing the expression of certain genes in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway, which are related to cell differentiation and seedling growth, as well as genes involved in plant hormone signaling, which is related to resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The study was undertaken to examine the effects of berberine (BBR) on serum homocysteine, lipids and the aortic lesion in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats fed with a long-term high-fat diet (HFD). Methods: Healthy male SD rats weighing 190-210 g received randomly standard diet or a high-fat diet for 24 weeks. After 8 weeks of feeding, rats fed with HFD were randomized to receive berberine (200 mg • kg-1• day-1) or vehicle by gavage for 16 weeks. After overnight fasting, all rats were sacrificed and total blood samples were also collected for determinant of fasting serum homocysteine (Hcy), total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels. The aorta was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Sudan ? to evaluate aortic lesion. The livers were dissected out and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen for hepatic TC content and molecular analysis. 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR), Lipoprotein receptors and apolipoproteins geneexpression in the liver were determined by real-time PCR. Results: Intragastrical administration with berberine for 16 weeks lowered serum Hcy in rats fed with a high-fat diet. In parallel, it also decreased body weight and improved serum TC and LDL-c. Berberine also tended to decrease hepatic cholesterol. Consistently, berberine also upregulated LDL receptor (LDLR) mRNA level and suppressed HMGR gene expression. Meanwhile, upon berberine-treated rats, there was a significant increase in apolipoprotein E (apoE) mRNA, but no change in apoAI and scavenger receptor (SR) mRNA in the liver. Further, no atherosclerotic lesions were developed in berberine-treated rats for 16 weeks. Conclusion: Berberine can counteract HFD-elicited hyperhomocysteinemia and hyperlipidemia partially via upregulating LDLR and apoE mRNA levels and suppressing HMGR gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Researchers in the medical sciences prefer employing Cox model for survival analysis. In some cases, however, parametric methods can provide more accurate estimates. In this study, we used Weibull model to analyze the prognostic factors in patients with gastric cancer and compared with Cox. Methods: We retrospectively studied 1715 patients with gastric cancer. Age at diagnosis, gender, family history, past medical history, tumor location, tumor size, eradicative degree of surgery, depth of tumor invasion, combined evisceration, pathologic stage, histologic grade and lymph node status were chosen as potential prognostic factors. Weibull and Cox model were performed with hazard rate and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) to compare the efficiency of models. Results: The results from both Weibull and Cox indicated that patients with the past history of having gastric cancer had the risk of death increased significantly followed by poorly differentiated or moderately differentiated in histologic grade. Eradicative degree of surgery, pathologic stage, depth of tumor invasion and tumor location were also identified as independent prognostic factors found significant. Age was significant only in Weibull model. Conclusion: From the results of multivariate analysis, the data strongly supported the Weibull can elicit more precise results as an alternative to Cox based on AIC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies have linked non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to a reduced bone mineral density (BMD). We aimed to detect the quantitative association of liver fat content (LFC) and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with BMD in a middle-aged and elderly Chinese population.Methods: The lumbar spine, hip and whole body BMDs were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (Lunar iDXA, GE Healthcare) in 1659 Chinese (755 men and 1028 postmenopausal women) from Shanghai Changfeng community. Liver fat content was quantified via an ultrasound quantitative method. Multivariate linear regression analyses were carried out to determine the independent association of LFC and serum ALT with BMD and bone metabolic biomarkers. We also attempted to investigate the synergistic association between LFC and ALT as risk factors for bone mineral loss in Chinese.Results: Subjects with higher LFC had significantly lower BMD at all skeletal sites. Univariate correlation analysis showed that both LFC and ALT were inversely associated with BMD at the spine (r = -0.116, P < 0.001 and r = -0.102, P = 0.005), hip (r = -0.095, P = 0.014 and r = -0.075, P = 0.041) and whole body sites (r = -0.134, P < 0.001 and r = -0.164, P < 0.001) in men. After confounders were controlled for, LFC and ALT remained associated with BMD and bone formation biomarkers in men, but not postmenopausal women. When both NAFLD and elevation of ALT were present, there was a significant synergistic worsening of the BMDs at all bone sites.Conclusions: Liver fat content and serum ALT were inversely correlated with BMD in middle-aged and elderly men. The underlying mechanism might relate to a reduction in osteoblast activity. Elevation of the hepatotoxic biomarker ALT may indicate high risk for osteoporosis in patients with NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The study was undertaken to examine the effects of berberine (BBR) on serum homocysteine, lipids and the aortic lesion in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats fed with a long-term high-fat diet (HFD)., Methods: Healthy male SD rats weighing 190-210 g received randomly standard diet or a high-fat diet for 24 weeks. After 8 weeks of feeding, rats fed with HFD were randomized to receive berberine (200 mg · kg-1· day-1) or vehicle by gavage for 16 weeks. After overnight fasting, all rats were sacrificed and total blood samples were also collected for determinant of fasting serum homocysteine (Hcy), total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels. The aorta was stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Sudan Ш to evaluate aortic lesion. The livers were dissected out and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen for hepatic TC content and molecular analysis. 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR), Lipoprotein receptors and apolipoproteins gene expression in the liver were determined by real-time PCR., Results: Intragastrical administration with berberine for 16 weeks lowered serum Hcy in rats fed with a high-fat diet. In parallel, it also decreased body weight and improved serum TC and LDL-c. Berberine also tended to decrease hepatic cholesterol. Consistently, berberine also upregulated LDL receptor (LDLR) mRNA level and suppressed HMGR gene expression. Meanwhile, upon berberine-treated rats, there was a significant increase in apolipoprotein E (apoE) mRNA, but no change in apoAI and scavenger receptor (SR) mRNA in the liver. Further, no atherosclerotic lesions were developed in berberine-treated rats for 16 weeks., Conclusion: Berberine can counteract HFD-elicited hyperhomocysteinemia and hyperlipidemia partially via upregulating LDLR and apoE mRNA levels and suppressing HMGR gene expression.