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To investigate the association of depressive mood and frailty with mortality and health care utilization (HCU) and identify the coexisting effect of depressive mood and frailty in older adults. A retrospective study using nationwide longitudinal cohort data. A total of 27,818 older adults age 66 years from the National Screening Program for Transitional Ages between 2007 and 2008, part of the National Health Insurance Service–Senior cohort. Depressive mood and frailty were measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale and Timed Up and Go test, respectively. Outcomes were mortality and HCU, including long-term care services (LTCS), hospital admissions, and total length of stay (LOS) from the index date to December 31, 2015. Cox proportional hazards regression and zero-inflated negative binomial regression were performed to identify differences in outcomes by depressive mood and frailty. Participants with depressive mood and frailty represented 50.9% and 2.4%, respectively. The prevalence of mortality and LTCS use in the overall participants was 7.1% and 3.0%, respectively. More than 3 hospital admissions (36.7%) and total LOS above 15 days (53.2%) were the most common. Depressive mood was associated with LTCS use [hazard ratio (HR) 1.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05–1.42] and hospital admissions [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.05, 95% CI 1.02–1.08]. Frailty had associations with mortality risk (HR 1.96, 95% CI 1.44–2.68), LTCS use (HR 4.86, 95% CI 3.45–6.84), and LOS (IRR 1.30, 95% CI 1.06–1.60). The coexistence of depressive mood and frailty was associated with increased LOS (IRR 1.55, 95% CI 1.16–2.07). Our findings highlight the need to focus on depressive mood and frailty to reduce mortality and HCU. Identifying combined problems in older adults may contribute to healthy aging by reducing adverse health outcomes and the burden of health care costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has higher aggressiveness and poorer outcomes compared with other subtypes of breast cancer. However, the genomic and molecular aberrations of TNBC are largely unknown. In this study, miR-374a-5p was discovered as a novel TNBC-specific miRNA and its functions and the molecular mechanisms involved were investigated. Combined gene expression profiling of miRNA-microarray and human transcriptome dataset analysis revealed that miR-374a-5p is specifically upregulated in TNBC patients. Functional studies using in vitro and in vivo models indicated that upregulated miR-374a-5p promotes tumor progression in TNBC. miR-374a-5p was also found to directly target arrestin beta 1 (ARRB1) that is specifically downregulated in TNBC patients in several human genomic datasets. Overexpressed ARRB1 reduced TNBC cell growth and migration, and the ARRB1 expression level is inversely correlated with the histological grade of the breast cancer and positively associated with TNBC patient survival, suggestive of a tumor-suppressive function of ARRB1 in breast cancer. Interestingly, increased ARRB1 activates AMPK in TNBC cells, associated with the expression of miR-374a-5p. Taken together, the findings suggest that miR-374a-5p is a potential prognostic marker of TNBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portulaca oleracea L. ( P . oleracea ) is an herb that is widely used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases. However, its effects on inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are not yet well characterized. Here, we investigated the impact of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and ethanol (EtOH) extracts of P . oleracea on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses and phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38 expression in RAW264.7 macrophages. In addition, the inhibitory effects of these extracts and fractions on 3% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis were examined using an ICR mouse model. DSS-induced colitis, including body weight loss, reduced colon length, and histological colon injury, was significantly ameliorated in mice fed the P . oleracea extracts (200 and 500 mg/kg). In particular, P . oleracea extracts also inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-6, and 1L-1β) production in mice with DSS-induced colitis; the P . oleracea extracts displayed higher and/or similar inhibitory activity to sulfasalazine at high concentrations. Furthermore, the chemical structures of active compounds separated from the EtOAc extract of P . oleracea were elucidated using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (see Figure in supplementary materials), resulting in the identification of three known compounds. Among these active compounds, cis - N -feruloyl-3′-methoxytyramine ( 2 ) exhibited the strongest effects on preventing DSS-induced IBD in animal models. Thus, extract of P . oleracea and their active compounds represents a new therapeutic approach for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salvia plebeia R.Br. (SPRB) is a natural resource that exhibits various biological activities. However, its effects on inflammatory diseases are not yet well characterized. This study aimed to evaluate the inhibitory effects of a compound derived from SPRB on interleukin-6 (IL-6)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) activation. The chemical structure of active compounds isolated from the EtOAc-soluble fraction of SPRB were elucidated by comparison with spectroscopic nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI–MS) data in the literature, which resulted in the identification of 22 known compounds. All of the isolated compounds were evaluated for potentially higher inhibitory effects on IL-6-induced STAT3 activation in Hep3B cells using a luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, the protein levels of p-STAT3, p-ERK, and p-JAK2 in IL-6 induced U266 cells were regulated in the presence of cirsimaritin from SPRB by western blot assay. Based on these findings, we suggest that SPRB has the potential to inhibit IL-6-induced STAT3 activation and should be considered in functional food and pharmaceutical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]