Cisplatin, as one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents, its clinical use is limited by serious side effect of nephrotoxicity. Cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity is closely related to apoptosis induction and activation of caspase. The present study aimed to explore the potential protective effect of ginsenoside Rk1 (Rk1), a rare ginsenoside generated during steaming ginseng, on cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and the underlying mechanisms in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK-293) cells. Our results showed that the reduced cell viability induced by cisplatin could significantly recover by Rk1. Furthermore, glutathione (GSH) as an oxidative index, was elevated and the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly decreased after Rk1 treatment compared to the cisplatin group. Additionally, Rk1 can also decrease the ROS fluorescence expression and increase the protein levels of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) compared to the cisplatin group, which suggested a suppression of oxidative response. More importantly, the cisplatin-induced elevated protein levels of Bax, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, and decreased protein level of Bcl-2 were reversed after treatment with Rk1. Our results elucidated the possible protective mechanism of Rk1 for the first time, which may involve in its anti-oxidation and anti-apoptosis effects. © 2020 The Authors. The Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Australia on behalf of Kaohsiung Medical University.Carpodesmia tamariscifolia is a brown alga rich in (poly)phenols with important cytotoxic and antioxidant effects. However, the relationship between its chemical composition and its effects is unknown. The aim of this study is to identify the potential compounds and mechanisms responsible for its main effects. The alga was extracted consecutively with hexane, dichloromethane and methanol and further fractionated using Sephadex LH-20 and silica gel columns when appropriate. buy LDK378 The fractions were subjected to thin-layer chromatography and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis and evaluated for their total phenolic content (Folin-Ciocalteu assay), radical scavenging activity (DPPH assay), cytotoxic activity (MTT assay on the SH-SY5Y cell line), and ability to generate H 2 O 2 (Amplex Red assay). Chromatographic and phenolic analysis of the fractions indicate that abundant redox-active phenols are present in all the fractions and that a high amount of prenylated hydroquinone derivatives are present in the apolar ones. In the hexane and dichloromethane fractions, the cytotoxic and antioxidant activities are closely related to their phenolic content whereas in the methanol fractions, the cytotoxicity is negatively related to the phenolic content and the antioxidant activity is positively related to it. In the same tests, hydroquinone behaves as both strong cytotoxic and antioxidant agent. H 2 O 2 assay shows that C. tamariscifolia fractions and hydroquinone can autoxidize and generate H 2 O 2 . Our results suggest that redox-active phenols produce the pharmacological effects described for C. tamariscifolia and that the hydroquinone moiety of prenylated hydroquinone derivatives is the responsible for both cytotoxic (through a pro-oxidant mechanism secondary to its autoxidation) and antioxidant effects of the apolar fractions. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.The relative expression levels and number of microRNA (miRNA) response elements (MREs) are important parameters to determine the magnitude of the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) effect.(1) We agree that circular RNAs (circRNAs) express much less than certain microRNAs (miRNAs) and cannot be predicted to function as a sponge nearly as effectively as cerebellar degeneration related protein 1 antisense RNA (CDR1as). Consistent with this understanding, of the 177 circRNAs that were abnormally expressed in the very early stage of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), bioinformatics analysis revealed that only 52 circRNAs may act as miRNA sponges, and circular chromodomain Y like (circ-CDYL) was the one we confirmed experimentally in this study.(2). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.A report by Mosor et al. (1) exemplifies an interesting academic exercise toward a laudable goal, but the issue of initiating treatment in asymptomatic individuals really seems a moot issue. Until there are sufficient appointments (given limited access to rheumatologists) for treatment of individuals who actually have documented disease, how can one justify delaying their appointments – behind that of healthy individuals who it is speculated might develop a problem at some time in the future? This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Approaches to tube weaning enterally fed children and evaluating outcomes vary widely. This limits the utility of research for identifying both „what works” and successful implementation of research outcomes. We used a qualitative scoping review methodology to examine internationally published research. link2 Our primary aim was to identify the main philosophies underpinning intervention design and the main outcome variables used to demonstrate success of existing programs. This information can be used to inform future research design and clinical practice. Literature up until June 2019 was sourced via Medline, Scopus, Ovid, and CINHAL databases; hand searching; and gray literature using Google Advanced Search. Three predominant approaches to tube-weaning interventions were identified behavioral, child- and family-centered, and biomedical. A wide range of intervention variables were identified, with the level of parental involvement and the use of hunger provocation varying between approaches. Our Review also confirms that there is no consistency in outcome measures used, limiting comparability between programs. We suggest that the role of parents in the weaning process and its impact on both the child and the parent/carer while transitioning from enteral to oral eating are insufficiently understood. We discuss these findings in the context of a suggested framework for future research. © 2020 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.The time frame and geographical patterns of diversification processes in European temperate-montane herbs are still not well understood. We used the sexual species of the Ranunculus auricomus complex as a model system to understand how vicariance vs. dispersal processes in the context of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations have triggered speciation in temperate-montane plant species. We employed Target Enrichment sequence data from about 600 nuclear genes and coalescent-based species tree inference methods to resolve phylogenetic relationships among the sexual taxa of the complex. We estimated absolute divergence times and, using ancestral range reconstruction, we tested if speciation was rather enhanced by vicariance or dispersal processes. Phylogenetic relationships among taxa were fully resolved with some incongruence in the position of the tetraploid R. marsicus. Speciation events took place in a very short time at the end of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (830-580 ka). A second wave of intraspecific geographical differentiation happened at the end of the Riss glaciation or during the Eemian interglacial between 200-100 ka. Ancestral range reconstruction suggests a widespread European ancestor of the R. auricomus complex. Vicariance has triggered allopatric speciation in temperate-montane plant species during the climatic deterioration occurring in the last phase of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Vegetation restructuring from forest into tundra could have confined these forest species into isolated glacial macro- and microrefugia. During subsequent warming periods, range expansions of these species could have been hampered by apomictic derivatives and by other congeneric competitors in the same habitat. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.The Autoimmune-Bullous-Disease-Quality-of-Life (ABQOL) score is moderately correlated to pemphigus objective-severity-scores (OSS) (with Pemphigus-Disease-Area-Index (PDAI) R =0.42) but is sensitive to change. The Treatment-of-Autoimmune-Bullous Disease-Quality-of-Life (TABQOL) score is weakly correlated to pemphigus OSS (PDAI R=0.086) and does not change during the course of treatment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.OBJECTIVE To examine the association between weight change from young adulthood to midlife and risk of incident arthritis. METHODS Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we categorized participants into weight change categories based on their recalled weight during young adulthood and midlife. We estimated the association of weight change and developing an arthritis condition over 10 years using adjusted Cox models. Findings were extrapolated to the US population to determine the proportion of incident arthritis cases that could be averted if the entire population maintained a normal BMI in young adulthood and midlife. RESULTS Among our sample of adults who were 40-69 years old at their midlife weight measure (n=13,669), 3,603 developed an arthritis condition. Compared with adults who maintained a normal-normal BMI, the normal-overweight, normal-obese, overweight-obese, and obese-obese groups had significantly elevated risk of incident arthritis conditions. The obese-overweight group had lower risk of incident arthritis conditions compared with the obese-obese group and comparable risk to the overweight-overweight group. link3 Nearly one quarter of incident arthritis cases, corresponding to 2.7 million individuals, would have been averted under the hypothetical scenario where all individuals maintained normal weight from young adulthood to midlife. CONCLUSION Weight loss from young adulthood to midlife was associated with substantially reduced risk of developing an arthritis condition. We found no evidence of residual risk from having been heavier earlier in life. Our findings highlight the critical need to expand obesity treatment and prevention to achieve meaningful reductions in the burden of arthritis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus member of the genus Morbillivirus, which mainly affects goats, sheep and wild ruminants. It is considered one of the most significant transboundary infectious diseases and represents an animal health concern in developing countries. Spain is considered a PPR-free country. Nevertheless, given its geographical proximity to countries in North Africa where PPR virus (PPRV) has been circulating in recent years, the south of Spain can be considered a risk area for the introduction of PPRV. The aim of the present study was to assess circulation of PPRV in domestic and wild ruminant species in this country. During the period 2015-2017, a total of 910 sera from domestic, wild and captive ruminants were analysed using a commercial blocking ELISA to detect antibodies against PPRV. None of the 910 (0.0%; 95% CI 0.0-0.3) animals tested were positive for anti-PPRV antibodies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first serosurvey study of PPR in Spain.