Hesperidin, a natural flavonoid abundantly present in Citrus is known for its anti-cancer, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In this study we examined the effect of hesperidin on HepG2 cells. HepG2 cells treated with various concentration of hesperidin undergo a distinct type of programed cell death. Cytoplasmic vacuolization, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum swelling and uncondensed chromatin were observed in hesperidin treated cells. DNA electrophoresis show lack of DNA fragmentation and western blot analysis demonstrates lack of caspase activation and PARP cleavage. It was observed that hesperidin induced cell death is nonautophagic and also activate mitogen activated protein kinase ERK1/2. Taken together, the data indicate that hesperidin induces paraptosis like cell death in HepG2 cells with the activation of ERK1/2. Thus our finding suggests that hesperidin inducing paraptosis may offer an alternative tool in human liver carcinoma therapy.

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of bamboo charcoal and bamboo vinegar as alternatives of antibiotics in the diet of fattening pigs and their influence on growth performance, immune responses and fecal microflora populations. Crossed pigs (n = 144, 79 kg body weight) were divided into 12 heads per pen, four diets and three replications. The basal diet (negative control: NC) was supplemented with 0.3% antibiotics (positive control: PC), 0.3% bamboo charcoal (BC) and 0.3% bamboo vinegar (BV). Average daily weight gain and feed efficiency were higher (P < 0.05) in PC, BC and BV. The concentration of lactate dehydrogenase and cortisol were lower (P < 0.05), but the concentration of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA were higher (P < 0.05) in PC, BC and BV. Counts of coliform bacteria and Salmonella spp. were lower (P < 0.05), while the counts of fecal anaerobic total bacteria and lactic acid bacteria were higher (P < 0.05) in PC, BC and BV. A reasonable inclusion of bamboo charcoal or bamboo vinegar as antibiotics in the diet of fattening pigs leads to a better growth performance, immune responses and fecal microflora populations. The results of the present study suggest that bamboo charcoal or bamboo vinegar could be a potential additives in animal production as an alternative to antibiotics.

Expression of rat placental lactogen I is specific to the placenta and never expressed in other tissues. To obtain insight into the mechanism of tissue-specific gene expression, we investigated the methylation status in 3.4 kb of the 5'-flanking region of the rat placental lactogen I gene. We found that the distal promoter region of the rat placental lactogen I gene had more potent promoter activity than that of the proximal area alone, which contains several possible cis-elements. Although there are only 17 CpGs in the promoter region, in vitro methylation of the reporter constructs caused severe suppression of reporter activity, and CpG sites in the placenta were more hypomethylated than other tissues. Coexpression of methyl-CpG-binding protein with reporter constructs elicited further suppression of the reporter activity, whereas treatment with trichostatin A, an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, reversed the suppression caused by methylation. Furthermore, treatment of rat placental lactogen I nonexpressing BRL cells with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, an inhibitor of DNA methylation, or trichostatin A resulted in the de novo expression of rat placental lactogen I. These results provide evidence that change in DNA methylation is the fundamental mechanism regulating the tissue-specific expression of the rat placental lactogen I gene.

Schisandra chinensis (SC), a traditional herbal medicine, has been prescribed for patients suffering from various liver diseases, including hepatic cancer, hypercholesterolemia, and CCl₄-induced liver injury. We investigated whether SC extract has a protective effect on alcohol-induced fatty liver and studied its underlying mechanisms. Rats were fed with ethanol by intragastric administration every day for 5 weeks to induce alcoholic fatty liver. Ethanol treatment resulted in a significant increase in alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and hepatic triglyceride (TG) levels and caused fatty degeneration of liver. Ethanol administration also elevated serum TG and total cholesterol (TC) and decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, after administration of ethanol plus SC extracts, the ethanol-induced elevation in liver TC and TG levels was reversed. Elevation in serum TG was not observed after treatment with SC. Moreover, compared with the ethanol-fed group, the rats administered ethanol along with SC extracts for 5 weeks showed attenuated fatty degeneration and an altered lipid profile with decreased serum TC and TG, and increased HDL cholesterol levels. Chronic ethanol consumption did not affect peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) levels, but it decreased PPARα and phospho-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) levels in the liver. However, SC prevented the ethanol-induced decrease in PPARα expression and induced a significant decrease in sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 expression and increase in phospho-AMPK expression in rats with alcoholic fatty liver. SC administration resulted in a significant decrease in intracellular lipid accumulation in hepatocytes along with a decrease in serum TG levels, and it reversed fatty liver to normal conditions, as measured by biochemical and histological analyses. Our results indicate that the protective effect of SC is accompanied by a significant increase in phospho-AMPK and PPARα expression in hepatic tissue of alcoholic rats, thereby suggesting that SC has the ability to prevent ethanol-induced fatty liver, possibly through activation of AMPK and PPARα signaling.

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