Wogonin, a naturally occurring plant flavonoid, is isolated from Chinese herbal plants Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi and S. barbata D. Don. The extract of S. baicalensis Georgi has been added to an assortment of health drinks or food supplements. Wogonin has been reported to exhibit anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a key enzyme in the production of prostaglandins in inflammatory conditions. In this study, the effect of wogonin on phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced COX-2 expression was investigated. It showed that wogonin inhibited PMA-induced COX-2 protein and mRNA levels in human lung epithelial cancer cells, and the mechanism of this inhibition was at the transcriptional level by using COX-2 gene promoter assay. Among various signal inhibitors, the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) inhibitor U0126 also inhibited PMA-induced COX-2 expression and COX-2 promoter activation. The activity of AP-1-driven promoter, but not nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB), was inhibited by U0126. The data indicated that MEK1/2-AP-1 is very important for PMA-induced COX-2 expression. Wogonin also inhibited PMA-induced AP-1 activation and the expression of c-Jun, a key component of AP-1. Taken together, it is suggested that wogonin inhibits PMA-induced COX-2 gene expression by inhibiting c-Jun expression and AP-1 activation in A549 cells.

Impaired lung function is associated with morbidity and mortality in the elderly. However, there is a paucity of data regarding the long-term effects of particulate matter (PM) on lung function among the elderly. This study evaluated the exposure-response relationship between ambient PM and different lung function indices among the elderly in Taiwan. A cross-sectional survey of individuals aged ≥65 years was conducted in Taiwan from October 2015 to September 2016. Those who attended the annual health examination for the elderly in five hospitals of varying background PM concentrations were enrolled. The long-term (2015 annual mean concentration) exposure to air pollution was estimated by the Kriging method at the residence of each subject. The association between ambient PM exposure and lung function was evaluated by linear regression modeling, with adjustments for age, sex, height, weight, educational attainment, presence of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, smoking status, season, and co-pollutants. There were 1241 subjects (mean age, 70.5 years). The mean residential PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 in 2015 was 26.02 and 18.01 μg/m3, respectively. After adjustments for confounders and co-pollutants, the FVC decrease was best associated with fine particles (PM2.5), whereas the FEV1, FEF25–75%, FEF25% and FEF50% decreases were best associated with coarse particles (PM2.5–10). An IQR (10 μg/m3) increase in PM2.5 decreased FVC by 106.38 ml (4.47%), while an IQR (7.29 μg/m3) increase in PM2.5–10 decreased FEV1 and FEF25–75% by 91.23 ml (4.85%) and 104.44 ml/s (5.58%), respectively. Among the Taiwanese elderly, long-term PM2.5 exposure mainly decreases the vital capacity of lung function. Moreover, PM2.5–10 has a stronger negative effect on the function of conductive airways than PM2.5.

BackgroundMenstrual disorders and their adverse symptoms can have a deleterious effect on both the private and working lives of women. Previous studies indicated that female nurses have elevated risk of menstrual disorders. Moreover, female nurses showed a higher incidence of ambulatory care visit for genitourinary diseases compared with other female medical personnel. However, little is known whether the medical services utilization for menstrual disorders were different among personnel from various medical professions. Therefore, the present study compared the ambulatory medical services utilization for menstrual disorders among personnel of six different medical professions in Taiwan using a nationwide, population-based health claim research database.MethodsThe National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) was used to identify female medical professionals, aged 18 to 45 years, who obtained their licenses during January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2012. Personnel from six different medical professions were examined and they included (1) medical technologists and therapists, (2) registered nurses, (3) physicians, (4) doctors of Chinese medicine, (5) dentists, and (6) pharmacists. Diagnoses of menstrual disorders, based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes, were obtained from the ambulatory medical services utilization that occurred after their license date. Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the hazards of medical services utilization for menstrual disorders using medical technologists and therapists as the reference category.ResultsA total of 7653 medical personnel were included in the analysis. Using the group containing medical technologists and therapists as the reference category, registered nurses (adjusted hazards ratio [AHR] = 1.13, p = 0.018) and doctors of Chinese medicine (AHR = 2.52, p < 0.001) showed a significant increased risk of medical services utilization for menstrual disorders. Conversely, physicians showed a significant decreased risk of medical services utilization for menstrual disorders (AHR = 0.58, p < 0.001). Regarding the nine specific menstrual disorders observed in this study, registered nurses and doctors of Chinese medicine showed an increased risk in six and four of them, respectively. Pharmacists showed an increased risk only in menorrhagia (AHR = 1.64, p = 0.020) and dentists showed no significant differences in any of the nine specific menstrual disorders compared with medical technologists and therapists. Physicians showed a significant decreased risk all specific menstrual disorders except menorrhagia and dysfunctional uterine bleeding.ConclusionsFindings from this population-based cohort study revealed that, compared with medical technologists and therapists, registered nurses and doctors of Chinese medicine exhibited significant increased risks in medical services utilization for menstrual disorders whereas physicians showed a significant decreased risk in menstrual disorders. Further studies sh...