The effects of tocotrienols on hepatocarcinogenesis in rats fed with 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF) were followed morphologically and histologically for a period of 20 wk. No differences between treated and control rats in the morphology and histology of their livers was observed. Cell damage was extensive in the livers of AAF-treated rats but less extensive in the AAF-tocotrienols-treated rats when compared with normal and tocotrienols-treated rats. 2-Acetylaminofluorene significantly increases the activities of both plasma and liver microsomal gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) and liver microsomal UDP-glucuronyltransferase (UDP-GT). Tocotrienols administered together with AAF significantly decrease the activities of plasma GGT after 12 and 20 wk (P less than 0.01, P less than 0.002, respectively) and liver microsomal UDP-GT after 20 wk (P less than 0.02) when compared with the controls and with rats treated only with tocotrienols. Liver microsomal GGT also showed a similar pattern to liver microsomal UDP-GT but the decrease was not significant. These results suggest that tocotrienols administered to AAF-treated rats reduce the severity of hepatocarcinogenesis.

No abstract

Myanmar has a rich pool of, but less known, medicinal plants with traditional knowledge. In this study, we aimed to investigate the inhibitory activity of traditional Myanmar medicinal plants against the type III secretion system (T3SS) of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium UK-1 χ8956 and the intestinal disease-caused by microbes including S. enterica serovar Typhimurium UK-1 χ8956, Proteusbacillus vulgaris CPCC 160013, Escherichia coli CICC 10003, and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. The EtOH extracts of 93 samples were used to screen the inhibitory activities against the secretion of T3SS effector proteins SipA/B/C/D of S. enterica and the antibacterial activity against S. enterica, P. vulgaris, E. coli, and S. aureus. Out of 71 crude drugs traditionally used, 18 were proofed to be effective either on the growth inhibition of tested bacteria and/or as inhibitors for the T3SS. The EtOH extracts of five plants, Luvunga scandens (Roxb.) Buch.-Ham. ex Wight & Arn. (My7), Myrica nagi Thunb. (My11), Terminalia citrina Roxb. ex Fleming (My21), Thymus vulgaris L. (My49), and Cinnamomum bejolghota (Buch.-Ham.) Sweet (My104), showed potent inhibitory activities against the secretion of T3SS proteins SipA/B/C/D of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium UK-1 χ 8956. Mansonia gagei J.R.Drumm (My3) and Mesua ferrea (Roxb.) L. (My10) showed strong antibacterial activities against P. vulgaris and S. aureus. This study provided the first scientific evidence of T3SS prohibiting and antibacterial properties for the traditional knowledge in Myanmar of using plants as medicines for treating infections and gastrointestinal disease. Further researches are proposed to discover the active chemical compounds and mechanism of L. scandens (Roxb.) Buch.-Ham. ex Wight & Arn, M. nagi Thunb., T. citrina Roxb. ex Fleming, T. vulgaris L., and C. bejolghota (Buch.-Ham.) Sweet as antivirulence drugs and the potential of M. gagei J.R.Drumm and M. ferrea L. as new broad spectrum plant antibiotics.

The perceptions of ® rst, second and third year Japanese beginning teachers about their initial preparation and induction into primary and secondary teaching are investigated. The complete population of 657 primary and lower secondary beginning teachers of Hiroshima prefecture were asked to rate the extent to which their initial training had developed their knowledge, skills and attitudes for teaching. Replies were received from 304 teachers (46% of the population). Analysis of mean ratings shows that higher ratings are associated with both nature and length of professional experience. Issues for initial teacher education are discussed and implications are explored for teacher education reform to promote professional development of teachers.

Two new amides ( E )- N -cinnamoyl-2-methoxypiperidine ( 1 ) and ( R )-1-(2-oxopyrrolidin-3-yl)-5,6-dihydropyridin-2(1 H )-one ( 2 ), four new amide glucosides, retrofractosides A–D ( 3 – 6 ), and two new phenylpropanoid glucosides, retrofractosides E ( 7 ) and F ( 8 ), together with 24 known compounds ( 9 – 32 ) were isolated from the fruits of Piper retrofractum . The chemical structures of these new compounds were elucidated based on extensive spectroscopic analysis. All of these isolates ( 1 – 32 ) were evaluated for inhibitory activity against mouse platelet aggregation induced by the peptide AYPGKF-NH 2 . ( E )- N -(Tetrahydro-2 H -pyran-2-yl)cinnamamide ( 9 ) showed a weak inhibitory effect, with an inhibition ratio of 52.0% at a concentration of 150 μM. Graphical Abstract Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s13659-019-0208-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.