Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), an oriental herbal medicine, has been shown to favorably affect choleretic, antirheumatic and diuretin properties. Recent reports have indicated that excessive oxidative stress contributes to the development of atherosclerosis-linked metabolic syndrome. The objective of this current study was to investigate the possible hypolipidemic and antioxidative effects of dandelion root and leaf in rabbits fed with a high-cholesterol diet. A group of twenty eight male rabbits was divided into four subgroups; a normal diet group, a high-cholesterol diet group, a high-cholesterol diet with 1% (w/w) dandelion leaf group, and a high-cholesterol diet with 1% (w/w) dandelion root group. After the treatment period, the plasma antioxidant enzymes and lipid profiles were determined. Our results show that treatment with dandelion root and leaf positively changed plasma antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid profiles in cholesterol-fed rabbits, and thus may have potential hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects. Dandelion root and leaf could protect against oxidative stress linked atherosclerosis and decrease the atherogenic index.

We isolated four flavonols from garlic (Allium sativum L) leaf and shoot and measured the in vitro antioxidant activity of the isolated flavonols and their aglycones. The chemical structures of the compounds were shown to be quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (isoquercitrin), quercetin 3-O-β-D-xylopyranoside (reynoutrin), kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (astragalin) and isorhamnetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside based on FAB-MS and NMR analyses. Assays of DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-β-picryl hydrazyl) and hydroxyl radical scavenging, inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation, and soybean lipoxygenase (LO) and hyaluronidase (HYA) inhibition were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity. Quercetin and its glycosides showed the highest antioxidant activity among the compounds. In the LO assay, the IC 50 values of quercetin, isoquercitrin and reynoutrin were 16.9, 40.1 and 32.9 µM respectively. Quercetin was the most effective among the flavonols. In the HYA assay the IC 50 values of quercetin, isoquercitrin and reynoutrin were 23.0, 20.9 and 22.1 mM respectively. Isoquercitrin had the most potent inhibitory activity on HYA. The inhibition patterns of the flavonols on LO and HYA were elucidated as mixed types of competitive and non-competitive inhibition according to Lineweaver-Burk plot results.Although most garlic shoots and leaves are discarded and not used at present, our results suggest that ancillary garlic parts could be utilised as functional foods or ingredients.

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Recent advances in scalable fabrication methods based on printing technologies have improved the yield and lowered the cost of manufacturing epidermal sensors. However, modern technologies still require expensive multi‐bio‐ink raw materials. A laser‐centric fabrication method that realizes a cost‐effective, scalable, and streamlined fabrication process with easily used material and equipment is reported. The fabricated epidermal patch can quickly respond to the demands of personalized models. Here, the epidermal sensor patch is applied to continuous monitoring of the human cardiopulmonary system. The sensor performs conventional bio‐signal monitoring but is also extendible to other monitoring forms. The patch provides enhanced functions through its gas‐permeable and skin‐adhesive microporous layer and its stretchable, conformal, and biocompatible multimodal sensing layer. The utility of the proposed sensor patch in clinical diagnosis in a mobile healthcare environment is demonstrated in multiple bio‐signal‐morphology analyses.