Sunoh Kim

Impact of personality and depression on quality of life in patients with severe haemophilia in Korea

Among reports on the psychological variables that influence quality of life (QoL), none has addressed the impact of personality on QoL in patients with haemophilia. We investigated the impact of psychosocial variables including depression and personality on QoL in patients with severe haemophilia. A cross‐sectional survey examining psychosocial and clinical characteristics was administered to Korean patients with severe haemophilia. Personality traits were ascertained using the 10‐item short version of the Big Five Inventory, which quantifies five personality dimensions including extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness. Patient QoL and depression were measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life‐abbreviated version and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) respectively. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used for each domain to determine the impact of psychological variables on QoL. Of the 53 subjects who consented to participate, 46 cases were finally analysed. Multivariate linear regression analyses demonstrated that agreeableness was significantly and positively associated with the physical health domain of QoL. Openness was independently and positively associated with the psychological and social relationship domains of QoL. BDI scores were significantly and negatively associated with all four domains of the QoL. Persistent pain and joint impairment showed strong associations with all domains in a univariate analysis, but the impact was attenuated after adjusting for psychosocial variables. Personality and depression had strong impacts on QoL independent of physical status in patients with severe haemophilia. Providing psychological screening and intervention are recommended for enhancing QoL in patients with severe haemophilia.

PMA Induces Vaccine Adjuvant Activity by the Modulation of TLR Signaling Pathway

Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands are being developed for use as vaccine adjuvants and as immunomodulators because of their ability to stimulate innate and adaptive immune responses. Flagellin, a TLR5 ligand, was reported to show potent mucosal vaccine adjuvant activity. To identify ligands that potentiate the adjuvant activity of flagellin, we screened a plant library using HEK293T cells transiently cotransfected with phTLR5 and pNF-κB-SEAP plasmids. The 90% EtOH extract from Croton tiglium showed significant NF-κB transactivation in a TLR5-independent manner along with the increase of a flagellin activity. We have studied to characterize an active component from Croton tiglium and to elucidate the action mechanisms. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) was isolated as an active component of Croton tiglium by activity-guided fractionation, column chromatography, HPLC, NMR, and MS. PMA at a range of nM induced PKC-dependent NF-κB activation and IL-8 production in both TLR5− and TLR5+ assay systems. In in vivo mouse vaccination model, PMA induced antigen-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses and increased IL-12 production corresponding to T cell responses in spleen lymphocytes. These results suggest that PMA would serve as an efficacious mucosal vaccine adjuvant.

Quantitative Determination of Caffeine of Green Tea Seed Ethanol Extract on Anti-obesity in C57BL/6 Mice Fed a High-fat Diet and 3T3-L1 Cells

The study was carried out to examine the anti-obesity effects of 40% ethanol extract from green tea seed (GS) and quantitative determination of caffeine as its major compound. The specificity was satisfied with retention time and UV spectrum by analysis of caffeine using HPLC and comparison with standard compound. It showed a high linearity in the calibration curve with a coefficient of correlation (R 2 ) of 0.9974. The amount of caffeine in GS was about 4.649 mg/g (0.465%) in the three times analysis, and relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 0.452% by the validated method. The anti-obesity effects of GS were evaluated by using Oil Red O staining in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and body weight, visceral fat and lipid profiles in high fat diet (HFD)-induced C57BL/6 obese mice. Our results indicated that treatment with GS dose-dependently decreased lipid accumulation contents (p<0.001). Moreover, after oral administration for 30 days feeding with HFD-induced obses mice, GS (100 and 300 mg/kg/day) produced a significant decrease in serum total cholesterol (TC), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and visceral fat. Thus, the result of this study indicate that the GS may be a useful resource for the management of obesity.

Multifunctional antistress effects of standardized aqueous extracts from Hippophae rhamnoides L.

ABSTRACT This study aims to screen and identify the multi-mechanism antistress effects of an extract of Hippophae rhamnoides L. (HR) leaves on corticosterone (CORT)-induced injury, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and serotonin 6 (5-hydroxytryptamine 6, 5-HT6) receptor activity tests (in vitro), electric foot shock and forced swimming tests (FSTs) (in vivo), and tests for hippocampal CORT and monoamine levels (ex vivo), in search of active principles and underlying mechanisms of action. We confirmed that the water extract of HR (HRW) and various ethanol extracts of HR confer protective effects against CORT-induced impairments in SH-SY5Y cells and antagonistic effects on NMDA receptors and the 5-HT6 receptor by using primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons and a stable 5-HT6 receptor-expressing cell line, respectively. In addition, we confirmed the antistress effects of HRW in an electric foot shock stress model in mice and explored the underlying mechanisms of its action. We observed that HRW treatment significantly reversed the reduction in immobility times and increased climbing times in FSTs induced by electric foot shocks in the stress model. The levels of CORT, dopamine, and norepinephrine were increased, and the level of serotonin in the hippocampus was decreased in the electric foot shock stress model. The standardized HRW effectively restored abnormal CORT and monoamine levels in the hippocampus that were induced by stress. The results of the present study demonstrate that the standardized HRW produces novel multifunctional antistress effects.