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Elderly people are more likely to experience myocardial infarction (MI) than young people, with worse post-MI mortality and prognosis. Ginkgo biloba extract 50 (GBE50) is an oral GBE product that matches the German product, EGb761, which has been used to treat acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The extraction purity of GBE50 was improved to form a new formulation, Ginkgo biloba extract 80 (GBE80). This study investigates the effect of GBE80 on aged acute myocardial infarction rats. GBE80 injection is a novel formulation that was prepared by mixing Ginkgo flavonoids and lactones in a 4:1 weight ratio, with a Ginkgo content of more than 80%. Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to determine the biological safety and protective effect of GBE80 on cardiomyocytes against oxidative damage. An aged AMI rat model was developed and used to determine the myocardial infarction weight ratio using triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) was applied to detect cell apoptosis in myocardial tissue. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were used to measure the protein levels of members of the AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin pathway in vitro and in vivo, respectively. We found that GBE80 in vitro suppressed H2O2-induced cytotoxicity by promoting AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling, while it did not show cytotoxicity to normal cardiomyocytes in the 0–500 μg/ml dose range. After 7 days of administration to aged AMI rats, GBE80 markedly reduced the weight ratio of the infarction and inhibited cell apoptosis in myocardial tissue. Furthermore, the AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling pathway was activated by GBE80. These results suggest that GBE80 injection effectively inhibited AMI-induced myocardial damage and in vitro H2O2-induced cardiomyocyte cytotoxicity by activating the AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) has been widely utilized in emotion recognition. Psychologists have found that emotions can be divided into conscious emotion and unconscious emotion. In this article, we explore to classify subliminal emotions (happiness and anger) with EEG signals elicited by subliminal face stimulation, that is to select appropriate features to classify subliminal emotions. First, multi-scale sample entropy (MSpEn), wavelet packet energy (Ei), and wavelet packet entropy (WpEn) of EEG signals are extracted. Then, these features are fed into the decision tree and improved random forest, respectively. The classification accuracy with Ei and WpEn is higher than MSpEn, which shows that Ei and WpEn can be used as effective features to classify subliminal emotions. We compared the classification results of different features combined with the decision tree algorithm and the improved random forest algorithm. The experimental results indicate that the improved random forest algorithm attains the best classification accuracy for subliminal emotions. Finally, subliminal emotions and physiological proof of subliminal affective priming effect are discussed.

Background and Objective. Qingke (Tibetan hulless barley, Hordeum vulgare L.) contains a high content of β-glucan among all the cereal varieties. Although β-glucan has multiple physiological functions, the physiological function of qingke β-glucan was few studied. In this study, the β-glucan was isolated, purified, determined the structural characterization, and measured the inhibitory activity to enzymes correlating blood sugar and lipid. Methods. β-Glucan was isolated from enzymatic aqueous extract of qingke by using deproteinization, decolorization, DEAE-52 column chromatography, and sepharose CL-4B agarose gel column chromatography. The structure of the β-glucan was determined using FT-IR and 13C-NMR spectra analysis, and molecular mass by use of HPSEC-dRI-LS. The kinematic viscosity was measured. The inhibitory effects of this β-glucan on four enzymes were investigated. Results. This β-glucan had a uniform molecular weight of 201,000 Da with β-(1⟶4) as the main chain and β-(1⟶3) as a side chain. The β-glucan presented a relatively strong inhibitory activity on α-glucosidase, moderate inhibition on invertase, and a weak inhibition on α-amylase, whereas it did not inhibit lipase. Conclusion. The study indicates that the enzymatic β-glucan from qingke has the potential as natural auxiliary hypoglycemic additives in functional medicine or foods.

Shells of Castanea mollissima (CMS), an agricultural remain and often considered waste from chestnut processing industry, have been proven a resource for traditional Chinese medicine. One new phenol, named castanolB(1), andsix known phenolic compounds (2⁻7) were isolated froma water-soluble extract of CMS. Their chemical structures were determined using preparative HPLC and various spectral analyses, and then were compared to literatures, which indicated the first identification of the seven compounds from C. mollissima. The physicochemical property of compound (2) was also reported for the first time. After antiproliferative screening of compounds (1⁻7) on LPS-induced SMMC-7721 and HepG2 hepatoma cells, castanolB (1) showed the best suppression. CastanolB(1) also significantly induced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, castanolB (1) decreasedsecretion of TNF-α and IL-6. Mechanistically, TLR4⁻NF-κB pathway was inhibited bycastanolB (1) with downregulation of TLR4, IKKβ, and NF-κB p65. This study presents a new phenol and shows its profiles of anticancer and anti-inflammation via inhibiting the TLR4⁻NF-κB pathway.