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Background and purpose: Cholestasis is caused by a malfunction of the biliary liver system. Oxidative stress plays an essential role in the progression of cholestasis. This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects of ethanolic extract of Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb (JE) fruits on hepatic impairment induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) in rats. Experimental approach: Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups; sham control + vehicle (SC), BDL + vehicle (BDL), BDL + JE extract (BDL + JE), and SC + extract (SC + JE). One day after surgery, the animals were treated with vehicle or ethanolic extract of JE (500 mg/kg/day) for 7 days. Finally, the blood was taken for biochemical and oxidative stress analysis. Furthermore, the liver tissue of rats was removed for histological examination. Findings/Results: Treatment with the extract of JE decreased the ALP level, whereas it enhanced total protein content compared to the BDL group. Also, JE increased the activity of SOD and GPx, as well as FRAP content compared to the BDL group; while it did not significantly affect the levels of MDA and inflammation markers. However, JE could not improve BDL-induced histopathological alterations in hepatic tissue. Conclusion and implication: This study demonstrated that JE may be useful as an adjuvant therapy by attenuating ALP activity, increasing serum total protein and FRAP content, as well as improving the antioxidant enzymes activity of SOD and GPx. However, further research is warranted to explore the other underlying mechanisms of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Considering the role of oxidants in asthma, airway inflammation, and the anti-inflammatory effects of Nasturtium officinale extract, this study aimed to investigate the impact of the hydroalcoholic extract of Nasturtium officinale on sleep quality, asthma control, and quality of life in asthmatic patients. Methods: This parallel group randomized clinical trial was conducted in Yasuj, Iran. It included 60 patients who randomly received either Nasturtium officinale hydroalcoholic extract (500 mg daily, for four weeks, orally plus routine care) or a placebo (500 mg capsule containing flour daily, for four weeks, orally plus routine care). To achieve the study objectives, lung function (FEV1, FVC, PEF, FEF 25-75%, and FEV1/FVC), quality of life as measured by the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), sleep quality as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and asthma control as examined by the Asthma Control Test (ACT) were assessed at baseline and one-month follow-up. Results: In total, 48 patients (22 patients in the intervention group and 26 patients in the control group) completed the study. The analyses showed no significant differences between the two groups regarding changes in lung function, quality of life, sleep quality, and status of asthma control within a one-month follow-up. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the hydroalcoholic extract of Nasturtium Officinale does not appear to improve sleep quality, asthma control, and quality of life in asthmatic patients in the short term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways. We assessed the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative impacts of quercetin, a plant derivative, on inflammatory and oxidative indices in lung tissue and serum of rats with asthma. Asthma was induced by ovalbumin. Rats were divided into 4 groups: control, asthma+vehicle (Receieved normal saline), asthma+dexamethasone, and asthma+quercetin. After asthma induction, quercetin (50 mg/kg) and dexamethasone (2.5 mg/kg) were injected intraperitoneally once daily for 1 week. On day 50, lung histopathology indices; inflammatory factors; tissue gene expression, including GATA Binding Protein 3 (Gata-3), Tbx21 (T-bet), Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), Il10 (IL-10), Il1b (IL-1β), Il6 (IL-6), Acta2 (α-SMA), and Tnf (TNF-α); and oxidative stress indices (malondialdehyde [MDA], catalase [CAT], glutathione peroxidase [GPX], superoxide dismutase [SOD], and total antioxidant capacity [TAC]) in tissue and serum, were evaluated. The results showed that quercetin reduced Gata3, Tnf, Tgfb1, Il1b, and Acta2 gene expression and increased Tbx21 gene expression following asthma. Quercetin also improved oxidative stress by decreasing MDA levels and increasing TAC, CAT, SOD, and GPX levels in serum and lung tissue. Furthermore, quercetin decreased IL6 and TNFα levels and increased IL10 levels in lung tissue after asthma was treated with quercetin. Quercetin ameliorates oxidative stress and inflammation caused by asthma, especially at the tissue level. Therefore, quercetin can be considered a potent antiasthmatic agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a serious pregnancy status characterized by high blood pressure. Although visfatin is usually associated with PE. Observational studies evaluating the relationship between circulating visfatin and pre-eclampsia have reported inconsistent results. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize published data on the association between visfatin and pre-eclampsia.Methods: Electronic databases PubMed, ISI web of science, EMBASE, Scopus and the Cochrane library were comprehensively searched for selection of eligible studies until January 5, 2020. A random-effects model and the generic inverse variance method were used for quantitative data synthesis. The assessment of study quality was performed using the e Newcastle-Ottawa scale and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Sensitivity analyses and prespecified subgroup were conducted to evaluate potential heterogeneity. Random-effects meta-regression was conducted to assess the impact of potential confounders on the estimated effect sizes. The protocol for this study was registered in PROSPERO (No. CRD42018105861) in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA).Results: Thirteen studies comprising a total of 536 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. We observed that the pre-eclampsia risk is associated with a statistically significant elevation of visfatin level [SMD (1.33 µg/l) (95% CI 0.37, 2.2) p = .007]. No significant publication bias was observed in the meta-analysis. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses indicated that the pooled effects size were affected by systolic blood pressure [SMD (1.82 µg/l) 95% CI (0.94, 2.7), p < .05], gestational age [SMD (2.01 µg/l) 95% CI (0.57, 3.4), p = .006], body mass index [SMD (1.6 µg/l) 95% CI (0.37, 3), p < .05] and pregnancy trimesters[SMD (2.3 µg/l) 95% CI (0.95, 3.7), p = .001]. Random-effects meta-regression showed a significant association of visfatin level with potential confounders including systolic blood pressure, gestational age and birth weight at delivery of pre-eclampsia patients.Conclusions: Collectively, our data revealed that the increase of visfatin level can be associated with the risk of pre-eclampsia. However, further studies on pre-eclampsia populations are warranted for corroboration of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence has shown that inflammation and oxidative stress are implicated in the development of a great number of human diseases. Trehalose possesses various biological effects including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. However, there is little data on the effects of trehalose on human cells including peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Here, we aimed to investigate whether trehalose could attenuate oxidative stress and inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in PBMCs. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and RT-PCR were used to assess the levels of inflammatory cytokines. To investigate the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and NF-κB, western blot analysis was utilized. Oxidant-antioxidant markers were assessed using ELISA and colorimetric procedures. The results revealed that trehalose significantly mitigated the effect of LPS on the phosphorylation of JNK and NF-κB-P65 (p <.00). This mitigation was associated with significantly reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β and increased levels of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 (P <.05). The antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) also showed similar effects on JNK and NF-κB-P65 phosphorylation and inflammatory cytokines (p <.00). Furthermore, trehalose alleviated oxidative stress in LPS-stimulated PBMCs as it reversed the altered levels of malondialdehyde and total thiols (p ≤.05) and restored the activity of antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and manganese superoxide dismutase (p <.001). The results of this study indicated that trehalose prevented inflammation and oxidative stress in the LPS-stimulated PBMCs, providing evidence for the benefits of trehalose as a potential therapeutic agent in inflammatory conditions. LPS: Lipopolysaccharide; NAC: N-Acetyl cysteine; ROS: Reactive oxygen species; IL-6: Interleukin-6; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; SOD: Superoxide dismutase; GPx: Glutathione peroxidase; MDA: Malondialdehyde; MAPK: Mitogen-activated protein kinases; JNK: c-Jun N-terminal kinase; NF-κB: Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]