Active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) is known as a dietary supplement derived from an extract of a basidiomycete mushroom. The present study was conducted to evaluate the role of AHCC in alleviating the side effec...Active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) is known as a dietary supplement derived from an extract of a basidiomycete mushroom. The present study was conducted to evaluate the role of AHCC in alleviating the side effects, particularly hematological toxicity, in non-tumor-bearing mice receiving monotherapy with gemcitabine (GEM). The results from the GEM treatment groups with and without AHCC administration were compared to control group that received vehicle alone. The GEM alone treatment reduced peripheral leukocytes and hemoglobin, and bone marrow cell viability in spite of no influence on body weight, food consumption, and renal and hepatic parameters. Supplementation with AHCC significantly alleviated these side effects. The colony forming assay of bone marrow cells revealed that AHCC improved reduction of colony forming unit-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM) and burst forming unit-erythroid (BFU-E) related to GEM administration. However, when mRNA expression of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and erythropoietin (EPO) was examined using a quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), AHCC showed no effect for the mRNA levels of their hematopoietic growth factors. These results support the concept that AHCC can be beneficial for cancer patients with GEM treatment through alleviating the hematotoxicity.展开更多
Oligonol is a lychee fruit-derived functional food that contains oligomerized polyphenol compounds. Oligonol exhibits a number of beneficial biological effects, primarily due to its antioxidant activity. Retinitis pig...Oligonol is a lychee fruit-derived functional food that contains oligomerized polyphenol compounds. Oligonol exhibits a number of beneficial biological effects, primarily due to its antioxidant activity. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited chronic degenerative disease affecting retinal photoreceptor cells. There is currently no effective therapy capable of stopping or reversing the progression of the disease. In RP, apoptosis of photoreceptor cells resulting from oxidative damage is considered to be the final common pathway. In this report, we present an evaluation of the suppressive activity of Oligonol against N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced retinal damage in mice, which is a commonly used animal model of RP. Both intraperitoneal and oral administration of Oligonol reduced the loss of photoreceptor cells 7 days after MNU injection, as evaluated by histological staining. Photoreceptor cells derived from MNU-treated mice exhibited increased TUNEL-positive staining, suggesting increased DNA fragmentation, a hallmark of apoptosis. Oligonol treatment reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells. Additionally, Oligonol suppressed MNU-induced retinal production of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a marker of oxidative stress. Moreover, Oligonol attenuated the MNU-induced decrease in the visual activity of mice, as evaluated by the visual cliff test. Oligonol, therefore, effectively suppresses NMU-induced retinal degeneration.展开更多
文摘Active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) is known as a dietary supplement derived from an extract of a basidiomycete mushroom. The present study was conducted to evaluate the role of AHCC in alleviating the side effects, particularly hematological toxicity, in non-tumor-bearing mice receiving monotherapy with gemcitabine (GEM). The results from the GEM treatment groups with and without AHCC administration were compared to control group that received vehicle alone. The GEM alone treatment reduced peripheral leukocytes and hemoglobin, and bone marrow cell viability in spite of no influence on body weight, food consumption, and renal and hepatic parameters. Supplementation with AHCC significantly alleviated these side effects. The colony forming assay of bone marrow cells revealed that AHCC improved reduction of colony forming unit-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM) and burst forming unit-erythroid (BFU-E) related to GEM administration. However, when mRNA expression of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and erythropoietin (EPO) was examined using a quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), AHCC showed no effect for the mRNA levels of their hematopoietic growth factors. These results support the concept that AHCC can be beneficial for cancer patients with GEM treatment through alleviating the hematotoxicity.
文摘Oligonol is a lychee fruit-derived functional food that contains oligomerized polyphenol compounds. Oligonol exhibits a number of beneficial biological effects, primarily due to its antioxidant activity. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited chronic degenerative disease affecting retinal photoreceptor cells. There is currently no effective therapy capable of stopping or reversing the progression of the disease. In RP, apoptosis of photoreceptor cells resulting from oxidative damage is considered to be the final common pathway. In this report, we present an evaluation of the suppressive activity of Oligonol against N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced retinal damage in mice, which is a commonly used animal model of RP. Both intraperitoneal and oral administration of Oligonol reduced the loss of photoreceptor cells 7 days after MNU injection, as evaluated by histological staining. Photoreceptor cells derived from MNU-treated mice exhibited increased TUNEL-positive staining, suggesting increased DNA fragmentation, a hallmark of apoptosis. Oligonol treatment reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells. Additionally, Oligonol suppressed MNU-induced retinal production of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), a marker of oxidative stress. Moreover, Oligonol attenuated the MNU-induced decrease in the visual activity of mice, as evaluated by the visual cliff test. Oligonol, therefore, effectively suppresses NMU-induced retinal degeneration.
