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are service is needed for early identification, prevention and resolution of drug-related problems.

Urolithins are gut microbiota-derived polyphenol metabolites, produced following the consumption of pomegranate, berries, and nuts. Recent studies have shown the potentials of these metabolites on reducing triglycerides accumulation in cultured hepatocytes and adipocytes. In this study, we investigated the ability of both urolithin A (Uro-A) and urolithin B (Uro-B) to attenuate obesity and associated symptoms in a high-fat diet-induced obesity model in rats.

Twenty-four male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups. Group 1 was fed on a normal diet while groups 2, 3, and 4 were fed on a high-fat diet for 10 weeks. After this, groups 3 and 4 were treated with 2.5mg/kg body weight of Uro-A and Uro-B intraperitoneally, respectively. Body weight, serum lipid profile, hepatic antioxidant activity, hepatic lipid accumulation, fecal lipid content, and the expressions of genes involved in lipogenesis and hepatic ER stress were quantified.

Indeed, a high-fat diet resulted in increased body weight, visceese metabolites restored hepatic antioxidant capacity and decreased lipid accumulation in addition to an increase in fecal fat excretion. Moreover, both Uro-A and Uro-B treatment downregulated the expression of LXRα and SREBP1c; involved in de novo lipogenesis while upregulating PPARα expression for increased fatty acid oxidation. Ralimetinib Furthermore, Uro-A and Uro-B decreased the expression of PERK and IRE1α; which are involved in hepatic ER stress. Taken together, our results showed the potentials of Uro-A and Uro-B in mitigating obesity symptoms and they could thus provide promising roles in the future as functional anti-obesity candidates.

The objective of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to investigate the combined effect of a Mediterranean diet and naltrexone/bupropion treatment on body weight, metabolic parameters, and quality of life in overweight or obese breast cancer survivors.

Forty-four breast cancer survivors were randomly assigned to receive the Mediterranean diet plus naltrexone/bupropion medication (breast cancer survivor MeDiet+NB group) or the Mediterranean diet alone (breast cancer survivor MeDiet-only group). Twenty-eight age-matched non-cancer patients were instructed to consume the Mediterranean diet plus naltrexone/bupropion medication (non-cancer MeDiet+NB group). After the 8-week intervention, changes in body weight, metabolic parameters, nutrient intake, and quality of life of the three groups were assessed.

Significant weight loss of 2.8 kg was noted for the breast cancer survivor MeDiet+NB group, 1.8 kg for the breast cancer survivor MeDiet-only group, and 2.5 kg for the non-cancer MeDiet+NB group after s retrospectively registered on 10 July 2018 as NCT03581630 at ClinicalTrials.gov (https//clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03581630).

Glomerular sclerosis and renal interstitial fibrosis are the most important pathologies in the development of kidney damage under diabetic conditions. Smad3 plays antagonistic roles in high glucose-induced renal tubular fibrosis, which is an important treatment target for diabetic nephropathy (DN). Formononetin (FMN) has multiple effects on diabetic vascular complications including DN. However, whether it plays an anti-fibrosis role by regulating smad3 is unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the renoprotective effect of FMN by suppressing smad3 expression in db/db mice.

FMN was orally administered to db/db mice with a dose of 25 or 50 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks. At the end of the study, serum, urine, and kidney samples were collected for biochemical and pathological examinations. The expressions of proteins and mRNA associated with renal fibrosis were determined by biochemical, histological, immunofluorescence, and real-time PCR analysis.

The results showed that FMN substantially improved the glucolipid metabolism, reduced the oxidative stress, and protected renal function in db/db mice. Meanwhile, protein and mRNA expression of smad3 and related regulatory factor of extracellular matrix deposition were significantly suppressed.

The present study suggested that FMN has a good renoprotective effect in DN, which plays an anti-fibrosis role in db/db mice by suppressing the expression of smad3.

The present study suggested that FMN has a good renoprotective effect in DN, which plays an anti-fibrosis role in db/db mice by suppressing the expression of smad3.Although islet transplantation plays an effective and powerful role in the treatment of diabetes, a large amount of islet grafts are lost at an early stage due to instant blood-mediated inflammatory reactions, immune rejection, and β-cell toxicity resulting from immunosuppressive agents. Timely intervention based on the viability and function of the transplanted islets at an early stage is crucial. Various islet transplantation imaging techniques are available for monitoring the conditions of post-transplanted islets. Due to the development of various imaging modalities and the continuous study of contrast agents, non-invasive islet transplantation imaging in vivo has made great progress. The tracing and functional evaluation of transplanted islets in vivo have thus become possible. However, most studies on contrast agent and imaging modalities are limited to animal experiments, and long-term toxicity and stability need further evaluation. Accordingly, the clinical application of the current achievements still requires a large amount of effort. In this review, we discuss the contrast agents for MRI, SPECT/PET, BLI/FI, US, MPI, PAI, and multimodal imaging. We further summarize the advantages and limitations of various molecular imaging methods.

Excessive salt intake is an important determinant of cardiovascular (CV) health, impacting arterial stiffness and central blood pressure. However, sodium exhibits several patterns of excretion in urine during day- and night-time, which could differently affect CV risk. Here, we sought to explore the relationship between the daynight urinary sodium excretion ratio and arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics in the general population.

Cross-sectionalanalysis in 1062 subjects. Arterial stiffness(pulse-wavevelocity, PWV), central blood pressure (central systolic blood pressure, cSBP; central diastolic blood pressure, cDBP), and other hemodynamic parameters werenoninvasivelyassessed. Day- and night-time urinary sodium were separately detected. Analyses were performed according to the daynight urinary sodium excretion ratio tertiles (T1-T3).

Low day-time excretors (T1) showed significantly higher values of arterial stiffness when compared with high day-time excretors (T3) (cf-PWV 7.6 ± 1.9 vs 6.9 ± 1.5 m/sec; p ≤ 0.