Ras-related nuclear protein (Ran) is involved in cell regulation, nuclear-cytoplasmic transportation, and transformation and has been associated with the expression, occurrence, and progression of breast cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer. We examined whether Ran is involved in chondrogenic differentiation in murine prechodrogenic ATDC5 cells, which can be differentiated into chondrocytes. In present study, we found that the expression of most chondrogenic marker genes including Aggrecan, BSP, Runx-2, Collagen I, Collagen II, and Collagen X, gradually increased for 14 days. Subsequently, we determined the mRNA and protein expression of Ran by using RT-PCR and western blot analysis. During chondrogenic differentiation, mRNA and protein expressions of Ran were significantly upregulated in ATDC5 cells. Next, Ran-siRNA transfection into ATDC5 cells was performed to knock down the expression of Ran during chondrogenic differentiation. We found that knockdown of Ran significantly suppressed size and number of cartilage nodules as well as the activity of alkaline phosphatase without cell cytotoxicity. Moreover, Ran knockdown significantly decreased not only mRNA expression of chondrogenic markers such as Aggrecan, BSP, Sox-9, Smad4, collagen I, II, X and OCN but also protein expression of ALP, OSX, BMP2, and Collagen 1A during chondrogenic differentiation. These results demonstrate that Ran could play a pivotal role in the transition of chondrocytes into hypertrophic chondrocytes and a mineralized phenotype. Key words: ATDC5 cells, Ran, chondrogenesis, ALP, BMP2, collagen II.

This study was conducted to investigate the chemical composition and the storage stability of flaxseeds defatted meal fractions as food ingredients, phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of flaxseed meal extracts. Effect of substitution of wheat flour with different concentrations of defatted flaxseeds meal on rheological and sensory properties of toast bread, and cake was also investigated. The results indicated that flaxseed defatted meal is rich in protein, fiber and minerals and poor in its carbohydrate content comparing with whole wheat flour and wheat flour (72%). it contains 34.65 protein, 37.08 % crude fibers, 5.53% ash, 2.35 % fats and 5.972% moisture. While it had carbohydrate content of 14.408%.The results indicated that there were no significant (P = 0.05) changes in the peroxide values over the 105 day of storage. The results also showed that free fatty acid value was slightly increased during the storage time. Polyphenolic contents were varied from 360.14 to 595.76 mg/100g-1 DW according to the extraction solvent used. The results indicated that the flaxseed meal extracts showed a strong antioxidant activity against 1,1-dipheny-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) .The effective concentration 50 % (EC50) was 1.323 and 1.981mg/mg DPPH and antiradical efficiency values ware 0.756 and 0.505 for methanol + water and ethanol +water respectively. Rheological properties of the doughs were found to be affected with flaxseed meal addition. The results showed that replacement 5% of wheat flour by flaxseed meal flour increases the water absorption and development time of the dough. While the stability and the energy of the dough was decreased by addition of flaxseed meal. The results of sensory evaluation proved that toast and cake enriched with defatted flaxseed flour up to 10% was acceptable to the consumer.. The results of the sensory evaluation showed that the samples produced by replacement 5% of the wheat flour with defatted flaxseed meal had no significant differences for most of the sensory characteristics. Keywords: Flaxseed meal, toast bread, cake, Phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, sensory evaluation.

Moringa oleifera meal proteins were extracted by using salt, water and alkaline precipitation to obtain globulins (GLO), albumins (ALB), and iso-electric precipitated (ISO) isolates. All the samples were tested for antioxidant properties using 2, 2diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl radical scavenging activity (HRSA), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and inhibition of metal ion chelation assays. The amino acid compositions of the samples, though fairly comparable, the albumin fraction in particular showed considerable inhibitory potentials against the DPPH (53.02%) and hydroxyl radical (44.21%). None of the samples however had any significant metal chelating ability since the only sample (globulin) with activity had less than 5% metal chelation activity. With the results obtained in the study, it was concluded that the albumin and the flour possess some level of inhibitory potentials against free radicals which could present them as useful antioxidant agents. Key words: Moringa oleifera seed; protein isolates; antioxidant activity; amino acids

Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is an Andean plant, has been cultivated and used as a traditional medicine for over 2, 000 years. Maca is well documented for anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation and immunoregulatory activities. Chronic stress and depression are lacking clinical available and effective therapeutic agents. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-depressant function of refined Maca ethanolic extract and discuss the underlying mechanism. 70 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 7 groups as blank, chronic-stressed, chronic-stressed + positive control, chronic-stressed + maca crude (2.4g/kg and 1.2g/kg), chronic-stressed + maca ethanolic extract (2.4g/kg and 1.2g/kg). Sucrose preference test, open-field test and elevated plus maze test were adopted as depression-related behavioral tests. Hypothalamic corticotrophin releasing hormone, plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol were measured by radioimmunoassay. Sugar consumption of the maca ethanolic extract group was significantly lower compared with chronic-stressed group (p<0.05). Behavioral tests showed the total travel time in the open field and open-arm enter times in the maze increased significantly (p<0.05). Radioimmunoassay showed hypothalamic corticotrophin releasing hormone, plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol were decreased by the maca ethanolic extract group. The maca ethanolic extract might have regulatory properties against chronic stressed and might function through a hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Key words: Maca, antianxiety, anti-depression, chronic unpredictable mild stress.

This study was conducted to evaluate the reliability of a recently developed AcQuickDx Test based on lateral flow immunochromatographic assay to detect the 31-kDa specific antibody against Angiostrongylus cantonensis for rapid serodiagnosis of angiostrongyliasis in patient-derived sera from the parasite endemic areas of northeast Thailand. The diagnostic performance of the assay was evaluated with a total of 184 serum samples from clinically diagnosed patients with eosinophilic meningitis due to A. cantinensis infection (n=98), and individuals at risk of infection with no evidence of eosinophilic meningitis (n=86). The serological AcQuickDx results were then compared with previous performance results based on dot-immunogold filtration assay (Ac-DIGFA) and dot-blot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (dot-blot ELISA) to determine its validity. The overall positivity rate of AcQuickDx in 98 clinically diagnosed cases from three highly endemic districts in Khon Kaen province was 39.79%. Among the 86 sera of subjects at risk of infection with A. cantonensis, 24.41% were positive by AcQuickDx. The positivity rates were comparable with the results obtained previously in both groups of defined serum samples: Ac-DIFGA, 39.79% and 24.41% respectively; and dot-ELISA, 37.75% and 23.25% respectively. This study demonstrated that AcQuickDx is equally sensitive and specific as Ac-DIGFA and dot-blot ELISA for clinically confirmed eosinophilic meningitis caused by A. cantonensis infection. In addition to rapidity and ease of performance, the dry-format lateral flow assay in AcQuickDx Test allows shipment and storage without requiring a cold chain and is thus more suitable for use in remote and resource-limited settings. Keywords: Angiostrongylus cantonensis; angiostrongyliasis; food-borne zoonotic disease, lateral flow immunochromatographic assay; evaluation; 31-kDa antigen; rapid test

Background: In this study, to investigate whether piperine, an alkaloid from Pipper longum, could potentially exerts its effect for the suppression of inflammation and oxidative stress, we examined the modulatory effects of piperine in tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced Ac2F rat liver cells. Methods: Anti-inflammatory mechanism of piperine in Ac2F cells were examined by performing western blotting. Results: The piperine exhibited remarkable reduction of intracellular reactive species (RS) levels in t-BHP- and SIN-1-induced Ac2F cells. In addition, piperine inhibited t-BHP-induced activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-?B) by suppressing the degradation of inhibitor-?B proteins (I?Ba) and translocation of p65 from the cytosol to the nucleus, further indicating piperine’s inhibitory effects on nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxyganse-2 (COX-2) expressions. As a consequence, piperine modulated through inhibition of ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPKs signal transduction pathway in cells. Moreover, piperine pretreatment also regulated the protein expression of antioxidant enzymes such as manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and catalase. Conclusion: These results indicated that piperine, a major component of black pepper might be a potential anti-inflammatory agent by modulating RS-induced NF-?B activation through the MAPKs signaling pathway and possess the anti-oxidative property. Therefore piperine can be considered as a useful therapeutic and preventive approach for the treatment of inflammation and oxidative stress-related diseases. Keywords: piperine, anti-inflammatory, reactive species, t-BHP, Ac2F cells