BACKGROUND Astragalus injection is used by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine to treat diabetic nephropathy (DN). The current study was conducted to determine the effect of astragalus on tubular epithelial transdifferentiation during the progression of DN in KKAy mice, as well as to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying this effect. METHODS Diabetic, 14-week-old, male KKAy...

The objective of this research was to study the relationships between environmental factors and distribution of Astragalus verus and Astragalus glaucops in order to find the most effective factors in the distribution of Astragalus verus and Astragalus glaucops in west of Iran. Sampling of soil and Floristic composition were performed with Eco-phytosociology method. Floristic composition data in...

—Phylogenetic analyses of large data sets pose special challenges, including the apparent tendency for the bootstrap support for a clade to decline with increased taxon sampling of that clade. We document this decline in data setswith increasing numbers of taxa in Astragalus, the most species-rich angiospermgenus. Support for one subclade, Neo-Astragalus, declinedmonotonicallywith increased sam...

The present study was focused on improving the quality of rice koji by fermentation with a selected Aspergillus oryzae strain and a plant Astragalus radix. A. oryzae KCCM 60345 was used as main inoculant and the Astragalus radix was added as supplement in rice koji preparation. LC-MS based metabolite analysis and tyrosinase inhibitory activities were studied for different time periods. A. oryza...

Leghemoglobins (Lbs) play an important role in legumes-rhizobia symbiosis. Lbs bind O2 and protect nitrogenase activity from damage by O2 in nodules, therefore, they are regarded as a marker of active nitrogen fixation in nodules. Additionally, Lbs are involved in the nitric oxide (NO) signaling pathway, acting as a NO scavenger during nodule development and nitrogen fixation. However, regulato...

Astragalus polysaccharide is a major component of radix astragali, a vital qi-reinforcing herb medicine with favorable immune-regulating effects. In a previous animal experiment, we demonstrated that astragalus polysaccharide effectively alleviates ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) of cardiac muscle through the regulation of the inflammatory reactions. However, the relationship between this her...

The protective effects of two Chinese herbs, astragalus mongholicus, polygonum multiflorum and astragalus mongholicus-polygonum multiflorum in combination against thymus injury induced by cyclophosphamide were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy, image analysis, DNA gel electrophoresis as well as flow cytometry. Results showed that mice pretreated with cyclophosphamide had degenerated...

Residue management in cropping systems is useful to improve soil quality. However, the studies on the effects of residue management on the enzyme activities and microbial community of soils in South China are few. Therefore, the effects of incorporating winter cover crop residue with a double-cropping rice (Oryza sativa L.) system on soil enzyme activities and microbial community in Southern Ch...

Selenium-accumulator plants synthesize selenium compounds that differ from those produced by nonaccumulators. To determine if there are any subcellular differences between accumulators and nonaccumulators in the use of selenomethionine in vitro, polysomes from Astragalus crotalariae (accumulator) and Astragalus lentiginosis (nonaccumulator) were translated in the presence of selenomethionine. P...