It is extensively verified that continued oxidative stress and oxidative damage may lead to chronic inflammation, which in turn can mediate most chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, neurological, inflammatory bowel disease and pulmonary diseases. Curcumin, a yellow coloring agent extracted from turmeric, shows strong anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities when used as a remedy for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. How oxidative stress activates inflammatory pathways leading to the progression of chronic diseases is the focus of this review. Thus, research to date suggests that chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and most chronic diseases are closely linked, and the antioxidant properties of curcumin can play a key role in the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammation diseases.

Eco-friendly green synthesis with plant extracts plays a very important role in nanotechnology, without any harmful chemicals. In this report, the synthesis of water-soluble silver nanoparticles was developed by treating silver ions with Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. extract at room temperature. The effect of the extract on the formation of silver nanoparticles was characterized by ultraviolet and visible absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The ultraviolet and visible absorption spectroscopy results show a strong resonance centered on the surface of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) at 430 nm. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectral study demonstrates Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. extract acted as the reducing and stabilizing agent during the synthesis. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the synthesized AgNP are single crystallines, corresponding with the result of transmission electron microscopy. Water-soluble AgNP, with an approximate size of 20 nm–50 nm were also observed in the transmission electron microscopy image. The bactericidal properties of the synthesized AgNP were investigated using the agar-dilution method and the growth-inhibition test. The results show the AgNP had potent bactericidal activity on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, as well as a strong antibacterial activity against gram-negative bacteria, as compared to gram-positive bacteria with a dose-dependent effect, thus providing a clinical ultrasound gel with bactericidal property for prevention of cross infections.

Atopic dermatitis (AD), characterized by severe pruritus, immune imbalance, and skin barrier dysfunction, has a high incidence worldwide. Recent evidence has shown that the modulation of gut microbiota is crucial for alleviating clinical symptoms of AD. Tremella fuciformis polysaccharides (TFPS) have been demonstrated to have a variety of biological activities such as immunomodulatory, anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects. However, their effects on AD treatment have never been investigated. In this study, we compared the therapeutic effects of topical or oral administration of TFPS on AD in dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced AD mice. Both topical application and oral administration of TFPS led to improvement on transdermal water loss, epidermal thickening, and ear edema in AD mice, but the oral administration showed significantly better efficacy than the topical application. The TFPS treatment increased the proportion of CD4 (+) CD25 (+) Foxp3 (+) regulatory T cells in mesenteric lymph nodes. Additionally, the non-targeted metabolomics and sequencing of 16S rDNA amplicons were performed, revealing metabolite modulation in feces and changed composition of gut microbiota in mice, which were induced for AD-like disorder and treated by oral administration of TFPS. Collectively, these data suggest that the oral administration of TFPS may constitute a novel effective therapy for AD, with underlying mechanisms associated with the regulation of immune response, and improvement of both metabolism and the composition of intestinal microbiota.