72results about How to "Lower blood uric acid levels" patented technology

[Problems] The present invention provides pharmaceutical composition which is effective for the prophylaxis or treatment of pathology showing involvement of uric acid (hyperuricemia, gouty tophus, acute gout arthritis, chronic gout arthritis, gouty kidney, urolithiasis, renal function disorder, coronary arterial disease, ischemic heart disease and the like) and the like, and is superior in the time-course stability and dissolution property (disintegration property).[Solving Means] The pharmaceutical composition of the present invention is a pharmaceutical composition comprising a nitrogen-containing fused ring compound represented by the following formula [1] or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable additives, wherein the nitrogen-containing fused ring compound or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof is not in contact with a basic additive:wherein each symbol is as described in the specification.

The invention discloses a lactobacillus plantarum UA-416 strain and application thereof, and belongs to the field of functional food microbes. Blanks of lactobacillus plantarum in the effects of lowering uric acid and resisting gout are filled up. According to the lactobacillus plantarum (Lactobacillus plantarum) UA-416 strain provided by the invention, the bacterial strain is already collected inthe China Center for Type Culture Collection (CCTCC) on July 25, 2017; the collection number is CCTCC NO: M2017419. The lactobacillus plantarum UA-416 strain provided by the invention can be used foreffectively lowering the level of blood uric acid, is used for improving the levels of urea nitrogen and creatinine and inhibiting the activity of xanthine oxidase in serum, and has prevention and treatment effects on uricemia or the gout.

The present invention relates to a compound that has URAT1 inhibitory action, and a URAT1 inhibitor, a blood uric acid level-reducing agent and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound. More specifically, the present invention relates to a compound represented by Formula (I) below.[in the formula,R1 is -Q1-A1 and the like; is a double bond or a single bond; when is a double bond, W1 is a nitrogen atom or a group represented by the general formula: ═C(Ra)—, and W2 is a nitrogen atom or a group represented by the general formula: ═C(Rb)—; when is a single bond, W1 is a group represented by the general formula: —C(Raa)(Rab)— or a group represented by the general formula: —(C═O)—, and W2 is a group represented by the general formula: —C(Rba)(Rbb)—, a group represented by the general formula: —(C═O)— or a group represented by the general formula: —N(Rbc)—; W3, W4 and W5 are each independently a nitrogen atom or a methine group and the like that may have a substituent; X is a single bond, an oxygen atom and the like; Y is a single bond or (CRYiRYi′)n; and Z is a hydroxyl group or COOR2 and the like.

The invention discloses an L.plantarum UA149 strain and an application thereof, and belongs to the field of functional food microorganisms. The L.plantarum UA149 strain is deposited in China Typical Culture Collection Center on November 29, 2018 with the preservation number of CCTCC No: M2018842. The strain can be apply to preparing products with a uric acid reducing function or a gout resisting function. Lactic acid bacteria separated and identified from the surface of fleshy plant leaves are taken as research objects, and a new strain of lactic acid bacteria is screened through a large number of experiments. Hyperuricemia model rats are established by potassium oxazinate combined with fructose water, continuous intragastric administration of the lactobacillus plantarum UA149 strain for 14 days can significantly reduce the level of uric acid; and during gout attack, the release of inflammatory factors thromboxane and leukotriene mediated by neutrophils is reduced, the influx of neutrophils into joints is avoided, and the symptoms of redness, swelling, pain, heat and the like are reduced.

The invention relates to the field of microorganisms, and particularly relates to Lactobacillus gasseri LG08 with a uric acid degradation effect and application thereof. The Lactobacillus gasseri LG08is preserved in the China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center (CGMCC) in July 18, 2018, with the preservation number being CGMCC No. 16131, and is classified and named as Lactobacillusgasseri, with the preservation address being the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.3, Academy No.1, Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing. The Lactobacillus gasseri LG08 has an excellent nucleoside and nucleotide degradation capability, can decompose most precursors for uric acid synthesis, reduce the body absorption of precursors for uric acid synthesis and directly and efficiently decompose uric acid in intestinal tracts, and can further inhibit the generation of uric acid and relieve inflammation and other side reactions by reducing the serum endotoxin leveland inhibiting the xanthine oxidase activity.

The invention relates to medicinal and edible tablets for reducing uric acid and a preparation method of the medicinal and edible tablets. The medicinal and edible tablets comprise a main constituentand an auxiliary material, wherein the main constituent comprises components in parts by weight as follows: 0.33 g of cichorium intybus powder, 0.01 g of fructus gardeniae powder, 0.01 g of folium mori, 0.01 g of radix puerariae, 0.01 g of rhizoma smilacis glabrae and 0.08 g of celery seeds, and the auxiliary material comprises components of 0.04 g of curcumin, 0.014 g of maltodextrin, 0.012 g ofvegetable fat powder, 0.002 g of magnesium stearate, 0.05 ml of palm oil and 0.05 ml of vegetable oil. The medicinal and edible tablets taste good, the preparation method is simple and practicable, and wide popularization can be facilitated; the medicinal and edible tablets have obvious effect, are high in pertinence and convenient to take and store and do not affect blood pressure, blood sugar and blood fat, and the preparation method is simple and practicable.

The invention discloses a fevervine extract and applications thereof. The extract contains iridoid glycoside compounds, which are characterized by being composed of the following components in percentage by weight: 20.0 to 50.0% of paederosidic acid, 2.0 to 25.0% of paederoside, and 1.0 to 10.0% of methyl paederosidate. The fevervine extract is prepared by the following steps: (a) using ethanol to extract fevervine herb so as to obtain an extract solution; (b) condensing the extract solution until no ethanol fragrance can be smelled, then carrying out macroporous resin chromatography on the extract solution, eluting the resin by water and ethanol (80-90%) in sequence, collecting the eluents, and drying under reduced pressure so as to obtain the fevervine extract. The invention further provides applications of the fevervine extract in preparation of drugs for treating and preventing kidney damages.

The invention discloses lactobacillus brevis DM9218 capable of decomposing purine nucleoside with high decomposition rate at high speed and reducing blood uric acid, a gene segment and a recombinant protein. The lactobacillus brevis DM9218 (Lactobacillus brevis) is preserved in China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center with the preservation number being CGMCC NO.12797; the gene segment of the lactobacillus brevis DM9218 has a DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:2; the recombinant protein of the gene segment of the lactobacillus brevis DM9218 is obtained through adopting a DNA of the lactobacillus brevis DM9218 as a template for PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), and utilizing a gene cloning method for a PCR product, wherein DNA sequences of an upstream primer and a downstream primer of PCR reaction are respectively as shown in SEQ ID NO:3 and SEQ ID NO:4.

The invention discloses a saury Maillard peptide with uric acid reducing activity as well as a preparation method and an application thereof. The preparation method comprises steps as follows: mincing saury, adding water, heating and stirring the mixture, adjusting the pH value to 4.2, performing centrifugal separation, and taking a precipitate; adding water, protease and monomer amino acid to the precipitate, adjusting the pH value to 7.0, adding reducing sugar after hydrolysis for a reaction, performing centrifugation, and taking a supernatant, that is, a saury Maillard peptide liquid; performing spray drying on the peptide liquid to obtain dried saury Maillard peptide powder. With the adoption of the method, the Maillard peptide is prepared under the continuous action of enzymolysis and a Maillard reaction, the production technology process is simplified, the production cycle is shortened, the production cost is reduced, the uric acid reducing effect of the prepared target Maillard peptide is significant, and rat animal experiments indicate that the uric-acid-reducing Maillard peptide prepared with the method can significantly reduce the blood uric acid level of rats and has a certain protection effect on kidney functions of the rats.

The invention relates to a composite sunflower composition for reducing uric acid and alleviating gout and a preparation method and application of the composite sunflower composition, and belongs to the technical field of functional foods. In order to solve the problems that a conventional gout treatment drug is small in side effect, complex in components and the like, through methods of extraction, enzymolysis, molecular weight interception and the like, a preparation method of a sunflower extract, a preparation method of a coix seed extract and a preparation method of a lophatherum herb extract are optimized, and the obtained extracts are rich in effective components of micromolecule weight active glycoconjugate, flavone, alkaloid and the like. The invention further provides the composition consisting of 80-120 parts by weight of the sunflower extract, 10-30 parts by weight of the coix seed extract, 5-15 parts by weight of the lophatherum herb extract and 50-70 parts by weight of themaltodextrin and a preparation method of the composition. The invention can be used for development of health-care products and drugs for improving the gout and / or hyperuricaemia.

The invention discloses a traditional Chinese medicine composition for treating gout. The traditional Chinese medicine composition for treating gout is prepared from the following raw materials in parts by weight: 8-12 parts of salvia miltiorrhiza, 6.75-12 parts of polygonum cuspidatum, 6.75-9 parts of radices sileris, 6.75-12 parts of gentiana macrophylla, 9-12 parts of scutellaria baicalensis, 4.5-8 parts of rhizoma corydalis, 4.5-8 parts of cassia twig and 6.75-12 parts of medlar. The traditional Chinese medicine composition for treating gout, which is provided by the invention, has remarkable anti-inflammatory and abirritation effects, is capable of remarkably lowering the content of blood uric acid, good in treatment effect on gout, short in treatment period, low in cost, and free from obvious toxic and side effects and adverse reactions, and provides a new choice for clinic.

The invention provides medicine for treating gout. The medicine is a mixture of glycoprotein or polysaccharide and protein or polypeptide or protein. The medicine has a remarkable treatment effect on gout of the human body, and the total effective rate is 98%, wherein the recovery ratio is 85%; the effect achieving rate is 13%; the noneffective ratio is only 2%; for cured persons, the recurrence rate after 5 years is only 1%; the medicine has the effects of lowering the content of urine protein, the content of creatinine and the content of urea nitrogen, and no abnormity occurs in detection of the side effects caused to blood and the liver and kidney; the medicine has the advantages that the content of blood uric acid in hyperuricemia is lowered, and the blood uric acid value is as low as 147.89-160.5 micro mol / L; the medicine is safe, high in efficiency, free of side effect and capable of decreasing blood uric acid, decreasing urine protein, diminishing inflammation, relieving pain, achieving diuresis and removing urinary calculus.

The invention discloses a medicine for curing podagra, which is prepared by the raw materials with the weight proportions as follows: 15-25 parts of giant knotweed rhizome, 8-15 parts of salvia miltiorrhiza, 6-12 parts of rheum officinale, 12-17 parts of cuttlebone, 12-17 parts of isatis root, 12-17 parts of greater bunet root, 10-14 parts of herba scutellariae barbatae and 6-15 parts of radix bupleuri. The medicine for curing podagra provided by the invention has obvious effects on anti-inflammation and abirritation, can obviously lower the blood uric acid content and the activity of xanthine oxidase in livers, also can protect kidney and improve the organism condition, has excellent therapeutic effect on podagra; the therapeutic effect is excellent, the adverse reaction is little, the toxic side effect is not obvious, and the medicine is obviously better than the anti-podagra medicines clinically used at present.

The invention relates to a filtering medium capable of degrading human blood uric acid, and a preparation method thereof. Specifically, recombinant urate oxidase is immobilized on a substrate such asagarose, polyacrylate, cellulose or polyacrylamide through a chemical reaction to prepare the plasma filtering medium; and when blood plasma containing high-concentration uric acid flows through the surface of the medium, uric acid oxidase oxidizes uric acid into allantoin, so that the level of uric acid in the blood plasma is reduced. The allantoin has higher solubility in an aqueous solution andis easy to discharge out of the body. The medium has wide application value in preparation of a plasma filtering device for reducing blood uric acid of the human body.

The invention relates to the field of traditional Chinese medicines. The invention aims to provide the new application of obscured homalomena rhizome (a Chinese medicinal plant) in pharmacy. The invention relates to the application of obscured homalomena rhizome in preparing medicaments for treating or preventing gout, hyperuricacidemia, ischemia reperfusion injuries and atherosclerosis. The invention provides the new application of obscured homalomena rhizome in the field of pharmacy. When used for preparing medicaments for treating or preventing gout, hyperuricacidemia, ischemia reperfusion injuries and atherosclerosis, the obscured homalomena rhizome can be used alone, and also can be matched with other traditional Chinese medicines for clearing heat, promoting diuresis, strengthening the spleen and tonifying the kidney to prepare compound preparations.

The invention relates to application of fisetin in preparation of a medicine for preventing and treating uric acid nephropathy, and belongs to the field of medicine. The invention provides application of fisetin or salt thereof in preparation of the medicine for treating and / or preventing the uric acid nephropathy. Animal experiments prove that the fisetin can regulate protein expression of kidney urate transporters URAT1, OAT1, OAT3 and ABCG2, improve uric acid excretion rate and obviously reduce serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and blood uric acid levels, also has an effect of inhibiting renal interstitial fibrosis, can obviously reduce expression quantities of fibrosis-related proteins such as alpha-SMA, cologen I and fibronectin, has an exact prevention / treatment effect on the uric acid nephropathy and provides a new choice for clinical medication.

The invention provides a traditional Chinese medicine composition for preventing and treating hyperuricemia, a medicine and a preparation method and application thereof, and relates to the technical field of traditional Chinese medicines. The traditional Chinese medicine composition for preventing and treating hyperuricemia mainly comprises lily, cordyceps militaris, spina date seeds, endothelium corneum gigeriae galli, coix seeds, rhizoma imperatae, rhizoma phragmitis and pericarpium citri reticulatae. Through combination of the traditional Chinese medicines having effects of dredging collaterals and removing pyralysis, removing dampness and food retention, treating stranguria and removing stone, reinforcing kidney and tonifying spleen, and reducing fever and causing diuresis, the traditional Chinese medicine composition has effects of protecting, nourishing and dredging kidney, can significantly improve the immunity, can promote blood circulation, can reduce blood lipid, can invigorate the circulation of blood, can accelerate purine decomposition and discharge from the human urine, can effectively reduce blood uric acid content and has no toxic or side effect.

The invention relates to use of pterostilbene in preparing a medicine for preventing and treating high uric acid nephropathy, and belongs to the field of medicine, and provides use of the pterostilbene or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof in preparing the medicine for treating and / or preventing the high uric acid nephropathy. Experimental results show that the pterostilbene can significantly reduce the level of serum uric acid, inhibits renal interstitial fibrosis, can significantly reduce the expression of fibrosis-related proteins such as alpha-SMA, collagenI, collagenIV and fibronectin, has a definite therapeutic effect on the high uric acid nephropathy, and provides a new option for clinical medication.

The invention relates to the technical field of probiotic yoghourt, and aims to provide drinking type fermented probiotic yoghourt capable of reducing blood uric acid in order to give full play to thehealth-care effect of lactobacillus fermentum 2644 for reducing the blood uric acid content. The fermented probiotic yoghourt is prepared by fermenting lactobacillus fermentum 2644 and contains a fermented product and viable bacteria of lactobacillus fermentum 2644. A step of adding a chicory, cape jasmine and mulberry leaf extracting solution to participate in fermentation is also included. Thefermented probiotic acid contains a fermentation product and viable bacteria of lactobacillus fermentum 2644, has the effect of reducing the content of blood uric acid in a body, expands the use pathof lactobacillus fermentum 2644 and the function of probiotic yoghourt, and meanwhile, creatively proposes that lactobacillus fermentum 2644 is matched with traditional Chinese medicine components toform a formula, the drinking type probiotic yoghourt with the effect of obviously reducing the content of the blood uric acid is obtained.

The invention provides a uric acid reducing composition and a preparation method thereof. The composition comprises components in parts by weight as follows: 3-6 parts of safflower, 7-13 parts of green tangerine peel grains and 8-15 parts of herb of spicate clerodendranthus herb. The three medicinal materials selected by the invention are common traditional Chinese medicines with low price, the green tangerine peel grains and the herb of spicate clerodendranthus are combined and assisted by a little safflower, the problem of insufficient uric acid metabolism can be solved specifically, the content of uric acid can be decreased effectively, and gout symptoms caused by uric acid crystal accumulation can be eliminated safely without side effects.

A Chinese patent medicine treating gout is composed of extractives of traditional Chinese medicine plants semen plantaginis, rhizoma alismatis, panax notoginseng, radix bupleuri, fructus gardenia, cortex moutan, akebia stem, radix scutellariae and radix rehmanniae. The disease mechanism of gout is dampness-heat of liver channel, the therapeutic principle is to clear dampness heat of liver channel, activate blood and free the collateral vessels. The Chinese patent medicine treating gout is capable of promoting drainage of uric acid by human body, avoiding coalescence of uric acid from, and preventing formation of tophus and joint deformities, and is capable of improving gout physique and breaking gout diet taboo after being taken for a period. Compared with western medicines, the Chinese patent medicine is rapid and durable in treatment effect, free of side effect, low in cost and convenient to administrate and carry, and is capable of thoroughly improving gout physique. After the Chinese patent medicine is continuously administrated for a period, a patient can dine like common healthy people and is not restricted on the aspects of purine-rich food such as beer, seafood, beans and the like, so that the diet habit of patients is maintained and the life quality of patients is guaranteed.

The invention discloses a composition for reducing blood uric acid of hyperuricemia. The composition is prepared from the following ingredients in parts by weight: 25 to 100 parts of orange extracts,50 to 200 parts of grape seed extracts, 5 to 20 parts of vitamin E, 2.5 to 10 parts of vitamin B6, 5 to 20 parts of nicotinic acid, 50 to 200 parts of zinc gluconate and 500 to 2000 parts of potassiumcitrate. The animal effect evaluation result shows that the composition provided by the invention can obviously improve the urine pH of a rat with hyperuricemia; the 24h urine discharge quantity is obviously improved; the serum total anti-oxidization capability is improved; the lipid peroxide content is obviously reduced; the serum xanthine oxidase activity is reduced; the blood uric acid level is obviously reduced. The animal experiment result shows that when a proper quantity of the composition is supplied to the model rat with the hyperuricemia, the body anti-oxidization capability can beobviously improved; the blood uric acid is reduced.

The invention relates to the field of medicine, and particularly provides application of cobra venom or an extract thereof to preparation of a medicament for reducing uric acid and / or resisting to gouty arthritis. According to the invention, the cobra venom can effectively reduce the blood uric acid level of a hyperuricemic mouse, meanwhile, has an obvious improvement effect on the gouty arthritis, and can repair the joint injury caused by sodium urate deposition, reduce the joint swelling rate, improve the joint synovial tissue thickening condition, reduce inflammatory cell infiltration, protect cartilage cells; and clinical experiments show that cobra neurotoxin can quickly eliminate subcutaneous gout calculi of gout patients, lumps disappear after the cobra venom is injected into the patients for three days, and no side effect exists. In conclusion, the Chinese cobra venom has the effect of repairing gouty arthritis while reducing uric acid, and can be used as a medicament for treating gout.

The invention discloses a pharmaceutical composition for treating acute gout and its extraction method, wherein the composition composes active constituents extracted from the following medicinal materials, corktree bark, atractylodes rhizome, achyranthes and cyathula root, coix seed, poria cocos, and honey-suckle stem, alkaloids, volatile oil, saponin, organic acid, flavone and carbohydrate by a finite proportion.

The invention discloses an application of salvianolic acid A to preparation of hyperuricaemia and gout resisting drugs and / or health care products. Hyperuricaemia comprises primary and secondary hyperuricaemia and adult diseases that uric acid concentration in blood is higher than 420[mu]mol / L (male) and 357[mu]mol / L (female) (determination by a phosphotungstic acid reduction method ), or uric acid concentration in blood is higher than 420[mu]mol / L by a uricase-peroxidase coupling method, caused by various factors, and the gout comprises primary gout and secondary gout. It is found that the salvianolic acid A can notably reduce the serum uric acid level of mice after being taken orally, the expression of URAT1 genes mRNA can be notably improved, and the gene mRNA expression of GLUT9 is reduced. It is indicated that the salvianolic acid A can be used for preparing the hyperuricaemia and / or gout resisting drugs and / or health care products, and a safe, effective and economic active substance is provided for the drugs and / or health care products for preventing and / or treating diseases of hyperuricaemia and / or gout.

The invention relates to the medicine field, and particularly relates to an application of 1,3,6,7-tetrahydroxy diphenylpyrrone derivative in preparing a drug for preventing hyperuricemia and / or gout. The invention provides the application of 1,3,6,7-tetrahydroxy diphenylpyrrone derivative shown as the formula I in preparing the drug for reducing a uric acid level. The application provided by the invention reduces the uric acid level through a dual effect of inhibiting activity of xanthine oxidase and promoting excretion of uric acid, has a relatively good curative effect for the hyperuricemia and / or gout, and provides a novel selection for clinically treating the hyperuricemia and / or gout. The formula I is shown in the description.

The invention discloses a traditional Chinese medicine for treating hyperuricemia. The traditional Chinese medicine is prepared from the following crude drugs in parts by weight: 50 to 80 parts of burdock, 2 to 15 parts of grosvenor momordica leaf, 2 to 15 parts of grosvenor momordica fruit and 5 to 15 parts of dried ginger. Compared with the prior art, the traditional Chinese medicine is prepared only by four types of crude drugs through compatibility, and a synergistic effect of all the crude drugs is achieved, so that the reabsorption of uric acid by kidney tubules can be effectively prevented, the exhausting of the uric acid is increased, and further the level of blood uric acid in a human body is reduced; and the traditional Chinese medicine cannot cause damage to the organs such as liver, stomach, kidney and the like, has no toxic and side effects and is good in treating effect.

The present invention belongs to the technical field of food engineering. Currently, alcoholism-preventing drink only has an alcoholism-preventing effect and is not suitable for the patients with hyperuricemia and gout. Aiming at problems in the prior art, the present invention provides the special alcoholism-preventing drink for the patients with the hyperuricemia and gout and a preparation method thereof. Firstly, 1-2 parts of kudzuvine root, 0.8-1.5 parts of lily bulbs, 1-1.5 parts of poria cocos, 0.8-1.2 parts of plantain seeds, 0.5-1.5 parts of pueraria flowers, 2-8 parts of chicory and 3-10 parts of cherries are pre-treated; the pretreated materials are extracted and filtered to obtain a crude filtrate; then 4-10 parts of corn oligopeptide powder, 0-0.1 part of taurine, 0-0.1 part ofvitamin C and 0-2 parts of honey are added to the above crude filtrate to be dissolved and filtered; and then water is added to prepare 100 parts of the finished product of the drink. The preparationtechnology is simple. The prepared alcoholism-preventing drink is low in cost and suitable in mouthfeel, has an effect of preventing alcoholism, at the same time also can reduce production of blood uric acid and promote the excretion of the blood uric acid through metabolism, and is suitable for the various gout patients and people with excessive alcohol and tobacco consumption to drink.

The invention belongs to the field of traditional Chinese medicine, and relates to a traditional Chinese medicine compound for treating gout. The compound comprises the following components in parts by weight: 1 part of glabrous greenbrier rhizome, 1 part of winged euonymus twig, 1 part of Coix Semen Coicis and 1 part of Paniculate Swallowwort Root. The traditional Chinese medicine compound achieves an obvious treatment effect for hyperuricemia and acute gouty arthritis, and has no severe toxic or side effect. Statistics of clinical use results and animal experiment research show that the traditional Chinese medicine compound can obviously relieve pain caused by hyperuricemia and gouty arthritis, can obviously reduce the blood uric acid levels of patients and rats, and has no obvious toxic or side effect. The traditional Chinese medicine compound has the advantages of favorable effect, low price, low side effect and the like, and meets the most simple three basic requirements of patients for a medicine for idealized gout treatment, i.e. for obviously relieving pain of the patients, reducing the side effect on the patients caused by medicine taking and lightening the medicine taking economic burden of the patients.

The invention discloses application of urea in preparation of drugs resisting hyperuricemia and / gout and / or healthcare products. Hyperuricemia comprises primary and secondary hyperuricemia and the symptoms that the concentration of trioxypurine in blood is higher than 420 mmol / L (male) and 375 mmol / L (female) which are measured through a phosphotungstic acid reducing method, or the concentration of trioxypurine in the blood of adults is measured to be larger than 420 mmol / L through a uricase-peroxidase coupling method, and gout comprises primary gout and secondary gout. According to application, it is found that the serum uric acid level of mice can be remarkably reduced through allantoin, and mRNA expression of OAT1 and OCTN1 can be remarkably increased. Allantoin can be used for preparing the drugs resisting hyperuricemia and / gout and / or healthcare products, adverse reactions are reduced, and a safe, effective and economical solution is provided for treatment and prevention of diseases.