Effects of spinal-epidural anesthesia combined with intravenous etomidate on adrenocortical and immune stress in elderly patients undergoing anorectal surgery: A retrospective analysis.

The management of anesthesia in elderly patients undergoing surgery presents unique challenges, particularly in mitigating stress responses and ensuring stability. Etomidate may alleviate adrenocortical and immune stress. This study aims to investigate the anesthetic effects of combined spinal-epidural anesthesia (CSEA) supplemented with etomidate during anorectal surgery in elderly patients. The medical records of 49 cases treated with CSEA and etomidate (ETO group) and 48 cases treated with CSEA alone (control group) were reviewed and analyzed. All patients received ropivacaine hydrochloride for anesthesia, with the ETO group additionally receiving an infusion of etomidate for sedation. Parameters such as arterial blood gas, visual analog scale (VAS), Ramsay sedation scale (RSS), serum cortisol and norepinephrine levels, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and lymphocyte ratios were assessed at different time points. Compared to the control group, the ETO group showed increased mean arterial pressure, decreased heart rate, and elevated arterial SpO2 30 minutes after anesthesia. The ETO group also had higher RSS scores, lower VAS scores, and reduced serum cortisol and norepinephrine levels. Additionally, decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and IL-8, were observed, along with an increase in the regulatory cytokine IL-10. An increased proportion of CD4+ T cells and a higher CD4/CD8 ratio were also noted. This study demonstrates the benefits of using etomidate to mitigate adrenocortical and immune stress in elderly patients undergoing anorectal surgery.

Rapid fractionation of corn stover by microwave-assisted protic ionic liquid [TEA][HSO4] for fermentative acetone-butanol-ethanol production.

BACKGROUND: The use of ionic liquids (ILs) to fractionate lignocelluloses for various bio-based chemicals productions is in the ascendant. On this basis, the protic ILs consisting of triethylammonium hydrogen sulfate ([TEA][HSO4]) possessed great promise due to the low price, low pollution, and high efficiency. In this study, the microwave-assistant [TEA][HSO4] fractionation process was established for corn stover fractionation, so as to facilitate the monomeric sugars production and supported the downstream acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. RESULTS: The assistance of microwave irradiation could obviously shorten the fractionation period of corn stover. Under the optimized condition (190 W for 3 min), high xylan removal (93.17 ± 0.63%) and delignification rate (72.90 ± 0.81%) were realized. The mechanisms for the promotion effect of the microwave to the protic ILs fractionation process were ascribed to the synergistic effect of the IL and microwaves to the depolymerization of lignocellulose through the ionic conduction, which can be clarified by the characterization of the pulps and the isolated lignin specimens. Downstream valorization of the fractionated pulps into ABE productions was also investigated. The [TEA][HSO4] free corn stover hydrolysate was capable of producing 12.58 g L-1 of ABE from overall 38.20 g L-1 of monomeric sugars without detoxification and additional nutrients supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: The assistance of microwave irradiation could significantly promote the corn stover fractionation by [TEA][HSO4]. Mass balance indicated that 8.1 g of ABE and 16.61 g of technical lignin can be generated from 100 g of raw corn stover based on the novel fractionation strategy.

Extracellular vesicles ameliorates sleep deprivation induced anxiety-like behavior and cognitive impairment in mice.

The aim of this research was to explore the therapeutic capabilities of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) that had been subjected to heat shock pretreatment, in treating psychiatric disorders induced by sleep deprivation in mice. The EVs were isolated and characterized, while western blotting was utilized to assess the expression of exosomal markers and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). To evaluate the impact of EV treatment on anxiety-like behavior and cognitive impairment in sleep-deprived (SD) mice, the open field test, plus maze test, and Y-maze task were conducted. Heat shock pretreatment significantly increased the expression of HSP70 in EVs. Administration of EVs from heat shock-pretreated hUC-MSCs improved anxiety-like behavior and cognitive function in SD mice. Furthermore, EV treatment promoted synaptic protein expression, HSP70 expression and inhibited neuroinflammation in the hippocampus of SD mice. Western blotting analysis also revealed that EV treatment reduced the levels of TLR4 and p65 in the hippocampus. EVs from heat shock-pretreated hUC-MSCs have therapeutic potential for sleep deprivation-induced psychiatric disorders by regulating neuroinflammation and synaptic function in mice.

Towards valorization of rice straw into bioethanol and lignin: Emphasizing critical role of deep eutectic solvent components in biorefining process.

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) offer a potential opportunity in biomass utilization industries. This work emphasized the impact of hydrogen bond donors (HBD) and acceptors (HBA) on deconstruction and valorization of rice straw. Acidity, alkyl chain length, hydrogen bonding ability and functional groups of HBD and HBA appeared to be important factors affecting the fractionated pulps and lignins, which further influenced ethanol fermentation. Among the candidate DESs, lactic acid/guanidine hydrochloride (LGH) was proved to be the most suitable one due to the excellent delignification and xylan removal. For the downstream fermentation process, 0.47 g g-1 of bioethanol with 0.55 g/L h-1 of productivity can be obtained from the LGH pulp's hydrolysate. Mass balance showed 302.8 g bioethanol and 119.0 g technical lignin can be co-generated from 1 kg dried rice straw. This "green" valorization strategy offers a promising scheme in biorefinery of lignocelluloses.

Corynebacterium glutamicum cell factory design for the efficient production of cis, cis-muconic acid.

Cis, cis-muconic acid (MA) is widely used as a key starting material in the synthesis of diverse polymers. The growing demand in these industries has led to an increased need for MA. Here, we constructed recombinant Corynebacterium glutamicum by systems metabolic engineering, which exhibit high efficiency in the production of MA. Firstly, the three major degradation pathways were disrupted in the MA production process. Subsequently, metabolic optimization strategies were predicted by computational design and the shikimate pathway was reconstructed, significantly enhancing its metabolic flux. Finally, through optimization and integration of key genes involved in MA production, the recombinant strain produced 88.2 g/L of MA with the yield of 0.30 mol/mol glucose in the 5 L bioreactor. This titer represents the highest reported titer achieved using glucose as the carbon source in current studies, and the yield is the highest reported for MA production from glucose in Corynebacterium glutamicum. Furthermore, to enable the utilization of more cost-effective glucose derived from corn straw hydrolysate, we subjected the strain to adaptive laboratory evolution in corn straw hydrolysate. Ultimately, we successfully achieved MA production in a high solid loading of corn straw hydrolysate (with the glucose concentration of 83.56 g/L), resulting in a titer of 19.9 g/L for MA, which is 4.1 times higher than that of the original strain. Additionally, the glucose yield was improved to 0.33 mol/mol. These provide possibilities for a greener and more sustainable production of MA.

Sequential catalytic lignin valorization and bioethanol production: an integrated biorefinery strategy.

BACKGROUND: The effective valorization of lignin and carbohydrates in lignocellulose matrix under the concept of biorefinery is a primary strategy to produce sustainable chemicals and fuels. Based on the reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF), lignin in lignocelluloses can be depolymerized into viscous oils, while the highly delignified pulps with high polysaccharides retention can be transformed into various chemicals. RESULTS: A biorefinery paradigm for sequentially valorization of the main components in poplar sawdust was constructed. In this process, the well-defined low-molecular-weight phenols and bioethanol were co-generated by tandem chemo-catalysis in the RCF stage and bio-catalysis in fermentation stage. In the RCF stage, hydrogen transfer reactions were conducted in one-pot process using Raney Ni as catalyst, while the isopropanol (2-PrOH) in the initial liquor was served as a hydrogen donor and the solvent for lignin dissolution. Results indicated the proportion of the 2-PrOH in the initial liquor of RCF influenced the chemical constitution and yield of the lignin oil, which also affected the characteristics of the pulps and the following bioethanol production. A 67.48 ± 0.44% delignification with 20.65 ± 0.31% of monolignols yield were realized when the 2-PrOH:H2O ratio in initial liquor was 7:3 (6.67 wt% of the catalyst loading, 200 °C for 3 h). The RCF pulp had higher carbohydrates retention (57.96 ± 2.78 wt%), which was converted to 21.61 ± 0.62 g/L of bioethanol with a yield of 0.429 ± 0.010 g/g in fermentation using an engineered S. cerevisiae strain. Based on the mass balance analysis, 104.4 g of ethanol and 206.5 g of lignin oil can be produced from 1000 g of the raw poplar sawdust. CONCLUSIONS: The main chemical components in poplar sawdust can be effectively transformed into lignin oil and bioethanol. The attractive results from the biorefinery process exhibit great promise for the production of valuable biofuels and chemicals from abundant lignocellulosic materials.

Surfactant-assisted dilute ethylenediamine fractionation of corn stover for technical lignin valorization and biobutanol production.

In this study, a surfactant-assisted diluted ethylenediamine (EDA) fractionation process was investigated for co-generation of technical lignin and biobutanol from corn stover. The results showed that the addition of PEG 8000 significantly enhanced cellulose recovery (88.9 %) and lignin removal (68.9 %) in the solid fraction. Moreover, the pulp achieved 86.5 % glucose yield and 82.6 % xylose yield in enzymatic hydrolysis. Structural characterization confirmed that the fractionation process promoted the preservation of active ß-O-4 bonds (35.8/100R) in isolated lignin and functionalized the lignin through structural modification using EDA and surfactant grafting. The enzymatic hydrolysate of the pulps yielded a sugar solution for acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation, resulting in an ABE concentration of 15.4 g/L and an overall yield of 137.2 g/Kg of dried corn stalk. Thus, the surfactant-assisted diluted EDA fractionation has the potential to enhance the overall economic feasibility of second-generation biofuels production within the framework of biorefinery.