Catalytic pyrolysis and liquefaction behavior of microalgae for bio-oil production.

Microalgae bio-oil production is related to the sustainable use of world energy in the future. In the present work, catalytic pyrolysis and liquefaction behavior of microalgae for bio-oil production were investigated. The results show that the rare earth compounds as catalysts contributed to significantly accelerating the pyrolysis of microalgae via reducing the activation energy of pyrolysis process. Ce(II)/HZSM-5 presented the optimal catalytic pyrolysis and liquefaction effects by helping cut the microalgae molecule chains. The maximum bio-oil yield amounted to 49.71 wt% at the catalyst concentration of 5 wt%. The chemical components of the Spirulina bio-oil were composed of carboxylic acids, ketones, olefins, amides, ethers, esters, and partially cyclic N-containing compounds. Although the combustion performances of the Spirulina bio-oil are worse than those of the diesel fuel, it is superior to the reported rice husk bio-oil, suggesting a promising potential application prospect.

Defining subpopulations of differential drug response to reveal novel target populations.

Personalised medicine has predominantly focused on genetically altered cancer genes that stratify drug responses, but there is a need to objectively evaluate differential pharmacology patterns at a subpopulation level. Here, we introduce an approach based on unsupervised machine learning to compare the pharmacological response relationships between 327 pairs of cancer therapies. This approach integrated multiple measures of response to identify subpopulations that react differently to inhibitors of the same or different targets to understand mechanisms of resistance and pathway cross-talk. MEK, BRAF, and PI3K inhibitors were shown to be effective as combination therapies for particular BRAF mutant subpopulations. A systematic analysis of preclinical data for a failed phase III trial of selumetinib combined with docetaxel in lung cancer suggests potential indications in pancreatic and colorectal cancers with KRAS mutation. This data-informed study exemplifies a method for stratified medicine to identify novel cancer subpopulations, their genetic biomarkers, and effective drug combinations.

Destiny of Dendrobium officinale Polysaccharide after Oral Administration: Indigestible and Nonabsorbing, Ends in Modulating Gut Microbiota.

Polysaccharides from functional foods have been proved to have diverse bioactivities, but little is known about what exactly happens to these polysaccharides after oral administration and even less about the underlying mechanism of action. Taking the marker polysaccharide (DOP) of Dendrobium officinale as an example, this study aims to demonstrate the dynamic distribution and degradation of orally dosed DOP in mice and in vitro using near-infrared fluorescence imaging and a kind of chromatographic analysis. The results indicate that (1) neither DOP nor fluorescence-labeled DOP (FDOP) was absorbed, (2) both DOP and FDOP were undigested and were quickly degraded to short-chain fatty acids in the large intestine, (3) DOP modulated gut microbiota, which could be associated with DOP's suppression of 4T1 tumor growth in mice. All of these findings suggest that some (maybe not all) bioactive polysaccharides share a common destiny: indigestible and nonabsorbing, ends in modulating bioactivities-associated gut microbiota.

Liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometry analysis and pharmacokinetic studies of erianin for intravenous injection in dogs.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the pharmacokinetic characteristics of erianin (2-methoxy-5-[2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-ethyl]-phenol, CAS 95041-90-0), a nature product extracted from Dendrobium chrysotoxum, having notable antitumour activity, after intravenous injection of erianin fat emulsion to beagle dogs. An HPLC-MS method was developed to analyze the erianin levels in dog plasma and validated in a pharmacokinetic study. Plasma profiles were obtained after intravenous injection of erianin fat emulsion at the doses 7.5, 15 and 30 mg/kg. The elimination half-life (t(1/2)) values for erianin were estimated to be 1.41+/- 0.31, 1.66 +/- 0.19, 1.60 0.28 h, while the mean area under concentration-time curve (AUC(0-infinity)) values were 1021.3 +/- 373.7, 2305.1 +/- 597.0 and 3952.1 +/- 378.2 ng x h/ml, respectively. In conclusion, the present observations indicated that erianin plasma concentrations were clearly dose-proportional for the dose range studied. There was no gender difference in pharmacokinetics for erianin in male and female dogs.