Exploring the potential of white birch sap: A natural alternative to traditional skin whitening agents with reduced side effects.

Common tyrosinase (TYR) inhibitors used in cosmetics, such as hydroquinone, kojic acid, and arbutin, can cause side effects including erythema, skin peeling, and dryness. Therefore, the development of natural whitening agents that offer excellent permeability, minimal irritation, and high safety has become a primary focus in the field of TYR inhibitors. In this study, we demonstrate that White birch sap (WBS), within a safe concentration range, effectively reduces TYR activity and melanin content in both B16F10 mouse melanoma cells and zebrafish larvae. Importantly, WBS exhibits minimal irritation to neutrophils in fluorescent zebrafish and does not affect the behavior of adult zebrafish. Furthermore, WBS downregulates the gene expression levels of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor, TYR, tyrosinase-related protein-1, and tyrosinase-related protein-2 in B16F10 cells. In conclusion, our research confirms that WBS, a naturally derived substance, offers high safety and mild effects, making it a promising candidate for a skin-whitening agent.

Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis Dysregulation in Alzheimer's Disease: Multi-Pathway Effects and Therapeutic Potential.

An essential regulator of neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the gut microbiota. Alterations in intestinal permeability brought on by gut microbiota dysregulation encourage neuroinflammation, central immune dysregulation, and peripheral immunological dysregulation in AD, as well as hasten aberrant protein aggregation and neuronal death in the brain. However, it is unclear how the gut microbiota transmits information to the brain and how it influences brain cognition and function. In this review, we summarized the multiple pathways involved in the gut microbiome in AD and provided detailed treatment strategies based on the gut microbiome. Based on these observations, this review also discusses the problems, challenges, and strategies to address current therapeutic strategies.

Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 ghosts alleviate inflammatory bowel disease in zebrafish.

Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) has become a research hotspot in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It has a strong targeting effect on the colon, and has some therapeutic effect on inflammatory bowel disease. EcN is prepared into EcN ghosts, which also retain EcN's biological characteristics. Consequently, EcN ghosts are used for drug delivery. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of EcN ghosts as carriers of drugs for treating IBD in zebrafish. Caco-2 cell adhesion experiments and zebrafish intestinal adhesion experiments demonstrated that EcN ghosts was highly adherent to the intestine. Additionally, oral administration of EcN ghosts attenuated dextran sulfate sodium-induced IBD symptoms by inhibiting neutrophil chemotaxis and reactive oxygen species production in larval zebrafish. Because of the unique biological functions of EcN ghosts, it may serve as a strategy for future targeted drug delivery in IBD treatment.

Improvement in Zebrafish with Diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease Treated with Pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila.

Diabetes and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with specific changes in the composition of the intestinal flora. Studies have shown that the supplementation with pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila has therapeutic and preventive effects on diabetes. However, it is not clear whether there is any association with improvement in and prevention of Alzheimer's disease and diabetes with Alzheimer's disease. Here, we found that pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila can significantly improve the blood glucose, body mass index, and diabetes indexes of zebrafish with diabetes mellitus complicated with Alzheimer's disease and also alleviate the related indexes of Alzheimer's disease. The memory, anxiety, aggression, and social preference behavior of zebrafish with combined type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and Alzheimer's disease (TA zebrafish) were significantly improved after pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila treatment. Moreover, we examined the preventive effect of pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila on diabetes mellitus complicated with Alzheimer's disease. The results showed that the zebrafish in the prevention group were better in terms of biochemical index and behavior than the zebrafish in the treatment group. These findings provide new ideas for the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus complicated with Alzheimer's disease. IMPORTANCE The interaction between intestinal microflora and host affects the progression of diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. As a recognized next-generation probiotic, Akkermansia muciniphila has been shown to play a key role in the progression of diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, but whether A. muciniphila can improve diabetes complicated with Alzheimer's disease and its potential mechanism are unclear. In this study, a new zebrafish model of diabetes mellitus complicated with Alzheimer's disease was established, and the effect of Akkermansia muciniphila on diabetes mellitus complicated with Alzheimer's disease is discussed. The results showed that Akkermansia muciniphila after pasteurization significantly improved and prevented diabetes mellitus complicated with Alzheimer's disease. Treatment with pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila improved the memory, social preference, and aggressive and anxiety behavior of TA zebrafish and alleviated the pathological characteristics of T2DM and AD. These results provide a new prospect for probiotics in the treatment of diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

Advances in Zebrafish for Diabetes Mellitus with Wound Model.

Diabetic foot ulcers cause great suffering and are costly for the healthcare system. Normal wound healing involves hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. However, the negative factors associated with diabetes, such as bacterial biofilms, persistent inflammation, impaired angiogenesis, inhibited cell proliferation, and pathological scarring, greatly interfere with the smooth progress of the entire healing process. It is this impaired wound healing that leads to diabetic foot ulcers and even amputations. Therefore, drug screening is challenging due to the complexity of damaged healing mechanisms. The establishment of a scientific and reasonable animal experimental model contributes significantly to the in-depth research of diabetic wound pathology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In addition to the low cost and transparency of the embryo (for imaging transgene applications), zebrafish have a discrete wound healing process for the separate study of each stage, resulting in their potential as the ideal model animal for diabetic wound healing in the future. In this review, we examine the reasons behind the delayed healing of diabetic wounds, systematically review various studies using zebrafish as a diabetic wound model by different induction methods, as well as summarize the challenges and improvement strategies which provide references for establishing a more reasonable diabetic wound zebrafish model.

Advances in Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 as a customizable drug delivery system for disease treatment and diagnosis strategies.

With the in-depth and comprehensive study of bacteria and their related ecosystems in the human body, bacterial-based drug delivery system has become an emerging biomimetic platform that can retain the innate biological functions. Benefiting from its good biocompatibility and ideal targeting ability as a biological carrier, Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (ECN) has been focused on the treatment strategies of inflammatory bowel disease and tumor. The advantage of a bacterial carrier is that it can express exogenous protein while also acting as a natural capsule by releasing drug slowly as a result of its own colonization impact. In order to survive in harsh environments such as the digestive tract and tumor microenvironment, ECN can be modified or genetically engineered to enhance its function and host adaptability. The adoption of ECN carries or expresses drugs which are essential for accurate diagnosis and treatment. This review briefly describes the properties of ECN, the relationship between ECN and inflammation and tumor, and the strategy of using surface modification and genetic engineering to modify ECN as a delivery carrier for disease treatment.

Advances in Biomedical Functions of Natural Whitening Substances in the Treatment of Skin Pigmentation Diseases.

Pigmentation diseases can lead to significant color differences between the affected part and the normal part, resulting in severe psychological and emotional distress among patients. The treatment of pigmentation diseases with good patient compliance is mainly in the form of topical drugs. However, conventional hydroquinone therapy contributes to several pathological conditions, such as erythema, dryness, and skin desquamation, and requires a longer treatment time to show significant results. To address these shortcomings, natural whitening substances represented by kojic acid and arbutin have gradually become the candidate ingredients of traditional local preparations due to their excellent biological safety. This review focuses on several natural whitening substances with potential therapeutic effects in pigmentation disease and their mechanisms, and a thorough discussion has been conducted into the solution methods for the challenges involved in the practical application of natural whitening substances.

Research progress on extraction technology and biomedical function of natural sugar substitutes.

Improved human material living standards have resulted in a continuous increase in the rate of obesity caused by excessive sugar intake. Consequently, the number of diabetic patients has skyrocketed, not only resulting in a global health problem but also causing huge medical pressure on the government. Limiting sugar intake is a serious problem in many countries worldwide. To this end, the market for sugar substitute products, such as artificial sweeteners and natural sugar substitutes (NSS), has begun to rapidly grow. In contrast to controversial artificial sweeteners, NSS, which are linked to health concepts, have received particular attention. This review focuses on the extraction technology and biomedical function of NSS, with a view of generating insights to improve extraction for its large-scale application. Further, we highlight research progress in the use of NSS as food for special medical purpose (FSMP) for patients.

Biological Functions and Applications of Antimicrobial Peptides.

Despite antimicrobial resistance, which is attributed to the misuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics, antibiotics can indiscriminately kill pathogenic and beneficial microorganisms. These events disrupt the delicate microbial balance in both humans and animals, leading to secondary infections and other negative effects. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are functional natural biopolymers in plants and animals. Due to their excellent antimicrobial activities and absence of microbial resistance, AMPs have attracted enormous research attention. We reviewed the antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, as well as antitumor properties of AMPs and research progress on AMPs. In addition, we highlighted various recommendations and potential research areas for their progress and challenges in practical applications.

Toxic Mechanism and Biological Detoxification of Fumonisins.

Food safety is related to the national economy and people's livelihood. Fumonisins are widely found in animal feed, feed raw materials, and human food. This can not only cause economic losses in animal husbandry but can also have carcinogenicity or teratogenicity and can be left in animal meat, eggs, and milk which may enter the human body and pose a serious threat to human health. Although there are many strategies to prevent fumonisins from entering the food chain, the traditional physical and chemical methods of mycotoxin removal have some disadvantages, such as an unstable effect, large nutrient loss, impact on the palatability of feed, and difficulty in mass production. As a safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly detoxification technology, biological detoxification attracts more and more attention from researchers and is gradually becoming an accepted technique. This work summarizes the toxic mechanism of fumonisins and highlights the advances of fumonisins in the detoxification of biological antioxidants, antagonistic microorganisms, and degradation mechanisms. Finally, the future challenges and focus of the biological control and degradation of fumonisins are discussed.