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The submarine-confined bubble swarm is considered an important constraining environment for the early evolution of living matter due to the abundant gas/water interfaces it provides. Similarly, the spatiotemporal characteristics of the confinement effect in this particular scenario may also impact the origin, transfer, and amplification of chirality in organisms. Here, we explore the confinement effect on the chiral hierarchical assembly of the amphiphiles in the confined bubble array stabilized by the micropillar templates. Compared with the other confinement conditions, the assembly in the bubble scenario yields a fractal morphology and exhibits a unique level of the chiral degree, ordering, and orientation consistency, which can be attributed to the characteristic interfacial effects of the rapidly formed gas/water interfaces. Thus, molecules with a balanced amphiphilicity can be more favorable for the promotion. Not limited to the pure enantiomers, chiral amplification of the enantiomer-mixed assembly is observed only in the bubble scenario. Beyond the interfacial mechanism, the fast formation kinetics of the confined liquid bridges in the bubble scenario endows the assembly with the tunable hierarchical morphology when regulating the amphiphilicity, aggregates, and confined spaces. Furthermore, the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect of the fractal hierarchical assembly was systematically investigated, and a strategy based on photoisomerization was developed to efficiently modulate the CISS effect. This work provides insights into the robustness of confined bubble swarms in promoting a chiral hierarchical assembly and the potential applications of the resulting chiral hierarchical patterns in solid-state spintronic and optical devices.
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Paragonimiasis is a common zoonotic parasitic disease. The retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) signaling is very important for the host to recognize invading pathogens (especially viruses and bacteria). However, the role of RIG-I signaling in the early stages of P. proliferus infection remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat models with lung damage caused by P. proliferus were established. Experimental methods including Enzyme-linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA), real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), western blotting, and hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining were used to explore the mechanisms of lung injury caused by P. proliferus. As a result, the expression of the mRNA and proteins of RIG-I signal-related key target molecules, including RIG-I, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6), interferon regulatory Factor 7 (IRF7), IPS-1, and downstream C-X-C chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10), were significantly up-regulated immediately after infection, peaked at 3 or 7 days, and showed a downward trend on after 14 days. The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 (IL-1), interferon (IFN)-α, -ß, and -γ, which represent type 1 immune response, gradually increased and reached a peak by 14 days, which was consistent with the changes in the degree of inflammatory damage observed under HE staining of lung tissues. In conclusion, RIG-I signaling is activated in the early stage (before 14 days) of P. proliferus infection, it is inferred that the lung injury of the host may be related to the activation of RIG-I like signaling to induce type I immune response.
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Lesão Pulmonar , Paragonimíase , Paragonimus , Animais , Ratos , Proteína DEAD-box 58 , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Interferon-alfa , Imunidade , Paragonimus/metabolismo , RNA HelicasesRESUMO
The principle of acupoint stimulation efficacy is based on traditional meridian theory. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of acupoints in treating diseases remain unclear in modern scientific understanding. In this study, we selected the ST36 acupoint for investigation and summarized all relevant literature from the PubMed database over the past 10 years. The results indicate that stimulation of ST36 single acupoints has therapeutic effects mainly in models of respiratory, neurological, digestive, endocrine and immune system diseases. And it can affect the inflammatory state, oxidative stress, respiratory mucus secretion, intestinal flora, immune cell function, neurotransmitter transmission, hormone secretion, the network of Interstitial Cells of Cajal (ICC) and glucose metabolism of the organism in these pathological states. Among them, acupuncture at the ST36 single point has the most prominent function in regulating the inflammatory state, which can mainly affect the activation of MAPK signaling pathway and drive the "molecular-cellular" mode involving macrophages, T-lymphocytes, mast cells (MCs) and neuroglial cells as the core to trigger the molecular level changes of the acupuncture point locally or in the target organ tissues, thereby establishing a multi-system, multi-target, multi-level molecular regulating mechanism. This article provides a comprehensive summary and discussion of the molecular mechanisms and effects of acupuncture at the ST36 acupoint, laying the groundwork for future in-depth research on acupuncture point theory.
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Gastrointestinal dysfunction is manifested as digestive symptoms. Clinically, Zusanli (ST36) is crucial in the acupoint prescriptions of acupuncture no matter which type of the disease is differentiated in traditional Chinese medicine, but the underlying mechanism remains to be explored. Aiming to summarize the current status of the researches in terms of ameliorating gastrointestinal mucosal damage and regulating gastrointestinal motility disorders, we systematically reviewed the basic researches on the intervention with electroacupuncture (EA) at "ST36" in treatment of the diseases related to gastrointestinal dysfunction in the past 5 years, after searching the articles from Chinese and English databases. The results suggest that EA at ST36 may regulate the local gastrointestinal inflammation, oxidative stress and immune microenvironment to relieve gastrointestinal mucosal damage and adjust gastrointestinal motility disorders by means of modulating the central and peripheral nerve signaling as well as the function of mast cells and Cajal interstitial cells.
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Terapia por Acupuntura , Eletroacupuntura , Gastroenteropatias , Ratos , Animais , Humanos , Eletroacupuntura/métodos , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Pontos de Acupuntura , Gastroenteropatias/genética , Gastroenteropatias/terapiaRESUMO
The unprecedented development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) makes them one of the most promising candidates for terawatt-scale green energy production with low cost. However, the high boiling point solvents during the solution-processed film deposition cause anisotropic crystal growth and toxic solvent vapor during high-throughput manufacturing. Here, a dual-component green solvent consisting of isopropyl acetate and acetonitrile is proposed to form a volatile perovskite precursor, which can realize the high-quality perovskite thin film deposition by intermediate phase regulation. A room-temperature stable perovskite intermediate phase is constructed with the engagement of isopropyl acetate as co-solvent, which suppresses the exploding nucleation rate in volatile perovskite precursor, providing a fine grain growth rate and wide processing window in scalable film deposition. The corresponding PSCs fabricated by blade coating without anti-solvents or gas quenching achieve power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.37 % and 15.29 % for the areas of 14.08â cm2 and 37.83â cm2 , respectively.
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Low band gap materials have always been a focus of attention due to their potential applications in various fields. In this work, a series of asymmetric bistricyclic aromatic ene (BAE) compounds with fluorenylidene-cyclopentadithiophene (FYT) skeleton were facially synthesized, which were modified with different substituents (-OMe, -SMe). The FYT core exhibit twisted C=C bond with dihedral angles around 30°, and the introduction of -SMe group can provide additional Sâ â â S interaction between molecules, which is conducive to the charge transporting. The UV-Vis spectra, electrochemistry and photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that these compounds have relatively narrow band gaps, particularly, the -SMe modified compounds have slightly lower HOMO and Fermi energy levels than that of the -OMe modified compounds. Furthermore, PSCs devices were fabricated with the three compounds as HTMs, and FYT-DSDPA exhibit the best performance among them, revealing the fine-tuning band structure could influence properties of HTMs.
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Surface trap as intrinsic defects-mediated non-radiative charge recombination is a major obstacle to achieving the reliable fabrication of high-efficiency and large-area perovskite photovoltaics. Here a CS2 vapor-assisted passivation strategy is proposed for perovskite solar module, aiming to passivate the iodine vacancy and uncoordinated Pb2+ caused by ion migration. Significantly, this method can avoid the disadvantages of inhomogeneity film caused by spin-coating-assisted passivation and reconstruction of perovskite surface from solvent. The CS2 vapor passivated perovskite device presents a higher defect formation energy (0.54 eV) of iodine vacancy than the pristine (0.37 eV), while uncoordinated Pb2+ is bonded with CS2 . The shallow level defect passivation of iodine vacancy and uncoordinated Pb2+ has obviously enhanced the device efficiencies (25.20% for 0.08 cm2 and 20.66% for 40.6 cm2 ) and the stability, exhibiting an average T80 -lifetime of 1040 h working at the maximum power point, and maintaining over 90% of initial efficiency after 2000 h at RH = 30% and 30 °C.
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Tuberculosis (TB) is a fatal infectious disease; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenicity of TB remain elusive. The present study aims to identify potential biomarkers associated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection by using integrated bioinformatics and in vitro validation studies. GSE50050, GSE78706, and GSE108844 data from the gene expression omnibus (GEO) database were downloaded to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The functions of DEGs were further subjected to gene ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway analysis. The hub genes from the DEGs were determined based on the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. Finally, the hub genes were experimentally validated using the in vitro functional studies. A total of 26 common DEGs were identified among GSE50050, GSE78706, and GSE108844. The functional enrichment analysis showed that the common DEGs were associated with cytokines response and TB pathways. The PPI network analysis identified nine hub genes. Further in vitro studies showed that nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2) was up-regulated in RAW264.7 cells upon lipopolysaccharides (LPS) stimulation, which was accompanied by increased inflammatory cytokines release. Furthermore, NOS2 was found to be a target of miR-493-5p, which was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. NOS2 was repressed by miR-493-5p overexpression and was up-regulated after miR-493-5p inhibition in RAW264.7 cells. The rescue experiments showed that LPS-induced increase in the inflammatory cytokines of the RAW264.7 cells was significantly attenuated by NOS2 knockdown and miR-493-5p overexpression. Collectively, our results for the first time demonstrated that NOS2/miR-493-5p signaling pathway may potentially involve in the inflammatory response during bacterial infection such as M. tb infection.
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MicroRNAs , Tuberculose , Animais , Camundongos , Citocinas/metabolismo , Inflamação/metabolismo , Inflamação/microbiologia , Lipopolissacarídeos/farmacologia , MicroRNAs/genética , MicroRNAs/metabolismo , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo II/genética , Óxido Nítrico Sintase Tipo II/metabolismo , Transdução de Sinais , Tuberculose/metabolismoRESUMO
Introduction: HIV-related worries are a major barrier to achieving fertility goals for couples living with HIV (CLWH). We examined the moderating role of living children in the association between HIV-related worries and fertility motivation in CLWH including happiness, well-being, identity, and continuity. Methods: The data of 322 reproductive-aged CLWH were collected for this cross-sectional study from a referral antiretroviral therapy clinic in Kunming, China between October and December 2020. Intra- and interpersonal mechanisms of association between HIV-related worries and fertility motivation moderated by the number of living children in husband-wife dyads were analyzed by the actor-partner interdependence moderation model. Results: The high-level HIV-related worries of the wives and husbands were associated with the spouses' fertility motivation. Having at least one child helped to ameliorate the negative association between one's own HIV-related worries and fertility motivation. However, there was no evidence of such moderation in the spouse. Conclusion: Whether the CLWH has at least one living child should be taken into account in counseling. Childless families should be counseled on HIV-related worries as those worries have a greater negative effect on fertility motivation than couples who have a child.
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Thermal stratification has an important impact on the cycling of reservoir water quality. Uneven vertical distribution of water quality factors, such as dissolved oxygen and nutrients, occurs during seasonal stratification, which creates chemical stratification. Typically, thermocline and chemocline characteristics vary across different reservoirs. In this study, a field study was conducted in the Zhoucun Reservoir (ZCR), China, to investigate the variation in water quality during periods of thermal stratification. The results revealed the maximum water depth as 15 m at 122 mamsl, which is relatively shallow for stratified reservoirs. However, an extremely high thermocline strength index (TSI) was recorded, which indicates that the thermal stratification of ZCR water is very stable, contrary to our common understanding that stratification is more obvious at greater water depths. The chemical stratification strength index (IC-i) was compared with the TSI and the relative water column stability (RWCS). The TSI had a high correlation with IC-i, which explains the high stability of ZCR chemical stratification. Moreover, it highlights the suitability of TSI for characterising the chemical stability of reservoir stratification. Finally, this study also found that the formation and disappearance of thermal and chemical stratification in the ZCR were synchronous. As stratification directly influences a reservoir water quality regime, this study may be a helpful reference for optimising water quality management.
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Água Potável , China , Monitoramento Ambiental , Oxigênio/análise , Estações do Ano , Temperatura , Qualidade da ÁguaRESUMO
Background: Survival and quality of life of people living with HIV (PLWH) have been improving. Understanding fertility intention among PLWH is critical in helping them accomplish their pregnancy goals while significantly lowering the risk of HIV transmission. The purpose of this study was to identify factors based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) that may explain fertility intention among PLWH. Methods: A survey was conducted in face-to-face interviews based on TPB, and the latent variables were devised and tested for their potential influences on fertility intentions in 487 reproductive-aged PLWH at antiretroviral treatment clinics in Kunming, China. Analysis was mainly based on the structural equation model. Results: About 38.4% of the respondents answered that they were likely to have a/another child in the next three years. Our hypothesized factors could explain 53.7% of the total variance of fertility intention. The 20- to 35-year-old group had a higher fertility intention. Perceived partner expectations toward fertility were the strongest predictors of fertility intention followed by beliefs in the support of the two-child policy. In contrast, the three components of attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control did not influence fertility intention. Conclusion: In this HIV endemic area of China, fertility intended by PLWH is a matter of the couple that is also influenced by the national population fertility policy.
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Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have emerged as a cost-effective solar technology in the past years. PSCs by three-dimensional hybrid inorganic-organic perovskites exhibited decent power conversion efficiencies (PCEs); however, their stabilities were poor. On the other hand, PSCs by all-inorganic perovskites indeed exhibited good stability, but their PCEs were low. Here, the development of novel all-inorganic perovskites CsPbI2Br:xNd3+, where Pb2+ at the B-site is partially heterovalently substituted by Nd3+, is reported. The CsPbI2Br:xNd3+ thin films possess enlarged crystal sizes, enhanced charge carrier mobilities, and superior crystallinity. Thus, the PSCs by the CsPbI2Br:xNd3+ thin films exhibit more than 20% enhanced PCEs and dramatically boosted stability compared to those based on pristine CsPbI2Br thin films. To further boost the device performance of PSCs, solution-processed 4-lithium styrenesulfonic acid/styrene copolymer (LiSPS) is utilized to passivate the surface defect and suppress surface charge carrier recombination. The PSCs based on the CsPbI2Br:xNd3+/LiSPS bilayer thin film possess reduced charge extraction lifetime and suppressed charge carrier recombination, resulting in 14% enhanced PCEs and significantly boosted stability compared to those without incorporation of the LiSPS interface passivation layer. All these results indicate that we developed a facile way to approach high-performance PSCs by all-inorganic perovskites.
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Perovskite solar cells in which 2D perovskites are incorporated within a 3D perovskite network exhibit improved stability with respect to purely 3D systems, but lower record power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Here, a breakthrough is reported in achieving enhanced PCEs, increased stability, and suppressed photocurrent hysteresis by incorporating n-type, low-optical-gap conjugated organic molecules into 2D:3D mixed perovskite composites. The resulting ternary perovskite-organic composites display extended absorption in the near-infrared region, improved film morphology, enlarged crystallinity, balanced charge transport, efficient photoinduced charge transfer, and suppressed counter-ion movement. As a result, the ternary perovskite-organic solar cells exhibit PCEs over 23%, which are among the best PCEs for perovskite solar cells with p-i-n device structure. Moreover, the ternary perovskite-organic solar cells possess dramatically enhanced stability and diminished photocurrent hysteresis. All these results demonstrate that the strategy of exploiting ternary perovskite-organic composite thin films provides a facile way to realize high-performance perovskite solar cells.
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Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) have been described as a class of particulate acidic polysaccharides, which are commonly found in various surface waters. Due to their unique physicochemical characteristics, they have recently been receiving increasing attention on their effects in water treatment. Currently, TEP are commonly known as clear, gel-like polysaccharides. This review first introduced the definition of TEP in water treatment and the relationship between TEP and algal organic matter (AOM). Further, in the review, the authors attempt to offer a holistic view and critical analysis concerning the research on TEPs in source water reservoirs, water plants and membrane treatment processes. It was clearly demonstrated in this review that the formation of TEP in source water reservoirs is largely related to water quality and phytoplankton, and the seasonal water stratification may indirectly affect the formation of TEP. In the waterworks, the relationship between TEP and water treatment process is mutual and there is limited research on this relationship. Finally, the mechanism of TEP-induced membrane fouling and the effect of alleviating TEP-induced membrane fouling is discussed in this review. The TEP removed by ultrafiltration can be recombined after membrane, and the recombination mechanism may be an important way to reduce reverse osmosis membrane contamination.
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Água Potável , Purificação da Água , Matriz Extracelular de Substâncias Poliméricas , Filtração , Membranas Artificiais , UltrafiltraçãoRESUMO
Flexible supercapacitors have great potential applications in wearable and portable electronics, but their practical applications were limited due to the low energy density and mechanical flexibility of solid-state electrolytes used for the construction of flexible supercapacitors. In this study, we first report the solid-state double-network (DN) hydrogel electrolytes (HEs) incorporated with Na2MoO4 redox additives. It is found that the solid-state DN HEs with Na2MoO4 redox additives exhibit high electrochemical performance, excellent mechanical properties, and fast self-recovery features. We then demonstrate novel symmetric supercapacitors (SSCs) incorporated with the solid-state Na2MoO4 DN HEs and the active carbon cloths as the electrodes. The SSCs exhibit a specific capacitance of 84 mF/cm2 at a current density of 1 mA/cm2 and an energy density of 70 µWh/cm2 at a power density of 3800 µWh/cm2. Moreover, the SSCs retain approximately 80% capacitance retention after 7000 charge/discharge cycles, which indicates that the SSCs possess excellent flexibility and stability. All of these results demonstrate that the SSCs incorporated with the solid-state Na2MoO4 DN HEs as energy-storage devices have great practical applications in wearable and portable electronics.
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BACKGROUND: In the context of scaling up free antiretroviral therapy (ART), healthcare equality is essential for people living with HIV. We aimed to assess socioeconomic-related inequalities in uptake of continuous care for people living with HIV receiving ART, including retention in care in the last six months, routine toxicity monitoring, adequate immunological and virological monitoring, and uptake of mental health assessment in the last 12 months. We also determined the contributions of socioeconomic factors to the degree of inequalities. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among consecutive clients visiting an HIV treatment center in Kunming, China in 2019. Participants were 702 people living with HIV aged ≥18 years (median age: 41.0 years, 69.4% male) who had been on ART for 1-5 years. Socioeconomic-related inequality and its contributing factors were assessed by a normalized concentration index (CIn) with a decomposition approach. RESULTS: The uptake of mental health assessment was low (15%) but significantly higher among the rich (CIn 0.1337, 95% CI: 0.0140, 0.2534). Retention in care, toxicity, and immunological monitoring were over 80% but non-significant in favor of the rich (CIn: 0.0117, 0.0315, 0.0736, respectively). The uptake of adequate virological monitoring was 15% and higher among the poor (CIn = -0.0308). Socioeconomic status positively contributed to inequalities of all care indicators, with the highest contribution for mental health assessment (124.9%) and lowest for virological monitoring (2.7%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest virological monitoring and mental health assessment be given more attention in long-term HIV care. Policies allocating need-oriented resources geared toward improving equality of continuous care should be developed.
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Fármacos Anti-HIV/uso terapêutico , Continuidade da Assistência ao Paciente , Infecções por HIV/terapia , Disparidades em Assistência à Saúde , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , China , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Infecções por HIV/tratamento farmacológico , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Classe Social , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Paragonimus proliferus, a lung fluke of the genus Paragonimus, was first reported in Yunnan province, China. P. proliferus can infect Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and cause lung damage, but there is still no direct evidence of human infection. Until now, there has been a lack of studies on P. proliferus parasitism and development in mammalian lung tissue. The aim of this study was to perform transcriptomic profiling of P. proliferus at different developmental stages. SD rats were infected with P. proliferus metacercariae obtained from crabs; worms isolated from the lungs at different time points as well as metacercariae were subjected to whole transcriptome sequencing. Overall, 34,403 transcripts with the total length of 33,223,828 bp, average length of 965 bp, and N50 of 1833 bp were assembled. Comparative analysis indicated that P. proliferus, similar to other Paragonimus spp., expressed genes related to catabolism, whereas P. proliferus-specific transcripts were related to the maintenance of cellular redox homeostasis, sensitivity to bacteria, and immune response. Transcriptional dynamics analysis revealed that genes involved in the regulation of catabolism and apoptosis had stable expression over the P. proliferus life cycle, whereas those involved in development and immune response showed time-dependent changes. High expression of genes associated with immune response corresponded to that of genes regulating the sensitivity to bacteria and immune protection. We constructed a P. proliferus developmental model, including the development of the body, suckers, blood cells, reproductive and tracheal systems, lymph, skin, cartilage, and other tissues and organs, and an immune response model, which mainly involved T cells and macrophages. Our study provides a foundation for further research into the molecular biology and infection mechanism of P. proliferus.
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Pulmão/parasitologia , Paragonimíase/patologia , Paragonimus/embriologia , Paragonimus/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Animais , Braquiúros/parasitologia , China , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Humanos , Estágios do Ciclo de Vida , Metacercárias/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Paragonimíase/parasitologia , Paragonimus/isolamento & purificação , Ratos , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Transcriptoma/genéticaRESUMO
To evaluate the predictive effect of T-lymphoid subsets on the conversion of common covid-19 to severe. The laboratory data were collected retrospectively from common covid-19 patients in the First People's Hospital of Zaoyang, Hubei Province, China and the Third People's Hospital of Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, between January 20, 2020 and March 15, 2020 and divided into training set and validation set. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed to investigate the risk factors for the conversion of common covid-19 to severe in the training set, the prediction model was established and verified externally in the validation set. 60 (14.71%) of 408 patients with common covid-19 became severe in 6-10 days after diagnosis. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that lactate (P = 0.042, OR = 1097.983, 95% CI 1.303, 924,798.262) and CD8+ T cells (P = 0.010, OR = 0.903, 95% CI 0.835, 0.975) were independent risk factors for general type patients to turn to severe type. The area under ROC curve of lactate and CD8+ T cells was 0.754 (0.581, 0.928) and 0.842 (0.713, 0.970), respectively. The actual observation value was highly consistent with the prediction model value in curve fitting. The established prediction model was verified in 78 COVID-19 patients in the verification set, the area under the ROC curve was 0.906 (0.861, 0.981), and the calibration curve was consistent. CD8+ T cells, as an independent risk factor, could predict the transition from common covid-19 to severe.
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Linfócitos T CD8-Positivos/virologia , COVID-19/sangue , Progressão da Doença , Corticosteroides/administração & dosagem , Adulto , Algoritmos , COVID-19/patologia , China , Feminino , Humanos , Hipóxia/metabolismo , Lopinavir/administração & dosagem , Masculino , Metilprednisolona/administração & dosagem , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Análise Multivariada , Oxigênio/química , Valor Preditivo dos Testes , Prognóstico , Curva ROC , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase em Tempo Real , Análise de Regressão , Estudos Retrospectivos , Fatores de Risco , Ritonavir/administração & dosagemRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Piperlongumine (PL) is a bioactive alkaloid and medicinal compound of piperamide isolated from the long pepper (Piper longum Linn). It has demonstrated bactericidal action against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the cause of pulmonary tuberculosis; nevertheless, immunomodulatory activity had not been identified for it in MTB-triggered granulomatous inflammation. This study investigated if piperlongumine could inhibit such inflammation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv was subjected to a broth microdilution assay. Piperlongumine at 5, 15, and 25 µg/mL, 0.2% dimethyl sulphoxide as control or 4 µM of dexamethasone were tested in vitro on MH-S murine alveolar macrophages. BALB/c mice were orally administered PL at 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg b.w. after trehalose-6,6-dimycolate (TDM) stimulation. Chemokine and cytokine concentrations were determined in lung supernatants. Flow cytometry and Western blot analysis were performed to determine phosphorylated spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways. RESULTS: Piperlongumine inhibited inflammatory mediators and adherence of lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 to MH-S cells following TDM activation. It also improved macrophage clearance of MTB. In TDM-stimulated MH-S cells, PL significantly influenced the macrophage inducible Ca2+-dependent lectin receptor (Mincle)-Syk-ERK signalling pathway. Oral dosing of PL effectively suppressed the development of pulmonary granulomas and inflammatory reactions in the TDM-elicited mouse granuloma model. CONCLUSION: PL as an inhibitor of MTB-triggered granulomatous inflammation may be an effective complementary treatment for mycobacterial infection.