Mitophagy in relation to chronic inflammation/ROS in aging.

Various assaults on mitochondria occur during the human aging process, contributing to mitochondrial dysfunction. This mitochondrial dysfunction is intricately connected with aging and diseases associated with it. In vivo, the accumulation of defective mitochondria can precipitate inflammatory and oxidative stress, thereby accelerating aging. Mitophagy, an essential selective autophagy process, plays a crucial role in managing mitochondrial quality control and homeostasis. It is a highly specialized mechanism that systematically removes damaged or impaired mitochondria from cells, ensuring their optimal functioning and survival. By engaging in mitophagy, cells are able to maintain a balanced and stable environment, free from the potentially harmful effects of dysfunctional mitochondria. An ever-growing body of research highlights the significance of mitophagy in both aging and age-related diseases. Nonetheless, the association between mitophagy and inflammation or oxidative stress induced by mitochondrial dysfunction remains ambiguous. We review the fundamental mechanisms of mitophagy in this paper, delve into its relationship with age-related stress, and propose suggestions for future research directions.

Phosphorus vacancy-engineered Ce-doped CoP nanosheets for the electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.

The electrooxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furanedioic acid (FDCA) has received increasing attention. To achieve satisfactory electrooxidation of HMF, the development of an efficient electrocatalyst is particularly critical. Herein, porous Ce-CoP nanosheets integrating Ce doping and P vacancies are designed through a deep eutectic solvent approach, and they allow the excellent electrocatalytic oxidation of HMF to FDCA in 1 M KOH electrolyte with 100% HMF conversion, 98% FDCA yield, and a faradaic efficiency of 96.4% at low potential.

The value of MRI examination on bilateral hands including proximal interphalangeal joints for disease assessment in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Bilateral hands including proximal interphalangeal joints (PIPJs) are recommended on physical, X-ray radiographic, or ultrasonographic examination by clinical guidelines of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but MRI still tends to examine unilateral wrists and/or MCPJs. We aimed to demonstrate the advantages of MRI examination on bilateral hands including PIPJs for disease assessment in early RA patients. METHODS: Active early RA patients received 3.0T whole-body MRI examination with contrast-enhanced imaging on bilateral wrists, MCPJs, and PIPJs. MRI features were scored referring to the updated RAMRIS. Clinical assessments were conducted on the day of MRI examination. RESULTS: The mean time of MRI examination was 24 ± 3 min. MRI bone erosion in MCPJs would be missed-diagnosed in 23% of patients if non-dominant MCPJs were scanned unilaterally, while osteitis in MCPJs would be missed-diagnosed in 16% of patients if dominant MCPJs were scanned unilaterally. MRI synovitis severity was also asymmetric: 21% of patients showing severe synovitis unilaterally in non-dominant MCPJs/PIPJs and other 20% showing severe synovitis unilaterally in dominant MCPJs/PIPJs. Among these early RA patients, MRI tenosynovitis occurred the most frequently in wrist extensor compartment I, while MRI examination on bilateral hands demonstrated no overuse influence present. However, overuse should be considered in dominant PIPJ2, PIPJ4, and IPJ of thumb of which MRI tenosynovitis prevalence was respectively 18%, 17%, or 16% higher than the non-dominant counterparts. Early MRI abnormality of nervus medianus secondary to severe tenosynovitis occurred either in dominant or non-dominant wrists; MRI of unilateral hands would take a risk of missed-diagnosis. Common MRI findings in PIPJs were synovitis and tenosynovitis, respectively in 87% and 69% of patients. MRI tenosynovitis prevalence in IPJ of thumb or PIPJ5 was much higher than the continued wrist flexor compartments. MRI synovitis or tenosynovitis in PIPJs independently increased more than twice probability of joint tenderness (OR = 2.09 or 2.83, both p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In consideration of asymmetric MRI features in early RA, potential overuse influence for certain tenosynovitis in dominant hands, and high prevalence of MRI findings in PIPJs, MRI examination on bilateral hands including PIPJs is deserved for disease assessment in early RA patients.

Antitumor component recognition from the Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma herb pair extract by chemometrics and mean impact value.

The purpose of this research is to recognize the active antitumor components from the mixed pair extract of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata (Fuzi in Chinese) and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Gancao in Chinese) using chemometrics and mean impact value (MIV) methods. Firstly, 30 common components of 31 different samples were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by HPLC-UV and UPLC-Q-TOF tandem mass spectrometry, respectively. Meanwhile, MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays were used to test the inhibition activities of the 31 different samples against HeLa cells. Then a back propagation (BP) neural network, support vector regression (SVR), and two optimization algorithms - genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) - were applied to construct composition-activity relationship (CAR) models for the Fuzi-Gancao extract. Based on the optimal CAR model, the MIV was introduced to evaluate the contribution of each individual component to the anticancer efficacy of the extract. Results indicated that the SVR-PSO model best depicted the complex relationship between the chemical composition and the inhibition effect of a Fuzi-Gancao extract. The 30 common components were ranked by their absolute MIVs, and the top 8, which corresponded to peaks 17, 25, 22, 13, 23, 28, 5, and 7 in the chromatogram, were tentatively deemed to be the main antitumor components. The integrated strategy shows a novel and efficient approach to understanding the potential contributions of components from complicated herbal medicines, and the identified results suggest certain directions for screening and research into new antitumor drugs.