Effect of sheep bone protein hydrolysate on promoting calcium absorption and enhancing bone quality in low-calcium diet fed rats.

Calcium deficiency is prone to fractures, osteoporosis and other symptoms. In this study, sheep bone protein hydrolysates (SBPHs) were obtained by protease hydrolysis. A low-calcium-diet-induced calcium-deficiency rat model was established to investigate the effects of SBPHs on calcium absorption and intestinal flora composition. The results showed that an SBPHs + CaCl2 treatment significantly increased the bone calcium content, bone mineral density, trabecular bone volume, and trabecular thickness, and reduced trabecular separation, and changed the level of bone turnover markers (P < 0.05). Supplementation of SBPHs + CaCl2 can remarkably enhance the bone mechanical strength, and the microstructure of bone was improved, and the trabecular network was more continuous, complete, and thicker. Additionally, SBPHs + CaCl2 dietary increased the abundance of Firmicutes and reduced the abundance of Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobiota, and promoted the production of short chain fatty acids. This study indicated that SBPHs promoted calcium absorption and could be applied to alleviate osteoporosis.

Photo-crosslinkable hyaluronic acid microgels with reactive oxygen species scavenging capacity for mesenchymal stem cell encapsulation.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have gained increasing attention in various biomedical applications. However, conventional therapeutic approaches, such as direct intravenous injection, are associated with low cell survival due to the shear force during injection and the oxidative stress microenvironments in the lesion area. Herein, a photo-crosslinkable antioxidant hydrogel based on tyramine- and dopamine-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-Tyr/HA-DA) was developed. Meanwhile, human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) were encapsulated in HA-Tyr/HA-DA hydrogel using a microfluidic system to create size-controllable microgels (hUC-MSCs@microgels). The HA-Tyr/HA-DA hydrogel was demonstrated to have good rheology, biocompatibility, and antioxidant properties for cell microencapsulation. The hUC-MSCs encapsulated in microgels showed a high viability and a significantly improved the survival rate under oxidative stress conditions. Therefore, the presented work provides a promising platform for MSCs microencapsulation, which may further improve the stem cell-based biomedical applications.

Functionalized gelatin-alginate based bioink with enhanced manufacturability and biomimicry for accelerating wound healing.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a promising technique to construct heterogeneous architectures that mimic cell microenvironment. However, the current bioinks for 3D bioprinting usually show some limitations, such as low printing accuracy, unsatisfactory mechanical properties and compromised cytocompatibility. Herein, a novel bioink comprising hydroxyphenyl propionic acid-conjugated gelatin and tyramine-modified alginate is developed for printing 3D constructs. The bioink takes advantage of an ionic/covalent intertwined network that combines covalent bonds formed by photo-mediated redox reaction and ionic bonds formed by chelate effect. Benefiting from the thermosensitivity of gelatin and the double-crosslinking mechanism, the developed bioink shows controllable rheological behaviors, enhanced mechanical behavior, improved printing accuracy and structure stability. Moreover, the printed cell-laden hydrogels exhibit a homogeneous cell distribution and considerable cell survival because the pre-crosslinking of the bioink prevents cellular sedimentation and the visible light crosslinking mechanism preserves cell viability. Further in vivo studies demonstrate that resulting cell-laden hydrogels are beneficial for the reduction of inflammation response and the promotion of collagen deposition and angiogenesis, thereby improving the quality of skin wound healing. This convenient and effective strategy is of great significance for accelerating the development of multifunctional bioinks and broadening the biomedical applications of 3D bioprinting.

Modulatory effect of camel milk on intestinal microbiota of mice with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common metabolic disease of life, usually caused by unhealthy diet and lifestyle. Compared to normal individuals, the structure of the intestinal flora of NAFLD patients is altered accordingly. This study investigates the effect of camel milk on the regulation of intestinal flora structure in mice with high-fat diet-induced NAFLD. NAFLD model was established by feeding C57BL/6J mice a high-fat diet for 12 weeks, meanwhile camel milk (3.0 g/kg/d), cow milk (3.0 g/kg/d), and silymarin (200 mg/kg/d) were administered by gavage, respectively. Food intake and changes of physiological indexes in mice were observed and recorded. The 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 region was sequenced and the intestinal flora diversity and gene function were predicted in the colon contents of mice from different group. The results showed that camel milk enhanced glucolipid metabolism by downregulate the levels of blood glucose and triglyceride (TG) in serum, reduced lipid accumulation by downregulate the level of TG in the liver and improved liver tissue structure in NAFLD mice (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, camel milk had a positive modulatory effect on the intestinal flora of NAFLD mice, increasing the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria and decreasing the relative abundance of harmful bacteria in the intestinal flora of NAFLD mice, and silymarin had a similar modulatory effect. At the genus level, camel milk increased the relative abundance of Bacteroides, norank_f_Muribaculaceae and Alloprevotella and decreased the relative abundance of Dubosiella and Coriobacteriaceae_UCG-002 (p < 0.05). Camel milk also enhanced Carbohydrate metabolism, Amino acid metabolism, Energy metabolism, Metabolism of cofactors and vitamins and Lipid metabolism in NAFLD mice, thus reducing the degree of hepatic lipid accumulation in NAFLD mice and maintaining the normal structure of the liver. In conclusion, camel milk can improve the structure and diversity of intestinal flora and enhance the levels of substance and energy metabolism in NAFLD mice, which has a positive effect on alleviating NAFLD and improving the structure of intestinal flora.

Role of mitophagy in the neurodegenerative diseases and its pharmacological advances: A review.

Neurodegenerative diseases are a class of incurable and debilitating diseases characterized by progressive degeneration and death of cells in the central nervous system. They have multiple underlying mechanisms; however, they all share common degenerative features, such as mitochondrial dysfunction. According to recent studies, neurodegenerative diseases are associated with the accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria. Selective autophagy of mitochondria, called mitophagy, can specifically degrade excess or dysfunctional mitochondria within cells. In this review, we highlight recent findings on the role of mitophagy in neurodegenerative disorders. Multiple studies were collected, including those related to the importance of mitochondria, the mechanism of mitophagy in protecting mitochondrial health, and canonical and non-canonical pathways in mitophagy. This review elucidated the important function of mitophagy in neurodegenerative diseases, discussed the research progress of mitophagy in neurodegenerative diseases, and summarized the role of mitophagy-related proteins in neurological diseases. In addition, we also highlight pharmacological advances in neurodegeneration.

Detection of Ovine or Bovine Milk Components in Commercial Camel Milk Powder Using a PCR-Based Method.

Food ingredient adulteration, especially the adulteration of milk and dairy products, is one of the important issues of food safety. The large price difference between camel milk powder, ovine, and bovine milk powder may be an incentive for the incorporation of ovine and bovine derived foods in camel milk products. This study evaluated the use of ordinary PCR and real-time PCR for the detection of camel milk powder adulteration based on the presence of ovine and bovine milk components. DNA was extracted from camel, ovine, and bovine milk powder using a deep-processed product column DNA extraction kit. The quality of the extracted DNA was detected by amplifying the target sequence from the mitochondrial Cytb gene, and the extracted DNA was used for the identification of milk powder based on PCR analysis. In addition, PCR-based methods (both ordinary PCR and real-time PCR) were used to detect laboratory adulteration models of milk powder using primers targeting mitochondrial genes. The results show that the ordinary PCR method had better sensitivity and could qualitatively detect ovine and bovine milk components in the range of 1% to 100% in camel milk powder. The commercial camel milk powder was used to verify the practicability of this method. The real-time PCR normalization system has a good exponential correlation (R2 = 0.9822 and 0.9923) between ovine or bovine content and Ct ratio (specific/internal reference gene) and allows for the quantitative determination of ovine or bovine milk contents in adulterated camel milk powder samples. Accuracy was effectively validated using simulated adulterated samples, with recoveries ranging from 80% to 110% with a coefficient of variation of less than 7%, exhibiting sufficient parameters of trueness. The ordinary PCR qualitative detection and real-time PCR quantitative detection method established in this study proved to be a specific, sensitive, and effective technology, which is expected to be used for market detection.

Camel milk ameliorates inflammatory mechanisms in an alcohol-induced liver injury mouse model.

Camel milk (CM) is considered to protect the liver in the practice of traditional medicine in nomadic areas. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of CM on the hepatic biochemical and multiple omics alterations induced by chronic alcoholic liver disease (ALD). An intragastric gavage mice Lieber DeCarli + Gao binge model (NIAAA model) was employed to investigate the inflammatory mechanism of camel milk on the liver tissue of mice. A gut microbiota of the feces of mice and transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of the liver of mice were performed. Analysis of serum and liver biochemical indexes revealed that camel milk not only prevents alcohol-induced colonic dysfunction and lipid accumulation, but also regulates oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokine production to protect against chronic ALD in mouse. The gut microbial community of mice treated with camel milk was more similar to the untreated control group than to the model group, indicating that the intake of camel milk pre- and post-alcohol gavage effectively prevents and alleviates the intestinal microbial disorder caused by chronic alcoholism in mice. Furthermore, the results of the transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of the liver tissue showed that camel milk can improve alcoholic liver injury in mice by regulating inflammatory factors and immune system disruptions. This study provides insights into the molecular mechanism by which camel milk can be developed as a potential functional food with no side effects and against liver injury.

Injectable Hydrogel Based on Modified Gelatin and Sodium Alginate for Soft-Tissue Adhesive.

To assist or replace the traditional suture techniques for wound closure, soft-tissue adhesives with excellent adhesion strength and favorable biocompatibility are of great significance in biomedical applications. In this study, an injectable hydrogel tissue adhesive containing adipic acid dihydrazide-modified gelatin (Gel-ADH) and oxidized sodium alginate (OSA) was developed. It was found that this tissue adhesive possessed a uniform structure, appropriate swelling ratio, good injectability, and excellent hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility. The adhesion capacity of the developed adhesive with optimized component and concentration was stronger than that of the commercial adhesive Porcine Fibrin Sealant Kit. All these results suggested that the developed hydrogel was a promising candidate for a soft-tissue adhesive.

Mode detection of misaligned orbital angular momentum beams based on convolutional neural network.

The utilization of beam-carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) for free-space optical (FSO) communication can increase channel capacity. However, the misalignment of the beam is an effect that must be mitigated in FSO communication systems. Due to the robustness of deep learning technology in pattern recognition, a neural network structure is proposed and improved to mitigate the effect of misalignment error. First, compared with the simple convolutional neural network proposed, data augmentation is adopted in the training. Then, a view-pooling layer is added after the convolutional layer. This layer can longitudinally compress feature maps from multiple receiving angles. In order to verify the performance of the proposed method, related experiments are reported in this paper. It can be seen from the results that when the tilt angle is less than 35°, the accuracy of OAM mode detection is above 99%, 93%, and 88%, respectively, corresponding to the condition of weak (Cn2=1×10-15 m-2/3), medium (Cn2=1×10-14 m-2/3) and strong (Cn2=1×10-13 m-2/3) turbulence.

The differential impact of resolution methods on the operational scores of gender and ethnic groups.

In the scoring of performance assessments, when two raters assign different ratings some method must be used to resolve the discrepant ratings to form an operational score for reporting. This study investigated the differential impact of various resolution methods on the operational scores for gender and ethnic groups. The mean operational scores, and the passing rates for each group on two essay prompts were compared using three resolution methods (rater mean, tertium quid, and parity). The results indicated that for female and African American students, resolution typically resulted in greater reduction of mean operational ratings and passing rates than for those of their male or White counterparts. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses were conducted using IRT-based logistic regression models. No apparent gender-related DIF was detected. Although uniform DIF was found for the ethnic groups, the effect was small, and there was not enough evidence to support the hypothesis that DIF could be associated with a resolution method.