Deep eutectic solvent combined with ultrasound technology: A promising integrated extraction strategy for anthocyanins and polyphenols from blueberry pomace.

To avoid wasting blueberry pomace resources, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were combined with ultrasound technology to establish an efficient green method for the recovery of anthocyanins and polyphenols from plant-derived by-products. Choline chloride:1,4-butanediol (molar ratio of 1:3) was chosen as the optimal solvent based on the screening of eight solvents and single-factor experiments. Response surface methodology was applied to optimize the extraction parameters: water content, 29%; extraction temperature, 63 °C; liquid-solid ratio, 36:1 (v/w). The yields of total anthocyanins and total polyphenols from the optimized extraction were 11.40 ± 0.14 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside equiv./g and 41.56 ± 0.17 mg gallic acid equiv./g, respectively, which were both significantly better than the yields achieved with 70% ethanol. The purified anthocyanins showed excellent inhibition of α-glucosidase (IC50 = 16.57 µg/mL). The physicochemical parameters of DES suggest that it can be used for the extraction of bioactive substances.

Understanding the intermediates and carbon dioxide adsorption of potassium chloride-incorporated graphitic carbon nitride with tailoring melamine and urea as precursors.

In this study, we demonstrated the synthesis of potassium chloride (KCl)-incorporated graphitic carbon nitride, (g-C3N4, CN) with varying amounts of N-vacancies and pyridinic-N as well as enhanced Lewis basicity, via a single-step thermal polymerization by tailoring the precursors of melamine and urea for carbon oxide (CO2) capture. Melamine, as a precursor, undergoes a phase transformation into melam and triazine-rich g-C3N4, whereas the addition of urea polymerizes the mixture to form melem and heptazine-rich g-C3N4 (CN11). Owing to the abundance of pyridinic-N and the high surface area, CN11 adsorbed higher amounts of CO2 (44.52 µmol m-2 at 25 °C and 1 bar of CO2) than those reported for other template-free carbon materials. Spectroscopic analysis revealed that the enhanced CO2 adsorption is due to the presence of pyridinic-N and Lewis basic sites on the surface. The intermediates of CO2adsorption, including carbonate and bicarbonate species, attached to the CN samples were identified using in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). This work provides insights into the mechanism of CO2 adsorption by comparing the structural features of the synthesized KCl-incorporated g-C3N4 samples. CN11, with an excellent CO2 uptake capacity, is viewed as a promising candidate for CO2 capture and storage.

A network pharmacology study with molecular docking to investigate the possibility of licorice against posttraumatic stress disorder.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that has a debilitating effect on a person's quality of life and leads to a high socioeconomic burden. Licorice has been demonstrated to have neuroprotective and antidepressant-like effects, but little is known about its effects for the treatment of PTSD. The present study aimed to explore the potential of licorice for PTSD therapy using a network pharmacology approach with molecular docking studies. The compounds of licorice were obtained from databases with screening by absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) evaluation. Genes associated with compounds or PTSD were obtained from public databases, and the genes overlapping between licorice compounds and PTSD were compared by Venn diagram. A network of medicine-ingredients-targets-disease was constructed, visualized, and analyzed using cytoscape software. Protein-protein interactions, gene ontology, pathway enrichment and molecular docking were performed to evaluate the effect of licorice for the treatment of PTSD. 69 potential compounds were screened after ADME evaluation. A total of 81 compound-related genes and 566 PTSD-related genes were identified in the databases with 27 overlapping genes. Licorice compounds (e.g., medicarpin, 7-methoxy-2-methyl isoflavone, shinpterocarpin, formononetin, licochalcone a) and target proteins (e.g., ESR1, PTGS2, NOS2, and ADRB2) with high degree in the network were involved in G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathways at the postsynaptic/synaptic membrane. Moreover, neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions, calcium signaling, cholinergic synapse, serotonergic synapse and adrenergic signaling in cardiomyocytes may play important roles in the treatment of PTSD by licorice. This study provides molecular evidence of the beneficial effects of licorice for the treatment of PTSD.

Occurrence and dietary exposure assessment of pentachlorophenol in livestock, poultry, and aquatic foods marketed in Guangdong Province, China: Based on food monitoring data from 2015 to 2018.

As a persistent organic pollutant, pentachlorophenol (PCP) has serious impacts on human health. However, its presence in animal source food products sold in the Guangdong Province (GD) of China, and the resultant dietary exposure have not been elucidated. To address this gap, 3,100 samples from seven food categories, including beef, pork, mutton, offals, broilers, hen eggs, and farmed freshwater fish, marketed throughout four geographical regions of GD, were collected from 2015 to 2018. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was employed to detect PCP levels in these food matrices. PCP was found in all food categories, but the average contamination levels were low, ranging from 0.40 µg/kg wet weight (ww) (hen eggs) to 5.85 µg/kg ww (offals). However, higher concentrations of PCP were detected (P < 0.05) in animal source food from the North region. Additionally, a temporal declining trend was observed in this four-year consecutive survey. The estimated human dietary exposure of PCP to population groups, including the general population and subgroups (male and female, children, and adults), was found to be far below the permissible daily intake (3 µg/kg body weight). Therefore, the health impacts of PCP should be correspondingly low for local residents, based on current toxicological knowledge. Regional exposure patterns varied due to different extents of contamination in the four areas, and pork, broilers, and freshwater fish were the major sources of dietary PCP exposure. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: As a persistent organic pollutant, pentachlorophenol (PCP) has serious impacts on human health. However, its presence in animal source food products sold in Guangdong Province of China, and the resultant dietary exposure have not been elucidated. In this study, we conducted an in-depth investigation on the occurrence of PCP in major foodstuff categories, including beef, pork, mutton, broilers, offals, hen eggs, and farmed freshwater fish, marketed in all 21 prefecture-level divisions of Guangdong Province, in order to provide integral insights for regulatory authorities.

Enzyme-free Target Recycling and Double-Output Amplification System for Electrochemiluminescent Assay of Mucin 1 with MoS2 Nanoflowers as Co-reaction Accelerator.

In this work, a sensitive electrochemiluminescent assay of mucin 1 (MUC1) was developed with the advantages of target recycling amplification strategy and effective MoS2 nanoflower (MoS2 NF)-based signal probe. Briefly, the target MUC1 triggered enzyme-free recycling and a double-output amplification process was executed to acquire masses of single-stranded DNA as a mimic target, which further participated in the catalytic hairpin assembly process for signal amplification. Meanwhile, MoS2 NFs were prepared as an effective co-reaction accelerator, which not only possessed excellent catalytic performance for H2O2 decomposition to largely enhance the luminous intensity of N-(aminobutyl)- N-(ethylisoluminol) (ABEI)-H2O2 electrochemiluminescence system but also offered a desirable platform for ABEI-functionalized Ag nanoparticles (ABEI-Ag complexes) loading via Ag-S binding. The experimental results showed the proposed aptasensor had a good linear relationship in the range of 1 fg/mL to 10 ng/mL for MUC1 detection and the limit of detection was 0.58 fg/mL (S/N = 3). In addition, the aptasensor had nice stability and selectivity and huge potential to be applied in clinical research.

In situ generation of electrochemiluminescent DNA nanoflowers as a signal tag for mucin 1 detection based on a strategy of target and mimic target synchronous cycling amplification.

A sensitive electrochemiluminescent (ECL) aptasensor consisting of a novel ECL signal tag of DNA nanoflowers (DNA NFs) and a highly efficient target conversion strategy for the MUC1 assay was developed, which not only increased the stability for luminophore loading, but also greatly improved the detection sensitivity.

[Buyang Huanwu decoction promotes neuroblast migration from subventricular zone via inducing angiogenesis after ischemia].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Buyang Huanwu decoction (BYHWD) inducing angiogenesis on the neuroblast migration from the subventricular zone and its mechanisms after focal cerebral ischemia. METHOD: The middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was performed to mice for 30 minutes to establish the model. The rats were divided into sham group, model group, BYHWD group and endostatin group. BYHWD (20 g x kg(-1), ig) and endostatin (10 µg, sc) were administered 24 h after ischemia once a day for consecutively 14 days. At 14 d after ischemia, the density of micro-vessel and the number of neuroblasts in the ischemia border zone were determined by immunofluorescence staining. The mRNA and protein expression of cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and brain-derived neurotrophic (BDNF) were examined by real-time PCR and Western blot. RESULT: Compared with the model group, BYHWD significantly increased the density of micro-vessel and the number of DCX positive cells in the ischemia border zone (P < 0.01), and significantly increased the SDF-1 and BDNF mRNA and protein expression (P < 0.01). Compared with BYHWD group, endostatin significantly reduced the density of micro-vessel and the number of DCX positive cells in the ischemia border zone (P < 0.01), as well as the SDF-1, BDNF mRNA and protein expression (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: BYHWD could promote the neuroblast migration from the subventricular zone via inducing angiogenesis after cerebral ischemia, the mechanism may be correlated with up-regulating the expression of SDF-1 and BDNF.

Dietary factors and thyroid cancer risk: a meta-analysis of observational studies.

To better understand the relationship between dietary factors and thyroid cancer risk, we summarized the published evidence on relationship between dietary factors and thyroid cancer incidence. Searching several databases for relevant studies published by March 2014 included a total of 19 studies. We calculated summary odds ratios (ORs) for each risk factor. Based on the highest level of total consumption vs. the lowest level, the summary OR [95% (confidence interval) CI] of thyroid cancer was 0.79 (0.66, 0.94) for fish; 0.95 (0.74, 1.23) for salt water fish; 0.86 (0.63, 1.16) for fresh water fish; 0.76 (0.58, 1.00) for vegetables; 0.88 (0.72, 1.08) for shellfish; 0.93 (0.66, 1.29) for cruciferous vegetables; 0.97 (0.78, 1.21) for fruits; 0.96 (0.70, 1.34) for meat; and 1.11 (0.86, 1.42) for grains. Subgroup analysis showed that fish (OR 0.74, 95%CI: 0.59, 0.92) and shellfish (OR 0.46, 95%CI: 0.27, 0.75) consumption have a protective effect in iodine deficiency areas, whereas the ORs were not statistically significant in iodine-rich areas. Our findings indicated that fish and shellfish consumption may decrease the risk of thyroid cancer in iodine deficiency areas, although no such effect was observed in iodine-rich areas.

[Effect of Buyang Huanwu Decoction and its disassembled recipes on rats' neurogenesis after focal cerebral ischemia].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BYHWD) and its disassembled recipes on rats' neurogenesis after focal cerebral ischemia and to investigate its underlying molecular mechanisms. METHODS: Focal cerebral ischemia model was induced by occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery for 90 min using the intraluminal filament model. Rats were divided into the sham-operation group, the model group, the BYHWD group, the qi supplementing group, and the blood activating group. Medication was performed by gastrogavage 24 h after ischemia for 14 successive days. 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) (at 50 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected, once per day for 14 successive days. The neurological function was assessed using modified neurological severity score (mNSS) and the corner test at day 1, 7, and 14 after ischemia. BrdU/Nestin, BrdU/NeuN, and BrdU/GFAP positive cells were examined by double immunofluorescence at day 14 after ischemia. The protein expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were detected by Western blot at day 14 after ischemia. RESULTS: Compared with the model group, the score of mNSS and the frequency of turning right significantly decreased in the BYHWD group and the qi supplementing group (P < 0.01), the number of BrdU/Nestin in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle, and BrdU/ NeuN and BrdU/GFAP positive cells in the peripheral ischemic cortex increased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), protein expression of BDNF and VEGF increased (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). In the qi supplementing group, there was no statistical difference in BrdU/GFAP. But there was no statistical difference in each index of the blood activating group (P > 0.05). Compared with BYHWD group, the number of BrdU/Nestin, BrdU/ NeuN, and BrdU/GFAP positive cells significantly decreased (P < 0.01), and the protein expression of BDNF and VEGF were significantly reduced in the qi supplementing group and the blood activating group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: BYHWD could significantly improve neurogenesis and neurological function recovery after focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Its mechanisms might be related to up-regulating protein expression of BDNF and VEGF. Drugs for qi supplementing and drugs for blood activating had synergistic effects.