The Efficacy and Safety of Shashen-Maidong Decoction Combined with Western Medicine in the Treatment of Omicron Infected Individuals Over 85 Years Old: A Retrospective Study.

Background: During the Omicron variant outbreak of COVID-19 (2022-2023), Chinese healthcare institutions combined traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with Western medical practices to treat COVID-19 patients, especially the elderly. The efficacy and safety of this approach, especially for individuals aged over 85, need further investigation. Methods: In this retrospective study, a cohort of 62 patients aged over 85 years, diagnosed with COVID-19 infection, was examined. Among them, 34 patients were administered Shashen-Maidong decoction in conjunction with Western medicine (SMD+WM group), while the remaining 28 patients received only Western medicine (WM group). Comparative analysis was conducted between the two groups, encompassing parameters such as the duration for the nucleic acid test to turn negative, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, mortality rate, utilization of high-flow nasal cannula oxygen (HFNC), occurrence of endo-tracheal intubation, frequency of recurrent respiratory infections within three months, and various laboratory indicators. Results: There were no significant differences observed between the two groups in terms of the duration for the nucleic acid test to turn negative, the length of ICU stay, mortality rate, utilization of HFNC, performance of endo-tracheal intubation, or the frequency of recurrent respiratory infections within three months (P > 0.05). However, in comparison to the WM group, the SMD+WM group exhibited notably lower growth rates in white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil (NEUT) values. Additionally, the SMD+WM group demonstrated superior improvement in cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) values. Conclusion: In contrast to the administration of Western medicine alone, the combined use of Shashen-Maidong decoction with Western medicine significantly suppresses the increase in WBC count, particularly in NEUT levels, in elderly patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Moreover, this combined treatment exhibits a protective effect on cardiac function and demonstrates a relatively safe profile.

Study on potential antigenicity and functional properties of whey protein treated by high hydrostatic pressure based on structural analysis.

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) is extensively utilized in the field of food processing due to its remarkable ability to preserve the freshness of food. The potential antigenicity of ß-lactoglobulin (ß-LG) in whey protein isolate (WPI, 3%) treated by HHP was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies. Furthermore, the impact of pressure-induced structural alterations on the emulsification properties and antioxidant activity of WPI was investigated. The findings revealed that pressures exceeding 300 MPa resulted in molecular aggregation, the formation of inter-molecular disulfide bonds, and an increase in surface hydrophobicity (H0). The percentage of ß-sheet decreased along with the pressure. The results showed the increment of α-helix and ß-turn with pressure. ELISA demonstrated a significant reduction in the antigenicity of ß-LG following HHP treatment (100-600 MPa), with a slight recovery observed at 300 MPa. These spatial structural modifications led to the unfolding of the ß-LG molecule, thereby enhancing its digestibility. Moreover, HHP treatment substantially improved the antioxidant properties, with the exposure to hydrophobic amino acids contributing to increased antioxidant properties and emulsion stability.

Purification and identification of xanthine oxidase inhibitory peptides from enzymatic hydrolysate of α-lactalbumin and bovine colostrum casein.

The development of food-derived Xanthine Oxidase (XO) inhibitors is critical to the treatment of hyperuricemia and oxidative stress-related disease. Few studies report on milk protein hydrolysates' XO inhibitory activity, with the mechanism of their interaction remaining elusive. Here, different commercial enzymes were used to hydrolyze α-lactalbumin and bovine colostrum casein. The two proteins hydrolyzed by alkaline protease exhibited the most potent XO inhibitory activity (bovine casein: IC50 = 0.13 mg mL-1; α-lactalbumin: IC50 = 0.28 mg mL-1). Eight potential XO inhibitory peptides including VYPFPGPI, GPVRGPFPIIV, VYPFPGPIPN, VYPFPGPIHN, QLKRFSFRSFIWR, LVYPFPGPIHN, AVFPSIVGR, and GFININSLR (IC50 of 4.67-8.02 mM) were purified and identified from alkaline protease hydrolysates by using gel filtration, LC-MS/MS and PeptideRanker. The most important role of inhibiting activity of peptides is linked to hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding based on the results of molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation. The enzymatic hydrolysate of α-lactalbumin and bovine colostrum casein could be a competitive candidates for hyperuricemia-resisting functional food.

Nanoemulsion: A novel delivery approach for thermosensitive IgG on inhibiting milk fat oxidation.

IgG, a biologically active substance in bovine colostrum, is easily inactivated during heat treatment and edible process to lose its biological activity. Nanoemulsion can effectively protect IgG to maintain its biological activity from injurious treatment. In this study, a food-grade nanoemulsion system was developed to protect IgG from heat and acid damage. It can be found that the residual rate of nanoemulsion-protected IgG reaches 87.1 % after 10 min at 72 °C. After 5 min at 82 °C, the residual rate of IgG in nanoemulsion was 18.7 % higher than that in PBS. In the simulated gastric fluid at pH 2.0, the residual rate of IgG in the nanoemulsion reacted for 4 h was 21.5 % higher than that in PBS. It indicated that nanoemulsion system can improve the heat and acid resistance of IgG compared with others, which is attributed to the lowest water activity of nanoemulsion. The contents of hydroperoxide and malondialdehyde in the milk after storage for 72 h with nanoemulsion-protected IgG were 0.12 meq/kg and 0.04 mg/kg, respectively, less than that of PBS-protected IgG. IgG is protected by nanoemulsion can effectively protect its activity during processing, which provides a theoretical basis for its direct application in liquid milk.

Effect of ferulic acid covalent conjugation on the functional properties and antigenicity of ß-lactoglobulin.

Binding to phenolics can improve the functional properties of proteins. Changes in structure, functional properties, and antigenicity of ß-lactoglobulin (ß-LG) after covalent conjugation with ferulic acid (FA) at different mass ratios were reported here. The results of SDS-PAGE and gel exclusion chromatography confirmed that covalent complexes were formed. When the mass ratio of ß-LG and FA was 10:6, the binding content of FA was the highest. Fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-visible absorption spectrometry, and FTIR analysis showed that the structure of the complexes was more stretched compared to native ß-LG. The addition of FA significantly improved the emulsifying property of ß-LG. When the mass ratio was 10:6, the radical scavenging activities of DPPH and ABTS reached 65.06% and 88.22%, respectively, and the antigenicity of ß-LG reduced by about 35%. This study provides novel ß-LG-FA complexes in food systems to reduce the antigenicity of ß-LG and improve functional properties.