Spatiotemporal Variation and Influencing Factors of TSP and Anions in Coastal Atmosphere of Zhanjiang City, China.

Water-soluble anions and suspended fine particles have negative impacts on ecosystems and human health, which is a current research hotspot. In this study, coastal suburb, coastal urban area, coastal tourist area, and coastal industrial area were explored to study the spatiotemporal variation and influencing factors of water-soluble anions and total suspended particles (TSP) in Zhanjiang atmosphere. In addition, on-site monitoring, laboratory testing, and analysis were used to identify the difference of each pollutant component at the sampling stations. The results showed that the average concentrations of Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, PO43-, and TSP were 29.8 µg/m3, 19.6 µg/m3, 45.6 µg/m3, 13.5 µg/m3, and 0.28 mg/m3, respectively. The concentration of Cl-, NO3-, PO43-, and atmospheric TSP were the highest in coastal urban area, while the concentration of SO42- was the highest in coastal industrial area. Moreover, there were significantly seasonal differences in the concentration of various pollutants (p < 0.05). Cl- and SO42- were high in summer, and NO3- and TSP were high in winter. Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, and TSP had significant correlations with meteorological elements (temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, and wind speed). Besides, the results showed the areas with the most serious air pollution were coastal urban area and coastal industrial area. Moreover, the exhaust emissions from vehicles, urban enterprise emissions, and seawater evaporation were responsible for the serious air pollution in coastal urban area. It provided baseline information for the coastal atmospheric environment quality in Zhanjiang coastal city, which was critical to the mitigation strategies for the emission sources of air pollutants in the future.

Synergistic protection of matrine and lycopene against lipopolysaccharide­induced acute lung injury in mice.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally, and is characterized by widespread inflammation in the lungs. Increased production of reactive oxygen species is hypothesized to be associated with ALI. Matrine and lycopene are active products present in traditional Chinese medicine. Matrine is an effective inhibitor of inflammation, whereas lycopene decreases lipid peroxidation. Therefore, it was hypothesized that combinatorial treatment with matrine and lycopene may provide synergistic protection against ALI. In the present study, mice were treated with dexamethasone (DEX; 5 mg/kg), matrine (25 mg/kg), lycopene (100 mg/kg), and matrine (25 mg/kg) + lycopene (100 mg/kg) for 7 days prior to injury induction using lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 5 mg/kg) for 6 h. Lung tissues were collected following the sacrifice of the mice and hematoxylin and eosin staining was used for histological analysis. Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) and myeloperoxidas (MPO) levels were examined by respective kits. The expressions of interleukin­6 (IL­6) and tumor necrosis factor­α (TNF­α) were evaluated by ELISA. The expressions of IκBα and NF­κB p65 were examined by reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The results indicated that the combined treatment exhibited a similar effect to DEX, both of which attenuated lung structural injuries, downregulated the expressions of IL­6, TNF­α, MPO and MDA, and upregulated that of GSH. Furthermore, the combined treatment and DEX inhibited NF­κB p65 activation. The present study revealed that combined treatment with matrine and lycopene exhibited protective effects on an LPS­induced mouse model of ALI, suggesting that they may serve as a potential alternative to glucocorticoid therapy for ALI.