Structure-specific antitumor effects and potential gut microbiota-involved mechanisms of ginseng polysaccharides on B16F10 melanoma-bearing mice.

Ginseng polysaccharides (GPs) have shown gut microbiota-related antitumor effects. However, the relation between their structures and antitumor functions remains unknown. Here, crude polysaccharide (GP-c) and its fractions neutral polysaccharide (GP-n) and pectin (GP-a) were prepared for structure characterization and anti-B16F10 melanoma effect evaluation, and their influence on gut microbiota diversities and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were also analyzed. Spearman correlations among the altered gut microbiota, SCFAs, and antitumor effects were conducted to elucidate the structure-function relationships. It was shown that the structures of GP-c, GP-n, and GP-a varied in monosaccharide composition and molecular weight distribution. GP-n and GP-c showed anti-melanoma effects, whereas GP-a promoted its growth slightly. GP-n and GP-c restored SCFAs levels such as acetic acid and butyric acid; moreover, it improved the gut microbiota ecosystem by upregulating the abundance of Allobaculum and Bifidobacterium. However, the restoration effect of GP-a was weak, or even worse. In addition, these two bacteria were negatively correlated with the tumor weight and related with the altered SCFAs. In conclusion, GP-n is essential for the anti-melanoma effects of GP, and the potential mechanisms might be related with its specific regulation of Allobaculum and Bifidobacterium abundance, and tumor-associated SCFAs levels. The outcomes highlighted here enable a deeper insight into the structure-function relationship of GP and propose new opinions on its antitumor effect.

Impact of sulfur-fumigation on carbohydrate components of Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma.

Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma (AMR) is one of commonly used medicinal and edible herbs in China. It is often sulfur-fumigated during post-harvest processing. Carbohydrates are important active components of AMR. However, it is unknown whether sulfur-fumigation would induce changes on carbohydrates. Here, carbohydrates including polysaccharides, oligosaccharides and free monosaccharides were comprehensively analyzed to characterize the quality changes of sulfur-fumigated AMR. Determination of both homemade sulfur-fumigated AMR samples and commercial samples from market revealed that sulfur-fumigation did not affect molecular weight distribution of polysaccharides, but altered polysaccharides content and its ratios of constituent monosaccharides, especially glucose (Glc) and fructose (Fru), as well as the contents of oligosaccharides DP2-10 and free monosaccharide Fru. Moreover, the variations enhanced with the increasing of residual SO2 content. The potential transformation mechanisms could be due to the hydrolysis of polysaccharides. The research outcomes could provide a chemical basis for the safety and efficacy evaluations of sulfur-fumigated AMR.

[Outcome of one-visit and multiple-visit root canal treatment for cracked tooth with pulpitis: a meta analysis].

PURPOSE: To compare the treatment effect between one-visit and multiple-visit endodontic treatment for cracked tooth with pulpitis. METHODS: The literatures published before 2016-06-01 regarding to one-visit and multiple-visit root canal treatment for cracked tooth with pulpitis were searched through MEDLINE, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Database et al. Then the included studies were chosen according to the inclusion criteria. Collection of features, quality evaluation and analysis of treatment effect, follow-up results (half year/1 year) and postoperative pain of the included studies were analyzed using Stata/SE12.1 software. RESULTS: A total of 24 Chinese literatures were included and no eligible foreign literatures were found. There were 3065 cases including 1608 with one-visit endodontic treatment and 1457 with multiple-visit endodontic treatment. Meta analysis showed that the effective rate (96.90%) and follow-up success rate (94.90%,94.60%) of one-visit endodontic treatment were significantly higher than multiple-visit one (84.00%,81.40%,89.00%),while there was no significant difference in postoperative pain [RR=0.96，95%CI (0.82，1.13)].The results did not change after sensitivity analysis. However，there were some differences in assignment methods and operations details among the literatures. CONCLUSIONS: The existing limited evidences show that one-visit endodontic treatment has higher effective rate than multiple-visit endodontic treatment and its postoperative pain is acceptable. However, more standard randomized controlled trials are needed.