Liver-derived FGF21 is required for the effect of time-restricted feeding on high-fat diet-induced fatty liver in mice.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which leads to insulin resistance, steatosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma, is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, however, effective treatment is still lacking. This study determined the role of liver FGF21 and the mechanisms underlying the protective effects of time-restricted feeding (TRF) in NAFLD. FGF21 liver knockout (FGF21 LKO) mice and C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) mice were fed either a normal or a high-fat diet (HFD) for 16 weeks. Mice with diet-induced obesity (DIO) were also used. The mice were fed either ad libitum or in a time-restricted manner. Serum FGF21 levels were significantly increased after 16 weeks of TRF. TRF prevented body weight gain, improved glucose homeostasis, and protected against high-fat diet-induced hepatosteatosis and liver damage. The expression of genes related to liver lipogenesis and inflammation was reduced in TRF mice, but the expression of genes involved in fatty acid ß-oxidation was increased. However, those beneficial effects of TRF were blunted in the FGF21 LKO mice. Moreover, TRF promoted improvements in insulin sensitivity and liver damage in DIO mice. Our data show that liver FGF21 signaling was involved in the effect of TRF on high-fat diet-induced fatty liver.

First Report of Charcoal Rot on Tobacco Caused by Macrophomina phaseolina in Hunan Province, China.

Flue-cured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is a significant cash crop globally. In August 2022, necrotic lesions on stem associated with root rot and wilting were observed on flue-cured tobacco (Cv. Yunyan 87) in fields located in Banxin village (27.95N,109.60E) of Fenghuang county in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province, China. The affected and damaged area of tobacco is approximately 10 hectares, with adisease incidence of 60%. Lots of small black speckling within the lower stem of the affected plant, vascular tissue changed to black, dry rot, and looked like charcoal breezes. Small pieces were cut from healthy and diseased tissues, surface sterilized with 5% NaClO for 3 min and 75% ethanol for 1 min, rinsed with sterile distilled water and air-drying, incubated on oat medium incubated at 28℃ for five days. These isolates grew fast and produced typical black microsclerotia. The morphological were septate hyphae and microsclerotia. The microsclerotia were black and regularly round, with a 42.5 - 92.9 µm diameter. These morphological features were consistent with Macrophomina phaseolina (Smith and Wyllie 1999). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA and translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1-α) genes of three representative isolates were amplified and sequenced using the primers ITS1/ITS4 and EF1-728F/EF2R (Machado et al. 2019). Our resulting sequences (GenBank accessions OR435093, OR435101, OR435102 for ITS; OR891780, OR891781 and OR891782 for EF1-α) showed 99-100% similarity with M. phaseolina by NCBI blast. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted using MEGA-X software with the NJ method. The combined sequences grouped with isolates to M. phaseolina with 100% bootstrap support. The strain XF22 has been sent to the China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center (CGMCC3.25349). Pathogenicity tests were conducted by inoculating potted plants (six plants per isolate, three times) from 45 day-old tobacco seedlings cv. Yunyan 87. Stems were randomly gently scratched with sterile needles, and a 5 mm agar disc with mycelium of the pathogen was attached to the surface of each wound, with a sterilized agar disc as control. Inoculated seedlings were incubated in growth chambers at 26℃ and 60% RH with a 12 h photoperiod/day. After ten days, symptoms that brown or black lesions on the inoculated lesions were dotted with numerous black, hard microsclerotia similar to those naturally occurring on the diseased plants, but not on the control plants. The same pathogen was re-isolated consistently, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Based on morphological, molecular, and pathogenicity test results, these isolates were identified as M. phaseolina. Charcoal rot of tobacco, caused by M. phaseolina was previously found in Guangxi in 1989 (Zhu et al. 2002), while this is the first report of M. phaseolina causing charcoal rot on flue-cured tobacco in Hunan, China. We speculate that the planting area is influenced by the preceding crop sesame. The soil carries M. phaseolina, which can cause stem rot of sesame, leading to the occurrence of tobacco charcoal rot. Our results indicated that charcoal rot caused by M. phaseolina is a new threat to flue-cured tobacco production and lue-cured tobacco might be acting as a reservoir and spreading this pathogen to other economically crops in China.

Time-Restricted Feeding Ameliorates Uterine Epithelial Estrogen Receptor α Transcriptional Activity at the Time of Embryo Implantation in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet.

BACKGROUND: More than 30% of reproductive-age women are obese or overweight. Obesity and exposure to a high-fat diet (HFD) detrimentally affect endometrial development and embryo implantation. We previously reported that time-restricted feeding (TRF) improved ovarian follicular development, but whether and how TRF modulates embryo implantation are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of TRF on embryo implantation. METHODS: In TRF group, mice had 10 h of food free access from 9 pm to 7 am, and fed a normal diet or a HFD. Tail vein injection of Chicago blue dye was used to examine embryo implantation sites at day 5.5 (D5.5) of pregnancy. Serum collected at D0.5 and D4.5 of pregnancy was used to examine the level of estradiol (E2) and progesterone. Uterine estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor levels and their targeted aquaporins (AQPs) were measured. LC-MS was used to analyze bile acid (BA) composition, and primary hepatocytes were used to test the effects of BA on the expression level of SULT1E1, a key enzyme in estrogen inactivation and elimination. RESULTS: We found that TRF prevented HFD-induced embryo loss and alleviated the defect in luminal closure on D4.5 of pregnancy. The cyclic changes of E2 level were lost in mice fed ad libitum but not in TRF mice on the HFD. The HFD increased ER-α expression and transcriptional activity, which induced AQP3 and AQP5 expression on D4.5 of pregnancy. TRF prevented the negative effect of the HFD on uterine luminal closure. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo results showed that BA suppressed estrogen degradation by activating liver SULT1E1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrated that TRF prevented HFD-induced defects in luminal closure, thereby improving embryonic implantation, and provide novel insights into the effects of dietary intervention on obesity and associated infertility.

Heat-induced antigen retrieval utilizing modified Tris-EDTA buffer for reprobing of Western blots on nitrocellulose paper.

The development of heat-induced antigen retrieval technologies with Tris-EDTA buffer has dramatically improved immunostaining of specific antigens for routine immunohistochemical detection (Krenacs et al., 2010) [1]. However, little evidence exists on whether heat-Induced antigen retrieval utilizing Tris-EDTA buffer can strip western blot (WB) membranes and allow sequential reprobing. Here, we serendipitously discover that ∼95 °C Tris-EDTA buffer with 0.01% Tween 20 could repeatedly strip the Nitrocellulose membranes (NC). After electroblotting, NC blots were soaked into Tris-EDTA stripping buffer (∼95 °C, 10-25min) and we could perform at least five rounds (the following antibodies used: Vinculin, Atg7, Caspase-3, UBA5, JNK and ERK1/2) stripping in sequential chemiluminescent detections. The NC membranes also show clear western signals and background without losing transferred proteins during the reprobing process of WB. Hence, this study report additional new roles of the heat-Induced antigen retrieval Tris-EDTA buffer with 0.01% Tween 20. The method is simpler, more affordable and harmless for the nitrocellulose paper, which will be helpful for effective reprobing in western blotting applications.

Inactivation of horseradish peroxidase with crotonic acid for reprobing of western blotting.

Inactivation of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) treatment is a conventional preference to stripping for sequential detections of different proteins of chemiluminescent western blotting (WB). However, little evidence exists on whether other chemical substances treatment can affects the biological activity of HRP during stripping and re-probing of WB blots. Here, we successfully develop 20% crotonic acid (CA) as an alternative to stripping to inhibit HRP used for sequential chemiluminescent WB on polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and Nitrocellulose (NC) membrane. Moreover, NC blots incubation in CA (40 °C, 30min) allow us to perform three round HRP inhibition in sequential detections without losing transferred proteins and damaging membrane. Hence, the method will help us save time and valuable samples without the need to rerun gels.

Ferroptosis: action and mechanism of chemical/drug-induced liver injury.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is characterized by hepatocyte injury, cholestasis injury, and mixed injury. The liver transplantation is required for serious clinical outcomes such as acute liver failure. Current studies have found that many mechanisms were involved in DILI, such as mitochondrial oxidative stress, apoptosis, necroptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, etc. Ferroptosis occurs when hepatocytes die from iron-dependent lipid peroxidation and plays a key role in DILI. After entry into the liver, where some drugs or chemicals are metabolized, they convert into hepatotoxic substances, consume reduced glutathione (GSH), and decrease the reductive capacity of GSH-dependent GPX4, leading to redox imbalance in hepatocytes and increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation level, leading to the undermining of hepatocytes; some drugs facilitated the autophagy of ferritin, orchestrating the increased ion level and ferroptosis. The purpose of this review is to summarize the role of ferroptosis in chemical- or drug-induced liver injury (chemical/DILI) and how natural products inhibit ferroptosis to prevent chemical/DILI.

Epidemiology of Tinea Capitis in Children in Beijing and Adjacent Regions, China: A 15-Year Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Tinea capitis is the most common dermatophytosis in children. Due to many factors, the types of pathogenic fungi of tinea capitis vary all over the world, and the pathogenic fungi of tinea capitis may change over time even in the same region. OBJECTIVES: To investigated the epidemiological characteristics and pathogenic strains distribution of tinea capitis in children in Beijing and adjacent regions. Patients/Methods Through retrospective study and epidemiological analysis, we investigated the epidemiological characteristics of tinea capitis in children in Beijing and adjacent regions over 15 years. RESULTS: A total of 1739 children with tinea capitis were retrospectively investigated from January 2006 to December 2020, including 1100 boys and 639 girls. A total of 67.4% of tinea capitis patients were between 1 and 5 years of age. A decreasing trend in tinea capitis was observed before 2009, while for the following 12 years, the incidence rate of tinea capitis fluctuated little. Zoophilic isolates (primarily Microsporum canis) were responsible for 88.4% of tinea capitis. Males are at greater risk for M. canis infection (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Zoophilic species were responsible for approximately nine-tenth of the tinea capitis cases. The incidence of tinea capitis decreased before 2009.

Identification of Differential Circular RNA Expression Profiles and Functional Networks in Human Macrophages Induced by Virulent and Avirulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are noncoding RNAs with diverse functions. However, most Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb)-related circRNAs remain undiscovered. In this study, we infected THP-1 cells with virulent and avirulent M.tb strains and then sequenced the cellular circRNAs. Bioinformatic analysis predicted 58,009 circRNAs in all the cells. In total, 2035 differentially expressed circRNAs were identified between the M.tb-infected and uninfected THP-1 cells and 1258 circRNAs were identified in the virulent and avirulent M.tb strains. Further, the top 10 circRNAs were confirmed by Sanger sequencing, among which four circRNAs, namely circSOD2, circCHSY1, circTNFRSF21, and circDHTKD1, which were highly differentially expressed in infected cells compared with those in uninfected cells, were further confirmed by ring formation, specific primers, and RNase R digestion. Next, circRNA-miRNA-mRNA subnetworks were constructed, such as circDHTKD1/miR-660-3p/IL-12B axis. Some of the individual downstream genes, such as miR-660-3p and IL-12B, were previously reported to be associated with cellular defense against pathological processes induced by M.tb infection. Because macrophages are important immune cells and the major host cells of M.tb, these findings provide novel ideas for exploring the M.tb pathogenesis and host defense by focusing on the regulation of circRNAs during M.tb infection.

Improving Photocatalytic Performance through the Construction of a Supramolecular Organic Framework.

A supramolecular organic framework-type photocatalyst, named TM-SOF, is constructed by the self-assembly of cucurbit[8]uril and a tetra-arm monomer containing four N, N'-dimethyl 2,5-bis(4-pyridinium)thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole (MPT) moieties. Benefiting from the multivalent assembly, a photocatalytically active supramolecular MPT dimer can be stably formed in TM-SOF. In addition, TM-SOF exhibits better stability against temperature, substrate, and light irradiation. As a result, TM-SOF shows a significantly improved performance for the photocatalytic aerobic oxidation of aryl boronic acids and thioethers. It is anticipated that this line of research will provide a facile approach for fabricating high-performance supramolecular photocatalysis systems.

High-dose oral terbinafine in the treatment of pediatric tinea capitis under 2 years old.

Tinea capitis is the most common pediatric dermatophytosis of the scalp and hair follicles that require oral antifungals therapy. It usually occurs in children between 3 and 7 years old, whereas it is rarely reported in children under 2 years old. Although oral terbinafine has been broadly used to treat tinea capitis, it is not approved for pediatric patients under 2 years old. Previous studies reported that a doubled oral terbinafine dose could improve the cure rates of tinea capitis due to Microsporum canis. However, the doses are all not strictly weight-based. Here, we report four pediatric tinea capitis patients under 2 years of age who were treated with a high, strictly weight-based dose of oral terbinafine therapy (10 mg/kg/day). We determine the efficacy and safety of this novel oral terbinafine therapy schedule. It may be a promising therapy to treat pediatric tinea capitis under 2 years old.

Optimization of fermentation conditions for production of neutral metalloprotease by Bacillus subtilis SCK6 and its application in goatskin-dehairing.

In this study, a high protease-producing strain was screened by spread plate method and identified by molecular biology and morphological identification. It was identified as Bacillus sp. LCB14. A neutral protease gene was cloned and heterologous expressed by B. subtilis SCK6. Then, the recombinant protease was used to dehair the goat skins. The fermentation conditions of neutral protease production by B. subtilis SCK6 were optimized. The single factor experiments, Plackett-Burma experiment, and response surface method were conducted to determine fermentation medium and culture conditions. The optimized medium contained corn meal 49 g/L, soluble starch 28 g/L, soybean meal 17 g/L, corn steep liquor powder 8 g/L, yeast extract 10 g/L, Na2HPO4 2.3 g/L, KH2PO4 1.9 g/L, MgSO4 0.5 g/L, MnCl2 0.1 g/L and ZnSO4 0.05 g/L. The optimized culture conditions were 35 °C and pH 7.0. Under the optimum conditions, the recombinant strain reached 33467.28 U/mL after 72 hr ferment. Moreover, by fed batch in 30 L fermenters, neutral protease production reached 39,440.78 U/mL and shortened fermentation time from 72 hr to 46 hr. Finally, the crude enzyme was utilized to replace sodium sulfide for dehairing of goatskins. The enzymatic dehaired pelts were white, smooth, and soft; the grain side of enzymatic dehaired pelts were clear; there was no obvious damage to the grain side of enzymatic dehaired pelts by visual observation and tactile test. Furthermore, there were no hair roots, hair follicles and other glands in enzymatic dehaired belts, and the collagen fibers of enzymatic dehaired belt were dispersed well by histological analysis.

Accelerated Degradation of Microplastics at the Liquid Interface of Ice Crystals in Frozen Aqueous Solutions.

Microplastics (MPs) are one of the emerging contaminants in environmental media, and they have raised great concern because they are resistant to degradation and persist in ecosystems. Although numerous advanced technologies have been developed, suitable technologies are still lacking for degradation of widespread MPs in the natural environment. We have discovered that MPs can be degraded exceptionally rapidly in frozen environments. Taking polystyrene (PS) as an example, its degradation rate in ice (-20 °C) is surprisingly competitive to most artificial technologies. PS particles are trapped and squeezed to achieve excited state (3 PS*) in the narrow space of the liquid layer between ice crystals, which further react with the highly concentrated dioxygen to selectively produce singlet oxygen (1 O2 ). The 1 O2 boosts PS oxidation in the liquid layer thus further causing accelerated degradation at freezing temperature. This finding offers a highly efficient pathway for degradation of MPs and it sheds light on an unusual MPs disposal mechanisms in nature.

Successful treatment of tinea capitis caused by Microsporum canis in a 23-day-old newborn with itraconazole pulse therapy and a review of the literature.

Although tinea capitis is common in children, but it is rare in newborns. It should be differentiated with neonatal lupus erythematosus, nummular eczema, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, erythema annular centrifugum, annular urticaria, and annular erythema of infancy. Tinea capitis usually needs oral antifungal therapy, but the data of use in newborn is limited. Here, we report a case of tinea capitis caused by Microsporum canis in a 23-day-old female newborn. The patient was given itraconazole oral solution pulse therapy with an excellent outcome. Itraconazole oral solution pulse therapy may be a promising therapy for tinea capitis in infants, especially in newborns.

Immune-related miRNA-mRNA regulation network in the livers of DHAV-3-infected ducklings.

BACKGROUND: Duck hepatitis A virus type 3 (DHAV-3) is one of the most harmful pathogens in the duck industry. However, the molecular mechanism underlying DHAV-3 infection in ducklings remains poorly understood. To study the genetic regulatory network for miRNA-mRNA and the signaling pathways involved in DHAV-3 infection in ducklings, we conducted global miRNA and mRNA expression profiling of duckling liver tissues infected with lethal DHAV-3 by high-throughput sequencing. RESULTS: We found 156 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) and 7717 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in livers of mock-infected and DHAV-3-infected duckling. A total of 19,606 miRNA-mRNA pairs with negatively correlated expression patterns were identified in miRNA-mRNA networks constructed on the basis of these DEMs and DEGs. Moreover, immune-related pathways, including the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, apoptosis, Toll-like receptor, Jak-STAT, and RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway, were significantly enriched through analyzing functions of mRNAs in the network in response to DHAV-3 infection. Furthermore, apl-miR-32-5p, apl-miR-125-5p, apl-miR-128-3p, apl-miR-460-5p, and novel-m0012-3p were identified as potential regulators in the immune-related signaling pathways during DHAV-3 infection. And some host miRNAs were predicted to target the DHAV-3 genome. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA in DHAV-3-infected ducklings. The results indicated the important roles of miRNAs in regulating immune response genes and revealed the immune related miRNA-mRNA regulation network in the DHAV-3-infected duckling liver. These findings increase our knowledge of the roles of miRNAs and their target genes in DHAV-3 replication and pathogenesis. They also aid in the understanding of host-virus interactions.

A sensitive and reversible staining of proteins on blot membranes.

A modified, sensitive and reversible method for protein staining on nitrocellulose (NC) and polyvinylidine fluoride (PVDF) membranes was developed in Western blotting. The method employed Congo red staining to visualize proteins on different blot membranes. Staining of proteins with Congo red dye is more faster procedures. According to the experimental results, approximate 20 ng proteins could be detected in 3 min in room temperature. The staining on the proteins is easily reversible with Congo red destaining solution for NC and PVDF membranes, so that the blot membranes can be reused for Western blotting. In addition, we confirmed that the staining method is fully compatible with Western blot detection. NC and PVDF membranes treatment with Congo red staining does not interfere with conventional chemiluminescent substrates of peroxidase. As compared to MemCode reversible protein stain kits from Pirece Biotechnology, the staining technique is more sensitive, lower of cost, convenient and not adversely affecting subsequent Western blotting results. On the other hand, the stain is more sensitive than the Ponceau S staining. Therefore, Congo red staining is a promising and ideal alternative for current protein stain. Besides, the binding modes of Congo red or Ponceau S stain were investigated using various 2D and 3D molecular docking and demonstrated potential molecular basis for sensitivity of Congo red staining are higher than Ponceau S.

[The role of stem cell-derived exosomes in repairing myocardial injury].

At present, it is generally believed that the paracrine effect of stem cells in the repair of myocardial injury is one of the important ways for stem cell therapy. Exosomes are phospholipid bilayer-enclosed nanovesicles that secreted by cells under physiological and pathological conditions. Cargo loaded into exosomes including protein, lipids and nucleic acids can be delivered to recipient cells. Therefore, exosomes are recognized as important mediators for intercellular communication. It has been suggested that exosomes from stem cells (eg. embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, cardiac progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells and cardiosphere-derived cells) have protective effects against heart injury. In this review, we summarized recent research progresses on stem cell-derived exosomes in myocardial injury, including the therapeutic effects and mechanism.

Effect of dexmedetomidine for attenuation of propofol injection pain in electroconvulsive therapy: a randomized controlled study.

PURPOSE: Current analgesic strategies for propofol injection pain may cause adverse reactions during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), such as shortening seizure duration. This study investigated whether dexmedetomidine could attenuate propofol injection pain in ECT. METHODS: Participants were randomly allocated to receive 0.2 µg/kg dexmedetomidine (Dex-0.2 group), 0.5 µg/kg dexmedetomidine (Dex-0.5 group) or saline (control group) prior to ECT. The composite pain scale and objective Surgical Pleth Index (SPI) were used to measure the intensity of injection pain, and the percentage of patients with pain score > 2 was the primary outcome. RESULTS: Of 137 patients recruited, 46 were assigned to each of the Dex-0.2 or Dex-0.5 groups, while 45 were in the control group. The percentage of pain score > 2 was reduced from 68.9% (31/45) in the control group to 34.8% (16/46) in the Dex-0.2 group (P < 0.001) and 15.2% (7/46) in the Dex-0.5 group (P < 0.001). The pain score and SPI at 5 s after propofol injection were greater in the control group than in the Dex-0.2 [pain scores 3 (2-4) vs. 1 (1-3), P < 0.001, SPI 76.6 ± 10.0 vs. 58.0 ± 11.0, P < 0.001] and Dex-0.5 groups [pain scores 3 (2-4) vs. 1 (0-1), P < 0.001, SPI 76.6 ± 10.0 vs. 51.2 ± 12.3, P < 0.001]. There were no significant differences in seizure duration between the three groups. No patients developed bradycardia and hypotension. CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment with dexmedetomidine was able to reduce the propofol injection pain in ECT without interfering with the seizure duration and causing adverse effects such as bradycardia and hypotension. In addition, close monitoring of hemodynamic variables and preparation of a treatment plan and drugs for bradycardia are essential.

Insight into the effects of different cropping systems on soil bacterial community and tobacco bacterial wilt rate.

Rotation is an effective strategy to control crop disease and improve plant health. However, the effects of crop rotation on soil bacterial community composition and structure, and crop health remain unclear. In this study, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we explored the soil bacterial communities under four different cropping systems, continuous tobacco cropping (control group), tobacco-maize rotation, tobacco-lily rotation, and tobacco-turnip rotation. Results of detrended correspondence analysis and dissimilarity tests showed that soil bacterial community composition and structure changed significantly among the four groups, such that Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were more abundant in the maize rotation group (16.6 and 11.5%, respectively) than in the control (8.5 and 7.1%, respectively). Compared with the control group (57.78%), maize and lily were effective rotation crops in controlling tobacco bacterial wilt (about 23.54 and 48.67%). On the other hand, tobacco bacterial wilt rate was increased in the turnip rotation (59.62%) relative to the control. Further study revealed that the abundances of several bacterial populations were directly correlated with tobacco bacterial wilt. For example, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were significantly negatively correlated to the tobacco bacterial wilt rate, so they may be probiotic bacteria. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that soil pH and calcium content were key factors in determining soil bacterial communities. In conclusion, our study revealed the composition and structure of bacterial communities under four different cropping systems and may unveil molecular mechanisms for the interactions between soil microorganisms and crop health.

The Emerging Therapeutic Role of NGF in Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of neurodegenerative dementia that affects the elderly population. Nerve growth factor (NGF) contributes to the survival, regeneration and death of neurons during aging and in neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, research has shown that NGF is related to the pathology, mechanisms and symptoms of AD. Therefore, there is a need to summarize the new advancements in NGF research and its potential therapeutic implications in AD. In this review, we will focus on NGF distribution, production, and function; the interaction of Aß and NGF; and the effect of different therapy methods on AD. In summary, we hope to describe the experimental and clinical data demonstrating the important roles of NGF for AD treatment.

Preparation of a nano emodin transfersome and study on its anti-obesity mechanism in adipose tissue of diet-induced obese rats.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the preparation of nano emodin transfersome (NET) and investigate its effect on mRNA expression of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and G0/G1 switch gene 2 (G0S2) in adipose tissue of diet-induced obese rats. METHODS: NET was prepared by film-ultrasonic dispersion method. The effects of emodin components at different ratios on encapsulation efficiency were investigated.The NET envelopment rate was determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The particle size and Zeta potential of NET were evaluated by Zetasizer analyzer. Sixty male SD rats were assigned to groups randomly. After 8-week treatment, body weight, wet weight of visceral fat and the percentage of body fat (PBF) were measured. Fasting blood glucose and serum lipid levels were determined. The adipose tissue section was HE stained, and the cellular diameter and quantity of adipocytes were evaluated by light microscopy. The mRNA expression of ATGL and G0S2 from the peri-renal fat tissue was assayed by RT-PCR. RESULTS: The appropriate formulation was deoxycholic acid sodium salt vs. phospholipids 1:8, cholesterol vs. phospholipids 1:3, vitamin Evs. phospholipids 1:20, and emodin vs. phospholipid 1:6. Zeta potential was -15.11 mV, and the particle size was 292.2 nm. The mean encapsulation efficiency was (69.35 ± 0.25)%. Compared with the obese model group, body weight, wet weight of visceral fat, PBF and mRNA expression of G0S2 from peri-renal fat tissue were decreased significantly after NET treatment (all P < 0.05), while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), the diameter of adipocytes and mRNA expression of ATGL from peri-renal fat tissue were increased significantly (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The preparation method is simple and reasonable. NET with negative electricity was small and uniform in particle size, with high encapsulation efficiency and stability. NET could reduce body weight and adipocyte size, and this effect was associated with the up-regulation of ATGL, down-regulation of G0S2 expression in the adipose tissue, and improved insulin sensitivity.