Taurine attenuates AFB1-induced liver injury by alleviating oxidative stress and regulating mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), which widely exists in soil and crops, is the most toxic aflatoxin and a carcinogen to humans and animals. The liver is the main organ that processes AFB1 and other mycotoxins and is also the main target of AFB1 toxicity. Taurine is known to exhibit a variety of physiological and pharmacological functions. In the present study, taurine was administered to detect the protective effect and mechanism of taurine in AFB1-induced liver injury in rats. The results showed that taurine inhibited the increase in hepatic injury indices, hepatic apoptosis and hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) contents while significantly enhanced the hepatic activities of antioxidant enzymes and mitochondrial function-related indices in AFB1-poisoned rats. Meanwhile, the expression levels of key factors in the Nrf2 signalling pathway were upregulated while the expression levels of key proteins in the mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathway were downregulated after taurine administration. The results showed that taurine can reverse AFB1-induced liver injury and abnormal apoptosis through activation of the Nrf2 signalling pathway and its downstream antioxidant enzymes, which further protects mitochondria from oxidative stress and the subsequent apoptotic pathway.

Symptom trajectories and influencing factors of prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy in Chinese patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients following radical prostatectomy will encounter various symptoms that may vary depending on the recovery of surgery and the use of adjuvant treatments. However, few studies have used the scale developed for prostate cancer to longitudinally assess the course of symptoms in Chinese patients. This study aimed to identify the symptom trajectories and the influencing factors in the prostate cancer patients of our area. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted, and 155 patients with prostate cancer from 3 hospitals in Shanghai were recruited. Demographic and disease-related information was collected during the hospitalization. Further information on symptoms, adjuvant treatment, and functional exercise was collected across 4 time points. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify the trajectory patterns of symptoms, and logistic regression was used to determine the predictors. RESULTS: A total of 143 patients completed the investigation of all points, with a lost-to-follow-up rate of 7.7%. Urinary incontinence, urinary tract irritation, sexual dysfunction, pelvic pain, and hormone related symptoms all had group heterogeneity, and the number of latent category trajectories obtained was 4, 3, 3, 4, and 3 respectively. There were differences in demographic, disease, and treatment-related information between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with prostate cancer have different symptom levels across different periods after radical prostatectomy. Medical staff can predict these changes based on the initial level of symptoms and related factors such as age, prostate volume, medical comorbidities, drug of adjuvant treatment to clarify the critical points, populations, and symptoms that require monitoring during follow-up.

One pot solvothermal synthesis of novel fluorescent phloem-mobile phenylpyrazole amide pesticides fused olefin moieties to enhance insecticidal bioactivities and photodegradation properties.

In order to find a novel type of fluorescent phloem-mobile insecticides, a facile one-pot solvothermal strategy via fipronil addition-elimination substitution reaction with the corresponding acyl chloride derivatives has been employed to construct series of phenylpyrazole amide derivatives (PAs) fused olefin moieties in high yields. The investigation for insecticidal bioactivities of PAs against 3rd instar larvae of Plutella xylostella exhibited better activities than that of fipronil, which can be elucidated by enhanced phloem mobility and calcium ions' coordination with amide N-C=O, CC double bonds and chloride ions, extended conjugate moieties and decreasing steric hindrance of the stereoscopic structure. The introduction of amide units conferred phloem mobility to PAs, which was evaluated by the hydrophobic parameters determined with reversed-phase HPLC through the chromatographic capacity factor. By introducing conjugate moieties and organic chromophore into phenylpyrazole parent structure to increase their conjugation degree and light absorption abilities, PAs exhibited good photodegradation properties. The relationships between extended conjugate moieties of parent structure, electronegativity of substituted groups and photodegradation properties have been discussed. The olefin units connected to PAs caused electronic absorption and fluorescent wavelengths bathochromic shifted. Under simulated solar irradiation, PAs can be reconverted into fipronil parent fragments by photodegradation, thereby enhancing their insecticidal activity. The fluorescent quantum yields of PAs were almost 4 times that of fipronil, which also laid a foundation for the natural degradation and fluorescence detection of insecticide residues.