Taurine inhibits hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory response and apoptosis in liver of Monopterus albus.

Fish are extremely vulnerable to environmental stimulation and produce oxidative stress. Among them, hydrogen peroxide is an oxidative stress source that cannot be ignored in fish, which can cause physical disorders, inflammation and even death. Taurine was revealed to reduce oxidative damage and inflammation caused by toxic substances, but whether it can reduce toxicity of rice field eel caused by H2O2 has not been determined. Thus, the intervention effects of taurine on H2O2-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and autophagy in rice field eel. The results showed that oxidative injury in the liver was determined after H2O2 injection, as indicated by enhanced serum AST and ALT activities, inhibited the antioxidant function (increased MDA and ROS contents, decreased antioxidant enzymes, inhibited nrf2 transcription level), and induced inflammatory response (upregulated il-1ß, il-6, il-8, and il-12ß gene expression, downregulated tgf-ß1 gene expression, activated the transcription level of nf-κb, tlr-3, and tlr-7). In addition, bax, caspase3, beclin1, and Lc3B gene expression were significantly upregulated after H2O2 injection, while bcl2 and p62 gene expression were downregulated, leading to the occurrence of apoptosis and autophagy. In contrast, adding 0.2 and 0.5% taurine to feed significantly alleviated this damage, as indicated by the recovery of the aforementioned bioindicators, and the effect of 0.5% taurine addition is better than 0.2%. Overall, these results suggested that taurine can relieve the liver toxicity induced by H2O2, which enriched the toxic mechanism of H2O2 on fish and provided evidence for the protective effect of taurine on liver.

The Protective Effect of Taurine on Oxidized Fish-Oil-Induced Liver Oxidative Stress and Intestinal Barrier-Function Impairment in Juvenile Ictalurus punctatus.

Dietary lipids provide energy for growth and development and provide fatty acids necessary for normal structure and biological function. However, oxidized lipids cause oxidative stress and intestinal damage. An 8-week feeding trial with fresh fish oil (FFO, control group), oxidized fish oil (OFO), and taurine-supplemented diets (OFOT, OFO + 0.2% of taurine) was conducted to evaluate the protective effect of taurine on oxidized fish-oil-induced liver oxidative stress and intestine impairment in juvenile Ictaluruspunctatus. The results showed that (1) Growth performance was significantly lower in fish fed OFO than in those fed other diets, whereas the opposite occurred in the hepatosomatic index. (2) OFO-feeding significantly increased lipid deposition compared with the FFO group. The addition of taurine ameliorated the OFO-induced increase in lipid vacuolization in the liver, significantly upregulated lpl mRNA expression, and downregulated fas and srebp1 mRNA expression. (3) OFO-feeding significantly reduced oxidative damage of liver. Compared with the OFO group, the OFOT group remarkably upregulated antioxidant enzyme mRNA expression through the Nrf2-Keap1 signaling pathway based on the transcriptional expression. (4) OFO diets induced intestinal physical and immune barrier damage. Compared with the OFO group, OFOT diets remarkably downregulated il-1ß, il-6, tnf-α, and il-8 mRNA expression and upregulated tgf-ß mRNA expression through the NF-κB signaling pathway. Besides, the addition of taurine to OFO diets significantly upregulated zo-2 and zo-1 mRNA expression, and downregulated claudin-15 and claudin-12 mRNA expression. In conclusion, oxidized-fish-oil diets can cause negative physiological health effects in Ictaluruspunctatus, while adding taurine can increase growth and antioxidant ability, reduce lipid deposition, and improve intestinal health.

Metabolomic profiles and pathways of praziquantel in crucian carp.

Praziquantel (PZQ) is a drug commonly used to treat some parasitic infections in animals. This study aimed to apply a reliable and simple method to identify important biological metabolites relevant to PZQ in crucian carp (Carassius auratus) to decipher the metabolic pathways and provide a basis for developing new anti-parasite drugs. The experimental group of crucian carp was administered oral PZQ at a dose of 10 mg kg-1 via a stomach feed tube. All biological blood samples were analysed using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC ESI/Q-TOF MS). MetPA analysis was used to identify relevant pathways for PZQ in crucian carp. Thirty-five potential metabolic pathways were revealed by MetPA network software. Furthermore, the chemical structures of the related metabolites and pathways were identified by comparison with data obtained from free online databases. Forty-four significantly differentially abundant endogenous metabolites were found in the PZQ-treated crucian carp. The changes in metabolomic profiles and pathways induced by PZQ played a role in inhibiting pathogenesis.

Morphology and phylogeny of Ameson portunus n. sp. (Microsporidia) infecting the swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus from China.

Ameson portunus n. sp. is a new microsporidian species that infects the skeletal muscle of Portunus trituberculatus, a pond-reared swimming crab from China. This parasite was characterized using morphological and molecular phylogenetic data. Light and transmission electron microscopy revealed that this microsporidian experienced disporogonic and polysporogonic (chain-like) life cycles. Mature uninucleate spores appeared ovoid, measured 1.4±0.06×1.0±0.07µm on ultrathin sections, and exhibited no dimorphism. The isofilar polar filament was coiled in 8-9 turns. Of these coils, 5-9 were arranged in large regular outer layers; the remaining coils (0-3 coils) were situated internally. According to phylogenetic analyses based on the small subunit (SSU) rDNA gene, A. portunus n. sp. belonged to the group comprising Ameson spp. and Nadelspora canceri. The result of comprehensive analysis of ultrastructural features, molecular phylogenetic data, host and geographical differences among known species supports the establishment of a new Ameson species for this parasite. Ameson portunus n. sp. is the first Ameson species described from the coasts of East Asia.

Upregulation of long non-coding RNA TUG1 correlates with poor prognosis and disease status in osteosarcoma.

The pathogenesis of osteosarcoma involves complex genetic and epigenetic factors. This study was to explore the impact and clinical relevance of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), Taurine up-regulated gene 1 (TUG1) on patients with osteosarcoma. Seventy-six osteosarcoma tissues and matched adjacent normal tissues were included for analysis. The plasma samples were obtained from 29 patients with osteosarcoma at pre-operation and post-operation, 42 at newly diagnosed, 18 who experienced disease progression or relapse, 45 post-treatment, 36 patients with benign bone tumor, and 20 healthy donors. Quantitative real-time reverse transcript polymerase chain reactions were used to assess the correlation of the expression levels of TUG1 with clinical parameters of osteosarcoma patients. TUG1 was significantly overexpressed in the osteosarcoma tissues compared with matched adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.01) and was closely correlated with tumor size, post-operative chemotherapy, and Enneking surgical stage. Upregulation of TUG1 strongly correlated with poor prognosis and was an independent prognostic indicator for overall survival (HR = 2.78, 95% CI = 1.29-6.00, P = 0.009) and progression-free survival (HR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.01-3.54, P = 0.037). Our constructed nomogram containing TUG1 had more predictive accuracy than that without TUG1 (c-index 0.807 versus 0.776, respectively). In addition, for plasma samples, TUG1 expression levels were obviously decreased in post-operative patients (mean ΔCT -4.98 ± 0.22) compared with pre-operation patients (mean ΔCT -6.09 ± 0.74), and the changes of TUG1 expression levels were significantly associated with disease status. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that TUG1 could distinguish patients with osteosarcoma from healthy individuals compared with alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (the area under curve 0.849 versus 0.544). TUG1 was overexpressed in patients with osteosarcoma and strongly correlated with disease status. In addition, TUG1 may serve as a molecular indicator in maintaining surveillance and forecasting prognosis.

Poly[tetra-aqua-bis-(µ(3)-benzene-1,3-di-carboxyl-ato-κO:O':O'')bis-(µ(2)-benzene-1,3-dicarboxyl-ato-κO,O':O'')[µ(2)-1,4-bis-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)butane-κN:N']tetra-zinc(II)].

In the crystal structure of the title compound, [Zn(4)(C(8)H(4)O(4))(4)(C(8)H(12)N(6))(H(2)O)(4)](n), one Zn(II) atom is four-coordinated in a slightly distorted tetra-hedral geometry by two O atoms from benzene-1,3-dicarboxyl-ate (BDC) ligands, one N atom from a 1,4-bis-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)butane (BTB) ligand and one water mol-ecule, while a second Zn(II) atom is five-coordinated in a distorted square-pyramidal geometry bridged by four O atoms from BDC ligands and one water mol-ecule. The Zn(II) atoms are connected by the benzene-1,3-dicarboxyl-ate anions and the nitro-gen ligand into layers parallel to the ac plane. The asymmetric unit consits of two crystallographically independent Zn(II) cations, two BDC anions and two water mol-ecules in general positions, as well as one-half of the BTB ligand that is completed by inversion symmetry.