Hybrid Nanostructure Catalyst with Low Loading of Pt for the High-Efficiency Catalytic Hydrogenation of Chloronitrobenzene.

Fabrication of low-loading, noble-metal, stable, and high-performance metal catalysts remains a thorny issue. Herein, we demonstrate the successful formation of a hybrid nanostructure Pt/TiO2/SBA-15 catalyst (denoted as HNSC-P/T/S; Pt, 0.09%; TiO2, 10%) with satisfactory activity in the hydrogenation of para-chloronitrobenzene (p-CNB). The HNSC-P/T/S showed >99% conversion and a high selectivity of >98%, and the turnover frequency number (TOF) reached 66 766 h-1, which was impossible to achieve with Pt/TiO2 (denoted as P/T) or Pt/SBA-15 (denoted as P/S). The success of the catalytic activity of the HNSC-P/T/S mainly relies on its synergistic effect and special structure, which can fully develop the catalytic ability of Pt, thereby reducing the Pt loading in the noble-based catalyst. Furthermore, the HNSC-P/T/S could also achieve an excellent catalytic activity in the hydrogenation of other nitroarenes. Hence, this work proposes a direction to prepare a noble-based catalyst with a low loading of noble metals for diverse applications.

Intrapleural infections in patients with subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma are susceptible to hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Patients with subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL) are prone to the development of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). It is not known whether small infections in SPTCL patients can trigger the development of HLH. The clinical data were collected from 21 SPTCL patients admitted to our hospital from January 2006 to October 2019. Among 21 cases of SPTCL, six cases had HLH as the first manifestation (SPTCL/HLH), seven cases had intrathoracic infection (ITI), five cases were SPTCL/HLH, 13 cases had no ITI or HLH (SPTCL/no HLH). Two patients with SPTCL/noHLH healed spontaneously. We found that 28.6% of the SPTCL patients had HLH as the first presentation. ITI may cooperate with SPTCL to trigger HLH and a small number of SPTCL/noHLH can fully recover without treatment.

Pt nanoparticles anchored on rare metal oxide coated on SBA-15: a highly active catalyst for synergistic catalytic hydrogenation of benzaldehyde.

We report a novel hybrid nano-structure Pt catalyst, by coating rare metal oxide (CeO2 or La2O3) on the surface of SBA-15, then anchoring Pt nanoparticles on the CeO2/SBA-15 or La2O3/SBA-15 via a photochemical route. For the hydrogenation of benzaldehyde, the Pt/@-CeO2/SBA-15 and Pt/@-La2O3/SBA-15 catalysts demonstrated outstanding activity and excellent selectivity, much higher than that of Pt/CeO2, Pt/La2O3 and Pt/SBA-15. In particular, the TOF of Pt/@-La2O3/SBA-15 reached 2324 h-1, 2.3-fold higher than the atomically dispersed catalyst (Pd1/TiO2, 1002 h-1) in the literature. The superior catalytic performance was attributed to the special structure and the synergistic effect between the Pt nanoparticles and CeO2/SBA-15(La2O3/SBA-15). The content of metal oxide played an important role in the reaction, as only a suitable content of metal oxide could ensure that this hybrid structure would show the best performance.

Orexins Facilitates Osteogenic Differentiation of MC3T3-E1 Cells.

Dysfunction of osteoblastic bone formation and matrix mineralization plays a key role in the pathological development of osteoporosis. The orexin peptide orexin-A, a highly excitatory neuropeptide hormone, possesses various biological functions by activating its specific G protein-coupled receptors, orexin-1 receptor (OX1R) and orexin-2 receptor (OX2R). Here, we report that OX1R but not OX2R was expressed in MC3T3-E1 cells. Importantly, we found that orexin-A accelerated osteoblast differentiation and matrix mineralization in MC3T3-E1 cells, as manifested by elevation of physiological markers of osteoblastic differentiation [alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteogenic genes] and Alizarin Red staining, respectively. Importantly, our findings indicated that orexin-A significantly increased the expression of runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx-2), which is the central transcriptional factor. Orexin-A treatment phosphorylated the kinase p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Also, orexin-induced increase in gene expression (Runx-2, ALP, osteocalcin, and osterix) and matrix mineralization were prevented by the p38 MAPK specific inhibitor SB203580. Additionally, we also revealed that protein kinase D (PKD) is involved in the effects of Orexin-A on p38 MAPK activation and Runx-2 expression. Finally, we found that Orexin-A-induced osteoblastic formation and matrix mineralization and the activation of the PKD/p38 MAPK pathway are mediated by OX1R. Based on these findings, we concluded that activation of OX1R by orexin-A might possess a therapeutic strategy for bone disease. © 2018 IUBMB Life, 70(7):633-641, 2018.

Optimization of doping design for planar P-N homologous junction perovskite solar cells.

In this study, we used the solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS) to analyse numerically the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) containing CH3NH3PbI3. The findings indicate that P-N homologous junction processing based on traditional P-I-N PSCs can enhance the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE). Furthermore, the authors analyzed the effect of uniform P-N doping of CH3NH3PbI3, concluding that the photoelectric efficiency can be improved from 16.10% to 19.03% after doping. In addition, the optical properties of PSCs under solar irradiation are simulated using finite difference time-domain (FDTD) software under AM1.5. This method is applied to investigate the effect of the P-N uniform junction on the internal electric field generated within the cell. The generation of this electric field promotes carrier separation and transmission, ultimately increasing the open circuit voltage (VOC) of the solar cell from 1.03 to 1.12 V. The usage of P-N junctions enhances PSCs performance and exhibits vast potential for designing and developing PSCs.

Intrathoracic infections in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients may cooperate with HL to trigger hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: A retrospective study.

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)-related hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) has been reported in the literature; however, there is almost no literature on the factors related to HL triggering HLH. One hundred forty patients with HL were retrospectively analyzed. The incidence of HL-related HLH (we call HL-related HLH as HL-HLH). And all HL-HLH patients in our cohort had HLH as the first manifestation and its clinical characteristics and the role of intrathoracic infection (ITI) in triggering HLH are discussed. The 140 patients with HL mainly included mixed-cellularity classic HL (MCCHL) in 81 (57.9%), nodular sclerosis classic HL (NSCHL) in 36 (25.7%), and lymphacyte-rich classic HL in 14 (10.0%) patients. Of the 137 patients who underwent chest computed tomography scans on admission, 44 had ITI, and most of these ITI were mildly ill and had no respiratory symptoms. Among 140 HL patients, 8 patients from MCCHL were diagnosed as HL-HLH. Among 81 MCCHL patients, 26 patients with ITI had a significantly higher incidence of HL-HLH than those without ITI (26.9% vs 1.8%, P = .002). The median survival time of 8 cases of HL-HLH was only 2 months. When HL patients were first admitted to the hospital, 5.7% had HLH as the first manifestation, and 32.1% had ITI. These ITI can cooperate with HL to trigger HLH, despite their mild illness. The prognosis of HL-HLH was poor.

Facile preparation of multi-porous biochar from lotus biomass for methyl orange removal: Kinetics, isotherms, and regeneration studies.

Biomass is a promising carbon source because of its low-cost and rich carbon component. Here, lotus root as self N-source was used to produce N-doped biochar via a simple carbonization after freeze-drying, showing surface areas up to 694 m2/g with partial mesopores. Applicability of biochar as adsorbent for dyes removal was explored using methyl orange (MO) as model pollutant dye. LBC-800 sample obtained at 800 °C had the largest capacity of 320 mg/g in 300 mg/L solution at 25 °C with fast equilibrium time of 60 min, and pseudo-second order model expressed better for kinetics. LBC-800 also had an unprecedented maximum capacity of 449 mg/g with superior conformity to Langmuir model. The biochar was efficient for MO removal with high capacity and fast kinetic, and significantly the sustainable feature of lotus root would allow a large-scale production of biochar as well as promising use in wastewater treatment fields.

Targeted agents for chronic myelogenous leukemia: will that be the end of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for that disease?

Although the drug imatinib has been accepted as the treatment of choice for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP) throughout the Western world, allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) continues to remain a widely practiced first-line treatment in countries with limited health care budgets. The rationale is not scientific, but largely economically based. We analyzed a cohort of 46 CML patients who participated in a graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis clinical trial and underwent related HLA-matched allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. The median time of follow-up in surviving patients was 43 months (range: 4-89 months). Risk stratification of the population was done by European Blood and Marrow Transplant (EBMT) criteria. The estimated probabilities of overall survival (OS) and leukemia-free survival (LFS) at 3 years in low EBMT risk score (0-2) patients were both 91%, respectively. We conclude that in countries with restricted access to imatinib, allo-SCT should be considered early on as front-line therapy. Continued research support for bone marrow transplantation will be needed to make a global impact on this disease.

Length and end group dependence of the electronic transport properties in carbon atomic molecular wires.

Carrying out theoretical calculations using the nonequilibrium Green's function method combined with the density functional theory, the transport properties of functionalized atomic chains of carbon atoms with different lengths are investigated. The results show that the I-V evolution and rectifying performance can be affected by the length of wire when both ends of it is capped with the benzene-thiol attached with an amino group and the pyridine attached with nitro group. But when capped with the benzene-thiol attached with an amino group and the nitro group, we can observe a surprised result that different systems show similar I-V characteristics and their transport properties are almost independent of molecular length, which suggests that this is a favorable way to design more ideal molecular interconnecting wires with a high length-independent conductance behavior.

Clinical analysis of 20 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and autoimmune hemolytic anemia: A retrospective study.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) can co-exist with autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), a phenomenon known as AIHA-associated NHL (AIHA/NHL). However, few studies have reported AIHA/NHL incidence or its clinical characteristics. We conducted a retrospective analysis of 20 AIHA/NHL patients treated at our hospital from 2009 to 2018. AIHA/NHL was presented by only 0.91% of the NHL and 9.8% of the AIHA patients. In addition, AIHA occurred most frequently with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) (7.31%), followed by marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (MZBL) (6.25%), B-cell lymphoma-unclassified (BCL-U) (4.25%), chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocyte lymphoma (CLL/SLL) (2.50%), and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) (2.30%). In addition to the CLL/SLL patients with impaired bone marrow, 66.7% of the AIHA/NHL patients had lymphoma bone marrow infiltration (LBMI), of which 4 patients presented LBMI in bone marrow smears (BMS) but not in bone marrow biopsy (BMB) and 6 were positive for BMB but not BMS. The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates of AIHA/NHL patients were 70%, 30% and 20%, respectively, and they responded poorly to chemotherapy. In conclusion, AIHA can co-exist with various NHLs and the defining clinical characteristic of AIHA/NHL is the high incidence of LBMI. However, both BMS and BMB should be performed to avoid missed diagnosis.

Highly effective and green microwave catalytic oxidation degradation of nitrophenols over Bi2O2CO3 based composites without extra chemical additives.

A novel treatment technology of microwave catalytic oxidation degradation (MCOD) for nitrophenols (NPs) wastewater over green catalysts of gC3N4Bi2O2CO3 and SiCBi2O2CO3 was developed. This process is eco-friendly because the only used Bi2O2CO3 is non-toxic (which can be used as stomach medicine), and no heavy metal pollution exists in g-C3N4 and SiC. The results show that these Bi2O2CO3 based composites exhibited superior catalytic activity for the degradation of para-NP, as well as ortho-NP, with optimal removal ratio of 98.96%. In addition, the proportion of Bi2O2CO3 and irradiation time were the key parameters that had greatly influenced the degradation performance. Moreover, O2- was confirmed to be primary contributor for the degradation, which was different from our previous work that OH was the main specie in carbon loaded metal oxide system. That is to say, the type of oxidative specie may be controlled by the type of catalyst system. Besides, separation and transfer efficiency of the charge carriers could be enhanced by the heterojunctions fabricated in the band structures of the composites. This work not only demonstrated that the Bi2O2CO3 based composites coupled with MW irradiation can generate reactive oxidative species(ROS) which can degrade NPs high-effectively, but also developed a new and green idea for treating refractory industrial wastewater.

Prognostic Value of mRNA Expression of MAP4K Family in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Despite diverse functions in diseases, the prognostic potential of the family of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase genes in acute myeloid leukemia remains unknown. METHODS: The messenger RNA expression of the MAP4K family members in 151 patients with acute myeloid leukemia was extracted from the OncoLnc database. Data for gender, age, cytogenetic, leukocyte count, CD34, FAB classification, RUNX1, and TP53 were provided by the University of California-Santa Cruz Xena platform. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression model provided an estimate of the hazard ratio with 95% confidence intervals for overall survival. RESULTS: Analysis demonstrated favorable overall survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia attributing to high expression of MAP4K3, MAP4K4, and MAP4K5 and low expression of MAP4K1 (adjusted P = .005, P = .022, P = .002, and P = .024; adjusted hazard ratio = 0.490, 95% confidence interval = 0.297-0.809, hazard ratio = 0.598, 95% confidence interval = 0.385-0.928, hazard ratio = 0.490, 95% confidence interval = 0.310-0.776, and hazard ratio = 0.615, 95% confidence interval = 0.403-0.938, respectively). Combining the high-expressing MAP4K3, MAP4K4, and MAP4K5 with the low-expressing MAP4K1 in a joint effect analysis predicted a favorable prognosis of overall survival in acute myeloid leukemia. CONCLUSION: High expression of MAP4K3, MAP4K4, and MAP4K5 combined with low expression of MAP4K1 can serve as a sensitive tool to predict favorable overall survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

[Correlation analysis between LINC00324 and immunophenotype in peripheral blood leukocytes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia].

Objective To investigate the relationship between long-chain intergenic non-coding RNA324 (LINC00324) and immunophenotype in peripheral blood leukocytes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Methods Real-time quantitative PCR and bioinformatics databases were utilized to analyze the expression level of LINC00324 in peripheral blood leukocytes and cell lines KG-1, THP-1 and U937 in AML patients. The relationships of the expression level of LINC00324 with the red blood cell and platelet count, the expression levels of LINC00324 and immunophenotypes in 40 AML patients were analyzed by Person correlation analysis. The immunophenotypes included CD14, CD68, CD64, CD11b, CD4, CD45, CD33, HLA-DR, CD163, CD2, CD58, CD117, CD43, CD34, CD99, CD8, CD38, CD10, CD13, CD56, CD7, TdT, CD235a, CD138, CD61, MPO and CD19. Simultaneously, the cBioPortal database datasets (TCGA, NEJM 2013) were used to analyze the clinical characteristics of 173 AML patients, and to analyze the correlations between the expression level of LINC00324 and the peripheral blood blast percentage and white blood cell count in tumor samples. Results The expression of LINC00324 in peripheral blood leukocytes of AML patients was down-regulated, and its expression level was significantly correlated with immunophenotype CD33, red blood cell and platelet count. Analysis of bioinformatics database showed that LINC00324 was under-expressed in myeloid leukemia cell lines. The expression of LINC00324 in AML patients was associated with multiple immunophenotypes such as CD33, CD117, CD11b, CD14 and CD64 and was negatively correlated with peripheral blood blast percentage and white blood cell count. Conclusion LINC00324 may be involved in regulating the differentiation, development and function of immune cells, which providing a new strategy for the development of targeted drugs or treatment of AML.

Microwave irradiation directly excites semiconductor catalyst to produce electric current or electron-holes pairs.

Generally, photon of Microwave (MW) electromagnetic waves have long been thought to be lower energy, which could not excite metals or semiconductor materials to generate electric current and electron-holes pairs (e-cb + h+vb). In this paper, we report an unexpected, Microwave "photoelectric effect", when MW irradiates on the semiconductor materials, leading to generate electric current and electron-holes pairs (e-cb + h+vb), on the semiconductor materials and on the MW catalyst. Further, we show that the action mechanism of Microwave "photoelectric effect" made water adsorbing on the surface of Microwave catalyst transform into hydroxyl radical (∙OH). Thus, this study has revealed the principle of generation Microwave "photoelectric effect" under MW irradiation, and the mechanism of MW catalytic oxidation degradation of organic in the wastewater and the mechanism of MW reduction method for preparation of nano-particle metal supported catalysts. Our findings challenge the classic view of MW irradiation only as heating method, which cannot excite to produce electric current and electron-holes pairs (e-cb + h+vb). Our findings will open new field to use MW technology for MW catalytic oxidation degradation of organics in the wastewater, and for MW reduction method of metal supported catalysts preparation.

Novel nano-semiconductor film layer supported nano-Pd Complex Nanostructured Catalyst Pd/Ⓕ-MeOx/AC for High Efficient Selective Hydrogenation of Phenol to Cyclohexanone.

Supported metal as a type of heterogeneous catalysts are the most widely used in industrial processes. High dispersion of the metal particles of supported catalyst is a key factor in determining the performance of such catalysts. Here we report a novel catalyst Pd/Ⓕ-MeOx/AC with complex nanostructured, Pd nanoparticles supported on the platelike nano-semiconductor film/activated carbon, prepared by the photocatalytic reduction method, which exhibited high efficient catalytic performance for selective hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone. Conversion of phenol achieved up to more than 99% with a lower mole ratio (0.5%) of active components Pd and phenol within 2 h at 70 °C. The synergistic effect of metal nanoparticles and nano-semiconductors support layer and the greatly increasing of contact interface of nano-metal-semiconductors may be responsible for the high efficiency. This work provides a clear demonstration that complex nanostructured catalysts with nano-metal and nano-semiconductor film layer supported on high specific surface AC can yield enhanced catalytic activity and can afford promising approach for developing new supported catalyst.

Mitigation Effect of Proanthocyanidin on Secondary Heart Injury in Rats Caused by Mechanical Trauma.

Multiple organ dysfunctional syndrome secondary to mechanical trauma (MT) has attracted considerable research attention. The heart is one of the most important organs of the body, and secondary cardiac insufficiency caused by MT seriously affects the quality of life. This study aims to investigate whether proanthocyanidin can alleviate myocardial injury and improve heart function in the process of MT leading to secondary cardiac insufficiency. Noble-Collip drum wasused to prepare MT model in rats. And myocardial apoptosis index was calculated after TUNEL staining. Ventricular intubation was employed to detect heart function. Changes in myocardial ultrastructure were observed using an electron microscope. ELISA was used to detect the content of TNF-α and reactive oxygen species generated from monocytes and cardiomyocytes. The changes in Ca2+ concentration in cardiomyocyte were observed by confocal microscope. Compared with trauma group, the administration group had a decreased apoptosis index of cardiomyocytes, and increased ±dp/dtmax. Meanwhile, proanthocyanidin can inhibit monocytes' TNF-α production, and reduce plasma TNF-α concentration. Moreover, proanthocyanidin can attenuate the excessive oxidative stress reaction of cardiomyocyte, and inhibit calcium overload in cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, proanthocyanidin can effectively ease myocardial damage and improve cardiac function, through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in secondary cardiac insufficiency caused by MT.

Curcumin ameliorates cardiac dysfunction induced by mechanical trauma.

Curcumin, a phytochemical component derived from turmeric (Carcuma longa), has been extensively investigated because of its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. Inflammation and oxidative stress play critical roles in posttraumatic cardiomyocyte apoptosis, which contributes to secondary cardiac dysfunction. This research was designed to identify the protective effect of curcumin on posttraumatic cardiac dysfunction and investigate its underlying mechanism. Noble-Collip drum was used to prepare a mechanical trauma (MT) model of rats, and the hemodynamic responses of traumatized rats were observed by ventricular intubation 12h after trauma. Myocardial apoptosis was determined through terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining and caspase-3 activity assay. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by monocytes and myocardial cells were identified through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the intracellular alteration of Ca2+ in cardiomyocytes was examined through confocal microscopy. In vivo, curcumin effectively ameliorated MT-induced secondary cardiac dysfunction and significantly decreased the apoptotic indices of the traumatized myocardial cells. In vitro, curcumin inhibited TNF-α production by monocytes and reduced the circulating TNF-α levels. With curcumin pretreatment, ROS production and Ca2+ overload in H9c2 cells were attenuated when these cells were incubated with traumatic plasma. Therefore, curcumin can effectively ameliorate MT-induced cardiac dysfunction mainly by inhibiting systemic inflammatory responses and by weakening oxidative stress reaction and Ca2+ overload in cardiomyocytes.

Highly efficient degradation of 4-nitrophenol over the catalyst of Mn2O3/AC by microwave catalytic oxidation degradation method.

A new microwave catalytic oxidation process based on two kinds of catalysts, the commercially available activated carbon (AC) and Mn2O3 nanoparticle modified AC (Mn2O3/AC), was reported for the degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) without adding any oxidant. Effects of microwave power, catalyst dosage, irradiation time, and initial concentration for the degradation efficiency were studied. Results indicated that catalyst of Mn2O3/AC showed much higher catalytic activity than pure AC and Mn2O3 particles. Significantly, 4-NP degradation efficiency reached 99.6%, corresponding to 93.5% TOC removal under optimal conditions with microwave power of 400W, Mn2O3/AC dosage of 2g, reaction time of 5min, and initial concentration of 100mg/L. Hydroxyl radicals (OH) generated during catalytic reaction is the main oxidant, and O2 can not effectively improve removal rate. We proposed the microwave 'photoelectric effect' to interpret the generation of OH in view that microwave irradiation can directly excite the catalyst to produce electron-hole pairs and then transform H2O into OH on the surface of catalyst in solution. The obtained kinetic equation for microwave catalytic oxidation degradation of 4-NP was in line with pseudo-first-order kinetic model, that is, apparent rate constant increased as microwave power density increase.

A new type of power energy for accelerating chemical reactions: the nature of a microwave-driving force for accelerating chemical reactions.

The use of microwave (MW) irradiation to increase the rate of chemical reactions has attracted much attention recently in nearly all fields of chemistry due to substantial enhancements in reaction rates. However, the intrinsic nature of the effects of MW irradiation on chemical reactions remains unclear. Herein, the highly effective conversion of NO and decomposition of H2S via MW catalysis were investigated. The temperature was decreased by several hundred degrees centigrade. Moreover, the apparent activation energy (Ea') decreased substantially under MW irradiation. Importantly, for the first time, a model of the interactions between microwave electromagnetic waves and molecules is proposed to elucidate the intrinsic reason for the reduction in the Ea' under MW irradiation, and a formula for the quantitative estimation of the decrease in the Ea' was determined. MW irradiation energy was partially transformed to reduce the Ea', and MW irradiation is a new type of power energy for speeding up chemical reactions. The effect of MW irradiation on chemical reactions was determined. Our findings challenge both the classical view of MW irradiation as only a heating method and the controversial MW non-thermal effect and open a promising avenue for the development of novel MW catalytic reaction technology.

Protective Effect of Quercetin on Posttraumatic Cardiac Injury.

Quercetin is an important dietary flavonoid present in fruits and vegetables and has attracted attention because of its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. Inflammation and oxidative stress play important roles in posttraumatic cardiomyocyte apoptosis, which contributes to secondary cardiac dysfunction. This study investigates the protective effect of quercetin on trauma-induced secondary cardiac injury and the mechanisms involved. Widely accepted nonlethal mechanical trauma models were established. In vivo, cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction in rats were assessed using TUNEL staining and a biological mechanic experiment system. In vitro, cell viability, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and [Ca(2+)]i of H9c2 cells were detected using an MTT assay, ELISA, and 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate and fluo-4 acetoxymethyl ester assays respectively. Quercetin pretreatment (20 mg/kg i.p.; 0.5 h before trauma) significantly improved posttraumatic cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction. Pretreatment with quercetin (20 µM; 24 h before trauma plasma addition) significantly attenuated trauma-induced viability decreases, TNF-α increases, ROS overproduction and [Ca(2+)]i overload in H9c2 cells. In conclusion, quercetin may reverse posttraumatic cardiac dysfunction by reducing cardiomyocyte apoptosis through the suppression of TNF-α increases, ROS overproduction and Ca(2+) overload in cardiomyocytes, representing a potential preventive approach for the treatment of secondary cardiac injury after mechanical trauma.