Oxidation of dextran using H2O2 and NaClO/NaBr and their applicability in iron chelation.

The structural modification of polysaccharides directly affects their physicochemical properties and applications. Dextran, a chained polysaccharide, consists of multiple d-glucose molecules with repetitive structures. In this study, the physicochemical properties of oxidized dextran (DO) at different concentrations of NaClO/NaBr and H2O2 were compared. The results showed that NaClO/NaBr oxidation is more conducive to the formation of carboxyl groups. Oxidized dextran with NaClO/NaBr (DOB) showed good iron (III) chelating ability, and the DOB­iron (III) complex (DOBIC) had an iron content of 28.31%. According to structural analysis, NaClO/NaBr (2 g/100 g of active chlorine) and H2O2 (4 g/100 g), respectively, oxidize the C1 and C2 hydroxyl groups of dextran to carboxyl groups and open the ring when DO and iron have the strongest chelation ability. The complex is indeed a chelate iron complex, and iron core is composed of iron oxyhydroxide or the ß-FeOOH mineral polymorph. These results indicate that DOBIC is expected to be a good iron supplement or food additive to strengthen iron.

Metabolic Effect of 1-Deoxynojirimycin from Mulberry Leaves on db/db Diabetic Mice Using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Based Metabolomics.

Metabolomics was applied to the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry urinary metabolic profile of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) mice treated with mulberry 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ). The serum biochemical indicators related to T2DM like blood glucose, insulin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, nitrogen, malondialdehyde, and creatinine decreased significantly in the treated group. The histopathological changes in liver cells were marked by deformations and disruptions in central area of nuclei in DM mice, whereas DNJ treatment recovered regular liver cells with normal nuclei. Most of the metabolites of T2DM were significantly different from healthy controls in the bulk data generated. The level of 16 metabolites showed that the diabetic group was closer to the healthy group as the DNJ treatment time prolonged. Moreover, DNJ inhibited the activity of glucosidase on glucose, lipid, and amino acid metabolism. Our results showed the mechanism of DNJ treatment of T2DM and could fetch deep insights into the potent metabolite markers of the applied antidiabetic interventions.

Tonglian Decoction () arrests the cell cycle in S-phase by targeting the nuclear factor-kappa B signal pathway in esophageal carcinoma Eca109 cells.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the anti-tumor activity and molecular mechanism of Tonglian Decoction (, TLD) on esophageal carcinoma Eca109 cells. METHODS: Eca109 cells were treated with TLD and its separated formulae, including the clearing-heat and detoxification formula (Q), activating-blood and promoting-qi formula (H) and nourishing-yin and blood formula (Z). Cell proliferation was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide assay, cell morphology was observed using a microscope, the cell cycle was measured using flow cytometry and the activity of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signal pathway was detected by Western blot. RESULTS: The half maximal inhibitory concentrations of TLD, Q and H were 386, 771 and 729 mg/L, respectively. TLD, Q and H significantly inhibited cell proliferation, with 69.43%, 60.84% and 61.90% of treated cells in the G phase of the cell cycle. The percentage of cells in S phase increased significantly after treatment with TLD, Q, and H compared with the control group (P<0.05), and TLD showed the strongest effect. Z had no influence on the cell cycle compared with the control group (P>0.05). Western blot detection indicated slight differences in the inhibition of the NF-κB pathway by the different formulae. TLD formula strongly inhibited IKKß, NF-κB, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α expression compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: TLD inhibited Eca109 cell proliferation by arresting cells in S phase. The possible mechanism might be related to inhibiting the NF-κB transduction cascade. The combination of the herbs found in the three separate formulae, H, Q and Z, work synergistically in TLD to produce the inhibitory effects of TLD treatment on Eca109 proliferation.

Antitumor Activity of Tenacissoside H on Esophageal Cancer through Arresting Cell Cycle and Regulating PI3K/Akt-NF-κB Transduction Cascade.

Objective. The purpose of the study was to elucidate the molecular mechanism of tenacissoside H (TDH) inhibiting esophageal carcinoma infiltration and proliferation. Methods. In vitro, EC9706 cells were treated with TDH. Cells proliferation and cell cycle were assayed. PI3K and NF-κB mRNAs expression were determined by real time PCR. In vivo, model of nude mice with tumor was established. Mice were treated with TDH. Inhibition ratio of tumor volume was calculated. PCNA expression was examined. Protein expression in PI3K/Akt-NF-κB signaling pathway was determined. Results. In vitro, TDH significantly inhibited cells proliferation in a time-and-dose-dependent manner. TDH arrested the cell cycle in S phase and significantly inhibited PI3K and NF-κB mRNA expression, compared with blank controlled group (P < 0.05). In vivo, TDH strongly inhibits tumor growth and volume. PCNA expression was significantly decreased after treatment of TDH. TDH downregulated proteins expression in PI3K/Akt-NF-κB transduction cascade (P < 0.05). Conclusion. TDH inhibited esophageal carcinoma infiltration and proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. The anticancer activity has relation to arresting the cell cycle at the S phase, inhibited the PCNA expression of transplanted tumors in nude mice, and regulated the protein expression in the PI3K/Akt-NF-κB transduction cascade.

Influenza early warning model based on Yunqi theory.

OBJECTIVE: To establish an early warning model to simulate the outbreak of influenza based on weather conditions and Yunqi theory, an ancient calendar theory of Chinese medicine (CM). METHODS: Tianjin, a northeastern city in China, was chosen as the region of research and applied the influenza-like illness attack rate (ILI)% as the baseline and warning line to determine the severity of influenza epidemic. Then, an influenza early warning model was constructed based on the theory of rough set and support vector machines (RS-SVM), and the relationship between influenza and meteorology was explored through analyzing the monitoring data. RESULTS: The predictive performance of the model was good, which had achieved 81.8% accuracy when grouping the obtained data into three levels that represent no danger, danger of a light epidemic, and danger of a severe epidemic. The test results showed that if the host qi and guest qi were not balanced, this kind of situation was more likely to cause influenza outbreaks. CONCLUSIONS: The outbreak of influenza closely relates to temperature, humidity, visibility, and wind speed and is consistent with some part of CM doctrine. The result also indicates that there is some reasonable evidence in the Yunqi theory.